- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
I doubt your theory. Their history says otherwise. They have a pool of over 11 girls as serious contendors for the 6 National Team spots next season (K, D, M will turn senior). RusFed loves to drop athletes.
Evgenia Medvedeva
- Thread starter Totentanz
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2015
I saw her withdrawal coming but it still doesn’t make me any less sad. I hope (if her back is better) that she will compete at the 5th stage and nationals. If not, I really hope she keeps her programs for next year
(I absolutely love Alegria- even though we only saw it once).
(I absolutely love Alegria- even though we only saw it once).
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2018
If this was another season, another circumstances and it affected ladies only I will be agreeing with you, but it's not the case. They have a shitshow with pairs and dance right now. Even if the three who turn senior are on the team, there are weaker spots right now (Zagi, unless she does a miraculous comeback). They won't lose those sweet rubles that Zhenya's fans are providing, they will throw another skater under the bus. Also, wasn't it last year when they had like 8 ladies on the national team? This year they are only 6, so there is a chance to repeat that again on 2021/2022
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2018
Not really. The amount of ladies skaters in Russia who came back successfully after a year off from competition is very, very small. Actually, I cannot think of anyone from the top of my head. And the field has changed in recent years, too. A few years ago, landing a 7 triples FS consistently was a rarity, now everyone and their grandmother does it in Russia. Sorry, but the reality is that Evgenia needs to compete at Nationals and she needs to perform relatively well, too. Otherwise, she‘s off the team, pushed out by skaters like Valieva, Usacheva, Khromykh, Frolova... there is no shortage. And then (according to the rules, at least) she‘ll not even be in main contention for two GP spots. Of course, she is Evgenia Medvedeva, so she might get invitations anyway, especially if she‘s not exactly competitive. This way, she draws in the crowds but isn‘t a threat to local skaters. (e.g. at NHK against Rika or Skate America with Bradie) Being with Eteri might also help. But RusFed still loves to drop their skaters like hot potatoes once they‘re no longer useful and right now, they don‘t need Evgenia. They have plenty of other options. She still is the second most popular skater after Alina, so that will help her but in the end, RusFed is about medals. And at this point, others will win them more easily and more reliably than her.
And this doesn‘t even touch upon the issue of her injury itself. I am very thankful that TeamTutberidze doesn‘t make her compete when she‘s not ready but in all honesty, Evgenia has been competing with this chronic injury for at least the past two years. Back injuries in skating are prevalent and they‘re often career ending. Can you think of ANY lady recently who competed with one for as long as Zhenya has and didn‘t end up either retiring or needing surgery? I cannot. However, we have ample examples on the other side, most recently Tursynbaeva. But also Pogorilaya, Radionova etc.
I know you‘ll all call me out for being too negative again but I‘m sorry, I see this not as negativity but reality. I‘ll probably cry of joy if she competes again but at this point, I don‘t expect to see her at all this season and am just hoping against hope that the inevitable R-word doesn‘t come too soon.
I‘m sorry because it should have been differently. The pandemic changed many things and not being at her usual training site, with her usual support system probably sped up the inevitable. I wish she hadn’t gone to Japan in summer but it is what it is now, we can’t change the past and neither can she. With a healthy regime, she might have been able to hang on for longer. (I‘m pretty sure she would have, she looked stronger than ever last year) Now, it will be nothing short of a miracle if she does come back.
To make it clear: I want to have her back. I miss her terribly. But I also don’t want her to ruin herself for competitive skating. It‘s just not worth it.
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- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
Yuna Kim competed another 7 years after being diagnosed with a herniated spinal disk, no surgery every mentioned. She kept on competing, mentioned she had to lower her ice time at some point to 20 minutes a day (sounds familiar, doesn't it?), but then everything went better and she won 2 Olympic medals.
Loena Hendrikx recovered after fighting with her back injury for several years, without surgery needed.
