Slipchuk: Virtue's Legs Are OK | Golden Skate

Slipchuk: Virtue's Legs Are OK

dorispulaski

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http://www.lfpress.com/2013/02/18/official-not-fussed-about-virtues-legs

The London (ONT) Free Press has an interview with Michael Slipchuk
Wherein he speaks about 4CC's in general and Virtue & Moir in particular. Here's an excerpt.

“It’s not anything that’s going to be of significance when they skate next month (at the world figure-skating championships) in London,” Skate Canada’s director of high performance said. “They went back out and finished the free dance, then they skated in the gala.

“There’s no reason for concern. Of course, they will go back and re-evaluate everything and do what they have to over the next few weeks to be ready to go, but that’s normal process for this time of the year.”

Slipchuk was the 1992 Canadian Men's Champion, and also went to the 1992 Olympics.

He has been the High Performance Director of Skate Canada since 2006.

He can be seenin the Kiss & Cry during the interruption in Virtue & Moir's free dance performance, so he would certainly be giving an eye witness account.
 

Skater Boy

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Hmmm, Skate Canada must have some money if they can send Slipchuk to the 4cc's. I am concerned about the Virtue - I hope they can overcome this and come back even stronger in 2014.
 

dorispulaski

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I believe he is often at competitions.

He was certainly at a previous Four Continents.
 

dorispulaski

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This isn't the first 4CC's that Slipchuk has been at; I think his attendance is the usual thing.
 
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I wonder how Mr. Slipchuk can be so certain that this medical problem will not recur. "Going back and re-evaluating everything" cannot stop someone's legs from cramping.
 

glam

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Well, if he had said Virtue's legs are a mess, the judges would most certainly give them less PCS than to D/W. I remember one interview where Tessa said that the skaters in general hide all kinds of sickness and injuries from the judges because they can affect their scores.
 
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I hope she's able to get some rest between now and Worlds, even though I know they're training like demons. Man, being a skate fan isn't easy. You're always tense about some skater or another in terms of health, as well as the basic worry that the ice is slippery in any competition.
 

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Hmmm, Skate Canada must have some money if they can send Slipchuk to the 4cc's.

This isn't the first 4CC's that Slipchuk has been at; I think his attendance is the usual thing.

I agree with Doris. Slipchuk always or almost always seems to be Skate Canada's designated "team leader" for major competitions -- in addition to being SC's High Performance Director (or maybe the "team leader" function is part of the job description of HPD?).

(Is it not standard operating procedure for U.S. Figure Skating and other major federations to send a comparable "team leader"-type official to big competitions??)

BTW, thanks to Doris for starting (and re-starting) this thread, and to Mathman for re-posting his comment below.

I wonder how Mr. Slipchuk can be so certain that this medical problem will not recur. "Going back and re-evaluating everything" cannot stop someone's legs from cramping.

I hope that Slipchuk's comments mean that Virtue has not had any subsequent cramping during training and that Skate Canada believes (maybe based on a very recent medical evaluation???) that the Osaka occurrence was just an unfortunate fluke.

In the two years between Four Continents in Taipei and in Osaka, Virtue/Moir had performed both SD and FD uneventfully at 13 competitions, by my count (not to mention skating in gala exhibitions, CSOI shows, and their twice-daily [I think?] appearances at the Ex in Toronto over the summer). So -- knock on wood -- it does not seem as if cramping has plagued Virtue with any regularity, at least when she is under the spotlights.
 
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gkelly

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(Is it not standard operating procedure for U.S. Figure Skating and other major federations to send a comparable "team leader"-type official to big competitions??)

I think USFS sends a team leader to any international event where there's a team of skaters representing the US.
http://www.usfsa.org/Athletes.asp?id=267

I'm not sure, but I think sometimes the person assigned that role may be a judge or other official already traveling to that event anyway.
 

dorispulaski

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^^^^^^

Indeed they are! But there are limitations to how many letters can be used in a thread title. I was pushing it with "OK" :rofl:
 

Sk8Boi

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Let's all be completely honest and truthful here .... If Tessa wants to EFFECTIVELY treat her RECURRENT compartment syndrome, she should quit ice dancing and ice skating. Period.

Even FLAYING her legs open REPEATEDLY hasn't "cured" her. If she wants to be well, she is going to have to quit skating. Period. That is all there is to it. She is simply not genetically capable of handling the training. Her compartments are too tight and too small. When her muscles develop in those compartments, they get compressed and the nerves in the compartment get compressed. Permanent damage with numbness, tingling, pain and weakness can be the result. She knows this. Gosh, anyone who "google's" compartment syndrome knows this.

She is taking the HUGE risk with her health and future, and that is fine. However, I have no sympathy for her blight, as she has brought this on herself by sticking with it - even after being a World, Olympic and National Champion.

At this point, I say, "Fine, cripple yourself... but you better skate fantastic programs for me to watch along the way!!!"
 

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
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Yes, in many interviews in recent years, Virtue has discussed her case of compartment syndrome in her lower legs, which twice has required surgery.

But for the record, if I recall corrrectly:
At the time of 2011 Four Continents, Virtue said that cramping in one leg's hamstring muscles (i.e., in her upper leg) caused her withdrawal in Taipei -- and that the cramping was not related to compartment syndrome. (That distinction seems to be easily forgotten, because it so happened that Taipei was Virtue/Moir's first competition after her second surgical procedure on her lower legs.)

I disagree that they just ok they're spectacular!!

:laugh: Touche! ;) :thumbsup:
 

dorispulaski

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Since she's disclosed that not telling the whole truth about her health is a strategy, it's hard to quote what she said in an interview as a final source, until after she retires and writes a second book.

However, the fact that she was able to recover rapidly and skate the second half of the program, and skated the gala (magnificiently, I might add) the next day does argue that it was a cramp and not a severe recurrence of exertional compartment syndrome.
 

chuckm

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Perhaps her efforts to reduce strain on her lower legs is what is causing the cramping in her upper leg. I recall that Plushenko's efforts to reduce impact on his knees several years ago resulted in two hernias because he was stressing his abdominal muscles.
 
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