I kind of feel for Evgenia. She has no Olympic title and despite two world titles, OSM and the list goes on I she will have to compete with the crop of Russian ladies after the olympics for skating jobs. I am hoping with due respect to the skaters who do the cruise ships we don't want to see her with a big Hello Kitty head skating to Let it Go! She has talent and performance ability so I hope the professional world will embrace her.
With all due respect but considering how fast the sport is currently changing, the younger girls right now will be hard pressed to have a career filled with as many records, victories, medals and winning streaks as Evgenia’s.
And isn‘t it quite ironic that, three years after their Olympic triumphs, the media is still itching for every mentioning of Zhenya and Alina they can possibly insert into a title because they
know it will get them the clicks. Isn‘t it ironic that, although we‘re constantly being told how overshadowed by others those two are in terms of athletic performances and how they should just retire already, they still thoroughly eclipse about all other current Russian figure skaters in terms of popularity? And you know why that is? Because people remember. And quads and a lazy head of federation writing them off to put focus on the new stars isn‘t going to do anything against that. You can‘t just exchange the faces of the sport in your country every other year and expect people to just forget about the old ones. It doesn‘t work that way.
So, what I‘m trying to say is: Zhenya will be absolutely fine. And unless she
wants to skate to Let it Go on a cruise ship, wearing a hello kitty head (kind of an oddly specific thing to imagine lol), you won‘t find her there. Because even outside the sport she isn‘t lacking in opportunities (as evidenced this very season btw, where she didn‘t compete once). Be it show skating, coaching, choreographing, media work, acting, she‘ll find her way somewhere, so... don‘t feel sorry for her lol.
As for the Olympic gold - it‘s every athlete‘s dream but it doesn‘t make you a star. There‘s a lot of other things going into that and I personally think Evgenia’s performances in Pyeongchang will be remembered no matter what kind of colour her medal ended up being.
Just my two cents because I‘m tired of some of the things said on the last few pages. And oh, before anyone calls me a delusional Medvedeva-fan - I‘m aware her chances of making the Olympic team are close to zero. But again: skating‘s not
all about that, is it?