Was Michelle too hasty in quitting? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Was Michelle too hasty in quitting?

FreeKatie

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
hydroradi said:
Should she have waited a few more days? Apparently, Sasha was skating in pain and hid injuries.

The ladies free skate was such a mess, she really would have had a great chance at getting on the podium and even winning if she could have managed a couple clean performances.

She was probably watching TV last night and saying...I could have beaten these people and won the gold.


I agree, MK could have won this darn thing -- 5 triples and no 3/3s -- easy.
I think the negative press about her taking Emily's spot made her leave as soon as she felt she wasn't 100%. If she had stayed and not skated well the press and MK-haters would have went on an attack.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
once again, can't predict the outcome if another skater was there. there are too many X-factors.
 

FreeKatie

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Red Dog said:
once again, can't predict the outcome if another skater was there. there are too many X-factors.

you can't predict, but given the outcome, it is certainly possible that an unijured Kwan could beat a 5 triple program. many people thought MK had no chance in heck.
 

rob43

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 1, 2005
But the problem was- she was injured, reinjured or suffering a 3rd recent injuriny depending on whom and which conspiracy you choose to believe.

I love the girl but she really was not in a position to risk it. I read an article posted earlier that basically said she should have flown out an extra week or two in advance and skipped the opening ceremony. The former wasn't possible as she was 'official' til two weeks prior and the second was her decision. But I think if she had any shot of completeing solid if unspectacular programs she would have tried. She said in an interview that they were constructed to max out points regardless of 3/3s- so I think if she felt capable of a clean SP and 5 triples in the long she would have stayed in. And the announcement of her withdrawel basically said the doctor told her to pull out.
 

Skate Sandee

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Red Dog said:
once again, can't predict the outcome if another skater was there. there are too many X-factors.

Exactly. What if healthy Kwan skated cleanly with her 6 planned triples, and Arakawa decided not to play it safe and go for the 3/3 in her aresenal? In the last 2 Olympics, the winners came out guns blazing in order to be competitive with Kwan (and Irina in 2002). It's impossible to predict.
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Ladskater said:
I thought Michelle should have never gone to this Olympic games in the first place. Given the fact that she was not skating much at all for the season it seemed like a long shot that she would suddenly be ready for the Olympics. I think she went purely on reputation and I hate to say this probably realized once there she was not ready and did not want to give a poor performance.

I wonder if she had been able to collect all that money she now got for just appearing in the opening, if she had not travelled to Turin?
 

FreeKatie

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Ladskater said:
I thought Michelle should have never gone to this Olympic games in the first place. Given the fact that she was not skating much at all for the season it seemed like a long shot that she would suddenly be ready for the Olympics. I think she went purely on reputation and I hate to say this probably realized once there she was not ready and did not want to give a poor performance.

I disagree, I think she left not because she realized she wasn't ready but because she re-injured her groin. If you have ever injured a muscle or ligament you know that it is very easy to re-injure because, unlike bones which heal stronger, muscle and ligament injuries do not heal well, they are weaker and prone to re-injury for good.
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Michelle wasn't hoping for something that had never happened before. Again, Elvis Stojko had a groin injury in Nagano; S/Z hadn't competed all year, and still won the bronze in Torino. The only thing I feel safe in saying is that, if Michelle had been there, there probably would have been a higher level of skating -- if not from her, then from the skaters who would have felt they had to go all out to beat her.
 
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BridgetJ

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 27, 2004
Misplaced Gymnast said:
Let's face it, Kwan's Olympics consisted of ONE triple jump, and she promptly (re)-injured herself going for #2. Even if the podium wasn't a hotbed of 3-3ers, each of the medalists at least had more than one triple jump.

I strongly believe that Kwan would have been out there if she thought she had a remote chance of staying on her feet. I think she must have known she didn't have a prayer of even getting through the competition, let alone pulling off a miracle. I have visions of her having ended up like Elvis, or even Tara.

