What would you say to Alissa?

skfan said:

i understand that unlike flatt's moscow worlds skate, AC's GPF performance didn't affect any other skater's ability to enter future competitions. that is a significant difference.

IMO AC's skate wasn't embarrassing and awful. in fact it showed her pride and determination, how fiercely she fought for some of those jump landings. it showed how far she's come that she could eek out those landings even when in pain and not at her physical best.

and i honestly don't think anybody has to say *anything* to her. she's clearly a strong person who's come back from much lower points than this. this performance was affected by injury.

no disrespect to the OP, who i think means well, but i think it's a bit unfair to her for anyone outside the situation to presume that she needs comforting, like she was profoundly shaken by this one bad skate, or thinks all the progress she's made with her jump consistency has gone away because of one skating-while-injured performance. i would have thought that her fans would have more faith in her own words--that she's a new skater now-- the 12th place finisher at worlds is long gone.

i have at times questioned the holding up of her spins and spirals as the ultimate standard. i still wonder about the non-calls of her underrotated jumps, still dislike her stiffness and narrow range, but i don't question her strength as a competitor or the improvement in her jump technique. and i wonder if well-meaning folks who rush to send her comforting words are all the while re-enforcing the notion that she's somehow terribly fragile, when she's in fact incredibly resilient.

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