Will Zagitova return?

[Scott512]

It's looking less and less like she really wants to compete again; if she did there wouldn't be this "decision" coming after Test skates of will she or won't she do the Russian cup events. If she doesn't do the Russian cup events my understanding is that she won't qualify to compete at Nationals, unless the Fed were to play favorites and give her a bye into competing at Nationals. And without any Russian cup event results or National results she would be unlikely to be selected for any Europeans or Worlds team, so failing to compete at the Russian cup events could equal no season whatsoever given the uncertainty of there being many international competitions with the pandemic.

I hope she surprises us and competes. To think that she might retire before Liza and evgenia is mind-boggling. But that's probably going to happen because I see Jenna and Liza skating on for years to come competitively.

 

[Amei]

I hope she surprises us and competes. To think that she might retire before Liza and evgenia is mind-boggling. But that's probably going to happen because I see Jenna and Liza skating on for years to come competitively.

I don't think it's mind-boggling, Zagitova has won everything with nothing left to chase after, Medvedeva and Tuktamysheva are both still wanting that Olympic gold.

 

[Lunalovesskating]

I don't think it's mind-boggling, Zagitova has won everything with nothing left to chase after, Medvedeva and Tuktamysheva are both still wanting that Olympic gold.

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them. We had Yuna, Mao and Caro fight for gold for a whole decade. Katarina Witt won two Olympic golds and then came back for a third Olympics, not to win, just to skate for herself and to skate for a unified Germany. Slutskaya won 6 world medals, I could go on. Those are the type of skaters people talk about even decades later because they skated for so long, left many impressions and fought for so many titles during their careers.
I don't like this narrative of "Alina has nothing more to chase after". What about skating for passion, for yourself? Skating for multiple titles? Trying new programs, styles? There is more to motivate yourself for in this sport than just winning the grand slam.
If Alina does not want to continue skating that is totally fine yet disappointing for me personally and if she does continue I would be extremly happy, however, I don't like that people paint it like there is nothing more in this sport than the grand slam.

 

[Amei]

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them. We had Yuna, Mao and Caro fight for gold for a whole decade. Katarina Witt won two Olympic golds and then came back for a third Olympics, not to win, just to skate for herself and to skate for a unified Germany. Slutskaya won 6 world medals, I could go on. Those are the type of skater people talk about even decades later because they skated for so long, left many impressions and fought for so many titles during their careers.

None of those skaters you mentioned had to go through the depth that Zagitova will have to do to even make the team to get to Europeans, Worlds or the Olympics. Kim competed for only 4 full seasons, after the 2010 Olympics she showed up at a grand total of 5 international competitions, she had no competition in South Korea. Kostner competed more full seasons, but she had virtually no competition inside of Italy she was guaranteed everything from a national perspective. Asada lost gold at Vancouver to Kim and Kostner performed poorly at her first 2 Olympics so similar to Medvedeva they still had something to chase after.

And how much did those skaters have to increase their technical arsenal to have a shot at getting on a World or Olympic team though? Kim, Asada or Kostner never had to increase the difficulty of their programs significantly to remain competitive in their country; nor was Slutskaya competing in a very difficult field from a National perspective. Zagitova will likely need to add either multiple quads or multiple quads and a triple axel - just to remain competitive and have a shot at getting on another European, World or Olympic team.

 

[zounger]

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them. We had Yuna, Mao and Caro fight for gold for a whole decade. Katarina Witt won two Olympic golds and then came back for a third Olympics, not to win, just to skate for herself and to skate for a unified Germany. Slutskaya won 6 world medals, I could go on. Those are the type of skaters people talk about even decades later because they skated for so long, left many impressions and fought for so many titles during their careers.
I don't like this narrative of "Alina has nothing more to chase after". What about skating for passion, for yourself? Skating for multiple titles? Trying new programs, styles? There is more to motivate yourself for in this sport than just winning the grand slam.
If Alina does not want to continue skating that is totally fine yet disappointing for me personally and if she does continue I would be extremly happy, however, I don't like that people paint it like there is nothing more in this sport than the grand slam.

Specific circles of Russian figure skating elite are fond of this narrative. People generally, no. Zagitova her self said there are multiple title skaters.

