2017-18 Retirements

[blue_idealist]

I really feel sorry for her. T/T were so fun to watch.

I feel sorry for both of them for not being able to go to the Olympics, regardless of how good the rest of their lives might be.

 

[Kitt]

I feel sorry for both of them for not being able to go to the Olympics, regardless of how good the rest of their lives might be.

I loved their Swan Lake program.

 

[Andrea82]

Ice Dancer Lorenza Alessandrini just announced retirement

Hello everyone!
Ok, this is not a complete surprise, but I'd like to announce the end of my competitive career and the beginning of my career as a coach!
I didn't have a perfect career, neither a conventional one, but that's why I feel like it was so special.
I lived so many beautiful moments, but I also had to face many difficulties, injuries and disappointments and each and every time, I found myself pushing back up and feeling richer and stronger.
Honestly, I'm gonna miss it all: the early practices and the physical pain, the hilarious lockers room conversations, the feeling of satisfaction after a good run through and the privilege of performing for an audience, but finally, I'm ready to move on.
As many of you know, this past year has been a real physical struggle.
I dealt with many health issues such as chronical joint inflammation and hormonal problems, that compromised my ability to train effectively.
Becoming a coach has always been my dream and I can't wait to express my creativity in a different role and share all that I've learned with younger athletes to help them become the best they can be.
One thing I really want to say is that to me people always came before results, and even if I'm more than happy with what I've achieved, I'm even happier for all the human connections I made.
One of my personal goals was to always to be a positive presence and to be a supportive friend with all of the others competitors.
Making every moment become a memorable experience has always been important to me and if I was able to comfort someone after a bad skate, to help a friend after a difficult practice or to inspire someone just by staying open and positive.....then I'm more than happy with myself! for anyone interested in more details ( or in working with me ) just write me in private and I'll answer with pleasure ! So this is it.... up and on now, always smiling, grinding and always feeling greatful for what I have!
As daunting as it is, I can'can't wait to discover the world after skating, bring it on 2018, I'm sure it'll be a great new adventure !


Of course after announcing my competitive retirement, I have soooo many people to thank!
I might post a few "thank you" pictures in the future, but to start I want to thank the Italian and French federations for supporting and believing in me; Thanks to @risportfrance , @mkblades , @risportskates, for being by my side for as long as I can remember and to @astraeecouture for always making me feel great on the ice !
of course thanks to all the friends that I met along the way that always showed me unconditional love and support.
I'll NEVER forget it!! Thanks to my family, that was there every step of the way, starting with my mom taking me to practice everyday and patiently waiting for me, my dad, driving hours and hours just to see me compete, and my sister, secretly crying in the audience everytime I wouldn't achieve the result I wanted to and then immediately trying to cheer me up when she saw me.
Thanks to my incredible team of coaches in Lyon, and to all the great coaches that worked so hard with me in the past, making me who I am today.
It was always more than just a student/coach remationship, you've all inspired me and I'll be forever thankful!
Of course,I didn't forget my partner @pierre.souquet thank you for these 4 years together, thank for your heart, your passion and your dedication! together we started from zero and we were able to achieve so much!
thinking about all the love that I received in the past 10 years makes my soul smile, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bepshg1D6xb/?taken-by=loryalessandrini
https://www.instagram.com/p/BepzDJKjVen/?taken-by=loryalessandrini

 

[blue_idealist]

Glad Alessandrini is continuing as a coach!

 

[Crossover]

Whenever this thread is up, I'm prepared not to be sad before clicking the updated news. This thread will be very busy after PyeongChang or Milan Worlds.

Lorenza Alessandrini, I've just heard of his name, but don't know about his skating or career not much, but still... Thanks to his contribution to figure skating. I'm glad that he plans to stick around in the sport as a coach. Best wishes for him.

 

[Andrea82]

Lorenza Alessandrini, I've just heard of his name, but don't know about his skating or career not much, but still... Thanks to his contribution to figure skating. I'm glad that he plans to stick around in the sport as a coach. Best wishes for him.

Lorenza is a lady!
She took part to Worlds twice (in 2012 for Italy with Vaturi and last year for France with Souquet). She did Euros 3 times (2011 and 2014 with Vaturi and 2016 with Souquet). She skated at GP 4 times (again 2 times with Vaturi and 2 times with Souquet)

 

[noidont]

Tkachenko is the one who is really very unlucky. Riazanova/Tkachenko was a better team than Sinistina and Zhiganshin and was only dumped in 2014 because RUS fed thought both of them are going to retire. It's more than likely that Elena would have paired up with Tkachenko if it had been him who went to Sochi. Then Tobias could have found someone actually Jewish to skate with her. All could have been better.

 

[Crossover]

Lorenza is a lady!
She took part to Worlds twice (in 2012 for Italy with Vaturi and last year for France with Souquet). She did Euros 3 times (2011 and 2014 with Vaturi and 2016 with Souquet). She skated at GP 4 times (again 2 times with Vaturi and 2 times with Souquet)

Oops, my eyes failed me. Why I read her name as Lorenzo...Still best wished for her future.

 

[Ice Dance]

Per FSU, Tkachenko had the opportunity to skate with or try out with Elena after Sochi & declined to respond, choosing to skate with Tobias instead.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Tkachenko is the one who is really very unlucky. Riazanova/Tkachenko was a better team than Sinistina and Zhiganshin and was only dumped in 2014 because RUS fed thought both of them are going to retire. It's more than likely that Elena would have paired up with Tkachenko if it had been him who went to Sochi. Then Tobias could have found someone actually Jewish to skate with her. All could have been better.

