- Joined
- Jan 19, 2005
She's back to the thrill of many and the dismay of Some. Lol. The thing I will never understand is that people constantly laud Liza and Zhenya for continuing on Liza at 23 and Zhenya at 20. I do as well. I think so many want Alina to retire even at when she wasv17. I applaud any figure skater that wants to continue on whether they're at the highest level like the top Russian girls or they're struggling Russian skaters or from any country for that matter. It will be interesting to see how good Alina is this season if there is a season now that she's through puberty and is bigger than when she won the Olympics.
Scott - I think the number of people "dismayed" is very, very small. And IMO it would be for reasons other than Alina herself. It is because she could throw a monkey wrench in the "Eteri can't succeed with mature ladies" argument. It's funny how there have been all sorts of discussions about not calling Anna, Alexandra, Aliona "The 3A" because it doesn't recognize their individuality. Yet there seems to be no problem in wanting to lump Alina in with every other skater that has failed post-puberty with Eteri.
Most of the "will she or won't she" has been because Alina has already won all the big prizes. And very few ladies skaters (no matter the age) continue in competition after they win the Olympics. So if Liza or Zhenya had won the Olympics, the same discussions would be taking place about them. If Alina does stick around for the next Olympic cycle, I think it would be amazing. Because she would be doing it totally for herself and not because of any pressure. IIRC, Katarina Witt was more or less forced to compete through 1988 by East Germany (with the promise she would be able to travel to the West after that). Yuna Kim was not forced, of course. But I think she felt a big obligated to South Korea to skate in Sochi in 2014.
PS - I also agree with you that coronavirus has devastated the world. And not just in terms of the illness itself.