 

[fabienne1996]

It's looking less and less like she really wants to compete again; if she did there wouldn't be this "decision" coming after Test skates of will she or won't she do the Russian cup events. If she doesn't do the Russian cup events my understanding is that she won't qualify to compete at Nationals, unless the Fed were to play favorites and give her a bye into competing at Nationals. And without any Russian cup event results or National results she would be unlikely to be selected for any Europeans or Worlds team, so failing to compete at the Russian cup events could equal no season whatsoever given the uncertainty of there being many international competitions with the pandemic.

If there are euros and worlds. At the moment that is very unclear

Gesendet von meinem SM-T813 mit Tapatalk

 

[Scott512]

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them. We had Yuna, Mao and Caro fight for gold for a whole decade. Katarina Witt won two Olympic golds and then came back for a third Olympics, not to win, just to skate for herself and to skate for a unified Germany. Slutskaya won 6 world medals, I could go on. Those are the type of skaters people talk about even decades later because they skated for so long, left many impressions and fought for so many titles during their careers.
I don't like this narrative of "Alina has nothing more to chase after". What about skating for passion, for yourself? Skating for multiple titles? Trying new programs, styles? There is more to motivate yourself for in this sport than just winning the grand slam.
If Alina does not want to continue skating that is totally fine yet disappointing for me personally and if she does continue I would be extremly happy, however, I don't like that people paint it like there is nothing more in this sport than the grand slam.

What you say is true. But for a Alina it's a different story. She obviously has so much more competition in her own country than Caro Yuna and Mao did. Those three had plenty of time to develop in all aspects of skating. Alina does not have that time she's already been passed by by 3A in the last year and more young Russians are coming. I hope she continues and I won't mind if she doesn't win like she used to. The question is will Alina mind? I think so.

 

[Happy Skates]

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them. We had Yuna, Mao and Caro fight for gold for a whole decade. Katarina Witt won two Olympic golds and then came back for a third Olympics, not to win, just to skate for herself and to skate for a unified Germany. Slutskaya won 6 world medals, I could go on. Those are the type of skaters people talk about even decades later because they skated for so long, left many impressions and fought for so many titles during their careers.
I don't like this narrative of "Alina has nothing more to chase after". What about skating for passion, for yourself? Skating for multiple titles? Trying new programs, styles? There is more to motivate yourself for in this sport than just winning the grand slam.
If Alina does not want to continue skating that is totally fine yet disappointing for me personally and if she does continue I would be extremly happy, however, I don't like that people paint it like there is nothing more in this sport than the grand slam.

I get what you're saying, and I would love for Alina to continue, but I find it unfair to compare her to Yuna/Mao/Caro. When one of these ladies skipped a competition, or had a sloppy routine/fell, etc, which happened to all of them, the entire skating world didn't start proclaiming it was the end of their careers. When Alina had non-perfect routines, or didn't do nationals, people started talking about how she was quitting and her career was over and that she'd lost her technique. And part of this is because of the competition in her country. Carolina could fall three times and still be the best one in Italy. Because of this, she could afford to not be perfect all the time and still keep her leading spot in the country and keep her momentum. Same thing with the other two. With Alina, if she falters slightly, there are 10 other girls ready to take her spot. And once someone else gets that top spot, its hard to come back, both psychologically, and in terms of momentum.

It is also different because The sport has changed drastically in the past few years. In the Olympic year, Alina was the peak of technical difficulty. But the 3A/quad revolution changed that. And now that there are people who will always beat her when clean, it must be hard to continue. Going from winning everything to only possibly being a medal contender is not an easy change. The top skaters right now are young because of the technical revolution, not because the skaters lack longevity. If there were no young quadsters, I am willing to bet that Alina would still be competing and winning.

Once the technical revolution settles down, we will see if these skaters can achieve longevity. But it is way too soon to see if that will happen. I personally think that its ok to have both types of skaters - skaters that win everything and then move on, and skaters that stick around a long time. The same people for too many years in a row gets boring, but on the other hand its nice to have familiar faces around to root for.

 

[Thrashergurl]

Let’s not forget that Alina was part of that technical revolution and hasn’t had much In terms of longevity either. She had 2 full senior seasons and part of last year when she announced her break.

Whatever her choices, I wish her the best. Will she come back? I think only Alina and her coaches know. I hope she does.

