Who should or will retire after Sochi or 2014 World`s

[Skater Boy]

I know we are all just chomping at the bits for the Olympics to start. Also, most of us agree that skaters should retire when they are ready but we all have our uninhibited carnal thoughts lol. So who do you think should or will retire after Sochi and or worlds.

I do think regardless of what happens at the end of the Season Plushy, Carolina, Chan, Dai, Kozuka, Oda, Yuna, Ssquared, V and T, Virture and Moir and Davis and white will retire. I do think that some of us on this board may have twisted things a bit about D and W staying. They are a lovely team and most likely will win gold. Technically they are the best but they appeared to peaked and artistically just aren`t developing much more. I have to say though there are som many uber fans of say D and W or V and M and maybe it is because COP is still relatively new I am not sure these teams artistically or personality wise, charisma (sorry I can`t put my finger on the right words) - they just don`t have that je ne sais quoi of Klimova and Pomarenko, Gritschok and Platov, Bestminaova and Bukin, torvill and Dean, Usova and Zhulin, D and W in particular are good technicians but as personalities or stylists on ice just don`t have that chutzpah that little extra.

The reason why D and W might stay though they would never say it is that the pro world of skating is diminished but mind you so has the the competitive skating too as the prize money has dropped not to mention inflation.

I think Rachel Flatt and Caroline Zhang are gone - technically they have faded too much. Jenna McCorkell will go too though she sitll could win the British championships considering how weak they are. Her recent performances and results are almost looking as though she is being pushed out - while I think she will remerge for the olympics to qualify for the freeskate admittedly she is looking a little worn and maybe it is time to give someone else a chance -yes she earned her GBR title but it doesn`t say a lot when there isn`t much competition. I think Amelie Lacoste will go too and maybe Tomas Verner who just always seemed to be lurking around but never quite made it. Jeremy Abbott will go too probably with tears. i am not so sure about Kavaguti and smirnov. Pang and étong will retire they have had so many oly chances and his body is not holding up well. P and B Ithink will retire for sure if they get an oly medal Agnes Zawadiak I think will retire too; money might be an issue. Evan L will not announce he is retiring but will fade out if not like Michelle Kwan.

 

[pangtongfan]

I would say:

Certain to retire- Virtue & Moir, Pechalat & Bourzat, Savchenko & Szolkowy, Kim (although I predict a comeback in later years), Asada, Kostner, Flatt, Zhang, Verner, Joubert, Abbott, LaCoste

Probably (but not 100% certain) to retire: Davis & White, Chan, Plushenko, Voronov, Menshov, Lysacek, Rippon, Kavaguti & Smirnov, Gao, Zawadzki

Might (but probably wont) retire: Voloszhar & Trankov, Nagasu, Wagner, Capellini & Lanotte, Amodio, Brezina, Murakami (even if she says she will for certain now), Hubbel & Donohue, Miner, Leonova, Duhamel & Radford, Moore-Towers & Moscovitch

Probably a bunch of others I cant think of now so I will edit and add to the lists later. Skaters I definitely think are continuing, atleast for now, though are:

Weaver & Poje
Chock & Bates
Shibutanis
Paul & Islam
Gilles & Poirier
Hanyu (even if he wins the OGM)
Machida
Kozuka (but probably not for 2018)
Reynolds
Firus
Peng & Zhang
Sui & Han
Barazova & Larionov
Stolbova & Klimov
Gold
Sotnikova
Lipnitskaia
Tuktamysheva
Miyahaira
Li
Osmond
Daleman
Chartrand

 

[Mrs. P]

Jenna McCorkell has already she is retiring after this year.

 

[RABID]

Many here believe that after YuNa retires some folks here will move on to other interests not involving figure skating. I am sure that is true. But I do wonder about what fans a little more committed to figure skating will do when their particular favorites retire. I myself never got to watch YuNa's development through the years; late to the party, as they say. So now I am more keen on catching great talent at the beginning of their careers. I think of all the skaters finally coming into their own now and it makes me think it is going to be a great time these next four years, and I expect to see excellence across the board. In particular I am keeping my eye on the young Polina.

