- Joined
- Mar 30, 2016
It's difficult for Zhenya, being Russian. She can't afford too much of a dip in form while she re-tools technical things and tries to expand her artistic parameters to fashion a long-lived career. I think it's something she needed to do, but it's an unforgiving world if she has a poor season.
It's so easy to slip out of the top 3 of Russia, and therefore get eff all international exposure, despite still being world class. If she was from most other countries (other than Japan), not making GPF wouldn't be a disaster, just a disappointment. She'd still be good enough to be a contender in Euros and Worlds. But for Zhenya, with her history of success, and with younger Russians snapping at her heels, the possibility of missing out must feel like the end of the world. Especially with her biggest rival still slaying.
She should take a bit of heart from Tuktamysheva's renaissance. She was the wunderkind, and then seemed lost in the wilderness, but is back, looking great, and seems to be enjoying life again.
It's so easy to slip out of the top 3 of Russia, and therefore get eff all international exposure, despite still being world class. If she was from most other countries (other than Japan), not making GPF wouldn't be a disaster, just a disappointment. She'd still be good enough to be a contender in Euros and Worlds. But for Zhenya, with her history of success, and with younger Russians snapping at her heels, the possibility of missing out must feel like the end of the world. Especially with her biggest rival still slaying.
She should take a bit of heart from Tuktamysheva's renaissance. She was the wunderkind, and then seemed lost in the wilderness, but is back, looking great, and seems to be enjoying life again.