 

[Mathman]

I think there is another way to look at it. Having had success and found fame as a figure skater, Alina may have other life ambitions outside the sport. To me, this is not something to be sad about.

 

[Amei]

Let’s not forget that Alina was part of that technical revolution and hasn’t had much In terms of longevity either. She had 2 full senior seasons and part of last year when she announced her break.

Whatever her choices, I wish her the best. Will she come back? I think only Alina and her coaches know. I hope she does.

The "technical revolution" that Zagitova was apart of was completely back-loading her jumps, the ISU regulated that advantage out of existence (well skaters can do it if they want to however with no point advantage no one is going to risk it). The technical revolution/advantage that is now happening in the ladies field is largely safe from being regulated out of existence because changing something in relation to quads will affect the men as well; after the next Olympics they are likely to increase the technical advantage allowing ladies to do quads in the SP like the men are.

 

[Skatesocs]

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them.

I do not see it as a bad thing if someone retires early in a sport where some rather nasty things have emerged.

We had Yuna,

Kim pretty much stopped competing after Vancouver. She returned to fetch her country spots for Sochi.

Mao

Asada stayed on for redemption - she retired in 2017 for her comeback and didn't miss being judged. I'm sure the scores of someone at the top of the podium at the time contributed to her retirement, as much as I do wish she'd stayed for Pyeongchang.

What about skating for passion, for yourself? Skating for multiple titles? ...

I do not see how her quitting competitive skating = no passion for skating. As some here will tell you, winning titles isn't everything - I'm sure it applies to Eteri's skaters. She can easily improve as a skater and still do ice shows. The most you can say is that fans won't get to see it - and we aren't entitled to. Same for trying multiple styles.

I know "love for sport" is supposed to be a thing fans love - but I'm glad there are some out there who don't care and have goals for themselves. If the pandemic is changing someone's "love for sport", good.

 

[colormyworld240]

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them. We had Yuna, Mao and Caro fight for gold for a whole decade. Katarina Witt won two Olympic golds and then came back for a third Olympics, not to win, just to skate for herself and to skate for a unified Germany. Slutskaya won 6 world medals, I could go on. Those are the type of skaters people talk about even decades later because they skated for so long, left many impressions and fought for so many titles during their careers.
I don't like this narrative of "Alina has nothing more to chase after". What about skating for passion, for yourself? Skating for multiple titles? Trying new programs, styles? There is more to motivate yourself for in this sport than just winning the grand slam.
If Alina does not want to continue skating that is totally fine yet disappointing for me personally and if she does continue I would be extremly happy, however, I don't like that people paint it like there is nothing more in this sport than the grand slam.

I think it's important to point out the internal competition differences like others have. But also, everyone is different. For every Yuna/Mao/Carolina there are hundreds who have retired earlier. Also, in terms of competitive titles, Alina has won them all, and for example she has done more competitions than Yuna after she won all the titles, and there is no one else to compare with the same achievements.

As for the passion for the sport and trying new programs and styles, you don't have to be a competitive skater to do that. She can also participate in shows and work with different choreographers. Of course she can continue if she wants to win multiple titles, and I'm sure like any other figure skater she'd appreciate them, but we have to remember that Alina hasn't had the best experience with winning. When she won the Olympics, she received a lot of backlash from prominent figure skating figures in her own country, where as when Yuna, Mao, and Carolina won their medals they were received very well. This will continue to be a problem as the current top Russian ladies have very strong fanbases within the country, and even the prominent figures like TAT has their favourites, so regardless of who wins there will always be backlash. Apart from the actual competitiveness within the country, this is also another big drawback of having such a dense talent pool; the fans/officials are also split which affects how a skater is received after they win. And of course, the same conflicting fanbases will be the first to declare a skater "over" at the first sign of struggle. And there hasn't been a single skater who hasn't gone through periods of struggle. But the Russian ladies have to deal with it from their own countrymen, who are supposed to be supportive, criticizing that struggle every step of the way, even criticizing them when they're not struggling, which makes continuing even more difficult.

And finally, some skaters just want to move onto other things as most people have more than one interest. Some are fortunate to be able to purse more than one. The average person changes their career multiple times.

 

[lopsilceci]

To be a russian lady in this sport right now seems to be both a blessing and a curse.
I agree that we can't compare Alina to Yuna, Carolina, Mao or any other skater from the past because none of them faced the same depth in the national level and the quick changes brought by the current tech revolution.