 

[Robeye]

Many here believe that after YuNa retires some folks here will move on to other interests not involving figure skating. I am sure that is true. But I do wonder about what fans a little more committed to figure skating will do when their particular favorites retire. I myself never got to watch YuNa's development through the years; late to the party, as they say. So now I am more keen on catching great talent at the beginning of their careers. I think of all the skaters finally coming into their own now and it makes me think it is going to be a great time these next four years, and I expect to see excellence across the board. In particular I am keeping my eye on the young Polina.

I imagine that, for a while, a lot of us will be wandering around in a kind of emotional purgatory, listlessly sticking our noses in skating forums to see what's going on, but having lost the ability to really get excited about anyone, and occasionally harping about the shortcomings of the new girls, yelling at their fans to get off our skating lawn.

In other words, we will have become the next generation of kwaniacs.

Myself, I've already prepared myself by gradually developing a liking for several of the up and comers, and I'm hoping that the emotional transference takes.

 

[RABID]

I imagine that, for a while, a lot of us will be wandering around in a kind of emotional purgatory, listlessly sticking our noses in skating forums to see what's going on, but having lost the ability to really get excited about anyone, and occasionally harping about the shortcomings of the new girls, yelling at their fans to get off our skating lawn.

In other words, we will have become the next generation of kwaniacs.

Myself, I've already prepared myself by gradually developing a liking for several of the up and comers, and I'm hoping that the emotional transference takes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ6uvviKOgI

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Thank goodness nobody has said Valentina Marchei! I am tipping her for a European (and possibly even a World) medal next season!

As for the names that have been suggested so far in this thread, I would tend to agree with most of them (even if it pains me hearing some of them). Especially the way pangtongfan has divided them out.

However, I do think that none of the ones in the "Might (but probably wont) retire" list will actually retire yet.

And I can't see Kim Yun-A making a comeback. She's made her fortune, and after Worlds last year, she has nothing more to prove. She has no obvious reason to come back.

But, I can envisage Mao Asada making a comebock (or maybe that is just wishful thinking because I am a fan of her's... )


Personally, I would prefer to see the younger suggestions carry on, such as Gao, Zhang, Zawadzki. They may appear to be stagnating, but you never know what might happen a few years down the line.

I have said this what seems like a thousand times, but I really do feel Agnes needs to get out of the American system and seriously consider switching to Poland. Being a big fish in a smaller pond would help Agnes re-build her confidence. And the fact that there is now a younger Polish skater coming through (Agata KRYGER) to challenge her for the spot would give Agnes some incentive to work hard and improve.

It would be better to at least try something different, rather than just give up completely without trying.

Of course, if funding is indeed an issue, then that is a totally different matter. Retirement from amateur competition might be a much wiser option than getting deep into debt...

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Barb]

I imagine that, for a while, a lot of us will be wandering around in a kind of emotional purgatory, listlessly sticking our noses in skating forums to see what's going on, but having lost the ability to really get excited about anyone, and occasionally harping about the shortcomings of the new girls, yelling at their fans to get off our skating lawn.

In other words, we will have become the next generation of kwaniacs.

Myself, I've already prepared myself by gradually developing a liking for several of the up and comers, and I'm hoping that the emotional transference takes.

:yes:

 

[breathesgelatin]

I like the suggestion that some Yuna ubers will stick around and become the next generation of Kwaniacs! While personally I do hope Yuna's departure reduces the amount of drama around discussing Yuna online, of course I hope there isn't a huge departure of fans from figure skating with her.

In the 4CC forum it was pointed out that Jeremy Ten made a tweet that seems to be a retirement announcement after the competition:

https://twitter.com/j3r3bear/status/426733473236135937

He then made a tweet referencing himself and Adam Rippon that made me wonder:

https://twitter.com/j3r3bear/status/426733968172384256

I do wonder if Adam Rippon will continue, I really hope he does but I fear that he might retire.

 

[Robeye]

:yes:

Ya know, with the current era of ladies figure skating about to come to an end, it is actually with some nostalgic fondness that I recall the epic Yuna-Mao uber battles of ye olde days.

