Alina Zagitova announces break from figure skating competition

c3zara said:

Wishing Alina all the best! I was so sad when I heard we wouldn’t see her competing for the rest of the season, she has something unique in her skating that always catches my attention. I really hope she will get her motivation back and return to competitions. If not I hope she finds something that makes her happy.

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This! Alina has made the right choice for herself and explained her reasoning on national television.

Wishing her the Best of Luck and a future filled with happiness. I will miss her.

Alina would have to change her technique drastically to do quads/3a. No way can she get the height for more than 3 rotations if she has to bend over, nearly horizontal to the ice, when preparing to jump.

To me Alina just seems mentally burned out. Burn it is a very real phenomenon, especially among elite athletes. This doesn’t mean she’s lazy or unmotivated. It’s just that similar to the body, the mind needs time to recover after intense periods focused discipline. To me she appears to be physically in shape - her GPF short program is evidence. But mentally she just wanna exhausted. I suspect she’s actually been burned out since her Olympic season and needed more of a rest afterward.

You treat burn out by taking a break from competitions and high level training and incorporate other activities (I like that she was doing pottery to relax). She can stay in shape, continue to skate, but just not the same training she was doing.

People always discuss the physical impact that Eteri’s have on the body but I actually suspect that it’s the mental impact that can’t be sustained for more than 3 years as they are training now. The intense discipline and focus, without adequate active rest, can’t be sustained unless they start to make changes.

VenusHalley said:

You write out lits of competions Alina competed in.... but for example Oksana won Worlds too and silvet at Europeans. Most of them competed at grand prix and have medals from other competions...

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The poster wrote out lists of competitions after they won OGM.
Oksana Baiul won her Worlds in 1993 before she won the Olympics in 1994.
And her silver at Europeans was also in 1993 IIRC.

EdgeCall said:

Ladies' post-OGM competitive careers since 1984:

Katarina Witt: OGM 1984 at the age of 18. Won worlds 1984,85,87, defended her european title 1985-88, won the OGM 1988, defended her world title same year. Retired. Comeback for the olympics 1994 where she placed 7th. Allegedly she wanted to give her family the chance to watch her compete live, which they were not allowed to do in the GDR era. Retired afterwards.

Kristi Yamaguchi: OGM 1992 at the age of 20. Defended her world title same year, retired afterwards.

Oksana Baiul: OGM 1994 at the age of 16. Retired immediately.

Tara Lipinski: OGM 1998 at the age of 15. Withdrew from worlds same year, retired shortly after.

Sarah Hughes: OGM 2002 at the age of 16. Skipped worlds same year, 6th Place at worlds 2003, retired afterwards.

Shizuka Arakawa: OGM 2006 at the age of 24. Retired immediately.

Yuna Kim: OGM 2010 at the age of 19. 2nd place at worlds same year (7th place in SP). Skipped all competitions except worlds 2011 (2nd place) and 2013 (1st place). OSM 2014 (controversal). Retired afterwards.

Adelina Sotnikova: OGM 2014 (controversal) at the age of 17. Withdrew from worlds and GP same year. In 2015 she placed 2nd at CS Mordovian Ornament, 3rd at GP Rostelecom and 6th at CS Golden Spin. Did not compete since.

Alina Zagitova: OGM 2018 at the age of 15. 5th place at worlds same year (7th place in FS). Won CS Nebelhorn, GP Finland, GP Rostelecom 2018, 2nd place at GPF 2018. In 2019 2nd place Euros, 1st place worlds, 2nd place GP France, 3rd place GP NHK, 6th place GPF. Announced a break from competitions afterwards.

It seems that winning the OGM is always a turning point in a ladies' career, and it tends to be short afterwards. Both Yuna and Alina have named a lack of motivation after reaching this point. For Alina, it may have been the world title that kept her going. Her post-OGM career looks pretty long and successful when compared to her "peers", particularly Oksana, Tara and Sarah who also won the olympics very young.

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This is a relevant list, but it's almost unfair to compare the decisions of skaters like Katarina, Kristi, and Oksana, who all had the opportunity to still thrive in a professional circuit that no longer exists.

