- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
Does Carolina Kostner still have the motivation required to defend her World title?
With Carolina Kostner contemplating retirement last summer and withdrawing from the senior grand prix (having not trained sufficiently to be able to properly prepare in time), does she really still have the drive and motivation required to remain competitive at the highest level? Can she retain her World title?
Undoubtedly, having won the World title already, the only reason why Carolina is still competing is the prospect of becoming Olympic champion. Hence, I think that she will certainly be well motivated during the 2013/14 season. However, I have my doubts as to whether she really has her heart in it as regards the 2012/13 season, and she may sub-consciously just prefer, if she could, to simply press a fast-forward button to next season and competing for the only title left that probably really interests her - the Olympics
All of this begs a wider question. Is there a problem for skaters to remain motivated once they hit their mid 20's, especially once they have a World title in the bag as it were? I think it no coincidence that both Miki Ando and Carolina Kostner have encountered the same problems at roughly the same time in their lives once they have won a World title (or in Miki Ando's case, a second world title). By the time a top flight figure skater reaches their mid 20's, they have been competing for well over 10 years. The intense training that goes with that, together with the travelling, the injuries, the media interest, etc, starts to takes its toll. Hence, for some skaters, it may be the case that it all starts to become too much to handle after over 10 years (i.e. by their mid-20's)?
With Carolina Kostner contemplating retirement last summer and withdrawing from the senior grand prix (having not trained sufficiently to be able to properly prepare in time), does she really still have the drive and motivation required to remain competitive at the highest level? Can she retain her World title?
Undoubtedly, having won the World title already, the only reason why Carolina is still competing is the prospect of becoming Olympic champion. Hence, I think that she will certainly be well motivated during the 2013/14 season. However, I have my doubts as to whether she really has her heart in it as regards the 2012/13 season, and she may sub-consciously just prefer, if she could, to simply press a fast-forward button to next season and competing for the only title left that probably really interests her - the Olympics
All of this begs a wider question. Is there a problem for skaters to remain motivated once they hit their mid 20's, especially once they have a World title in the bag as it were? I think it no coincidence that both Miki Ando and Carolina Kostner have encountered the same problems at roughly the same time in their lives once they have won a World title (or in Miki Ando's case, a second world title). By the time a top flight figure skater reaches their mid 20's, they have been competing for well over 10 years. The intense training that goes with that, together with the travelling, the injuries, the media interest, etc, starts to takes its toll. Hence, for some skaters, it may be the case that it all starts to become too much to handle after over 10 years (i.e. by their mid-20's)?
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