Julianne Séguin : "Charlie may have saved my life"

[4everchan]

In the case of Charlie and Lubov, Lubov had the right to know when Charlie was questioning his desire to continue their partnership. He may have still been contemplating the situation but he should have communicated those doubts with Lubov. It was her future, too. Maybe she could have proposed something that would have changed his mind. Probably not, but it would have given her more time to plan her future without him as a pairs partner. He's not a monster but Lubov was not treated fairly.

The way I understood this situation is that when Charlie hit the wall, he was done. He could no longer pretend and train as if he were happy. He had shut himself down for so long. I can easily imagine how the ONLY way to get out of his prison would be to do exactly like he did. Run away. Retire. Escape while his decision has been made. I can easily imagine how he may have been scared that having a conversation with Lubov may entice him to stay... to keep working on the next quad... to get to the next games... and therefore back inside his prison. I can easily imagine how Lubov may have had really strong arguments to convince him to stay.

What I read in these articles is how affected these athletes were and the only rescue is retirement. I have lived a similar situation and I can only sympathize with this. Sometimes the only way to survive an unhealthy climate is to run run run far away. Only then, can release happen.

This doesn't mean that I do not feel for Lubov. She's had such bad luck with partners, yet so much unrealized potential. At the same time, it's the nature of sport. At the end of a 4 year cycle, there is only one Olympic champion... the system is made like that. It's already made to be cruel. While we all together focus on making champions, we need to also focus on making healthy athletes, and then, perhaps, less tragedies like that of Julianne, Charlie and Lubov will happen.

 

[withwings]

I applaud Julienne and others for bringing their health challenges to light and I wish them all continued recovery. There is certainly much to be learned about better coaching and federation safety. The broader theme is honesty. Coaches/federations must be honest with their athletes about the potential harm that may be placed on their injured athlete if they return too early. I think it also highlights the importance of honesty between partners and something that coaches and federations should emphasize. In the case of Charlie and Lubov, Lubov had the right to know when Charlie was questioning his desire to continue their partnership. He may have still been contemplating the situation but he should have communicated those doubts with Lubov. It was her future, too. Maybe she could have proposed something that would have changed his mind. Probably not, but it would have given her more time to plan her future without him as a pairs partner. He's not a monster but Lubov was not treated fairly.

Charlie did the best he could. And Luba did the best she could. If Luba was not able to percieve, to see/feel that Charlie has a difficult time, then whoes fault was it? No ones. Unfortunately, we all are limited in our psychological perception, in understanding the other person. To say that Charlie needed to discuss, to tell Luba, that Luba 'had the right to know'.... if that would be so simple then there would be much less tragedies in the world. A decision to talk, to open the heart comes on the basis of reason or logic but actually to do this, to talk, to discuss, to open the heart... it happens rather if there is a conviction in us that we wil be understood.Apparently Charlie knew that a conversation with Luba is not an option for him , that Luba is ot going to understand him.
My Enlgish vocabulary is quite limited, the same my ability to express myself clearly in English.

 

[withwings]

And thank you, Charlie and Julianne, for those unforgetable moments your skating brought to us.
And thank you 4everchan for all these articles. It feels like finally that finally this forum talks about figure skating! Thank you.