Was it wise for Sotnikova to skip Worlds? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Was it wise for Sotnikova to skip Worlds?

winky97

Medalist
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Honestly I expected Adelina to skip Worlds. It would have surprised me more if she showed up, though I hoped that she would show, because yes, I believe she did not truly earn her OGM. While I get that many Olympic champ skip Worlds, they usually have a proven track records and don't have a OGM that will likely forever be questioned like Adelina's. Adelina was 9th place in Worlds last year, but because of the Olympics would go into Worlds being favored, which is sad. They did not do her any favors because she now has to carry the weight of a crown that I don't think she can carry. I don't expect her to come back next year doing anything either special either. She certainly is not going to be going to South Korea for the next Olympics. I don't think she will last much longer as a competitor for her country. It's not that I think that she is bad, but I certainly don't think that she is good.

Adelina would do better cashing in her OGM and making as much cash as she can because she is done as a competitor. I feel kind of bad because I realize that she is a 17 year girl, but I think that she is done.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Adelina will do fine going forward. She may or may not win a world championship somewhere along the line, but even if she doesn't, she still has something that many a world champion wishes she had.
 

wootie

Match Penalty
Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Adelina will do fine going forward. She may or may not win a world championship somewhere along the line, but even if she doesn't, she still has something that many a world champion wishes she had.

courtesy of some super corrupt judging

I'm not sure how amazing it is to have been awarded something that most people view as being earned unfairly. Dubious wins in sports are generally met with something along the lines of "oh yeah...that was the person (or team) who only won because of a bad call, judges cheated, got lucky, etc."
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
^ I don't think so. In 20 years none of this will mean anything except a line in the almanac under Olympic skating champions. Does anyone care today whether Linda Fratianne was or was not robbed by the German-Austrian alliance supporting Anett Potsch?
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
As for the international outcry, Yuna Kim's legacy is secure, whatever happened in Sochi.

…although (the devil is making me write this), Anett P. has the same number of worlds (2) and Olympic championships as Yuna does.

Edited to add: Strange facts learned while looking up something else: Annet Potzsch married the brother of Katarina Witt. Their daughter Claudia (Rauchenbach, the name of Potzsch's second husband) was the 2000 German pairs champion -- with partner Robin Szolkowy.
 
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sk8in

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 15, 2014
The think you are overlooking is everyone you mentioned who did not go to post Olympic Worlds never competed at another again. So this is either the end for Sotnikova (wouldnt surprise me at all) or she is literally doing something nobody else has done (skipping post Olympic worlds for no reason, not even injury).
Also they had all medaled if not won at Worlds/other competitions. Like I said, Sotnikova has cemented her gold medal as one of the most controversial in the history of the sport. Although is fairly young, she lacks the talent to truly rule the roost like a Yuna Kim, Mao Asada, Michele Kwan, and the like. There are plenty of young skaters coming up, ready to hit their prime. The ceiling on her talent is too low to compete with them.
 

Zamboni

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 10, 2013
Oh, it's wise for her to skip worlds.

And I can absolutely bet that the Russians don't see any controversy at all in the Sochi results. They think Adelina's win is entirely justified. And just think, if Yulia hadn't fallen, they would have finished first and second, without a doubt.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
As for the international outcry, Yuna Kim's legacy is secure, whatever happened in Sochi.

…although (the devil is making me write this), Anett P. has the same number of worlds (2) and Olympic championships as Yuna does.

Edited to add: Strange facts learned while looking up something else: Annet Potzsch married the brother of Katarina Witt. Their daughter Claudia (Rauchenbach, the name of Potzsch's second husband) was the 2000 German pairs champion -- with partner Robin Szolkowy.

Wasn't she on one of the technical panels in Sochi?
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
And I can absolutely bet that the Russians don't see any controversy at all in the Sochi results. They think Adelina's win is entirely justified.

Americans don't either, as we were assured by all 4 NBC broadcasters that the results were correct. I trust them more than any self-proclaimed "expert" from a message board.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
As for the international outcry, Yuna Kim's legacy is secure, whatever happened in Sochi.

…although (the devil is making me write this), Anett P. has the same number of worlds (2) and Olympic championships as Yuna does.

Edited to add: Strange facts learned while looking up something else: Annet Potzsch married the brother of Katarina Witt. Their daughter Claudia (Rauchenbach, the name of Potzsch's second husband) was the 2000 German pairs champion -- with partner Robin Szolkowy.

Clearly the world of East German skating was very small. Didn't everyone live in the same town at that point, Chemnitz? (Then called Karl Marx-Stadt, which though imposed by the Soviet system at least had the dubious virtue of being a German man's name.) Potszch and Witt were both coached by Jutta Muller, who was (to add one more layer) the mother of Gabrielle Seyfert, the Olympic silver medalist behind Peggy Fleming in 1968.

Potzsch was one of the two main contenders of the 1976-1980 cycle; she didn't exactly come out of nowhere. She was Europe's skating aristocrat of the day, winning many European championships as well as her two Worlds. I imagine she was very good in school figures, though she wasn't like Trixi Schuba, a school figures specialist with no free skating abilities. Her skating style had a lot of charm. Also, Linda Fratianne was an excellent but not an extraordinary skater, as I recall. She wasn't on a par with Janet Lynn or Peggy Fleming. So the competition could have gone either way.

