Who will Retire after the Olympics?

Hi
While I am not really new to this forum, I have never posted a thread. Mostly I just read the threads posted by other people.

I was wondering though, who do you think will retire after the 2006 Olympics?

As for myself, I think:
Ladies:
Irina Slutskaya, Shizuka Arakawa, Fumie Suguri,

Dance:
Navka and Kostimorov, G&G

Men:
Takeshi Honda
Ben Ferierria
Michael Weiss (if he doesn't, he should)

Pairs:
P&T
T&M

to name a few

Add Kwan and Cohen to the ladies list.

Can't think of any to add to your list except for Michelle, Amber Corwin, and Dubreuil/Lauzon

Goebel and Plushenko for the men.

I think Ilya Klimkin, Vachtang Murvanidze, Gheorgi Chipper, Takeshi Honda and Ben Ferriero (sp?) will rerire. My speculation is based on their age and the number of years they have been on the senior circuit as top or near the top men in their country.

It is safe to say that Fusar Poli and Margalio will retire (right after their unretirement . Perhaps the same could be said for Sylvia Fontana and Drobiazko and Vanagas. I think Megan Wing and Aaron Low have announced their plans to retire at the end of this season.

I think that Matt Savoie and Tim Goebel will retire (Matt most likely will find it difficult to attend the law school and continue to skate as an amature). How about John and Rena??

That's all I can think of..

Yana

RE Plyushenko:

He had said in the past that he would like to skate through 2010. That was before the 2005 Worlds though. Has anybody heard anything official from him on this subject?

Yana

I would add Kwan and Cohen to the list as well. Michelle's body is already feeling the effects of skating at a high level for so long, and I think as long as Sasha gets some medal, she will retire. There are so many up and coming skaters that waiting it out for another Olympics (if she doesn't get gold) will probably land her in a lower place rather than a higher one.

STL_Blues_fan said:

It is safe to say that Fusar Poli and Margalio will retire (right after their unretirement .
Yana

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So they're back? I'd heard that they were going to try for gold in Turin, but hadn't heard anything about them performing this season.

bethissoawesome said:

There are so many up and coming skaters that waiting it out for another Olympics (if she doesn't get gold) will probably land her in a lower place rather than a higher one.

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I think this can be said for not only Sasha, but Michelle and others. The younger generation are quickly catching up to the veterans and surpassing them in some cases. I think most will probably save themselves the embarrasment as well as further injury by trying to rise to the new standards and retire.

Ladies:

Michelle-for sure.
Irina-if she loses the Olympics, she might stay in.
Cohen-if she wins an Oly medal, or the World gold, she will retire. If she does neither will stay.
Suguri-if she medals at the Olympics she actually might stay another couple of years to try and get the World gold, unless she wins it in Calgary.
Sokolova/Volchkova-both will be gone.
Arakawa-like Suguri, if she medals in the Olympics it might be what motivates her to compete another couple years. If she wins another Worlds though she will be gone.
Ando-if she does not finish in the top 5 at both Olympics and Worlds she will retire, if she does she will probably continue atleast another couple years.


Men:

Plushenko-if he wins the Olympics(and he will)he is gone.
Goebel-definitely the end.
Honda-the end will be Japanese Nationals or Four Continents.
Klimkin-if he makes it to Turin, he might stay in a bit longer, if not he is gone.
Weiss-definitely the end, probably at U.S nationals(I hope actually).
Li-probably the end, not 100% sure, but likely. Especially if he pulls off a surprise medal at a depleted Worlds(he wont medal at the Olympics for sure, where everybody will be there).
Zhang-definitely the end if he even makes the Olympic team.

Pairs:

Totmianina/Marinin-they have already confirmed they are leaving after this season.
Petrova/Tikhonov-he is so old, they will be definitely be through after this year.
Pang/Tong-if they lose to Zhang/Zhang at both the Olympics and Worlds, they are gone, if they beat them atleast once they might stay around.
Shen/Zhou-definitely the end, lets hope it is atleast at Worlds, if not the Olympics
before that as well.


Dance:

Navka/Kostomarov-after their coronation as Oly and World Champions they are done.
Grushina/Goncharov-after probably medals at the Oly and Worlds they are also turning pro.
Dubreuil/Lauzon-they have already confirmed this is their last year no matter what happens.
Denkoyva/Stayvinski-I could actually see them staying around atleast another 2 years if they medal at either the Olympics or Worlds.

It depends on what you mean by "retire". If you mean from eligible competition, probably a ton of skaters, most of those mentioned.

If you mean from skating entirely or mostly, I'll just say "hopefully, none of the gold medalists".

kwan, slute, fumie, arakawa and maybe SASHA if she does well.

I can't imagine Michelle Kwan hanging on for yet another year of eligible competition, regardless of her placement in Torino. She turns 26 next July.

Sasha Cohen might hang in for another year, if she doesn't win gold at the Olympics and/or Worlds. If she wins gold, she's gone from the eligible ranks.

Amber Corwin probably sees this as her last eligible year. She'll probably again not qualify for the US Olympic and/or World team, and that's shame, after so many years of solid competition.

Timothy Goebel will wave goodbye to the eligible ranks after this season. Win, lose, or draw, this is it for him.

Michael Weiss will surely retire this year, too. He'll be 30 next year, which is pretty ancient for elite men's competition. However, I'm sure he will remain very much involved with figure skating, whether as a coach, commentator, etc.

It's probably also Matt Savoie's last year in eligible competition. This guy has earned a master's degree, with is incredible, considering how much time you have to spend studying for advanced degrees.

Not a lot to add.

