Irina Slutskaya will retire after the 2006 Olympics; possibly 2006 Worlds | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Irina Slutskaya will retire after the 2006 Olympics; possibly 2006 Worlds

Eeyora

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
Ifr she wins the Olympic gold or not she will still be courageous in my book.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Excidra, thanks for the news that Irina has signed with COI through the 2006 tour. She is certainly well recieved by American audiences. She got especially rave reviews for Cotton Eyed Joe.

I can see her staying with COI more so than SOI. It seems a lot less grueling, plus all of her friends are there.

Mathman
 

STL_Blues_fan

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Here's the translation

I couldn't find the right words in few cases, I am sorry.

Here is the article:

How do you explain the not so confident skate?

Because the FS is a sport. I was capable of successful skates at a couple of competitions early in the season – the GP qualifiers and the final. It was not the case in Turin. I will work on mistakes, so that my showing at the WC in Moscow is respectable (? – struggling for a right word here, Yana)

After a one year absence, you started competing at a higher level…

Well it just that I missed FS. Also, this year I had very successful competitions where I got myself prepared with full physical training program (FPT).

Could you elaborate on your physical training?

My physical trainer, Viktor Vasilievich Kozlov, has a special program for me. We began training in the mountains, and as the season progressed we started working out using FPT a couple of times a week. Also, the intensity of the training depends on my competitive schedule and health. The program included various types of athletic exercises.

This current season you have an original musical arrangement for both of your programs. Who was selecting the music?

The merit belongs to my coach and choreographer. Of course, I had a say as well, but mostly for the final approval.

Where there any moments when you didn’t approve?

When we try to come up with the music – all the time. Work on the program is an artistic process. At the start I didn’t feel that Shostakovich part was fitting. I was actively persuaded to give it a try and then they had to convince me to use a composition. They kept saying, “it’s you!”. During the process of putting the program together, I got to like the character I was portraying on the ice. Now I am in love with that program. It’s mine!

After several seasons of skating to classical music, you have decided to try something new. Why?

I had skated to all the classics already! Just kidding. It is just that I consider myself a versatile athlete, so I want to try something new at all times. There are quite a lot of classical programs in use currently. It is timeless, you can’t go wrong. But after a number of years of “paying respect” to classics, you have this deep desire to try to experiment.

Do you have any ideas for the Olympic season?

My coach Zhanna Fedorovna Grommova has some ideas; she even shared them with me. We are already looking for music, etc… I think we will find the right version. Next season is most likely be my last, I will try to put all of my soul into the Olympic programs. It was very handy to skate in Turin a year ahead of the Games, to test the ice, to get familiar with local specifics.

Isn’t it a shame that ladies always skate last in all FS competitions?

Sure is! You can’t even imagine how great it is to finish first and to watch how others are skating.

The new judging system seems to garner 2 opinions. One is that it forces a program to have a limited number of elements, not just jumps. Others are convinced that faceless scores are killing the art (not clear on this one, very confusing, sorry – Yana).

Quite on the contrary, programs have become not only more difficult but more interesting too. But the problem is that we still have a subjective judging. You still have the humans scoring and assigning the difficulty levels of the elements. The sport is subjective. We don’t race to make the time like in the athletics, we don’t hit the ball in the court like tennis – everything is up to judges’ free will. But the programs still have all opportunities to increase artistry levels.

What amongst the new rules in FS do you like the most?

To skate in pants. I really like these types of outfits. They allow a lot of creative work for the designers and you can even look more unique and original. Not too mention that it hides my bandaged knee.

End.


as you can see, she mentions it in passing. No official statement here.

Yana
 

gezando

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
ditzysk8r said:
Hope MK will notice and do the same, haha!

US national gold medal will hopefully be in the good hands of some of the best young skaters e.g. BeBe, Kimmie. or Katy in the next olympic cycle, 06 - 10 if MK retires right after olympic 2006. Cohen will probably win many more silver medals at nationals. So by the time Cohen retires, she will go down in US history as a skater who wins the most # of national silver.

Actually there is an article about Arakawa thinking about retiring after 06, so internationally young skaters e.g. Miki, Mao Asada etc will probablly give Kimmie, Katy, and BeBe some stiff competitiions. Hope the skating gods smile upon Cohen and don't let her self destruction too much, and bless her with a world bronze from time to time :)
 
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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Thanks for the translation, Yana. I found the part about selecting music and working with the choreography to be very interesting. Also the part about pants, LOL. I have to agree -- she looks good in them!