As a fan I am all for skaters' going for longevity, especially if that would mean getting to see Alina competing a few years more. But having seen her ups and downs and all the stuff she's had to deal with from media, federation and fans, I can understand it if Alina tells us she wants to move on from competitive figure skating, temporarily or definitively.

Whatever her decision is, I hope it's something that she wants and not something that she's pressured to by anyone, whether it's federation, media or fans.

 

[Fried]

An interesting look at Alina's current status.
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/allresp/2822262.html

 

[Vemvane]

An interesting look at Alina's current status.
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/allresp/2822262.html

I'm shocked to learn that she wasn't paid for skating in Navka's show, and that the money went to the deputy direction of her rink. If true, that's dreadfully exploitative, and, living as I do in a country that is notoriously corrupt, it makes me wonder how many people see Alina's skating success as something that they can capitalise upon.

I am glad, as a fan of Alina's skating, that we will get to see her at the test skates, but whatever decision she makes for the rest of the season, I don't mind. She knows what is best for herself, whether that is skating or studying, or doing both.

 

[zounger]

Avdohin about Alina? Are you kidding me. Lol.

 

[macy]

I miss the days when skaters were chasing after multiple world titles, multiple Olympic titles, multiple European titles, when winning once was not enough for them. We had Yuna, Mao and Caro fight for gold for a whole decade. Katarina Witt won two Olympic golds and then came back for a third Olympics, not to win, just to skate for herself and to skate for a unified Germany. Slutskaya won 6 world medals, I could go on. Those are the type of skaters people talk about even decades later because they skated for so long, left many impressions and fought for so many titles during their careers.
I don't like this narrative of "Alina has nothing more to chase after". What about skating for passion, for yourself? Skating for multiple titles? Trying new programs, styles? There is more to motivate yourself for in this sport than just winning the grand slam.
If Alina does not want to continue skating that is totally fine yet disappointing for me personally and if she does continue I would be extremly happy, however, I don't like that people paint it like there is nothing more in this sport than the grand slam.

agree with this.

however, i think the difference between now and then is those skaters knew they always had a chance at a medal or title no matter how long they stayed. they would always be at the top or near it as long as they skated well, and there wasn't anyone coming up the pipeline year after year to overtake them easily. today, there are always more waiting to overtake you next year, and more behind them to knock them off the top, especially in Russian ladies. we had Lipnitskaia and Sotnikova, then Medvedeva, then Zagitova, then Kostornaya, Trusova and Shcherbakova, and next it will be Valieva. it's gotten so crazy competitive that you maybe have 1 or 2 years max to win a world title and then you're out. things are so different than when people like Michelle skated- she always had a chance to win for like 10 years straight. it was a very different time, and i miss it too.

 

[plushyfan]

An interesting look at Alina's current status.
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/allresp/2822262.html

sports.ru? disgusting forum, posters and bloggers...I also read it sometimes but after that I always decide not to read it anymore ..So many malice those persons think they have right to judge harshly others, the bloggers lie the admins also manipulate with the news or only they quotes only a part of the real articles...wich changes essence of the whole article. The forum is full of gossips that is not only sport news site...This is very good for the forum's favorites but it's very cruel to the other side.
Poor Alina few months later and she will be next to Medvedeva....

- - - Updated - - -

I'm shocked to learn that she wasn't paid for skating in Navka's show, and that the money went to the deputy direction of her rink. If true, that's dreadfully exploitative, and, living as I do in a country that is notoriously corrupt, it makes me wonder how many people see Alina's skating success as something that they can capitalise upon.

I am glad, as a fan of Alina's skating, that we will get to see her at the test skates, but whatever decision she makes for the rest of the season, I don't mind. She knows what is best for herself, whether that is skating or studying, or doing both.

You don't believe everything for those posters, bloggers, please...

 

[Fried]

I had actually only read the article as an expression of opinion from a blogger, which has no more or less weight than any other forum, fan or critic. I only found the perception very interesting because I sometimes feel the same way. Even if you look at the FF. It feels like 99% of all posts are about advertising events of any kind and Alinas appearance. Basically, sport no longer occurs. I didn't read that as an attack on Alina, frankly. Maybe that's because I never read the comments?