 

[amc987]

I like the suggestion that some Yuna ubers will stick around and become the next generation of Kwaniacs! While personally I do hope Yuna's departure reduces the amount of drama around discussing Yuna online, of course I hope there isn't a huge departure of fans from figure skating with her.

In the 4CC forum it was pointed out that Jeremy Ten made a tweet that seems to be a retirement announcement after the competition:

https://twitter.com/j3r3bear/status/426733473236135937

He then made a tweet referencing himself and Adam Rippon that made me wonder:

https://twitter.com/j3r3bear/status/426733968172384256

I do wonder if Adam Rippon will continue, I really hope he does but I fear that he might retire.

I think Adam is continuing through next season. In his pre-Nationals teleconference, he mentioned that he and Rafael had agreed that he should continue skating through the 2015 season and then make future plans at that time. I don't know if his plans have changed post-Nationals, but the last thing he said publicly about his plans makes me believe he isn't done.

Retiring for sure: Abbott, Flatt, Suzuki, Asada, Kostner, Kim, Davis/White, Virtue/Moir, Savchenko/Szolkowy, Pang/Tong, Plushenko, Takahashi, Oda, Ando
Potentially retiring: Chan, Murakami, Joubert, Leonova

 

[LRK]

I think it would be a sad thing if Adam retired, seeing his improvements this season - Nationals notwithstanding. I do believe he could do even better, and then when he does retire, he can do so with the satisfaction of having realised his potential, which personally I think he has not yet done.

Has anyone mentioned Daisuke yet? I believe he is planning on retiring after this season?

 

[Franklin99]

I think it would be a sad thing if Adam retired, seeing his improvements this season - Nationals notwithstanding. I do believe he could do even better, and then when he does retire, he can do so with the satisfaction of having realised his potential, which personally I think he has not yet done.

Has anyone mentioned Daisuke yet? I believe he is planning on retiring after this season?

Dai already confirmed that this is his last season.

 

[breathesgelatin]

I think Adam is continuing through next season. In his pre-Nationals teleconference, he mentioned that he and Rafael had agreed that he should continue skating through the 2015 season and then make future plans at that time. I don't know if his plans have changed post-Nationals, but the last thing he said publicly about his plans makes me believe he isn't done.

That was the same thing he mentioned over the summer in his interview with The Skating Lesson - that he intended to continue through the 2015 season. I really hope he does.

I think it would be a sad thing if Adam retired, seeing his improvements this season - Nationals notwithstanding. I do believe he could do even better, and then when he does retire, he can do so with the satisfaction of having realised his potential, which personally I think he has not yet done.

Even if there are not world medals in the future for him or whatever, I hope that he does continue and has some clutch skates that allow him to leave on a good note.

 

[blue_idealist]

Jenna McCorkell has already she is retiring after this year.

I've heard from posters on this board and another that Kozuka is not retiring, but Verner and Abbott are, according to reliable sources (which sources, I'm not sure of).

 

[breathesgelatin]

I think Abbott referred to this US Nationals being his last during the NBC broadcast at some point.

 

[Ven]

When I lurked on here I often saw comments from posters wishing all of these vets to retire, to just go away so the new ones could win. Pathetic!

The end of this season should really be epic. The end of quite an era, I'd say. Here's to one last hurrah for all the vets at Olys and Worlds!

 

[pangtongfan]

I could see some skaters who even say they are definitely retiring now going back on their word. Murakami is one I expect to in fact. I could even see Abbott being persuaded by the USFSA to stay in if he has a great showing at one of the Olympics or Worlds, or even being self motivated to do so; but if he doesnt win an individual medal (even if he expectedly wins an Olympic Team medal and makes a decent individual showing and performance) at atleast one will definitely retire, and the USFSA will then be more than happy to move onto their increasingly strong group of young and middle aged guys then. I could see Suzuki surprising and staying in another year or two. Could also see the JSF trying hard to persaude Mao but probably with no success.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Everyone. Everyone will retire. There will be no more skating.

 

[Ven]

Everyone. Everyone will retire. There will be no more skating.

Fumie. Fumie will still be skating.