Mathman
 

Hikaru

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Thanks for the translating Yana. I enjoy reading and watching Irina's interviews, she seems in a good mood, and I also liked what she said on the music, how she didn't like it at first and then at the end she was in love with it. It is good that the athletes try new things like that. Although I always like the skater dresses, I think the pants given them more variety as well. It was a nice interview :)
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Excidra2001 said:
As far as Irina's comeback, I praise anyone who goes up against all odds and comes out on top. In Irina's case, that was it. Instead of feeling sorry for her self and sitting in a hospital room and crying her self to death, she decided being extremely sick and going in and out of the hospital was not the kind of life she set out for her self and she did something about it. The simple fact that she is doing what she loves is why her fans(including myself) praise her. She is a true inspiration for people who are going through trying times and who feel their life is coming to an end because of a disease they are battling. I'm a firm believer in "what can't hurt you only makes you stronger" look what it has done for Slutskaya, Armstrong(beat cancer) and many other top athletes who are helping change the face of sport.

IMHO, Irina deserves high praise for getting back on the ice and getting herself back into competitive shape. I hope she skates her best at the Worlds, Olympics, and any other competitions she participates in. This woman's spirit and tenacity is outstanding, and I applaud her for it. Do I think she's the best skater in the world at this time? No, but that doesn't diminish one bit in my admiration of her for coming back to the sport she so obviously loves. 👍
 

Hikaru

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
SkateFan4Life said:
IMHO, Irina deserves high praise for getting back on the ice and getting herself back into competitive shape. I hope she skates her best at the Worlds, Olympics, and any other competitions she participates in. This woman's spirit and tenacity is outstanding, and I applaud her for it. Do I think she's the best skater in the world at this time? No, but that doesn't diminish one bit in my admiration of her for coming back to the sport she so obviously loves. 👍

I agree with you. I think Irina has decided to take control of her life, instead of letting her illness take control of her. It takes a lot of strength and will power, and I applaud that.
 
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wvgal57

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
Why would anyone spend time feeling sorry for Irina? Irina has never felt sorry for herself and instead uses her energy for positive things like training her craft, competing and doing things that athletes do. There is no "feel sorry for Irina' attitude at ISFF either We feel nothing but respect and awe for this true gift to the sport. The strength with which she continues to deal with adversity continues to amaze us but in reality it shouldn't. Irina has always taken the obstacles in her life and turned them towards a benefit. It is an inate character she possess that is very rare. She tackles the obstacles head on and refuses to give up on herself or her skating. If not for her true grit, determination and love for what she does I do not think she'd be back on top even yet again. Her career accomplishments are what dreams are made of but what she's done just this year is worthy of top honors.

I'm not going to board drag but since this was already mentioned, I'll suggest to the poster that is of the opinion that ISFF is a big pity party for Irina that you simply not bother to waste the bandwidth of the forum by going. The bigger question is why you even bother to visit a board that you obviously loathe. It could not be good for your health and while we welcome visitors you could put a spin on the old saying...with visitors like that....

The deadhorse of where Irina chooses to live and train has already been beat to death too. Lucrative training deals for atheletes of Irina's stature are pretty common and if she so chose to she could have her pick of training base or place of residence. She has no desire to leave Moscow or Russia, in addition to her husband, she also has parents, homes and business obligations. She works for COI as an entertainer and a skater. It's not required that she be in love with the country or anybody or everybody in the US.

Actions do speak louder than words though and a couple things Irina did do after 9/11 was go the very next day to the Amercian Embassy in Moscow and leave flowers and candles, she also took time from her training schedule during the hectic Olympic year to come to New York and skate in the 9/11 Tribute Skate. (Something that even some US skaters did not take time to do)

It is possible to take remarks from any athelete or anybody out there and put a sinister or nasty spin on them. The only thing I can say about this type of negativity is that it is helpful in that it exposes bias by certain posters. The extent and effort that some people contrive to do this is ugly but again the exposure speaks volumes.. While the old saying "names changed to protect the innocent" is popular, names can be changed but purpose and intent tends to follow like a bad stinch. This stinch and odor bring sour memories of the summer and fall going into Olympics '02. But wait, it's not even spring yet.

