Coronavirus and the new season | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Coronavirus and the new season

elektra blue

mother of skaters
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Country
Italy
This is :eek:topic: in a way, but I would still like to share it.

I live in Manhattan, the very epicenter of the pandemic in the US. We've gotten to the point here already where Central Park is being used as a hospital zone.

For the last few days, at 7 PM, people have been coming out of their apartments and cheering for all the people who are working and keeping the city functioning even in the midst of the worst pandemic this country has seen in a century. Tonight the cheering lasted 9 unbroken minutes. Every single day that cheering is getting longer and louder.

Every time I have gone shopping, I have thanked every single employee I see. Same at the laundromat. And I mean it from the heart.

I love skating, but sometimes there are more important things. And one of them is showing appreciation for those who are risking their own health for our benefit.

:ghug:
 

yelyoh

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
This is :eek:topic: in a way, but I would still like to share it.

I live in Manhattan, the very epicenter of the pandemic in the US. We've gotten to the point here already where Central Park is being used as a hospital zone.

For the last few days, at 7 PM, people have been coming out of their apartments and cheering for all the people who are working and keeping the city functioning even in the midst of the worst pandemic this country has seen in a century. Tonight the cheering lasted 9 unbroken minutes. Every single day that cheering is getting longer and louder.

Every time I have gone shopping, I have thanked every single employee I see. Same at the laundromat. And I mean it from the heart.

I love skating, but sometimes there are more important things. And one of them is showing appreciation for those who are risking their own health for our benefit.

Hey Fellow NYer. I live UWS Manhattan. I too hear it and participate. It also helps to alleviate the isolation being able to connect with others this way.
 

Harriet

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Country
Australia
I love skating, but sometimes there are more important things. And one of them is showing appreciation for those who are risking their own health for our benefit.

Indeed, and speaking of such, it just struck me that there's one member of the international skating community who may well be on the front lines of this in a very literal sense: Valtter Virtanen, who last I heard was still working part-time as a hospital paediatrician. He hasn't posted to Instagram in a while, which is the only place I know to look for him, so I hope he and his patients are all doing well and staying as safe as they can.

(Yes, children can get sick from this thing, though at lower rates than adults, and they can even die from it, in addition to being asymptomatic carriers. Doc Valtter is not in the clear just because he works with kids.)
 

labgoat

I have no words
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Country
United-States
This is :eek:topic: in a way, but I would still like to share it.

I live in Manhattan, the very epicenter of the pandemic in the US. We've gotten to the point here already where Central Park is being used as a hospital zone.

For the last few days, at 7 PM, people have been coming out of their apartments and cheering for all the people who are working and keeping the city functioning even in the midst of the worst pandemic this country has seen in a century. Tonight the cheering lasted 9 unbroken minutes. Every single day that cheering is getting longer and louder.

Every time I have gone shopping, I have thanked every single employee I see. Same at the laundromat. And I mean it from the heart.

I love skating, but sometimes there are more important things. And one of them is showing appreciation for those who are risking their own health for our benefit.

Weak Ankles, you are such a good soul. I enjoy your company very much on these boards. I am thinking of and praying for you, all of New York, the country, the world and all my patients and family. Be smart, stay home, be safe and keep visiting us here to help pass the time.
 

Seven Sisters

Medalist
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Weak Ankles, you are such a good soul. I enjoy your company very much on these boards. I am thinking of and praying for you, all of New York, the country, the world and all my patients and family. Be smart, stay home, be safe and keep visiting us here to help pass the time.

Here, here! Hats off to all New Yorkers. New York may be the epicenter of this thing right now, but it is also setting the standard of responding to adversity with grace.
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Weak Ankles, you are such a good soul. I enjoy your company very much on these boards. I am thinking of and praying for you, all of New York, the country, the world and all my patients and family. Be smart, stay home, be safe and keep visiting us here to help pass the time.

Awwwww...

You're going to ruin my reputation as An Opinionated Biyutch! LOL!