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva has struggled with her spine injury for around 6 years now (even had to give up her Biellmann, which she now finally was able to bring back) and came back strong, no surgery ever mentioned.
Those are the ones I can tell just from the top of my head. The real list is probably even longer.
There are many athletes who were still able to compete despite year long injuries. Every injury is different and retirements do not always have to do with the injury as well. In several interviews from injured and retired skaters they often mention that they just lost their love for competing and figure skating during their recovery and therefore decided to retire and not to come back, not always is their injury the reason.
In men's there are skaters who have struggled with spinal injuries for many years as well and who still compete e.g. Hanyu.
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- Joined
- Nov 24, 2018
I think you are wrong , I mean there are only 6 places on the national team, 3 are taken which will be alyona, Sasha and Anna, kamila too will get a spot, I can imagine if Lisa is at rusnats and doesn't bomb than she gets a place at we'll, so only one place left and to many skaters left, zhenya , alina (even if it's not likely she will start next year), Maya, daria, and a few others .so actually i would say she does need to skate at rusnats
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2018
I‘m sorry but Yuna Kim competed in a different era. She was an amazing athlete but the demands are just different right now. Back then, you could drop an entire triple jump and still win international medals, without all seven triples, you‘ll be struggling to even make the podium at GP events. Not to mention - in a field like Russia you‘re probably not even going to get to the GP in the first place! There‘s a reason our sport has become younger and younger and the technical limit rising so rapidly is one of them. And as much as I love her, Evgenia is no Yuna Kim. She was never taught the ideal technique that Yuna has and that can protect you from career ending injuries. Not always but the continuous twisting of her back in jumps didn‘t (doesn’t...) help Zhenya at all. So, no I don’t think there‘s much comparison to be made between Yuna‘s and Evgenia‘s situations, as much as Brian wanted us all to believe at the beginning of the 2018-19 season (and as he probably wanted to believe himself) But to be fair, I only asked for examples, not examples that are actually similar to where Zhenya finds herself right now.
Loena Hendrickx is a great skater whom I‘m very happy to have back but she also had all the time in the world. She could afford taking off almost two full season and knew she‘d still be competitive within her country. Evgenia does not have that luxury, never has it, never will. And unlike Radionova or Pogorilaya, she will not be in danger of dropping out of the top 3, she is in very real danger of not even making it close to the top 5. Right now, Anna, Aliona, Alexandra, Kamila, Liza and Daria are all ahead of her. The year after the Olympic season, you’ll have another three to five juniors turning seniors. Why would RusFed hold on to her?That‘s just the way it is in Russia. You get dropped if you can‘t perform and you get dropped quickly.
Elizaveta IS a real example that is comparable to Evgenia and I‘m happy you gave it. It gives hope, certainly. At the same time, though, she is more similar to Yuna than she is to Evgenia in that her technique is ideal.
In the end, I am just sceptical at this point because we‘ve seen way too many signs pointing at her injury being far more serious than either her or her teams lets on. You think she‘ll come back, good for you. I‘d like to be as positive as well, believe me. I‘ve just watched too many elite skaters in Russia struggle with back injuries and then never make it back to the top international circuit again. It‘s not going to get easier and I just don‘t see her body making it. I‘m sure she will try, she doesn‘t lack in motivation. But she‘s been competing and training on a chronically injured body since at least the 2017-18 season. I don‘t see that getting better.
If you‘re right, I‘ll gladly eat my words. Let‘s wait and see. She has another 6 week to make it to Nationals. If she makes it, the game is on. If not... then not. That‘s all I can say.
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2017
I hope she is at 5th stage, too. And Alegria is already a favorite of mine.I saw her withdrawal coming but it still doesn’t make me any less sad. I hope (if her back is better) that she will compete at the 5th stage and nationals. If not, I really hope she keeps her programs for next year
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2015
I think my favorite of hers will always be Memoirs because she portrayed it SO well. However, she’s had so many great programs it’s hard to choose after Memoirs but Alegria is a stand out one because of how unique it is
Masquerade is also really nice, so I hope to see that as well.
