2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating | Page 64 | Golden Skate

2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

VenusHalley

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2018
Well I am aware of that, what does that have to do with my question?



Exactly, thank you. It's like you can't ask a question in this thread and get a simple answer.

Some people seem to think that medals heal injuries...


And i do not see how pointing out obvious problems is "marginalizing" anybody. Nobody is saying she cannot handle it... but even Eteris team admitted she is very very emotional. So sure this will play role for her deciding what to do next.
 

Arbitrary

Medalist
Joined
Sep 5, 2018
I really wish Russian ladies could afford to have a half season or a full season off while still remain competitive, like what Yuna Kim did between 2010 and 2014 or Kostner late in her career. For Alina, I think good conditioning is very important. She does not need to enter every major competition and get exhausted. But in the crowded field of Russia, it is hard. I was thinking Liza T. could be an exception, but then I realized she never skipped any major competition when she was qualified.

Exactly that what happened to Shcherbakova. She was off-season after severing her leg. Returned fit and looks competitive, even won two JGP events and Senior RusNats last year.

But for senor ladies such a vacation is usually a career terminating event. For some men too (see Urmanov).
But even longer and grosser events like a head/neck/spine injury (+coma for the unluckiest one) for ladies-in-pair sometimes not that crucial (Kazakova, Totmyjanina or Bereznaya)
 

Yuzuruu

the silent assassin
Medalist
Joined
Nov 21, 2017
The link to the interview after Worlds 2019 that answers all questions:
https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/s...ova-i-want-to-do-things-my-way/?sf209835898=1

You won gold at the Olympics and at the World Champs: what else do you want in life?

Alina: "For me the most important thing now is to continue performing. I can also become a two-time, three-time champion...But I am not thinking of any records, I am always saying that, for me the most important thing right now is to skate. I do it for myself and for my supporters, who are following me in different countries. Some came here from Russia to support me, and I appreciate it a lot."

You achieved a lot as an athlete: what motivates you every day?

"Maybe, my love for figure skating. Every athlete has a moment when they achieve everything, they just want to leave everything behind and live an ordinary life. But then I am thinking: 'how will I live an ordinary life, now that I have seen the world, thanks to the work that I love?' I understand I will not be able to live without figure skating. So that’s it: first I think I would stop, then I realise I cannot leave it as I have dedicated all my life to this until now. So I will not be able to leave figure skating!"

Not to be nitpicking but none of this exactly means she intends to compete ;) I do not know how accurate the translation of this interview is but permorming =/= competing ;) I do think she will continue though, as she should.

Why is it that regardless of what alina does people always speculate that she's gonna retire?

I guess some people had already cast her aside because all of the young Russian ladies becoming senior this year. Some people already feel that there will be no place on Russia's team for their reigning Olympic and World Champion... I really hope Alina will once again prove all the doubters wrong and show figure skating is not just about the quads. She has hard combos too and her spins are immpecable, she is still very much competetive in my opinion.
 

pearly

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Some people seem to think that medals heal injuries...


And i do not see how pointing out obvious problems is "marginalizing" anybody. Nobody is saying she cannot handle it... but even Eteris team admitted she is very very emotional. So sure this will play role for her deciding what to do next.

Also, not all of us follow these skaters on social media and analyze every word and photo. This is the place to ask questions and get answers, but half the people here take every question as an attack on their favorite.
 

nussnacker

one and only
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Not to be nitpicking but none of this exactly means she intends to compete ;) I do not know how accurate the translation of this interview is but permorming =/= competing ;) I do think she will continue though, as she should.

