Alina Zagitova

[agentscullyskates]

It has been a long time since I posted anything here. I'm a little surprised to see people's reactions to the fact that Alina, who is a very well-known Tatar (an ethnic group whose majority of members would identify as Muslims), is in fact a Muslim herself. I thought it was obvious. She loves kebabs, come on!

But really:

As a Muslim living in Canada, I love Alina not only for her skating, but for being a public figure that can help to continue to break people's misconceptions and preconceived notions of what Muslims look like and how we behave.

You're an excellent role model on so many levels, Alina! Keep going!

 

[TheBallerina]

What does she say about Alina?

I am waiting for some kind russian-speaking soul to enlighten us, too [emoji4]

 

[TheBallerina]

It has been a long time since I posted anything here. I'm a little surprised to see people's reactions to the fact that Alina, who is a very well-known Tatar (an ethnic group whose majority of members would identify as Muslims), is in fact a Muslim herself. I thought it was obvious. She loves kebabs, come on!

But really:

As a Muslim living in Canada, I love Alina not only for her skating, but for being a public figure that can help to continue to break people's misconceptions and preconceived notions of what Muslims look like and how we behave.

You're an excellent role model on so many levels, Alina! Keep going!

Thank you for your nice words! You are so right, true fans don't care about this, really, and I did not expect to see this subject debated so much...

We love her for her beautiful skating, kind, warm soul, well-behaved and mature attitude, her love and friendship that she shares with people and little animals around her, her being so courageous, optimistic and strong is what inspired so many people, on the entire planet. And many many other positive things about her.

Her spirituality is hers and hers only, is not ours to blame, especially when she proved herself to be such a nice person [emoji4]

 

[madison]

her being muslim doesn't mean very much, muslims basically have more rules to live by and are more likely to believe in god

about the Youtube videos, you can click subtitles - autotranslate

As a person who lived in multicultural environments, I can say that cultural differences mean a lot, and religion is an essential aspect of differentiation on how one carry his/her life and what choices one can make.
It's interesting how well the Muslims were integrated in Russia (from the previous comments) and on the opposite, the Western situation.
I am totally for tolerance and accepting diverstity, but I truly believe that this should come from the both parties, otherwise a part could end up being afraid of taking the tube or the plane, or even walking on the streets.

 

[inver]

I am waiting for some kind russian-speaking soul to enlighten us, too [emoji4]

Olympic champion
beautiful
cutie
you tell me a lot of things
training camp were hard
Carmen top
beautifully skate
love you

 

[Lily flowers]

Do Tatar women in Tatarstan wear chadors or hijabs, can drive cars, smoke in public, etc.? Are there some exclusive muslim laws in that region, that differ it from rest of Russia?

Driving cars has nothing to do with religion. Muslim women should be able to drive cars all they want. As for smoking, that’s not healthy, I don’t recommend.
As a Muslim myself, I’m proud of her for saying it in public like that, and I don’t think we should analyze the way she practices her religion, that’s only up to her.

 

[TheBallerina]

Olympic champion
beautiful
cutie
you tell me a lot of things
training camp were hard
Carmen top
beautifully skate
love you

Thank you so much ! [emoji16] really kind words from Dasha, but I did not expect anything less. [emoji178]

 

[Mawwerg]

I think Tatarstan is the most influential republic inside Russia.

 

[Fluture]

So, Alina is a muslim? Wow. And... so what? Who cares what her religion is? It‘s her own decision what she wants to believe and nobody should have a say in that but her. And if there are a few who hate on her for it then you can‘t take them seriously anyway. They will always find a reason to hate. That‘s just a thing I really dislike about this fandom. Some people can‘t seem to like skaters without hating on their rivals. It‘s not the majority but still so annoying.

And on Alina: It‘s obvious that the only reason she isn‘t allowed to drive in her brandnew car from winning the Olympics isn‘t her religion but rather the fact that she doesn‘t have a driving license yet. Her skating costumes (and doesn’t she have a picture of her in a bikini on her insta from her holidays, too?) show us that she‘s allowed to wear whatever she wants to. She‘s happy and proud and she‘s not in any way restricted by her religion so we should really not care whether she‘s atheist, christian or muslim or any other religion. It‘s her business. We should be more busy being her fan!!