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2017
It is terribly sad that Evgenia is injured, but she is getting treatment. And she hasn't been on the ice long, so it could be that her team feels it's too soon to do a major competition. So let's not get ahead of ourselves.
And if this year , she does not compete. She is training at Sambo, not Canada, so financially it is better. I'm sure she will get a challenger and 1GP spot and probably Rostelecom. If she is healthy, she will be competitive.
I have complete faith in her to be at the top again. Her skating is beautiful.
And if this year , she does not compete. She is training at Sambo, not Canada, so financially it is better. I'm sure she will get a challenger and 1GP spot and probably Rostelecom. If she is healthy, she will be competitive.
I have complete faith in her to be at the top again. Her skating is beautiful.
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2019
I also think its positive that they are saying she may compete in the 5th stage - they never really came out and said that about the 3rd or 4th stage.. DG also said he hopes she would be able to compete @ Nats - so hopefully it means that the treatment is working and she may be better by then * fingers crossed*
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2018
actually iam happy that eteri is holding zhenya back, or so it seems . at least this shows that at least eteris approach for zhenya is not skate in competitions while not fully fit. i could imagine . one reason is that she would like zenyas debut back under her to be successfull. 2. she doesnt want zehnya to skate and mabye make the injury worse again
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
The way I predicted your whole post before you posted it. I could have given you a list with 20 skaters and you still would have written that they are all exceptions, because you want her and the team to fail, at least that is the impression you have given me the past two months with your comments in every thread.I‘m sorry but Yuna Kim competed in a different era. She was an amazing athlete but the demands are just different right now. Back then, you could drop an entire triple jump and still win international medals, without all seven triples, you‘ll be struggling to even make the podium at GP events. Not to mention - in a field like Russia you‘re probably not even going to get to the GP in the first place! There‘s a reason our sport has become younger and younger and the technical limit rising so rapidly is one of them. And as much as I love her, Evgenia is no Yuna Kim. She was never taught the ideal technique that Yuna has and that can protect you from career ending injuries. Not always but the continuous twisting of her back in jumps didn‘t (doesn’t...) help Zhenya at all. So, no I don’t think there‘s much comparison to be made between Yuna‘s and Evgenia‘s situations, as much as Brian wanted us all to believe at the beginning of the 2018-19 season (and as he probably wanted to believe himself) But to be fair, I only asked for examples, not examples that are actually similar to where Zhenya finds herself right now.
Loena Hendrickx is a great skater whom I‘m very happy to have back but she also had all the time in the world. She could afford taking off almost two full season and knew she‘d still be competitive within her country. Evgenia does not have that luxury, never has it, never will. And unlike Radionova or Pogorilaya, she will not be in danger of dropping out of the top 3, she is in very real danger of not even making it close to the top 5. Right now, Anna, Aliona, Alexandra, Kamila, Liza and Daria are all ahead of her. The year after the Olympic season, you’ll have another three to five juniors turning seniors. Why would RusFed hold on to her?That‘s just the way it is in Russia. You get dropped if you can‘t perform and you get dropped quickly.
Elizaveta IS a real example that is comparable to Evgenia and I‘m happy you gave it. It gives hope, certainly. At the same time, though, she is more similar to Yuna than she is to Evgenia in that her technique is ideal.
In the end, I am just sceptical at this point because we‘ve seen way too many signs pointing at her injury being far more serious than either her or her teams lets on. You think she‘ll come back, good for you. I‘d like to be as positive as well, believe me. I‘ve just watched too many elite skaters in Russia struggle with back injuries and then never make it back to the top international circuit again. It‘s not going to get easier and I just don‘t see her body making it. I‘m sure she will try, she doesn‘t lack in motivation. But she‘s been competing and training on a chronically injured body since at least the 2017-18 season. I don‘t see that getting better.
