Is Irina Really A Nice Person?

[Zanzibar]

Saying that Irina wasn't sick because she didn't 'look sick' is like saying Sergei Grinkov didn't have a heart problem because he was so handsome.

Yeah - and Sergei looked fine right up until he dropped to the ice.

You don't always have to appear sickly on the outside to be critically ill, plus nobody saw Irina - and no photos were published - from the weeks that she spent in the hospital as they tried to diagnose and contain what was ravaging her.

 

[JanJam]

God,what a jerk you are making yourself out to be! How would you know what a person in her condition can and cannot do?Are you her?Do you spend time with her when she is off ice?? I can't stand people who make assumptions about things they know nothing about.

Just throw the question back at yourself. Are you Irina? Do you spend time with her when she is off ice? How do YOU know that she's really sick?

Unless we have personally seen her, the ONLY evidence we have is what we see: her skating. And that's as public as can be. If she is sick off-the-ice, how should there be a difference when she is ON the ice? Does she change her heart and become a different human being when she steps on the ice? Our only evidence is her skating. Is THAT how a sick person with a VERY SERIOUS HEART PROBLEM skates?

There's so much blah, blah, blah on her supposed illness, family, behavior, etc. which are all excuses. It's all about skating. If she skates that well, why should there be all this drama about her supposedly being sick, in need of money, etc. etc. Sympathy votes? Just plain "attention"?

Yes, it's annoying when people make assumptions (such as thinking a skater is really sick simply because her agent and publicists tell people so) and are so gullible, when the evidence is facing them right in front of their faces.

 

[dfj]

Just throw the question back at yourself. Are you Irina? Do you spend time with her when she is off ice? How do YOU know that she's really sick?

Unless we have personally seen her, the ONLY evidence we have is what we see: her skating. And that's as public as can be. If she is sick off-the-ice, how should there be a difference when she is ON the ice? Does she become a different human being when she steps on the ice? Our only evidence is her skating. Is THAT how a sick person with a VERY SERIOUS heart problem skate?

There's so much blah, blah, blah on her supposed illness, family, behavior, etc. which are all excuses. It's all about skating. If she skates that well, why should there be all this drama about her supposedly being sick, in need of money, etc. etc. Sympathy votes? Just plain "attention"?

Yes, it's annoying when people make assumptions (such as thinking a skater is really sick simply because her agent and publicists tell people so) and are so gullible, when the evidence is facing them right in front of their faces.

Yikes! :disapp:

 

[curious]

Just throw the question back at yourself. Are you Irina? Do you spend time with her when she is off ice? How do YOU know that she's really sick?

Unless we have personally seen her, the ONLY evidence we have is what we see: her skating. And that's as public as can be. If she is sick off-the-ice, how should there be a difference when she is ON the ice? Does she change her heart and become a different human being when she steps on the ice? Our only evidence is her skating. Is THAT how a sick person with a VERY SERIOUS HEART PROBLEM skates?

There's so much blah, blah, blah on her supposed illness, family, behavior, etc. which are all excuses. It's all about skating. If she skates that well, why should there be all this drama about her supposedly being sick, in need of money, etc. etc. Sympathy votes? Just plain "attention"?

Yes, it's annoying when people make assumptions (such as thinking a skater is really sick simply because her agent and publicists tell people so) and are so gullible, when the evidence is staring them right in front of their faces.

You are a very SAD human being.

 

[Shanti]

Just throw the question back at yourself. Are you Irina? Do you spend time with her when she is off ice? How do YOU know that she's really sick?

Unless we have personally seen her, the ONLY evidence we have is what we see: her skating. And that's as public as can be. If she is sick off-the-ice, how should there be a difference when she is ON the ice? Does she change her heart and become a different human being when she steps on the ice? Our only evidence is her skating. Is THAT how a sick person with a VERY SERIOUS HEART PROBLEM skates?

There's so much blah, blah, blah on her supposed illness, family, behavior, etc. which are all excuses. It's all about skating. If she skates that well, why should there be all this drama about her supposedly being sick, in need of money, etc. etc. Sympathy votes? Just plain "attention"?

Yes, it's annoying when people make assumptions (such as thinking a skater is really sick simply because her agent and publicists tell people so) and are so gullible, when the evidence is facing them right in front of their faces.

You're pathetic.

 

[JanJam]

You are a very SAD human being.

You're pathetic.

Why should this all of a sudden become a personal attack on the poster?

I'm simply saying I don't believe all this B.S. surrounding her. You can believe it all you want and there's no one forcing you to do otherwise. Everyone's entitled to being gullible, and even I am not immune from being one, but I just find it hard to bite this one. It's too much of a "lifetime moment" to be true, and too perfect to cap a skater's Olympic (and most likely final) season. How dramatic.:frown2:

And what's going to be next after she retires? A big-ratings comeback due to some family emergency that forces her to raise more money? A serious hip injury that she'll show she can overcome by doing quintuple jumps day after day after day? The ability to fly?