Sugar Coated said:

To me Alina just seems mentally burned out. Burn it is a very real phenomenon, especially among elite athletes. This doesn’t mean she’s lazy or unmotivated. It’s just that similar to the body, the mind needs time to recover after intense periods focused discipline. To me she appears to be physically in shape - her GPF short program is evidence. But mentally she just wanna exhausted. I suspect she’s actually been burned out since her Olympic season and needed more of a rest afterward.

You treat burn out by taking a break from competitions and high level training and incorporate other activities (I like that she was doing pottery to relax). She can stay in shape, continue to skate, but just not the same training she was doing.

People always discuss the physical impact that Eteri’s have on the body but I actually suspect that it’s the mental impact that can’t be sustained for more than 3 years as they are training now. The intense discipline and focus, without adequate active rest, can’t be sustained unless they start to make changes.

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Yes she said she had to wake up at 6 in the morning and train until 9 in the evening every day with only one day to rest.
She has amazing stamina but she can’t cope with this anymore.

theharleyquinn said:

This is a relevant list, but it's almost unfair to compare the decisions of skaters like Katarina, Kristi, and Oksana, who all had the opportunity to still thrive in a professional circuit that no longer exists.

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And Alina has opportunities to thrive skating in various ice shows and exhibitions if she so chooses.
She also could have chosen to do this right after the Olympics. For example, she was already very popular in Japan at that time.

The list was posted anyway to rebut a prior post that belittled what Alina has accomplished post Olympics.
I seriously doubt it meant to cast negativity on others.

After the past few comps it was very clear that Alina needed a break. If she is retiring, congrats on an amazing career. I hope that whatever path she takes makes her the happiest she can be, on or off competitive ice.

Alina made the right decision. She’s absolutely stunning in the sleeping beauty show, why struggling in competition when you can have fun skating in a show. It’s also a lot of work.

Gabby30 said:

How many major competitions did she won after the Olympics? I think it was only one �� Someone who won "everything" only one time is a typical one hit wonder. The only thing "special" about her was that she did all jumps in the second half of the program when she was 15. That's all. Relevant? No. Memorable? Not at all. Her time is over

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It was relevant and memorable to me. She's the only one who did it, probably the only one who could do it without it being too much of a risk.

And that's the only thing special about her to YOU, not to many others. I could write out everything that's special about her to me, but this isn't her fanfest, so I'll spare everyone the monologue.

Unsurprisingly given my username, Yuzuru Hanyu is my favorite skater. Between 2014 and 2018, commentators gushed time and time again how most Olympic gold medalists retire that season, yet Yuzu kept going and wanted a second. After Pyeongchang, they started gushing how he's still competing after two OGMs, and still is upgrading his content in hopes of making more history with the 4A and who knows what else, plus beating Nathan Chen, etc.

They're not just mentioning how he keeps going because they like him, they're saying it because it's noteworthy. And it's noteworthy because few do it. Alina's another one of the few.

Her time will be over when she decides its over.

Guys, if you are annoyed at that one post belittling Alina's achievements - the poster who wrote that has a history of negative posts about skaters. Just look at their post history, and let's not take the contents too seriously.
Well, good luck to Alina in her further career, whichever career she chooses!

This decision is beyond un-surprising. Alina has looked unhappy to be skating all this season. She kept the promises she wrote out. She was actually a very good advertisement for Eteri's school and method for the past 18 months, as they probably would like to prove that their stars won't be irrelevant within two years of graduating to seniors. Alina hasn't proved that, IMO. She's followed the same time schedule as Julia and Evgenia, and is being surpassed by her younger teammates. Certainly, Alina turned 15 at exactly the right time.

TSL has been saying for weeks that they thought the plan seemed to be for Alina to bow out of competition around Christmas. They said she'd been signed for two tours, beginning this month, so they didn't see her going ahead with competition this year. I haven't searched to see if Dave was right about the tours. I just thought it was interesting that he again has made a correct prediction. (by no means do I accept everything they say.)

skylark said:

This decision is beyond un-surprising. Alina has looked unhappy to be skating all this season. She kept the promises she wrote out. She was actually a very good advertisement for Eteri's school and method for the past 18 months, as they probably would like to prove that their stars won't be irrelevant within two years of graduating to seniors. Alina hasn't proved that, IMO. She's followed the same time schedule as Julia and Evgenia, and is being surpassed by her younger teammates. Certainly, Alina turned 15 at exactly the right time.