Not to be nitpicking, but you need to read more than two words that were highlighted ;)
She continues to say and I quote: “I can also become 2 or 3 time champion”

You can nitpick again and ask: but what champion title she is talking about? Maybe champion of hearts, and not world champion? ;) lol
 

Yuzuruu

the silent assassin
Medalist
Joined
Nov 21, 2017
Not to be nitpicking, but you need to read more than two words than were highlighted ;)
She continues to say and I quote: “I can also become 2 or 3 time champion”

You can nitpick again and ask: but what champion title she is talking about? Maybe champion of hearts, and not world champion? ;) lol

I read the entire post no worries :) sure she said that, to me it just sounds weirdly worded, but again from a trained translator point of view I feel like maybe something was lost in translation. Like many people here I do not believe Alina likes competing unfortunately, maybe that's also why some feel like she may retire even though she is very young.
 

Seruleane

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Personally, I think Alina loves competing and appeared to greatly enjoy it Olympic season, when she was still considered *sort of* the underdog, though as her fan I was fairly sure she would win OGM. This year, as reigning OGM she faced tremendous pressure and this made competitions much more stressful. I would say she appeared much like Yuna Kim did in Sochi, and their situations are somewhat similar. The accusations of not appearing to enjoy competition also plagued Yuna. However, Alina persevered and won Worlds this year. I would love to see her come back strong and suspect she will try to make it to the Olympics in Beijing. Out of all Eteri’s girls, I think she and Alena have the most lasting potential.
 

Arbitrary

Medalist
Joined
Sep 5, 2018
Some male skater should impersonate the Hound. My favorite...

Sasha mentioned she began to watch the EoT.
Giving she's only 14 it can be well too pressing on her mind.
Ok, she's almost 15.
 

fabienne1996

Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2018
Country
Germany
Some male skater should impersonate the Hound. My favorite...

Sasha mentioned she began to watch the EoT.
Giving she's only 14 it can be well too pressing on her mind.
Ok, she's almost 15.
And game of thrones is rated as +16 for good reason I might say
 

sx98423

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
I read the entire post no worries :) sure she said that, to me it just sounds weirdly worded, but again from a trained translator point of view I feel like maybe something was lost in translation. Like many people here I do not believe Alina likes competing unfortunately, maybe that's also why some feel like she may retire even though she is very young.

Alina has said in many different ways many different times that she likes to compete. This doesn't mean that she won't retire or think about it but it's super rude to completely disregard what someone has said about themselves several times in order to push your own narrative
 

Finley

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Alina herself: I don't intend to retire. I want to keep competing.

Some people: But does anybody know if Alina's still competing? I just don't think it's likely. I just don't know. Nobody knows for sure...oh, what a mystery.

The mind reels.

Liza Tuk says she plans to keep going. No questions asked. Zhenya says she plans to keep going and learn a quad Salchow. She is taken at her word even though she is injured again. Alina says the same. Even going so far as to say that she can’t live without skating despite the times she doesn’t always love it. This launches multiple retirement discussions.

I get that she’s won everything, but she addressed that in an interview. She wants to win more than one World title.

I get that she has chronic knee pain, but Osgood Schlatter is something you can outgrow. And she sprained her ankle. It healed.

I also understand that she is a day or so away from 17 and she can change her mind at any time. She might decide to change everything. Ice rinks are cold, she misses living with her parents, food tastes good, quads are hard, maybe she just wants a normal life going to school and playing with her dog.

I seriously doubt it, but I suppose anything can happen. I just think if Alina really wanted those things more than she wants to be a competitive elite figure skater she wouldn’t be where she is right now.

But I don’t have a crystal ball, so who knows? If people want to speculate on all the possible reasons for her to retire after everything she’s said to the contrary this is the place to do it.
 

Finley

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Imagine if she goes mad and starts wanting to compete.

I’m ready for this!

Also imagine her finally being free from her knee pain and being able to train and compete without being hindered by it? Freedom!
 

Finley

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Well I am aware of that, what does that have to do with my question?



Exactly, thank you. It's like you can't ask a question in this thread and get a simple answer.

There isn’t a simple answer to the question of Alina’s retirement. Other than - Maybe? Who knows?

If Alina or anyone connected with her had even hinted at the possibility of retirement believe me GS would know.

It would have been posted instantly.

All we know now is what she’s said - Nyet, not retiring.