Ladies: Irina, unless she loses. Kwan almost for certain. (Not because she's "old", but because she's physically breaking down.) For some reason I can't see Cohen retiring unless she pulls out an OGM or a World title.

Men's: As far as I'm concerned I wish Goebel would quit now. Honestly, he's scoring a little higher than Weiss, but Weiss at least is skating like he cares, even if he knows he's not going to win. Goebel is painful to watch. I can't tell if he doesn't give a crap any more or if he cares too much, but either way I would personally be marking his presentation scores way, way down.

Pairs: T/M. Dunno on anyone else. I kind of hope S/Z won't, as I haven't seen nearly as much of them as I'd like, but if they do retire from eligible I hope they stick around the tour circuit!

Dance: N/K. For certain. G/G, most likely. D/L, probably. But ice dancers have long shelf lives, so it's hard to say. I'm kind of wondering about B/A myself, if they do get to Torino and medal. On the one hand, they're the World silvers and if they do a repeat of that at the Olympics they're the heirs apparent for next season with Navka and Kostomarov gone. On the other, they might feel that's the highest they could expect to go. I would think they'll stick around one more year at least to see about a World title, and maybe even aim to stay in to 2010. They're still relative kids, anyway.

Plushenko said recently he's staying in until 2010. Worlds will be in St. Petersburg, his home town, that year, so I believe he really means it.

I think Cohen is gone, at least after Worlds 2006, after having been beaten by Asada at TEB. If she wins US Nationals, I am sure she will retire regardless of whether she wins a medal in Torino.

No one mentioned Elena Liashenko?? She was in Lillehammer, for heaven's sake!! And Julia Sebestyen came along the following season. Also Maniachenko (now known as Efremova); was around in the early 90s as a junior pairs skater. I don't see Cohen "retiring" (as mafke mentions, the definition of that is a bit unclear) until she at least wins a NATIONAL title; I mean, how many times can you finish second before you've had enough??

Can't think of any men or dance couples to add to the list, except for Fraser & Lukanin; they've been around a while and since (far as I know) Fraser married Murvanidze, they may decide to settle down and do the married thing.

I'm pretty certain Shen & Zhao will be out after this season; I seem to recall that after SLC, they wanted to retire then but there were strong indications that the Chinese federation (the Soviets of the new millenium) pretty much told them, No you WILL stay eligible.....

JonnyCoop said:

Can't think of any men or dance couples to add to the list, except for Fraser & Lukanin; they've been around a while and since (far as I know) Fraser married Murvanidze, they may decide to settle down and do the married thing.

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When did Kristin marry Vakhtang? And are there any pictures? Zanzibar...

Anybody have any idea what Sandhu plans to do? He's 25 now and if he plans on hanging around until Vancouver he will be in the "ancient" category.

Michelle, Irina, Shizuka and Fumie will all turn Pro. Michelle's body can't take all the training, Irina will want to start a family, Shizuka is a World Champ and no longer a kid, and Fumie would be a long shot to make Japan's 2007 World team. Mao, Yukuri, and Miki will be hard to beat.

Sasha will stay in the ISU ranks, unless she does very well this season, she'll need at least a US Nats Gold or World Gold AND an Olympic Medal to think about retirement. If she's ever going to win Worlds, this is the year, because in 2007 Mao will begin her reign. Sasha will compete again next season if she still hasn't won US Nats.

Sokolova and Volchkova will say and compete with each other for the Russian Nats Gold next year, their time has finally come!

Liashenko and Sebestyen will keep competing as long as they can or until something else comes up in their lives. They can still win their own Nats and make some noise at Euros and some GP events.

I know both Jeffrey Buttle and Joannie Rochette have said that they plan on continuing until 2010. They are, afterall, just 23 and 20 years old, respectively.

tripleflutz said:

Michelle, Irina, Shizuka and Fumie will all turn Pro. Michelle's body can't take all the training, Irina will want to start a family, Shizuka is a World Champ and no longer a kid, and Fumie would be a long shot to make Japan's 2007 World team. Mao, Yukuri, and Miki will be hard to beat.

Sasha will stay in the ISU ranks, unless she does very well this season, she'll need at least a US Nats Gold or World Gold AND an Olympic Medal to think about retirement. If she's ever going to win Worlds, this is the year, because in 2007 Mao will begin her reign. Sasha will compete again next season if she still hasn't won US Nats.

Sokolova and Volchkova will say and compete with each other for the Russian Nats Gold next year, their time has finally come!

Liashenko and Sebestyen will keep competing as long as they can or until something else comes up in their lives. They can still win their own Nats and make some noise at Euros and some GP events.

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You never know what Irina will do. Everyone thought she'd retire after winning Worlds 2005, but no. She's focused right now on Torino. If she wins the OGM, she might retire immediately, or stay on til Worlds. I doubt we will see her next season, though. I don't think she wants to take a chance of losing to Asada again. If she doesn't win the OGM, she likely will still go to Worlds, then retire.

Liashenko just got married, so she may or may not continue to compete.

Sokolova will probably stay for a year or so, at the urging of the Russian federation, beause there is literally no one to replace her. Soldatova is 24 and hasn't competed at Worlds since 2002 (for Belarus) and was 18th. Since then she has regained eligibility to compete for Russia, but has had injury after injury; and is reportedly having surgery to correct the problem. Volchkova, 23, had surgery in September and has reportedly been having setbacks in her recovery. She last competed at Worlds in 2004, and was 15th.

No comment about Sasha and Michelle until after US Nationals, Torino and Calgary. Their future plans depend heavily on their results from these competitions.

Shizuka will likely retire, but I'm not so sure about Fumie. Like Kwan, she will not want her career to end because of an untimely injury.