As for Irina's comments not being an "official statement" How odd is it that that Irina's earlier purported remarks to newspapers are so flippantly quoted and bantered about as "gospel" but these latest remarks are "ignorable".

I still don't know where the rumor that Irina was retiring after Moscow 05 got its start but this statement does put that rumor to rest for good.

Whatever, call your bookies, '06 is Slute's last eligible year.
 

Matt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
ditzysk8r said:
Oh, I think Evgeny gives us plenty of Biellmanns! :laugh:

OT to this forum, but have you seen some of the pics from the JGP Final? It was judged on CoP for the first time and the mentality of the juniors regarding spins is to throw in Biellmanns left, right, and centre to upgrade them (even the men). So, I think we're going to be getting a whole crop of skaters in multiple disciplines with Biellmann packed programmes :yes:
 

STL_Blues_fan

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Mathman, Hikaru and mzhang, you are welcome!


wvgal57 said:
As for Irina's comments not being an "official statement" How odd is it that that Irina's earlier purported remarks to newspapers are so flippantly quoted and bantered about as "gospel" but these latest remarks are "ignorable".

I still don't know where the rumor that Irina was retiring after Moscow 05 got its start but this statement does put that rumor to rest for good.

Whatever, call your bookies, '06 is Slute's last eligible year.


To WVgal,

I do nto feel that these remarks are "ignorable". I have no reason to doubt her words. However, I would hardly label these "news" as "official".

1) These "news" did not come as a statement from her federation. Furthermore, she did not call a conference. This was something mentioned to a single journalist. (and he was Russian! Maybe he is twisting her words, as usual????LOL)

2). Please notice the words "most likely". This is not something you see in "official" news. That leaves a lot of rom for a change of mind (not that I am expecting it). Would she have said "most definitely", it would've been a different story. I can assure you that the difference was not last in translation to me.

3) Finally, please cheer up. There is no reason to be so catty. I love Irina's skating and I am not trying to bash her.

Cheers, Yana
 

thisthingcalledlove

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
Matt said:
OT to this forum, but have you seen some of the pics from the JGP Final? It was judged on CoP for the first time and the mentality of the juniors regarding spins is to throw in Biellmanns left, right, and centre to upgrade them (even the men). So, I think we're going to be getting a whole crop of skaters in multiple disciplines with Biellmann packed programmes :yes:

I remember in 2001 when Scott/Dulebohn performed side by side half biellmanns in their long program. Dulebohn isn't that flexible, so it looked really strange LOL
 

Matt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
thisthingcalledlove said:
I remember in 2001 when Scott/Dulebohn performed side by side half biellmanns in their long program. Dulebohn isn't that flexible, so it looked really strange LOL

Hey, props to a guy that even get close (Lord knows, I can't)

There's an interesting thought: side by side pairs Biellmanns..... :p (rather interesting mental image, too)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Bottom Line is that it is an acrobatic trick for people who do not have to work at it as much as others do. It has a lot to do with body structure. I'm not impressed. If ou are, so be it.

Joe
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Joesitz said:
Bottom Line is that it is an acrobatic trick for people who do not have to work at it as much as others do. It has a lot to do with body structure. I'm not impressed. If ou are, so be it.

Joe

I don't know about that. Natalia Mishkutonek had to work like crazy to get her body in that position and I've seen something on Irina a few years ago that she's not that flexible and had to work very hard to attain that level of flexibility. Just looking at Irina, I don't think that the Bielmann is something that her body easily gets into and in the beginning of her career, I don't recall her doing a lot of Bielmann spins. Sasha and Shizuka have more natural flexibility than Irina.
Either way, no matter where you start in flexibility, the older you get the harder it is to keep/maintain it. The fact that Irina has maintained her flexibility and still has the strength to do these demanding layback spins says a lot about her.
 

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
wvgal57 said:
Why would anyone spend time feeling sorry for Irina? Irina has never felt sorry for herself and instead uses her energy for positive things like training her craft, competing and doing things that athletes do. There is no "feel sorry for Irina' attitude at ISFF either We feel nothing but respect and awe for this true gift to the sport. The strength with which she continues to deal with adversity continues to amaze us but in reality it shouldn't. Irina has always taken the obstacles in her life and turned them towards a benefit. It is an inate character she possess that is very rare. She tackles the obstacles head on and refuses to give up on herself or her skating. If not for her true grit, determination and love for what she does I do not think she'd be back on top even yet again. Her career accomplishments are what dreams are made of but what she's done just this year is worthy of top honors.