When people start listing all the reasons she could retire its natural for her fans to respond with all the reasons she won’t.
 

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
I really wish Russian ladies could afford to have a half season or a full season off while still remain competitive, like what Yuna Kim did between 2010 and 2014 or Kostner late in her career. For Alina, I think good conditioning is very important. She does not need to enter every major competition and get exhausted. But in the crowded field of Russia, it is hard. I was thinking Liza T. could be an exception, but then I realized she never skipped any major competition when she was qualified.
I agree with your interesting assessment hippo. Alina has the clout to skate a limited schedule if she wants and she probably should. But it will be hard for her to do because her competition is much much greater than what Yuna Kim had to in 2010 and 2014. Yuna could afford to coast into the 2014 Olympics and she did. I don't think Alina can miss as much time as Kim did and still be golden. But I don't necessarily want Zagitova to push as hard next season than she did this season. Especially the way she pushed herself through injuries at times.
 

Finley

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Many skaters enjoy competing, it's driving them and helps them win.

I remember an interview Alina gave after Nebelhorn where she talked about how much she loved competing and the adrenaline it gave her that you can't get from anything else. Every competition isn't the same. Like every other skater, Alina enjoys competing well and is much too hard on herself for making mistakes. Does anyone enjoy going out there and totally bombing an important competition? Very few top level skaters just laugh that off. If they do they won't be top level for very long.

It's also not tons of fun to compete injured. Every competition experience is unique and comes with a different set of challenges.

Speaking from a fan's perspective - Nebelhorn was a joy. Alina looked thrilled, as she should with a record breaking performance. Japan Open seemed like fun for everyone. The GP stages got tense when Alina was disappointed with herself for not being perfect. She was jet lagged and then injured at the GP Final. Nationals was just heartbreaking. Euros was really tough. Then World's literally made the whole crazy roller-coaster worthwhile. Seeing Alina's dream come true like that was the best part of the season. Seeing Alina over the moon happy like that was even better.

She skated under an incredible amount of pressure this season. She dealt with it. I was very happy that Alina was able to appreciate her two silver medals this season. I know she was disappointed not to skate her best. To me that showed a lot of personal growth and maturity. Especially considering the way those second place finishes were treated by some factions of the Russian media.

I know there are some people who do not enjoy seeing Alina compete, but I've never doubted her drive and passion for competing. I don't think you can get to her level without it. Maybe you don't love it all the time, but you can't live without it. Look at Daisuke Takahashi. He still wants that feeling.
 

Vandevska

U don't have to build the end of the world out it.
Medalist
Joined
Dec 18, 2017
Sure, people can ask because they're truly interested, but mostly this thread is like that meme:

No one:
Literally no one:
Random person on GS: So is Alina retiring yet?

or

No one:
Literally no one:
Random person on GS and elsewhere: Sure it's great that she has that quad/3A now, but wait until she's a senior!


Mostly I feel like this is another example of sexism among other things. Like, Yuzuru gets praised and encouraged after winning 2 OGMs, Alina is either suggested retirement or gets questioned whether she wants to continue, mostly with the narrative of "she's done enough'. Which is awful.
 

j00mla

Made in USSR
Final Flight
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
I think some people speculate because they want it to be true. They want her to retire for the same reason they thought she shouldn't go to Worlds. Not because she needed to rest. They are fans of other skaters and there are 3 spots for Russian ladies on the World, Euro & Olympic teams in the upcoming seasons. There are way too many talented skaters and Alina is potentially in the way of their skater of choice.

Some people just like to speculate for the sake of discussion. It's usually pretty easy to spot the difference in agenda.

That's it! They are, and they do fear for their favorites because Alina is great and powerful.
 

lopsilceci

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 20, 2019
Country
Mexico
Do you think Evgenia/Sofia/Stanislava will retire soon?

Because from now on it won't get any easier for them to win with the 3A coming + injuries + not having a quad or 3 axel, etc... And apparently, to some people, if you don't have a high chance to medal at every competition, then what's the point of even wanting to compete ;)
 
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