Thank you for the lovely post.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
I was reading an opinion column today that there may not be a football season next year at all. It runs a little ahead of figure skating season.
 

Resa

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
One thing that I think people should keep in mind with all the Corona talk and next season is that when enough people have had it (somewhere around 70% i think) heard immunity will start to set in and Corona will be a seasonal flu just like all the others that go around. The point of all the restrictions is not to stop the virus from infecting us but to keep the infection rate slow enough that the healthcare professionals can keep up with those requiring intensive care. The majority (90% from what ive heard) get mild to moderate symptoms and like with any other influenca recovers at home after a couple of weeks. It is true that people die of this virus but that is true for other viruses as well. The seasonal flu kills around 600 000 people every year and that is the number we should compare Corona victims to. It is sad but also true that some of the people (how many is impossible to tell) would have died anyway either of the health concerans that made them suseptible to corona or of the normal flu.

I guess what im trying to say with this is that I see a lot of fear of this often more than I think is neasessary. I dont think we need to wait for a vaccine before we can start having competitions again. There may have to be a restriction in terms of spectators at early events but I have hopes of there being a next season even if probably an altered one.

As for the 2020 world championships I see no point in trying to host it later. Skaters wont have time to properly prepare for it and it would create a whole set of problems in how to structure this new season and when to get new program etc.

I hope that we will get a GP and JGP series but it seems likely that it would have to start later than normal. Especially the JGP which normally starts in August. The time frame of an illness like this is hard to predict and there is really no point in planning any competition before the majority of the skatera are able to be back training on the ice (In sweden we still have ice though, and our healtcare system is this far doing ok). hopefully we will have a spring with isolation and in summer the amount of cases will subside (remember you can only get the same virus infection once) and life can slowly start to go back to normal. There will probably be restrictions on travel and large gatherings fore some time after that but if we can get a parallel GP/JGP series in maybe late october to december (these can be without spectators if neasessary) skaters will still get those important autum competitions and hopefully we get the championchips as usual in 2021.

There were cases in which people got infected again after being cured, so no, for this type of virus it is not true that you can get infected only once
 

bytheriver

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 28, 2016
Based on comments from the CDC director, it seems like we should be prepared for 24 months of social distancing.

"But for the next 24 months, you know, we're all in this together, and the most important thing that we can do is twofold: the American public fully embracing the social distancing that we requested to protect the vulnerable..."

Obviously this is USA specific, but it suggests that this will be more or less the new normal. I'm becoming more uncertain if the 2021 or 2022 Olympic Games will happen by the day - the IOC has made it clear that holding the Olympics without an audience isn't an option, and hosting thousands of people within in 22 months seems like the antithesis of social distancing. I also doubt that many NGB's would want to send their athletes under those conditions.

It's all a mess, and a real bummer if the IOC determines that we should just scrape the next two years and start fresh in 2024 for the Summer Games. The Olympic season (winter and summer) is my favorite so it's hard to hide the disappointment. Ultimately if that's what we need to do to keep people safe, though, I understand.
 

crazydreamer

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Are any skaters in the US and Europe even able to practice at the moment? I assume in Russia they are still practicing. Russia will be even more dominant after this.
 

Good Vibes Only

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
Are any skaters in the US and Europe even able to practice at the moment? I assume in Russia they are still practicing. Russia will be even more dominant after this.

I am pretty sure all ice rinks are closed in the US. Ice rinks in Italy are definitely closed, but I don’t know about any other European countries.

Some rinks in Russia are closed, I don’t know about all of them though. Eteri’s students and some other dominant coaches students are not practicing on ice. If you look in the Russian Ladies thread, you can see a bunch of off ice practice videos
 

Ziotic

Medalist
Joined
Dec 23, 2016
I hate to say it, but this off ice extended period is going to wreak havoc on the ladies/men who are close to puberty age.

Older skaters can keep form and tone and their muscle memory is pretty well formed. But add growing to the mix and I don’t think some of the ladies or men will ever be the same.

