Skaters Retiring in the US? | Golden Skate

Skaters Retiring in the US?

nam57

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
After all the big bangs at Nationals, who survives?
Yasmin Siraj? Lower and lower but still young.
Rachel Flatt? School right?
Caroline Zhang? Does she just love it? No coach right?
Vanessa Lam? New and improved with new coach? I think 40+ points lower this year.
Joelle Forte? Another just loves it?
 

fleeting

Queen Anissina
Medalist
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Rachael said her last competition was nationals. She had chronic back pains since 2011, got a stress fracture in her landing leg the same year (and competed on it!), a chronic injury in her right ankle that forced her to sit out of the entire 2012-2013 season post SA... and said she was proud of her final skate. She retired so she could focus on chemical engineering. I wonder what would've happened if she didn't have quite so many injuries, because I did sort of like her. She was a fighter.

No clue about everyone else though.
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
Has anyone heard anything further about Agnes Z's plans going forward? I know she was training with Mirai in Colorado, but have not heard if she was intending to stick with it.
 

fleeting

Queen Anissina
Medalist
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Has anyone heard anything further about Agnes Z's plans going forward? I know she was training with Mirai in Colorado, but have not heard if she was intending to stick with it.

I think she's continuing with Tom Z. Mirai's looking for a new coach. They're both doing SOI.
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
What about other disciplines? I would assume Lynn & Logan are done. Not sure at all about Men's. Will Rippon keep going? I hope so. Miner?

As far as pairs, I would think Rockne is probably going to retire. And D/C although they made some reference to future plans that make me think they may skate one more season after this one was such a letdown. Donlan/Speroff?
 

samson

Medalist
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Miner has indicated he plans to keep going. I think he's doing a senior B pretty soon? He says after that he's going to take a full week off to give his ankle some much needed R+R. Maybe he decided after his placement in Nationals he needed to go somewhere to deliver a good showing for next season?

My guess is most Boston teams/skaters are going to stick it through until 2016 at least. At one point I thought I heard that Christina Gao was going to stop competing after this season. Can anyone verify that?
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Miner has indicated he plans to keep going. I think he's doing a senior B pretty soon? He says after that he's going to take a full week off to give his ankle some much needed R+R. Maybe he decided after his placement in Nationals he needed to go somewhere to deliver a good showing for next season?

My guess is most Boston teams/skaters are going to stick it through until 2016 at least. At one point I thought I heard that Christina Gao was going to stop competing after this season. Can anyone verify that?

Ross just competed at the Gardena Spring Trophy this weekend. He placed 2nd behind Shoma Uno.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
To some extent, I feel like if these skaters are over 20 and haven't broken through, or are in a state of decline in their careers, it is wise for them to explore options outside of skating. There are great opportunities for these skaters if they go to college and apply the same work ethic and attention to detail to their coursework that they learned in the sport. I see someone like Mirai who has stagnated for several years now, who has occasional good performances but by continuing on puts herself at risk of injury and financial difficulty. I understand many of you feel that if someone wants to continue they should, but there are real costs to doing so with very little upside for anyone except those at the very very top. I would guess that outside of Ashley and Gracie, every American female singles skater spent more in the last year than they brought in. This is fine for teenagers engaging in an expensive hobby, but when these women are college age there are a lot of wonderful opportunities for them to explore outside the rink.
 

centerpt1

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Is Mroz continuing?

College is not for everyone.

I think Mirai did take a college class or two. I don't think she'd last a season with Tom Z though.

I know finances are an issue, but I wish Agnes would get away from Colorado Springs. She's never packaged well, and her programs don't show her to best advantage. She also needs a coach that can help her with competition nerves.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
. I understand many of you feel that if someone wants to continue they should, but there are real costs to doing so with very little upside for anyone except those at the very very top.

It's not that I disagree with anything you say, but despite the potential disadvantages to continuing vs the potential upsides, it is up to the skater (and if financially relevant, their families) to weigh these against one another and decide what they think is best for them to do, not us. Its their life.

Also, if for example Ashley Wagner, Carolina, Alissa Suzuki had given up when they were 20 ish (as many thought they should) they would not have reached their peak. They ARE exceptions, but they are not true outliers- there are enough of them that it isn't like they are a total anomaly.
 

Sochi_2014

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 4, 2013
Yasmin Siraj probably will continue. I'm from the Boston area, and I remember when she was younger 13/14, everyone would say she would make an Olympic team. Funny how things can change. But I feel that she is still at the age where she potentially COULD turn things around. She's 17 now. Her posture/spins are incredible, I just wish she could fix those little jumps. A funny thing about Boston though, is that very rarely will skaters switch to another coach when they are taking from Mark and Peter. In this case, I think a coach change might help.
 

carriecmu0503

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
It's not that I disagree with anything you say, but despite the potential disadvantages to continuing vs the potential upsides, it is up to the skater (and if financially relevant, their families) to weigh these against one another and decide what they think is best for them to do, not us. Its their life.

Also, if for example Ashley Wagner, Carolina, Alissa Suzuki had given up when they were 20 ish (as many thought they should) they would not have reached their peak. They ARE exceptions, but they are not true outliers- there are enough of them that it isn't like they are a total anomaly.

Alissa Suzuki?
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Sat next to Rockne and his family at Nats. At that point he hadn't made any decisions. He is engaged now - maybe time to move on. REALLY nice guy. I enjoyed talking to him while his brother skated in the dance competition.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
It's not that I disagree with anything you say, but despite the potential disadvantages to continuing vs the potential upsides, it is up to the skater (and if financially relevant, their families) to weigh these against one another and decide what they think is best for them to do, not us. Its their life.

Also, if for example Ashley Wagner, Carolina, Alissa Suzuki had given up when they were 20 ish (as many thought they should) they would not have reached their peak. They ARE exceptions, but they are not true outliers- there are enough of them that it isn't like they are a total anomaly.

You make some good points, and certainly it should be the skater's decision what to do. It just makes me a bit sad to see a skater out there struggling, who doesn't look like she enjoys competing at all. To think of all the sacrifices these skaters make to not achieve their skating goals, and to think this same level of commitment to almost any other activity they could do in life would lead to a very successful outcome, makes me question the decision to stay around.
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
You make some good points, and certainly it should be the skater's decision what to do. It just makes me a bit sad to see a skater out there struggling, who doesn't look like she enjoys competing at all. To think of all the sacrifices these skaters make to not achieve their skating goals, and to think this same level of commitment to almost any other activity they could do in life would lead to a very successful outcome, makes me question the decision to stay around.

If all the skaters you say should pursue other things after age 20 did, there would be very few skaters left around..
 

GF2445

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
I think Douglas Razzano is done as well. He was extremely emotional at nationals this year.
 
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