- Joined
- Mar 11, 2014
I disagree. Kostner and Lipniskaia both bore heavy expectations going in to the individual skates in their home countries. Kostner was deemed a promising young talent then, and expected if not to medal, then at least do well in Turin. Lipniskaia was hyped all over the world to the extent where people were bugging her practices/locker rooms - all eyes were on her. Conversely, Sotnikova wasn't really in the Russian audience's mind when she took the ice (she herself was wondering if they knew her name). There were no expectations from the fans for her to deliver. She went out as the underdog, instead of as the favorite. She was skating to prove herself, not skating to appease the public; those are two different things.
Sotnikova NOW has a lot of pressure to skate well, due to all the public pressure and eyes fixed on her.
Everyone goes out to prove themselves at the Olympics, they don't hand you a medal for being the favourite. Had Sotnikova not performed to her best it would have been far more damaging to her than to Lipnitskia, who is still the darling of the skating world inside and outside of Russia, despite failing at the Olympics. With Sotnikova it would have been a different story, by winning the gold they can't cast her aside as easily.
And the only pressure she has now is the pressure she puts on herself, she doesn't have to prove anything to anyone.
If she wants to use the Korean melodrama to motivate herself that's fine, but it's ultimately her own decision.