Even three weeks of the ice is enough of a break for puberty to start.
 

bytheriver

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 28, 2016
Even three weeks of the ice is enough of a break for puberty to start.

I wish this wasn’t a bad thing, but unfortunately we have seen time and time again that growing can have a drastic effect on ladies’ skaters jumps. Even in the 80’s and 90’s girls struggled with it in this sport, let alone in the quad era. I guess it is a small sacrifice in a world where people are falling so ill, but it is still unfortunate to see girls struggle. I hope anyone struggling with it remembers that puberty isn’t a bad thing, and that it won’t last forever.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
I am pretty sure all ice rinks are closed in the US. Ice rinks in Italy are definitely closed, but I don’t know about any other European countries.

Some rinks in Russia are closed, I don’t know about all of them though. Eteri’s students and some other dominant coaches students are not practicing on ice. If you look in the Russian Ladies thread, you can see a bunch of off ice practice videos

The last I heard, Vincent Zhou had some sort of access to a private ice rink in a barn??? but not sure if that is still the cases. More countries than Italy are on lockdown, I just can't remember them all.

- - - Updated - - -

Based on comments from the CDC director, it seems like we should be prepared for 24 months of social distancing.

"But for the next 24 months, you know, we're all in this together, and the most important thing that we can do is twofold: the American public fully embracing the social distancing that we requested to protect the vulnerable..."

Obviously this is USA specific, but it suggests that this will be more or less the new normal. I'm becoming more uncertain if the 2021 or 2022 Olympic Games will happen by the day - the IOC has made it clear that holding the Olympics without an audience isn't an option, and hosting thousands of people within in 22 months seems like the antithesis of social distancing. I also doubt that many NGB's would want to send their athletes under those conditions.

It's all a mess, and a real bummer if the IOC determines that we should just scrape the next two years and start fresh in 2024 for the Summer Games. The Olympic season (winter and summer) is my favorite so it's hard to hide the disappointment. Ultimately if that's what we need to do to keep people safe, though, I understand.

24 months would kill the economy and so many small businesses, including I'm sure MANY ice rinks. I mean 24 months with no income....
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
How many of the actually competitive skaters make a living from their sport, though? The rewards - unless you are lucky enough to be hugely successful, commercially appealing or both - aren't that immense, we all know that most skaters in the west have to come from fairly high-income backgrounds. Russians do get better funding but if the virus eats into the economy, that may get harder for all but the very top rank to get, possibly the same with China (though with Beijing 2022 on the horizon, they may actually be the safest).

I was reminded of the fallout for people who are not at the very peak of their field when reading an article on several writers who have just had their first - or their expected to be breakout - books released, were gearing up for the publicity and touring and book fairs and everything they needed to do to get sales, sponsors, income... and it's been wiped away at a stroke. And if the book that they hoped would make their career viable sinks because of it... they may never have another equal chance.

And some team sports are telling their players their pay is going to be massively cut.

It's a similar worry with the bubbling up skaters, for whom this could have been their year. Yuzuru and Shoma and Nathan Chen, Rika and Alina and (maybe) the winner in the 3A-3way, they have prize money, they have contracts and commercials and exposure, they will be okay (though probably for some the potential will be less, obviously) whether they stay or not. Others.... may have to let their dreams go, simply because they won't have the time or money to rebuild sponsorship/funds when this is over. And the cancellation of ice shows means a lot of that income is gone too.

Who that we know of does have independent funding/sponsorship to tide them over? When we do get our next season, it won't only be a different icescape, it may be a smaller one...

