Originally Posted by
pangtongfan
Any of the men who competed in singles up to 30 were clearly past their best before date as amateur competitors by then too. Think of Eldredge and Stojko in SLC, Boitano in Lillehammer. And in the case of Boitano as a pro he was a phenom who had taken pro skating to a new level and almost unbeatable. As for how people viewed them I think many people said Stojko stayed far too long, and many have now said Boitano's comeback was pretty much a waste but atleast he was able to slide right back into his phenomenal pro career with ease. Eldredge people have been more kind towards, but that is probably because of his bronze at the 2001 Worlds and gold at the 2002 Nationals. He is a rare exception who achieved nearly similar success (considering he was never a frequent gold or dominant skater) at that age to his prime years, but he is just that, a rare exception. Butyrskaya is a women who didnt take so much heat competing up until 29 but that is since again she is a rare case of someone who was competitive still at that age. In most cases though singles skater of that age belong in the pros, if they want to continue skating that is, even the true greats such as Boitano with more talent than Fumie. Of course there could be those rare exceptions as I said, but it is clear by now Fumie is not one of them. She has tried for 5 years to see if she is one of them and she so clearly isnt.
She is well past her prime, has skating quality and reputation have gradually regressed since 2006. It is obvious by now she doesnt have even the tiniest chance of matching or bettering her top career achievements- 3 non gold World medals, 2 Olympic top 5s, and a Grand Prix final title. So what is the point of continuing and holding out false hope for something that isnt going to happen. How can a former mutli World medalist and contender be happy seeing herself continually drop in the ranks and not even be a contender of any sort anymore. I actually liked Fumie in the past, and would have liked to have seen her have a satisfying pro career or doing other things in the sport such as coaching, choreography, other avenues. If Jen Robinson can make a living as a pro skater so can Fumie. And if Sussie Wynne can make a career in skating so could Fumie.
as fans of the sport we are entitled to have our opinions on things. Of course Suguri continuing to skate wont be dependent on what we think, but those of us who think it is ridiculous someone this washed up is insistent on staying amateur are still free to say so. And there are people who certainly can have control of whether she continues such as the Japanese federation and others who I suspect are going to run out of patience soon if they havent already. You will see.
(Hint: Fumie has five. 
)
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