And, as someone posted, she came out smelling like a rose.:cool:

I believe the only reason why she injured herself on the triple flip was because she was forcing her sore and aching body, due to the four hours in the cold for the Opening Ceremonies, to skate that morning. She had been jumping since 1/13 and had *not* reinjured herself until 2/10. Obvioiusly this proves that at home in Cali, she was taking good care of herself, and should have listened to her body and skipped the 2/10 practise until her aches from the OC were gone (not to mention all the running around she did for media interviews). She was not as fragile as you make it sound. Anyone coming off an injury should take it easier than Michelle did in Torino, unfortuneatly. I wish she had either skipped the OC (like she did in '98 with her toe injury) or skipped the next day's practise, and that will forever break my heart.
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
BridgetJ said:
I believe the only reason why she injured herself on the triple flip was because she was forcing her sore and aching body, due to the four hours in the cold for the Opening Ceremonies, to skate that morning. She had been jumping since 1/13 and had *not* reinjured herself until 2/10. Obvioiusly this proves that at home in Cali, she was taking good care of herself, and should have listened to her body and skipped the 2/10 practise until her aches from the OC were gone (not to mention all the running around she did for media interviews). She was not as fragile as you make it sound. Anyone coming off an injury should take it easier than Michelle did in Torino, unfortuneatly. I wish she had either skipped the OC (like she did in '98 with her toe injury) or skipped the next day's practise, and that will forever break my heart.

She "forced" herself to practice b/c there was probably something wrong with her before she even got to Italy and she needed to make sure that she was able to compete. Because the stakes were high because she took a healthy athlete's spot on the team. If she waited any longer, Emily wouldn't have had time to replace her and she would have been skewered in the media. She wouldn't have received the kind send off that she received but would have been depicted as a selfish athlete who stole someone's spot when she couldn't deliver the goods. At least MIchelle retains her likeability and ability to get endorsements, because it's not as if she can ever win another title.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
soogar said:
She "forced" herself to practice b/c there was probably something wrong with her before she even got to Italy and she needed to make sure that she was able to compete. Because the stakes were high because she took a healthy athlete's spot on the team. If she waited any longer, Emily wouldn't have had time to replace her and she would have been skewered in the media. She wouldn't have received the kind send off that she received but would have been depicted as a selfish athlete who stole someone's spot when she couldn't deliver the goods. At least MIchelle retains her likeability and ability to get endorsements, because it's not as if she can ever win another title.
Soogar from Emily's mouth to your ears; I was fine working hard on my assignment to Worlds.
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Joesitz said:
Soogar from Emily's mouth to your ears; I was fine working hard on my assignment to Worlds.

But Emily was darn excited and happy to be skating in the Olympics (as was her family to be there to cheer her on).
 

jsteam4501s

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
In saying that Michelle would have won the Gold Medal in THIS Olympic Ladies competition, you're assuming that everthing that happened would have been the same with Michelle in there. Nope, you can't do that.

If you're saying "Michelle would have topped Shizuka's scores to win the Gold", you're assuming Shizuka's strategy would have been the same, and Irina's as well. Nope, you can't do that
.
Shizuka won by 9 points over Sasha, and yet she didn't have to have anywhere near the difficulty in her program to win. So logically, she would have greatly upped the ante athletically if Michelle had been there.

It's always fun to wonder "what if", because you have the freedom to assume that everything else stays the same if that "what if" is inserted into the mix.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I don't think anyone was positive that Michelle would win if she had skater. I think it was just the possibility that she might have won the contest. And the possibility included an injury free Michelle.

There was nothing special about the technical aspects of the competition. Shizuka had a 'clean' program and she had that 'no hands Y spiral' which would have forced Kwan into doing something extra in the technical, like a 3x3.

Not really worth arguing this. We don't know what would have happened if Michelle skated while being injury free with the TT choreography,.

Joe
 
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