If you‘re right, I‘ll gladly eat my words. Let‘s wait and see. She has another 6 week to make it to Nationals. If she makes it, the game is on. If not... then not. That‘s all I can say.
Her injury has been diagnosed for 1 month and somehow you expect her to be completely competition ready by now or in a few weeks and if not she is apparently doomed forever. Skaters have been away from competitions for longer with smaller injuries. One does not recover + is in 100% competition form in the span of 4 weeks. We know Eteri expects perfectionism, so I already expected that Zhenya would not be at any competition unless she was in at least 85% top form and can place well, even if she is already better, so I personally do not calculate the severity of Zhenya's injury or chances of recovery by the number of competitions she skips. Adelia was away from competitions for 3 months after she had leg pain and then was in great form two weeks ago, they only send out skaters if they are in good shape and can place well.
Eteri does that with every skater. Shifts skaters' competition spots depending on their form to give them more time, I remember last season vividly where the juniors were constantly shifted around. Daniil said nearly two weeks ago that there was a chance she could go to the 5th Cup, albeit small, and that she could go to Nats as well and I doubt he would say that, if there was no chance she would be ready to go, since they usually never make such statements in interviews, they usually keep quiet about those things. Zhenya's official team said the same today. Zhenya officially did not declare herself for any competition so far this season (except the first 2 Cups, those were before her diagnosis), she did not even offically declare herself for Rostelecom Cup, so I doubt her team would give an official statement and declare her for the 5th Cup, if she was not already at least a bit better. Now they are just probably looking if she can already compete well by then or if she needs more time to get back in shape.
Supposedly we are supposed to get an update tomorrow. Let's see.
Evgenia has at least one GP secure for next season. through her SB and WS. No one can take that spot from her, it's hers via ISU rules. Considering that RusFed loves to maximize spots, she has a good chance of getting a second spot especially if she does well, since there are 18 spots for Russia and having two skaters with one spot barely makes sense for them.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2018
And foreveryone in here zhenya apparently is as of today following eteris instagramm account if i saw that right
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
She started following the fake one today that appeared after Eteri's account got hacked. Several skaters from Sambo fell into the trap and subscribed, some realized it was fake later on and deleted their sub, but some didn't realize it so far lol.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2018
Didnt know it was fake, but wouldnt zhenya know that it was fakeafter other skaters found that out?
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
I doubt they talk about social media accounts and who they are following on instagram during their training time. Daria is still subscribed to it like Zhenya, despite the other skaters having removed theirs, so she also does not seem to know it yet or forgot about it. Also Sambo's new manager confirmed in comments under one post that Eteri did not make a new account.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2018
Well fake or not it shows that zhenya at this point is willingly to follow eteris account
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2017
Someone has started a countdown to Zhenya's Birthday!
Favorite SP: Tosca (and River Flows in You. I learned to play it on piano after seeing Zhenya skate to it)
Favorite FS: MoaG and W.E. (I really can't make choices lol)
Favorite Jump: Salchow ( and her Salchow-Loop combo)
Favorite costume: Memoirs of a Geisha costume
Favorite moment: Worlds 2019 K&C reaction after her Free Skate
favorite sp. Tosca, River Flows in you , is my runner up.
favorite FS W.E. But Alegria might beat it.
favorite jump 3S3loop
favorite costume. I love so many, Experience black dress, MOAG competitive dress
favorite moment , definitely the Roar at the end of the tango at 2019 Worlds
so Lunalovesskating we are almost 100% in agreement.
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
I give youfavorite sp. Tosca, River Flows in you , is my runner up.
favorite FS W.E. But Alegria might beat it.
favorite jump 3S3loop
favorite costume. I love so many, Experience black dress, MOAG competitive dress
favorite moment , definitely the Roar at the end of the tango at 2019 Worlds
so Lunalovesskating we are almost 100% in agreement.
for your selection. I also think Alegria has the potential to be my favorite free program. I cannot wait to see it in its entirety.Similar threads