TSL has been saying for weeks that they thought the plan seemed to be for Alina to bow out of competition around Christmas. They said she'd been signed for two tours, beginning this month, so they didn't see her going ahead with competition this year. I haven't searched to see if Dave was right about the tours. I just thought it was interesting that he again has made a correct prediction. (by no means do I accept everything they say.)

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Their predictions/position/explanations change on the daily.
Alina has a bad skate at Worlds 18 - "the technique is failing her"
Alina has a good skate at Nebelhorn - "she's jumping more from her legs, she came with a different technique, that's why"
Alina has a bad skate at Rusnats and Euros - "the technique is failing her, we told you"
Alina wins worlds - *cricket sounds*
Alina comes out strong during Test skates - "she's jumping more from her legs, she came with a different technique, that's why"
Alina makes mistakes at GPs - "the technique is failing her, we told you"


And it's not like Alina is being surpassed by younger teammates. EVERYONE is. Literally. Rika isn't able to keep up.

Gabby30 said:

How many major competitions did she won after the Olympics? I think it was only one Someone who won "everything" only one time is a typical one hit wonder. The only thing "special" about her was that she did all jumps in the second half of the program when she was 15. That's all. Relevant? No. Memorable? Not at all. Her time is over

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Do better if you can. You are not in her shoes. What the point to win the same title several times ? It doesn’t change anything, a world champion will always be a world champion.

nussnacker said:

Their predictions/position/explanations change on the daily.
Alina has a bad skate at Worlds 18 - "the technique is failing her"
Alina has a good skate at Nebelhorn - "she's jumping more from her legs, she came with a different technique, that's why"
Alina has a bad skate at Rusnats and Euros - "the technique is failing her, we told you"
Alina wins worlds - *cricket sounds*
Alina comes out strong during Test skates - "she's jumping more from her legs, she came with a different technique, that's why"
Alina makes mistakes at GPs - "the technique is failing her, we told you"


And it's not like Alina is being surpassed by younger teammates. EVERYONE is. Literally. Rika isn't able to keep up.

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Actually, I find your list of their quotes pretty consistent, not "changing on the daily." Also, Dave and Jonathan are FAR from the only people who talked about Alina's technique and speculated that it might not serve her well when she had more of a woman's body. One (maybe more) on this thread.

But I was only talking about a prediction that Alina would step back from competition this month, which (as I said), they've been saying for weeks now.

Kudos to her for staying after her gold medal instead of copying Adelina who no one even talks about in terms of great skaters who we loved and missed. She was here and gone and everyone thought Yuna would win if clean with huge PCS. We all know how Sochi went. Yuna has the rep as a great because she Has two Olympics A gold and silver and a couple world championships. I think Alina was so young and stayed in to get the world champ spot. It was then or never. She looked humiliated and devastated to be last in the GPF. I do not think she has a physical injury. Her pride is devastated because she is a kid and she sees how her coaches the rushed and the whole mentality is winner take all and she wasn’t even close. Yes, she beat Medvedeva with backloading. Both beat an amazing skater named Katelyn Osmond. Many of us do not like what we see happening for years at Sambo 70. It was clear this year was going to be brutal for her. I think she was very lucky. Again she’s beautiful and becoming a woman so fast. She will do shows and commercials and have a blast. She was amazing to try this year because most in her shoes would have quit after worlds. She loves to skate I think but not winning or even getting close upsets her terribly. All I can say is Johhnynhas said it is a snake pit there or something similar. And what of the doping scandals. Maybe Russia is going to really be locked out. I don’t follow that but something must be done about what this beautiful ancient country is doing under their dictator.

I hope to see the Russian kids at the next Olympics but one never knows what 2022 will bring. I expect different girls than who won the GPF. Sadly I think my fave Alena will be first to drop unless she too can do two quad lutz. Plus the trixel. Alina would stil be skating were she from any other country maybe including Japan. I would love to see her and Zhenya learn the hardest jumps and get on podium under Orser. Maybe then Russfed stops supporting Sambo over all else. They are just heartless. They win but what a cost to so many great girls over the last 5 years.

