Once again, you are looking at this from a spectator's perspective. But look at it like this: The Olympics are only once every 4 years and Russian Nationals are every single year. Plus: As a Russian skater, making it to the Olympics is even more precious because they are competing against a very strong field for a very limited number of spots.
Let's take for example Evgenia Medvedeva. She competed in 16 Russian Championships if we include novice and junior championships. At the same time, she competed in only one Olympics. Is it hard to understand why she might feel like the Olympics were something special and more important than the Russian Championships? Especially because for so many skaters (and athletes in general), the Olympics come after years of hard work and after years of staying at the very top in their sport. It's like a reward for all of that hard work, and a motivation as well. If you've won Russian Nationals at 14 (like Anna for example), and that is as high as you can go, what else is there to strive for? What motivates you as an athlete?
Plus, it's easy for us to overlook just how much winning an Olympic medal can help athletes after they have ended their active careers, because we think "Oh, they're so well known anyways." or "Oh, they are so marketable." or whatever else. I do not think that Zhenya or Alina would have had as many sponsors and half as much attention inside and outside of Russia as they did if it hadn't been for the Olympics. (And it is not even necessarily just about the medals, look at how Kamila's following on IG developed and you'll see that most followers came after her Free in the individual event.)
And also, I doubt that the younger generation will feel much less strongly about the Olympics, considering how Sofia Samodelkina was literally praying every day for them to be postponed just that she could have a chance to even try and qualify for them when she is at her physical peak. You don't do that if you don't care about the Olympics.
Good and well thought out post.
We might not see eye to eye on a few things here, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this was a good read.
Obviously, I’m looking at it from a fan viewpoint since that’s what I am. You don’t want me being a competitor or near a rink even. Or maybe you do if you want to have a good laugh at me falling all over the place. Haha
Yes, you get more eyes on you at the Olympics since you get a lot of people that don’t follow the sport, but I would counter that those folks are just fleeting. The vast majority of your income is still coming from the skating fan.
Kamila is back to being “that Russian girl“ in the USA. Everyone moved on.
And the vast majority of international events the last few years were processions anyway.
It wasn’t who was going to win, but by how many points would Kamila and Anna destroy them by. The rest of the world is still far behind.
The discussion about Maiia earlier here really drove the point home. Her “bad” year wasn’t so bad after all.
From a fans‘ perspective, the Russian ladies is all you need to have a top class event. And, best case, a handful of others from outside Russia. Probably 5 or so (Kaori, Rika, and 2 or 3 South Koreans, and since I like them, Loena and Mikutina as my wildcards).
Speaking of, without the Russian ladies, the Olympics mean nothing, and a “world” championship without them is a glorified challenger event.
As a fan, this split weeding out the Russian lady skater haters is beyond awesome. So refreshing not having to focus on doping, or how everyone is being abused by the devil herself. I can‘t lie, as a fan I want to keep it as it is now. A world where the ISU is non existent.
Man, why couldn’t I have been a billionaire so I could pour money into this discipline as a labor or love? Wouldn’t be a billionaire for long doing that but you can’t take it with you when you go, right?
Like Tuktamysheva brings her solid 3A, artistic package you can debate the merits of but that is recognizably hers, and her exceptional age for Russia.
