Should Flatt have skated at the World Championships on an injury? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Should Flatt have skated at the World Championships on an injury?

Tonichelle said:
Judging by Mirai's tweets over the last month, she didn't seem too upset not to be training hard for worlds. She's all about the fun. I adore her and all, but I don't know that she'd have done any better.

That being said, I really have to wonder why Flatt went through with it. Not sure how the rules play out but if she'd bowwed out after the SP - when she knew darn well her foot was not going to hold up for the long, I have no doubt about that. If your foot can't hold it together for 2.5 minutes how's it going to hold for 4?? - would it have damaged the chances any more/less than her skating? we'd have still kept the two spots at least with Alissa's placement, yes?
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Well, going into the long Rachael was 7th and Alissa was 4th. It's reasonable to think that Rachael thought or hoped she could at least be good enough to hang onto 7th and at least be part of the team that won the third spot back. It could have happened. Then we'd all be talking about how she was a big hero for skating though the pain.

To be clear- the core of this has nothing to do with 3 spots. It's about the unwritten rule- the sportsmanship to step aside when you're injured, or if things look doubtful, at least give the alternate a heads up (granted, we don't know for sure that team Flatt didn't do this) and tell her to BE READY just in case. Also let USFS know. I was surprised when I read Hersh's article and Raith said he had no idea about Flatt's injury.
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If you say so. But I have to wonder if this would merit its own thread had the third spot not been on the line. If we had two skaters who placed high enough and one who had a meltdown, it would probably be an afterthought.

Not saying people don't have the right to ask. I guess Raith is asking although I still stay it's strange that he said he would send a text. It doesn't sound like a very formal or serious inquiry to me.
 
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Layfan said:
Well, going into the long Rachael was 7th and Alissa was 4th. It's reasonable to think that Rachael thought or hoped she could at least be good enough to hang onto 7th and at least be part of the team that won the third spot back. It could have happened. Then we'd all be talking about how she was a big hero for skating though the pain.
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I totally agree. Skating fans are so fickle.
 
With Michelle she had been nursing injuries all season leading up to the Olympics. She withdrew from Nationals we all know the story. Emily was well aware that she might get the call
and continued training. I don't know Rachael's situation and if she said the injury just happened I believe her.

Any news about who Rachael's new coach will be?
 
Flatt was 8th going into the FS. 4th and 8th would have done it. 5th and 8th would have squeaked it out.
 
Layfan said:
P.S. on a side note, I find it kind of odd that Raith is going to text msg team Flatt about this. Text message? I don't know whether to think that means it's not a serious complaint or what.
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IIRC Hersh said Raith was traveling when he was informed of Rachel's injury. So maybe he couldn't really call?
 
R.D. said:
Czisny's 5th place, with or without Flatt, would have been enough to hold onto 2 spots.
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That's if the U.S. had only qualified for one spot based in 2010 worlds. If Rachael had withdrawn she would have got an automatic 20th. (I think. Or is it 24th?)
 
Mathman said:
That's if the U.S. had only qualified for one spot based in 2010 worlds. If Rachael had withdrawn she would have got an automatic 20th. (I think. Or is it 24th?)
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ah, then perhaps that's why she stayed in knowing they could at least keep 2 spots that way.
 
R.D. said:
To be clear- the core of this has nothing to do with 3 spots.
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Then why do I get the feeling that this thread wouldn't exist if a 3rd U.S. lady had been at Worlds this year and done well enough, along with Alissa Czisny, to earn 3 spots for next year?
 
Mathman said:
That's if the U.S. had only qualified for one spot based in 2010 worlds. If Rachael had withdrawn she would have got an automatic 20th. (I think. Or is it 24th?)
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Isn't there an exception to this rule, though? Could be mistaken but I think it was mentioned elsewhere.
 
demarinis5 said:
With Michelle she had been nursing injuries all season leading up to the Olympics. She withdrew from Nationals we all know the story. Emily was well aware that she might get the call
and continued training. I don't know Rachael's situation and if she said the injury just happened I believe her.

Any news about who Rachael's new coach will be?
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It was becoming clearer in 2002 Worlds that Michelle was having injury problems and seeing her in 2004, and 2005 that the injury was not going away and getting worse. Her Tech had been dramatically altered in each case that we saw. By 2006, she had no choice but to skip US Nats and the private audition was arranged. Would anyone else get that audition in a similar situation? Of course not, so what was Rachael supposed to do? She grit her teeth and skated; doing well in the SP. That SP may have aggravated the injury for the LP. Mirai was never on deck as Emily was.

Rachael, I think - not sure - will head for Stanford U.
 
Joe it is not called a "private audition". I cannot quote the exact rule but I do know that any skater who requests a medical bye from Nationals to qualify for Worlds or the Olympics has to skate before the committee to see if they are fit to compete. Belbin and Agosta did it as I am sure other skaters did too. In Michelle case her bye was to the Olympics so it got a lot of press. B/A bye was to Worlds. So to make a long story short Michelle did not get special treatment or a "private audition". Some folks think Michelle should have withdrawn before the Olympics but that is ancient history and a whole other can or worms.

Sorry to go off topic folks.
 
So, suppose Rachael really fell and tore her ligament or something, and absolutely couldn't skate at all. She'd be down as 24th place, the placement number of Alissa and Rachael would be 29, and they'd be down to only one spot? Really? That doesn't seem very fair. I could see if someone pretended to be injured or something, but if it was verified by a doctor that the injury was real, that doesn't seem fair.

I was critical of Rachael skating on another board, but I agree we don't know when the injury was diagnosed. Since she just mentioned "leg pain" after the short, but said "stress fracture" after the long, it's possible she just got x-rayed that day somewhere in Moscow Hospital and just found out how bad it was. I don't know this, but I got the impression that it could have happened like that.

Anyway, I admire her for skating through the pain. She didn't skate well, but it wasn't an all out disaster like some I've seen. She held it together as best she could.
 
Let Rachael skate.

Realistically I'm sure the alternate wasn't in world championship form (especially considering the delay of the competition). Emily was ready in 2006 because of the overall uncertainty of Michelle's situation (and I think Emily was named to the World Champs team).
 
The Michelle Kwan situation was unique. Realistically, it must have been clear to Michelle that it would take a miracle for her to be able to compete. Still, some days she felt better than others. On her good days, she was determined not to leave the scene with any regrets about what might have been. So she soldiered on through the pain as long as she could.

As for the USFSA, Michelle had carried figure skating in the United States on her back for a decade. The USFSA could not refuse to carry her the last mile.
 
I was thinking of Rachel Flatt over the weekend and think she should have withdrawn to allow someone healthy to skate. I'm sure its a difficult decision, given that she took the year off school to compete and then had to wait an extra month for worlds, so I don't blame her for making the wrong decision, but I do think she made the wrong decision, as evidenced by the look on her face after her LP. I guess she was hoping for a miracle.
 
Mathman said:
The Michelle Kwan situation was unique. Realistically, it must have been clear to Michelle that it would take a miracle for her to be able to compete. Still, some days she felt better than others. On her good days, she was determined not to leave the scene with any regrets about what might have been. So she soldiered on through the pain as long as she could.

As for the USFSA, Michelle had carried figure skating in the United States on her back for a decade. The USFSA could not refuse to carry her the last mile.
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I agree, Michelle did a lot for US figure skating, she deserved the respect they showed her.
 
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