Skating injuries?

bippity · Nov 12, 2018

Hello! I hope this is okay... I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I have a couple of characters who are competitive figure skaters but injure themselves and, as I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pantser writer, I didn't quite work out their backstories before beginning and wanted to know if these character backstories are plausible and, if not, how to change them?

One character has a bad knee. He's a singles skater and injured his knee by landing badly out of a difficult jump combination. He took a season off to have surgery and recover, but it healed badly. When he got back on the ice, he found that it hurt to jump/ he wasn't jumping as well as all his competitors, and so retired. He can still walk, but he can't go on long hikes. I thought that maybe he had a patellar fracture, or tore his ACL but saw online that neither of those are a very common skating injury. Is it still possible for him to have either of those injuries? Or is there a more common knee injury that would let him be able to walk and skate, just not at an elite level?

Another character, a female pairs skater, gets a concussion from jumping into a lift when her partner wasn't ready. He doesn't catch her in time and she hits her head on the ice. I don't think that jump entries are super common for pairs skaters, but could I say she was doing it for an exhibition performance, or that they were trying to raise the difficulty of entry into the lift?

Thank you in advance! I really appreciate any help or advice people can give.

Ic3Rabbit · Nov 12, 2018

bippity said:
Hello! I hope this is okay... I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I have a couple of characters who are competitive figure skaters but injure themselves and, as I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pantser writer, I didn't quite work out their backstories before beginning and wanted to know if these character backstories are plausible and, if not, how to change them?

One character has a bad knee. He's a singles skater and injured his knee by landing badly out of a difficult jump combination. He took a season off to have surgery and recover, but it healed badly. When he got back on the ice, he found that it hurt to jump/ he wasn't jumping as well as all his competitors, and so retired. He can still walk, but he can't go on long hikes. I thought that maybe he had a patellar fracture, or tore his ACL but saw online that neither of those are a very common skating injury. Is it still possible for him to have either of those injuries? Or is there a more common knee injury that would let him be able to walk and skate, just not at an elite level?

Another character, a female pairs skater, gets a concussion from jumping into a lift when her partner wasn't ready. He doesn't catch her in time and she hits her head on the ice. I don't think that jump entries are super common for pairs skaters, but could I say she was doing it for an exhibition performance, or that they were trying to raise the difficulty of entry into the lift?

Thank you in advance! I really appreciate any help or advice people can give.

There have been multiple injuries to knees from skating up to the elite level and beyond. I have hurt mine for instance which was Patellar Tendinitis "jumpers knee" which also covers Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and is very common. Pro skater Ryan Bradley has had several surgeries on his knee from issues such as damages to his landing knee and also a meniscus tear.

More common skater issues would be stress fractures in feet, hamstring tears, SI issues with hips, or back issues, also ankle injuries.
Concussions are also quite common.

As far as your pairs story, can you explain what you mean by the female skater jumping into a throw?!?

karne · Nov 12, 2018

bippity said:
I thought that maybe he had a patellar fracture, or tore his ACL but saw online that neither of those are a very common skating injury.

You could have him do his PCL instead. That's very doable on the ice and if severe enough could cause the problems you're looking for.

bippity said:
Another character, a female pairs skater, gets a concussion from jumping into a lift when her partner wasn't ready. He doesn't catch her in time and she hits her head on the ice. I don't think that jump entries are super common for pairs skaters, but could I say she was doing it for an exhibition performance, or that they were trying to raise the difficulty of entry into the lift?

Can you describe the sort of jump you're imagining? Because while the ladies can sort of hop up into a lift, or be somersaulted into a lift (to a degree), a full-blown jump would not really be something you'd see.

Nimyue · Nov 13, 2018

karne said:
Can you describe the sort of jump you're imagining? Because while the ladies can sort of hop up into a lift, or be somersaulted into a lift (to a degree), a full-blown jump would not really be something you'd see.

I think failing a landing from a throw jump would be more plausible. Or falling from a lift.

Ducky · Nov 13, 2018

bippity said:
Hello! I hope this is okay... I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I have a couple of characters who are competitive figure skaters but injure themselves and, as I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pantser writer, I didn't quite work out their backstories before beginning and wanted to know if these character backstories are plausible and, if not, how to change them?

One character has a bad knee. He's a singles skater and injured his knee by landing badly out of a difficult jump combination. He took a season off to have surgery and recover, but it healed badly. When he got back on the ice, he found that it hurt to jump/ he wasn't jumping as well as all his competitors, and so retired. He can still walk, but he can't go on long hikes. I thought that maybe he had a patellar fracture, or tore his ACL but saw online that neither of those are a very common skating injury. Is it still possible for him to have either of those injuries? Or is there a more common knee injury that would let him be able to walk and skate, just not at an elite level?

Another character, a female pairs skater, gets a concussion from jumping into a lift when her partner wasn't ready. He doesn't catch her in time and she hits her head on the ice. I don't think that jump entries are super common for pairs skaters, but could I say she was doing it for an exhibition performance, or that they were trying to raise the difficulty of entry into the lift?

Thank you in advance! I really appreciate any help or advice people can give.

Just wanted to say good luck with the writing!

merleice · Nov 13, 2018

bippity said:
One character has a bad knee. He's a singles skater and injured his knee by landing badly out of a difficult jump combination. He took a season off to have surgery and recover, but it healed badly. When he got back on the ice, he found that it hurt to jump/ he wasn't jumping as well as all his competitors, and so retired. He can still walk, but he can't go on long hikes. I thought that maybe he had a patellar fracture, or tore his ACL but saw online that neither of those are a very common skating injury. Is it still possible for him to have either of those injuries? Or is there a more common knee injury that would let him be able to walk and skate, just not at an elite level?