And OT I was glad to see the tall beauty Masha this season who skates because she loves it. So glad she could get an assignment. I miss Anna P, Julia, Polina and others. We should do a where are the Russian girls now thread. This just shows you how gutsy is Liza T to stay in. She was never my fave but she sure is a warrior over there. God bless them all and Alina has the world before here. She had a great run. I think she will not be back but hey one never does know.

CellarDweller said:

Not to go off topic, but I often wonder about the toll of these quads is doing to the bodies of both the women and men. Yes, they're young and healthy now, but what problems are they going to experience after they leave the sport, after having pounded their hips and knees with multiple quads year after year?

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With careers this short? Nah, there will be nothing bad. They will even have time to finish their education properly. Kudos to Eteri for promoting such healthy way of doing sport :agree:
It's those with long careers who are going to have health problems. In your place I would be more worried about Tuktamysheva health instead of Eteri skaters

skylark said:

This decision is beyond un-surprising. Alina has looked unhappy to be skating all this season. She kept the promises she wrote out. She was actually a very good advertisement for Eteri's school and method for the past 18 months, as they probably would like to prove that their stars won't be irrelevant within two years of graduating to seniors. Alina hasn't proved that, IMO. She's followed the same time schedule as Julia and Evgenia, and is being surpassed by her younger teammates. Certainly, Alina turned 15 at exactly the right time.

TSL has been saying for weeks that they thought the plan seemed to be for Alina to bow out of competition around Christmas. They said she'd been signed for two tours, beginning this month, so they didn't see her going ahead with competition this year. I haven't searched to see if Dave was right about the tours. I just thought it was interesting that he again has made a correct prediction. (by no means do I accept everything they say.)

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No. Actually, after Test Skates and Japan Open, where Alina was stunning, they were claiming that Alina and Sasha were a lock for the World team as the big champion and the young prodigy. They thought poor Alena was going to be sacrificed. They claimed Eteri doesn't like Alena and doesn't understand her outstanding skating qualities. (offtopic - after Alena began landing the triple axels consistently and winning everything, now they mentioned that Eteri found out how much the western world likes Alena and that's why she decided to develop her?!!!)

Anyway, at some point they claimed Anna was going to be left out. Then, after a few unconvincing skates by Alina and after she agreed to skate in Navka's show, they went back to her. So, TSL have never been consistent and have been wrong so many times that I've lost count. The truth is that the make up of the Russian team between the 3As and three world champions (one of them Olympic) has been an insane puzzle for all of us. TSL doesn't have any more insight or knowledge than the average fan or hater.

skylark said:

Actually, I find your list of their quotes pretty consistent, not "changing on the daily." Also, Dave and Jonathan are FAR from the only people who talked about Alina's technique and speculated that it might not serve her well when she had more of a woman's body. One (maybe more) on this thread.

But I was only talking about a prediction that Alina would step back from competition this month, which (as I said), they've been saying for weeks now.

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How is it consistent? They say she jumps from her arms and that's why her technique failing her one day ("Once you grow, you cannot jump from your arms anymore"), and when she does well it becomes the "Well, she came to Eteri later", "Alina's not in that school as long and jumping more from her legs" the other day. Alina's probably constantly changing her technique.

nussnacker said:

Alina comes out strong during Test skates - "she's jumping more from her legs, she came with a different technique, that's why"
Alina makes mistakes at GPs - "the technique is failing her, we told you"
.

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So, to add to what I said before, I don't find these two remarks to be particularly contradictory. If Alina jumped more from her legs at Nebelhorn and Test skates, it might have been because she was making an effort to jump more from her legs. (Everyone says that's what makes Liza T's technique so excellent.) Changing technique takes time, and all the skaters who've tried say that they have the new technique in practice but that in competitions, it's all too easy for muscle memory to have them reverting back to their old habits. It's not an easy way to go, that's for sure.

And it's not like Alina is being surpassed by younger teammates. EVERYONE is. Literally. Rika isn't able to keep up.

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I'm not so sure about that. Rika had an injury that prevented her from doing lutz so far this year. And she got a quad sal out there in competition. I'm very impressed with that. We may see a stronger Rika in 2nd half of season.