 

[esteticlove]

Religion is important for having guidance in life and therefore is a very personal thing and as long as athletes keep it to themselves and don't use it for political aims, I don't mind what religion they have. So, let's give Alina a break because she keeps it professional.

 

[LKate]

Uff... just read all the posts that I missed because of my new job. So glad to be here again.

About Alina's music choices for the next season. I personally would prefer her team to choose something not so overused but I think we should trust them to make it unique. Last season we had a whole flock of swans and Alina's Black Swan was the most memorable of them. Phantom and Carmen are great pieces of music but a skater has to have equally great personality to perform it. With Alina's maturity and wisdom beyond her age I think she will perform it brilliantly (and I expect Daniil's choreography being nothing but stunning).

I can't wait to see THE ICE show with its dream cast. What a great company Alina will have there - my favourite French skaters (both ice dancers and pair skaters), Nathan Chen, Dima Aliyev, Satoko Miyahara. I really hope the whole show will be available to download somewhere so I can watch it as many times as I like. :

 

[Tyranid]

My great granddad was a Tatar muslim; his last words before deat were Allah akbar. It's all good.

Some people are "concerned" about Alina's religion because they associate muslims in Russia with either crazy Chechens or central Asian immigrants (a similar situation to the latino immigrants in the US). Unfortunately, such associations are largely based on ignorance.

Their biggest difference from us

Looks like an unintentional slip-up. . I am a strong beleiver that "us" are all Rossiyane and not just Russkie.

Heh, non-Russian speakers still don't know the difference between Russkie and Rossiyane.

 

[lesnar001]

Here is a snapshot of Alina's instagram story....

It is something to do with Masaru


https://instagram.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/f9922c483c7c35a32edc2e6389fa9e97/5B56EBD5/t51.12442-15/e35/37105895_1029718963853399_8246469497607684096_n.jpg

Could someone please translate what she is saying?

Thanks.

 

[lesnar001]

Another instagram story from Alina....

Iriska is "feeling the love" :luv17:

 

[lesnar001]

Olympic champion
beautiful
cutie
you tell me a lot of things
training camp were hard
Carmen top
beautifully skate
love you

Thank you for the translation.

Those were some very nice comments.

 

[esteticlove]

Here is a snapshot of Alina's instagram story....

It is something to do with Masaru


https://instagram.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/f9922c483c7c35a32edc2e6389fa9e97/5B56EBD5/t51.12442-15/e35/37105895_1029718963853399_8246469497607684096_n.jpg

Could someone please translate what she is saying?

Thanks.

Masaru is at the beauty salon

 

[lesnar001]

Masaru is at the beauty salon

Thank you for the translation.

I can hardly wait to see some new pictures.

 

[hollyho]

Here is a close up of the medal Alina received today

Did she also accept a medal on Eteri’s behalf? I thought I heard Eteri’s name in the annoucement and it looked like Alina was holding 2 medals?

 

[lusk8]

Did she also accept a medal on Eteri’s behalf? I thought I heard Eteri’s name in the annoucement and it looked like Alina was holding 2 medals?

Yup, they mentioned Eteri by name and handed out a second medal to Alina.

Leisan was there with her daughter, so nice.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlhYlbRjD_P/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=blwygbs5q74a

 

[agentscullyskates]

Thank you for your nice words!

And thank you, too!

It's a bit disappointing to see that some posters here, some more regular than others, seem to think that believers in religions (and by extension, their respective cultures) exist in a monolith.

I'm so happy Alina and other public figures are out there challenging deeply embedded misconceptions. I count her among others like Riz Ahmed (English actor of Pakistani origin), Mo Salah (a star Liverpool player who is Egyptian), and Yara Shahidi (American actress of Iranian origin).

Be proud of who you are and where you come from, Alina! Keep doing these sorts of festivals and never change your approach to life!