Some have sponsorship, but many/most? supplement their income by coaching, skating in ice shows, etc. If you look at the Knierims, they had to sell a lot of their personal possessions. Alexa has her own sponsor, who she will hopefully keep, but that wasn't enough as they were doing Gofundme, she is selling tote bags, and they were coaching.. I don't know what happens to the tier/envelope funding, if the team is split I assume it goes away, and would that apply to both the Knierims and Brandon? I'm more worried about them (well now, she and Nathan) than anyone as they were already clearly struggling financially. Normally in the US positions such as ice skating coach would not qualify for unemployment, but I'm hoping they will as the Coronavirus relief package made a lot of people, including the self-employed, are eligible who normally would not be. Chris posted this article around the time he retired -

I'll never be convinced financial problems weren't part of his depression and eventual retirement. https://apnews.com/1918e5dff91a479d...lFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP_Sports

I also worry somewhat about everyone in Montreal as one of the things about training in Montreal is that one can't work in Canada or so I am told. They can come back over here and do ice shows but obviously there are no ice shows right now.

It is my belief that every skater with a Gofundme is to a greater or lesser extent financially strapped, or they wouldn't have one. I mean Nathan doesn't have one. I think Gracie is ok too. Just my opinions, with no data except what the Knierims have shared.
 

bytheriver

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 28, 2016
I agree. It’s an unfortunate trade off because a lot of small businesses would close, currently graduating students would have to take on jobs they weren’t expecting, more layoffs... I think if that is the outcome, many businesses would remain open to some degree (it wouldn’t be a full shelter in place scenario) and just heavily monitoring the number of people in one place at once. So it would be devastating to industries that rely on packing in large groups of people - concerts, festivals, movie theaters, and athletic events. I think those may suffer regardless because of the collective trauma and fear around crowds when the smoke clears.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
This is :eek:topic: in a way, but I would still like to share it.

I live in Manhattan, the very epicenter of the pandemic in the US. We've gotten to the point here already where Central Park is being used as a hospital zone.

For the last few days, at 7 PM, people have been coming out of their apartments and cheering for all the people who are working and keeping the city functioning even in the midst of the worst pandemic this country has seen in a century. Tonight the cheering lasted 9 unbroken minutes. Every single day that cheering is getting longer and louder.

Every time I have gone shopping, I have thanked every single employee I see. Same at the laundromat. And I mean it from the heart.

I love skating, but sometimes there are more important things. And one of them is showing appreciation for those who are risking their own health for our benefit.

I thanked the last lady I saw, who was in Walmart. I'm going to literally try not to go anywhere for months. I am very fortunate that I work from home which supplements my disability pay, it all comes automatically to my bank, I order household staples such as TP from Amazon and various other places online, cat food may be a problem as it is selling out everywhere online, I can get my groceries from Instacart, I can see myself literally not leaving except for walks for at least a month and maybe more.

I'm having cold like symptoms right now and I'm scared.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
I agree. It’s an unfortunate trade off because a lot of small businesses would close, currently graduating students would have to take on jobs they weren’t expecting, more layoffs... I think if that is the outcome, many businesses would remain open to some degree (it wouldn’t be a full shelter in place scenario) and just heavily monitoring the number of people in one place at once. So it would be devastating to industries that rely on packing in large groups of people - concerts, festivals, movie theaters, and athletic events. I think those may suffer regardless because of the collective trauma and fear around crowds when the smoke clears.

Maybe. I'm going to get out there when it's prudent. When Drs I trust, including Dr Fauci, say it is ok. I'm not going to live in fear.
 

Weathergal

Medalist
Joined
May 25, 2014
I thanked the last lady I saw, who was in Walmart. I'm going to literally try not to go anywhere for months. I am very fortunate that I work from home which supplements my disability pay, it all comes automatically to my bank, I order household staples such as TP from Amazon and various other places online, cat food may be a problem as it is selling out everywhere online, I can get my groceries from Instacart, I can see myself literally not leaving except for walks for at least a month and maybe more.

I'm having cold like symptoms right now and I'm scared.

moonvine, hoping you are OK. I am NOT a medical professional of any sort. But I will say that I have gotten very paranoid about any possible cold-like symptoms I have even though I was told by the doctor years ago that I have allergies, and the pollen count in my area is high right now. In short, I sympathize with you and hope that is all it is for both of us! We have been pretty isolated as well, just going out for supply runs. Some days I'm OK; others I'm on the antsy side. But we will get through this! :ghug: to everyone!
 
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