Daisuke Takahashi tore his ACL falling on a triple axel in practice and had to miss the 2008-2009 season to undergo surgery and recover. He made a successful return to competition, winning Worlds and Olympics medals after that but that knee troubled him in the 2013-2014 season.

ribbit · Nov 13, 2018

Nimyue said:
I think failing a landing from a throw jump would be more plausible. Or falling from a lift.

As Nimyue says, falling from a lift happens, and probably happens more often than we realize. There have been some horrific public falls; the best-known is probably Totmianina and Marinin's fall from a lift during the 2004 Skate America free skate, which left Totmianina with a concussion so severe that she had no memory of the accident. (They went on to win the 2006 Olympic gold medal.) I believe there was also some discussion in the run-up to the 1988 Olympics about a concussion that Katia Gordeeva suffered from either a lift or a throw twist. I wouldn't recommend watching footage of the T/M fall, but you could read news reports from the time about these falls and probably find reports of others.

tstop4me · Nov 13, 2018

bippity said:
Another character, a female pairs skater, gets a concussion from jumping into a lift when her partner wasn't ready. He doesn't catch her in time and she hits her head on the ice. I don't think that jump entries are super common for pairs skaters, but could I say she was doing it for an exhibition performance, or that they were trying to raise the difficulty of entry into the lift?

You see this sort of routine on (off-ice) contemporary dance routines. As others have noted, not something you'll see in standard pairs programs on ice. But, for special shows, I remember reading in Dorothy Hamill's autbio that she got injured doing something similar. She jumped and was supposed to be caught by her partner. The timing was off, and she broke a couple of ribs during an improper catch. No fall on the head, fortunately.

Another scenario I recall is that of a Russian pair. They were practicing side-by-side camels, got too close, and his blade smashed into her skull. Serious damage requiring brain surgery.

DanseMacabre · Nov 13, 2018

tstop4me said:
Another scenario I recall is that of a Russian pair. They were practicing side-by-side camels, got too close, and his blade smashed into her skull. Serious damage requiring brain surgery.

Wasn't that Elena Berezhnaya and her partner Oleg Shliakhov (who was a hugely abusive and careless partner to begin with) when they were skating for Latvia?

There's a very dramatic retelling of the incident in the book The Second Mark about the 2002 Olympics pairs scandal. If I remember correctly, the hospital she was in in Riga was atrocious and Anton Sikharulidze, Moskvina, and her mother basically spirited her away to safety (and away from Shliakov). Anton helped her through her recovery and they went on to win* gold at the 2002 Olympics for Russia.

*Judging scandal aside

Good luck with the writing, bippity!

Ic3Rabbit · Nov 13, 2018

DanseMacabre said:
Wasn't that Elena Berezhnaya and her partner Oleg Shliakhov (who was a hugely abusive and careless partner to begin with) when they were skating for Latvia?

There's a very dramatic retelling of the incident in the book The Second Mark about the 2002 Olympics pairs scandal. If I remember correctly, the hospital she was in in Riga was atrocious and Anton Sikharulidze, Moskvina, and her mother basically spirited her away to safety (and away from Shliakov). Anton helped her through her recovery and they went on to win* gold at the 2002 Olympics for Russia.

*Judging scandal aside

Good luck with the writing, bippity!

:yes:

iskate · Nov 13, 2018

bippity said:
Hello! I hope this is okay... I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I have a couple of characters who are competitive figure skaters but injure themselves and, as I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pantser writer, I didn't quite work out their backstories before beginning and wanted to know if these character backstories are plausible and, if not, how to change them?

One character has a bad knee. He's a singles skater and injured his knee by landing badly out of a difficult jump combination. He took a season off to have surgery and recover, but it healed badly. When he got back on the ice, he found that it hurt to jump/ he wasn't jumping as well as all his competitors, and so retired. He can still walk, but he can't go on long hikes. I thought that maybe he had a patellar fracture, or tore his ACL but saw online that neither of those are a very common skating injury. Is it still possible for him to have either of those injuries? Or is there a more common knee injury that would let him be able to walk and skate, just not at an elite level?

Another character, a female pairs skater, gets a concussion from jumping into a lift when her partner wasn't ready. He doesn't catch her in time and she hits her head on the ice. I don't think that jump entries are super common for pairs skaters, but could I say she was doing it for an exhibition performance, or that they were trying to raise the difficulty of entry into the lift?

Thank you in advance! I really appreciate any help or advice people can give.

I fractured my patella while skating, just 2 weeks ago - so although it might not be a common figure skating injury, it can happen. I had a kind of freak fall, slipping off my edge while going into a spin with an illusion entry (if you're not familiar with FS terminology, here is a random video I found of another skater doing one) - I kind of belly flopped and hit my knee very hard. I feel like the worst falls can often happen on "easy" elements, because you're not expecting to fall at all. Not sure how helpful this is for you, but I guess I am living proof that patellar fractures can happen if you fall hard enough! Good luck with the writing!

NanaPat · Nov 14, 2018

In a hybrid injury, combining your two scenarios, ice dancer Penny Coomes shattered her knee on a lift entry gone wrong. You can google it for the gory details. And it was gory.

Skating injuries?

bippity

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode

Nimyue

Ducky

merleice

ribbit

tstop4me

DanseMacabre

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

iskate

NanaPat

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