Per FSU, Tkachenko had the opportunity to skate with or try out with Elena after Sochi & declined to respond, choosing to skate with Tobias instead.

To be fair, Ilia had partnered Isabella before, albeit very briefly. So, when they both happened to be available at the same time, it probably seemed a good idea to try again with somebody who he had already established a skating relationship with, rather than starting from scratch with somebody new.

Sometimes new partnerships take a long time to gel. And sometimes they don't gel at all. So, at least with Isabella, the ground work had already been done, and they could go straight to preparing for the new season.

As the saying goes, "better the devil you know".

CaroLiza_fan

 

[blue_idealist]

To be fair, Ilia had partnered Isabella before, albeit very briefly. So, when they both happened to be available at the same time, it probably seemed a good idea to try again with somebody who he had already established a skating relationship with, rather than starting from scratch with somebody new.

Sometimes new partnerships take a long time to gel. And sometimes they don't gel at all. So, at least with Isabella, the ground work had already been done, and they could go straight to preparing for the new season.

As the saying goes, "better the devil you know".

CaroLiza_fan

When did Ilia skate with Isabella before?

- - - Updated - - -

Lorenza is a lady!
She took part to Worlds twice (in 2012 for Italy with Vaturi and last year for France with Souquet). She did Euros 3 times (2011 and 2014 with Vaturi and 2016 with Souquet). She skated at GP 4 times (again 2 times with Vaturi and 2 times with Souquet)

They had a nice FD this year, her and Souquet. They were always an entertaining pair although I guess their technical deficiencies held them behind the top teams.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

When did Ilia skate with Isabella before?

It was for 6 months back in 2008. For Isabella it was between Otar Japaridze and Deividas Stagniūnas, while for Ilia it was between Maria Monko and Ekaterina Riazanova.

This previous spell together is referred to in these interviews:

2015 Golden Skate Interview

2017 Absolute Skating Interview

Hope this makes things clearer

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Sabrina]

From all retirements, the only one that left me struck like by thunder, though it was expectable, was Julia's decision to quit skating. I loved her so much and I really wanted her to continue skating, without any big targets, just for fun. I am sure, part of the retirement must be linked to the depth of ladies FS in Russia, which is not changing soon. That pressure cooker works only for very strong people.
From more recent decisions, I am sad Eladj has decided to quit, and though it's not official Kevin is following. Honestly I hope Kevin will continue for at least a couple of years. But that's his decision.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

From all retirements, the only one that left me struck like by thunder, though it was expectable, was Julia's decision to quit skating. I loved her so much and I really wanted her to continue skating, without any big targets, just for fun. I am sure, part of the retirement must be linked to the depth of ladies FS in Russia, which is not changing soon. That pressure cooker works only for very strong people.
From more recent decisions, I am sad Eladj has decided to quit, and though it's not official Kevin is following. Honestly I hope Kevin will continue for at least a couple of years. But that's his decision.

Did you see that Yulia and Elena Ilinykh are starting a Figure Skating academy?

https://www.instagram.com/academy_ilinykh_lipnitskaya

 

[figurefan0726]

Zijun Li has officially retired.

 

[blue_idealist]

It was for 6 months back in 2008. For Isabella it was between Otar Japaridze and Deividas Stagniūnas, while for Ilia it was between Maria Monko and Ekaterina Riazanova.

This previous spell together is referred to in these interviews:

2015 Golden Skate Interview

2017 Absolute Skating Interview

Hope this makes things clearer

CaroLiza_fan

Thanks for the info!

 

[cathlen]

Zijun Li has officially retired.

Yeah

 

[lavoix]

Zijun Li has officially retired.

Why? With the Olympics in China and all...

 

[Eclair]

Why? With the Olympics in China and all...

only speculating but I guess it's because:
- judges gave her 49 PCS in the FS at last Worlds
- many Chinese fans strongly dislike her because she's 'too spoiled', 'doesn't have enough grit', 'isn't nationalistic enough', a lot are jeleaos because some other male athlete are friends with her, all of these people going to lengths to post at every opportunity insults, like 'fatty' or 'b**'*'
- she wanted things differently than her fed which led to disputes in the past
- she is probably dealing with some kind of eating disorder and she prioritized her health over skating

there is a whole thread, dedicated to Zijun and her retirement, along with lots of positive messages and links to her beautiful skating:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?69412-Zijun-Li-rumored-to-have-retired

 

[icybear]

only speculating but I guess it's because:
- judges gave her 49 PCS in the FS at last Worlds
- many Chinese fans strongly dislike her because she's 'too spoiled', 'doesn't have enough grit', 'isn't nationalistic enough', a lot are jeleaos because some other male athlete are friends with her, all of these people going to lengths to post at every opportunity insults, like 'fatty' or 'b**'*'
- she wanted things differently than her fed which led to disputes in the past
- she is probably dealing with some kind of eating disorder and she prioritized her health over skating

there is a whole thread, dedicated to Zijun and her retirement, along with lots of positive messages and links to her beautiful skating:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?69412-Zijun-Li-rumored-to-have-retired

I doubt the reason she's retiring is because of some hater fans. The majority of Chinese fans are very supportive of her. I presume its probably a lack of motivation to skate anymore what with the judges continually underscoring her, suddenly having to compete against a serious national rival who could take her international spot and her health problems. Also that injury she had at the start of the season probably killed of any motivation she had.