Figure skaters/teams that retired too soon? | Golden Skate

Figure skaters/teams that retired too soon?

gsk8

gsk8

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Some careers end just when they seem to be reaching a new peak — whether due to injury, burnout, or simply a change in life priorities. From singles to ice dance, the past two and half decades gave us a lot of “what if” moments.

Who else do you think left the sport too soon and why?

Please keep it civil and respectful toward the athletes. Everyone’s journey is personal, and it’s okay to appreciate what we got without criticizing what came next. 💙⛸️
 
In ice dance, I was looking forward to seeing Elena Ilinikh and Nikita Katsalopov develop, but off ice incompatibility torpedoed the partnership in 2014. He went on to great success with new partner Sinitsina, however.

In the U,S. Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek were poised to become the first American ice dance team top make its mark internationally, but eating disorders forced her retirement in 2000 after only one year in seniors. :(
 
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Jeffrey Buttle : I wish he had kept at it for two more years to take part in home Olympics. At the same time, he was world champion and already olympic bronze medal winner, so I could see why he felt that the pressure wasn't worth it. The internal competition was solid too, so it's not like he could have rested on his laurels and just made it easily to Vancouver without serious training.

Joannie Rochette : nobody can blame her for retiring after he iconic performance at the 2010 Olympics. She also pursued other interests (becoming a physician). However, considering how fit and competitive she remained for a few years after retirement (competing solid LPs at Japan Open for instance), her fans would have loved to see her back in 2014, for games without the trauma, if that's even possible in figure skating.

Joseph Phan : he was my favorite up and coming skater. Beautiful jumps and gorgeous skating. To me, he was the next Patrick Chan (and I haven't found anyone else quite like that since Joseph has retired). Awful knee injury ruined his career.

Nicolas Nadeau and Emmanuelle Proft : Already Nic had to retire from singles because of his ankle injury. He couldn't do a lutz anymore and considering his height and built, it was a smart move to skate with Emmanuelle. They were beautiful on the ice and their love for skating and performing was clearly apparent. It was a cold shower for pairs fans when they announced they had decided to retire to focus on professional skating (shows). At the same time, we cannot blame athletes when they have a way to make money out of their sport. Nic was with Edward Vasii in the kiss and cry of Souvenir Georges-Éthier a couple weeks ago. So I am guessing he is coaching with Yvan Desjardins's team ?

Weaver and Poje : they had a long and illustrious career and they "waited" their turn. However, they got lost in the many budding ice dance rivalries and gone was their momentum. I cannot blame them for retiring but I feel that their turn was just about to come when they did so. I also believe that the new ice dance rules with all the choreographic elements (no levels) would have been perfect for them.

James and Radford : sure, they went to the Olympics and then won a medal at the following worlds. But one season wasn't enough for me to really get into what they had promised us fans : a new approach to pairs skating. I could see glimpse of it, another season or two, would probably have been magical.

Shoma Uno : He had a long and illustrious career. However, not to have him for Milano is still not sitting well with me.

There are many more, I thought I'd give myself only ten minutes to write this post because I could go on and on and on. So I will stop here and leave some for the others. Forgive my highly Canadian content : those are the skaters I do follow the most and get more emotional about. And for the purpose of this thread, I think the emotion is leading my choices.
 
Kimmie Meissner and Joshua Farris, I think. Both retired because of injuries. Yulia Lipnitskaya maybe. I liked her, and lost interest in Eteri girls after her, it was clear what they were doing. I was sort of curious how Medvedeva-Orser tandem will work out, because she was the first Russian skater to ever do this, but pandemic spoilt all the fun.
 
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Mathman said:
In the U,S. Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek were poised to become the first American ice dance team top make its mark internationally, but eating disorders forced her retirement in 2000 after only one year in seniors. :(
Click to expand...
Speaking of ice dancers and eating disorders, I'll add Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons, too... though Michael has been doing very well with his new partner.
 
I always felt for Ann Patrice McDonough. Junior World Champion in 2002, the next season she went on the senior Grand Prix circuit and got silver at her first event, Skate America (second to Michelle Kwan). She was on a role. Her second GP assignment was Cup of Russia, but when she and her mother arrived in Paris for the connecting flight, their visas were not in order and she missed the competition. She was never the same and retired after one more unenthusiastic go at it in her single appearance the following year.
 
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Mathman said:
In ice dance, I was looking forward to seeing Elena Ilinikh and Nikita Katsalopov develop, but off ice incompatibility torpedoed the partnership in 2014. He went on to great success with new partner Sinitsina, however.

In the U,S. Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek were poised to become the first American ice dance team top make its mark internationally, but eating disorders forced her retirement in 2000 after only one year in seniors. :(
Click to expand...
I agree with Mathman about Silverstein / Pekarek.

Another ice dance couple that retired too soon was Eliana Pogrebinsky / Alex Benoit. They showed a lot of promise and had such personality on the ice. They got a pewter medal at 2017 US Nats then Alex retired at the end of the following season. He wanted to pursue an acting career. At the time, Eliana wanted to look for another partner, but I don't think she found one - and ended up going to college instead. I looked him up, and it appears he's had some success in acting, which is cool! Apparently he's also done some figure skating judging.
 
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Nicole Orford and Asher Hill. They only skated together for one season (2015-16). They paired up after Hill's long-time partner, Kharis Ralph, retired. I thought they were really special. They decided there was no future for them after they finished fifth at Canadian Nationals.

I once heard someone remark to Hill that they thought he and Orford had a lot of potential, and Hill regretfully said something along the lines of, yes, it's too bad we didn't pair up earlier. It was probably on an episode of "That Figure Skating Show" on CBC Youtube, in the early days when he was doing the show with Dylan Moscovitch.

A video of a (partial) run-through at Autumn Classic. Their work in hold was exquisite.

And a somewhat flawed video of their FD a few months after they teamed up.

And finally, they were mentioned in a thread from 2018 on this very forum about skaters who retired too early. earlier thread
 
lariko said:
V. Zhou, A. Trusova, K.Shul'skaya, M. Kolyada, Panfilova/Rylov, A. Nazarychev, V. Angelopol. I know they all had legit reasons, but i felt they didn't get that final skate in.
Click to expand...
Trusova is already back on the ice after giving birth in August. We will see to what quality that will be possible
 
Kristi Yamaguchi & Rudy Galindo as a pair. Both went on to success as single skaters and then as pro skaters, but they were unique as a pair!

Ice dancers Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin. Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin were 2005 junior world champions and silver medallists at 2006 four continents. They split in 2007. It was never clear why-perhaps impatience at trying to break through in the US in seniors. I felt they were interesting skaters who clearly had promise!

Morgan had two other partnerships that did not last. First USFS would not release her to skate for Canada with Canadian Leif Gislason. Injuries ended her career. Zavozin skated for Hungary with Nora Hoffman, but the couple had a number of injuries and health problems and probably never reached their full potential. Nora has a particularly horrible skull fracture at one point.

Also Jean Luc Baker and his first partner Joylyn Yang. They were captivating as a very young pair of dancers. Joylyn retired very young due to a serious injury
 
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