I'm sure that politicking had something to do with the outcome, as it often did in those days. Wasn't there a story of Carlo Fassi jockeying behind the scenes on behalf of his student Robin Cousins against East German contender Jan Hoffman, with a trade-off implied for Potszch? I don't know if that's been proven, but Frank Carroll (Linda's coach) made comments about that. In any case, all four contenders--Fratianne, Cousins, Hoffmann, and Potzsch, were possibilities for the medal on their own strengths, with Cousins the gem of the group because of his beautiful style. If you're going to say that Potzsch was forgettable, as one poster did, I think in all justice you'd have to say that for the two East Germans as well. The unforgettable skater of this group was Cousins, and thank goodness he won. He never did beat Hoffmann at a World Championship, though.
 

winky97

Medalist
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Adelina will do fine going forward. She may or may not win a world championship somewhere along the line, but even if she doesn't, she still has something that many a world champion wishes she had.

Depends on what you consider doing fine. If you consider making some money off some ice shows and having the Russian govt. throw some perks your way as doing fine you are right she will do fine. She will not win a World title. Heck, I doubt she will make a World podium. While a World Champion who was never able to get a OGM might wish for one, I will bet that they want one that they deserved and not one that will go down history being questioned. I would rather be Michelle Kwan, who was an amazing skater, but never able to win an OGM than Adelina Sotnikova. I bet Michelle Kwan prefers her history over that which Adelina's will come to be. Regardless of what Adelina says in public, on some level she herself has to question her OGM. Who wants a medal that you can't honestly be proud of.
 

usethis2

Medalist
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
The think you are overlooking is everyone you mentioned who did not go to post Olympic Worlds never competed at another again. So this is either the end for Sotnikova (wouldnt surprise me at all) or she is literally doing something nobody else has done (skipping post Olympic worlds for no reason, not even injury).

That's another thing that bothers me. I was looking forward to her growth as a skater after Sochi, but now that anticipation is completely ruined. Olympic champions usually retire. Especially women. That's what made Yuna's comeback more exciting and whether a repeat would be possible in modern era. Can Adelina repeat? Maybe or maybe not. I am going with maybe not - since the ISU seems content with the current judges and guess what.. the next Olympics happen to take place in Korea. (the irony is killing me) So unless there is a reform now her possible repeat is out of the question. Maybe she can look forward to year 2022.. Maybe.

I think I will check out Anna in Worlds. At this point I couldn't care less about Adelina outside of judging scandal.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Oh, it's wise for her to skip worlds.

And I can absolutely bet that the Russians don't see any controversy at all in the Sochi results. They think Adelina's win is entirely justified. And just think, if Yulia hadn't fallen, they would have finished first and second, without a doubt.

I'm not Russian and I think the results were correct.
 

usethis2

Medalist
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Oh, it's wise for her to skip worlds.

And I can absolutely bet that the Russians don't see any controversy at all in the Sochi results. They think Adelina's win is entirely justified. And just think, if Yulia hadn't fallen, they would have finished first and second, without a doubt.
Don't forget about Plushy. Had he not withdrawn, he would have been on the podium. Guaran-freaking-teed.
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
sotnikova will not get near olympic score in her future competitions ever. russia fed./ sotnikova they both know...unpolished junior performances do not match with her olympic scores. let's see it will ruin and shorten her figure skating career.

Yuna never got near Olympic scores as well. (source wikipedia, I can't remember them all). That proves nothing.


though I hoped that she would show, because yes, I believe she did not truly earn her OGM.

@winky97: Again, what does it proves if she goes there and win? If the judges are so corrupt as most of you think, they might as well confirm the same marks to settle down the controversy, so what? Is that going to prove anything in regards with Sochi?!
I really don't understand why people expect the Worlds to prove or disprove Sochi.
 

Isabel_O'Reilly

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
I don't think even Putin could keep Yulia from skating at worlds had she won. I feel like you're just trolling though based on your recent posts but in the case you are sincere...I really do think Yulia has more determination. It's just an opinion.

I agree. Julia hasn't even been to the Worlds yet. She's going and she does have an Olympic Gold. Even if she had won an individual medal she still would have gone.
 

looks

Spectator
Joined
Mar 4, 2014
Oh, it's wise for her to skip worlds.

And I can absolutely bet that the Russians don't see any controversy at all in the Sochi results. They think Adelina's win is entirely justified. And just think, if Yulia hadn't fallen, they would have finished first and second, without a doubt.

japanese too, anything against yuna, they like.
 

usethis2

Medalist
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
japanese too, anything against yuna, they like.

I don't think so. Crazy fans are everywhere, but most Japenese are some of the nicest and politest people you'll meet. There are plenty of Japanese skating fans love Yuna and Mao both. Sure a majority may hope Mao to win but that is pretty much expected. They are not so perverted as to go with "my enemy's enemy's my enemy's my enemy is my friend's my friend's.."
 
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