I'm not going to board drag but since this was already mentioned, I'll suggest to the poster that is of the opinion that ISFF is a big pity party for Irina that you simply not bother to waste the bandwidth of the forum by going. The bigger question is why you even bother to visit a board that you obviously loathe. It could not be good for your health and while we welcome visitors you could put a spin on the old saying...with visitors like that....

The deadhorse of where Irina chooses to live and train has already been beat to death too. Lucrative training deals for atheletes of Irina's stature are pretty common and if she so chose to she could have her pick of training base or place of residence. She has no desire to leave Moscow or Russia, in addition to her husband, she also has parents, homes and business obligations. She works for COI as an entertainer and a skater. It's not required that she be in love with the country or anybody or everybody in the US.

Actions do speak louder than words though and a couple things Irina did do after 9/11 was go the very next day to the Amercian Embassy in Moscow and leave flowers and candles, she also took time from her training schedule during the hectic Olympic year to come to New York and skate in the 9/11 Tribute Skate. (Something that even some US skaters did not take time to do)

It is possible to take remarks from any athelete or anybody out there and put a sinister or nasty spin on them. The only thing I can say about this type of negativity is that it is helpful in that it exposes bias by certain posters. The extent and effort that some people contrive to do this is ugly but again the exposure speaks volumes.. While the old saying "names changed to protect the innocent" is popular, names can be changed but purpose and intent tends to follow like a bad stinch. This stinch and odor bring sour memories of the summer and fall going into Olympics '02. But wait, it's not even spring yet.

As for Irina's comments not being an "official statement" How odd is it that that Irina's earlier purported remarks to newspapers are so flippantly quoted and bantered about as "gospel" but these latest remarks are "ignorable".

I still don't know where the rumor that Irina was retiring after Moscow 05 got its start but this statement does put that rumor to rest for good.

Whatever, call your bookies, '06 is Slute's last eligible year.

Please get a grip wvgal!
I never said that ISFF was a huge pity party for Irina. I pointed out the fact that some posters have gone from board to board talking about how "poor" she is and that she has had to pay for the health care of family members. I have read this on ISFF, and I believe YOU have posted it several times yourself. As a representative of Irina, running her official board, naturally I thought what you posted was fact. Why anyone would get so bent out of shape that it was speculated on another board that Irina posed for those photos because she needed the money is beyond me. I don't think it was too far fetched for anyone to think she may have needed the money, based on what has been posted in the past.
Maybe some fans are too stressed for their own good or something, I don't know. Irina isn't exempt from criticism. Sarah got her fair share, even from some other skaters *cough* Irina *cough*. Sasha gets hers all the time. Michelle has been criticized to death. I am glad Irina has such thick skin. I think her fans need to develop some as well, just as we Sarah fans have had to do. :p
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
soogar said:
I don't know about that. Natalia Mishkutonek had to work like crazy to get her body in that position and I've seen something on Irina a few years ago that she's not that flexible and had to work very hard to attain that level of flexibility. Just looking at Irina, I don't think that the Bielmann is something that her body easily gets into and in the beginning of her career, I don't recall her doing a lot of Bielmann spins. Sasha and Shizuka have more natural flexibility than Irina.
Either way, no matter where you start in flexibility, the older you get the harder it is to keep/maintain it. The fact that Irina has maintained her flexibility and still has the strength to do these demanding layback spins says a lot about her.
Soogar - Nothing against you or others who go overboard for this acrobatic flexibility and others who go overboard for some sort of necessity for furious speed which only the poster sees as the fastest.

These are just nitpicking items as is flutzing. They are just one item each to consider in judging figure skating. They are not the most important items in a complete program. If they are then the poster should watch cirque du soleil or gymnastics. They are basic in those disciplines. If this means ART to you, and flow on ice with strong edges and stroking to music is meaningless, ok. It's your opinion.

Joe
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Having read pbps of the 4CC competition, I can tell you that Biellmann's are spreading like wildfire, for both men and women. I think it's only matter of time before the ISU puts limits on the number of times the Biellmann can be used in a single program. When the Biellmann is an element in every spin and in the Spiral sequence as well, it tends to wear out its novelty.
 
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