Enough of the use of sob stories and just let the powerful but ugly skating do the talking.

 

[mzheng]

That being said, it's no wonder she is a sore loser (and sorest when the stakes are the highest), or that she sees herself as the most entitled skater around. I'm sure she is a wonderful daughter and will one day be a wonderful mother, and to her friends a wonderful friend, but to rivals, ach! The only exception is Michelle, who Irina respects, and who she considers the only other skater anywhere near her level. But should Michelle beat her, Irina would still grouse "wuz robbed", just not quite as loud or as pointed.

 

[millie]

How come when someone's on top, people find bad things to say and try to dig up dirt and try to tarnish their names. Irina's is as nice as the rest of the skaters AS FAR AS WE KNOW. I don't think that any of us know any of the skaters personally. None of us what they are like in real life only what we get from gossip from negative people.

 

[mzheng]

How come when someone's on top, people find bad things to say and try to dig up dirt and try to tarnish their names. Irina's is as nice as the rest of the skaters AS FAR AS WE KNOW. I don't think that any of us know any of the skaters personally. None of us what they are like in real life only what we get from gossip from negative people.

Did you read the link posted in this thread? It was a "gossip" from an article in SI.

 

[millie]

Did you read the link posted in this thread? It was a "gossip" from an article in SI.

Do you believe everything that you read? Because it was in an article from SI, does not mean it's true. It could be that they are jealous of Irina and that their "favouite" may not win.

 

[Doggygirl]

How come when someone's on top, people find bad things to say and try to dig up dirt and try to tarnish their names. Irina's is as nice as the rest of the skaters AS FAR AS WE KNOW. I don't think that any of us know any of the skaters personally. None of us what they are like in real life only what we get from gossip from negative people.

I don't know any of these skaters personally either. They all have different public personna's which I believe are a reflection of many things - including different cultures in addition to different socialization, personalities, media expectations, etc. I also don't believe I get a 100% unbiased viewpoint from a US based sports publication regarding a non-US athlete. I'm not saying that there is no grain of truth in any media reports. I just take these things with the same grain of salt that I take media reports which might be biased on any subject. i.e. in the realm of politics, one gets a slightly different viewpoint on the same subject from CNN v. Fox as one example.

Just 2 cents..

DG

DG

 

[millie]

I bet if you went to any given rink on any given day that you would find more than one figure skater that is not nice at that moment in time. I don't think that any of them are saints, they are only human beings. What is nice? Is it nice to ban people from talking about your practice reports on a forum? I would say there is more example of skaters that are not nice.

 

[R.D.]

All the skaters have their good days and bad days, Irina included. It just so happens that on a good day, she "seems" cheerful and on a bad day, she "seems" bitter. Or maybe she really is showing one face to America and another to Russia. But what does it matter, really.

And I can't imagine how anyone could doubt that Irina was really ill. Sure, we haven't SEEN her in the hospital. But given how she SKATED (to take another poster's example) I can't see how one could not think she was really ill. Also, press in both countries IIRC reported about it. So I disagree with this poster, but I won't join in the bashfest, which IMO is very sad to see happening here on GS.

 

[skatergirlaj]

Irina's illness is chronic and incurable, but it can be controlled with medication, and there are periods of remission when she has no symptoms, is feeling well, and is on very light doses of prednisone. That's the condition she was in during CoC and CoR, when she skated so well. But at the GPF, it wasn't the Irina of the two earlier events. She complained of dizziness and jet lag, and she didn't skate at all well in the SP, doubling a jump--very unusual for her.

What has probably happened is that this latest period of remission has started to fade and she isn't feeling as well. The doctors monitor her closely, and when it seems her symptoms are returning, they put her back on much heavier doses of prednisone. Prednisone is not kind to the human body. It causes fluid retention, weight gain, fatigue and susceptibility to common infections. When Irina is newly on heavy dosages, it takes her weeks to adjust and her skating is affected. We saw the effects last year at Europeans, where she had a horrible FS. It was easy to see then that Irina was on heavy medication because her face was very puffy and swollen, a common, very visible predisone side effect.

Irina is ill, there is no doubt of that, and her condition is very much affected by stress. The stress this year is much higher than usual because of the Olympics. Many of Irina's fans are worried about her. I am by no means a fan of Irina's skating, but I am concerned for her.

Exhaustion and stress can play a huge role in her condition and other chronic conditions as well*i know i myself,if i don't take care of myself and get over exhausted it can take weeks to recover*...and about prednisone..I've been on that stuff before...i HATE it.Sometimes the cure feels worse than the disease.It's one of those neccessary evils

 

[skatergirlaj]

Just throw the question back at yourself. Are you Irina? Do you spend time with her when she is off ice? How do YOU know that she's really sick?

Unless we have personally seen her, the ONLY evidence we have is what we see: her skating. And that's as public as can be. If she is sick off-the-ice, how should there be a difference when she is ON the ice? Does she change her heart and become a different human being when she steps on the ice? Our only evidence is her skating. Is THAT how a sick person with a VERY SERIOUS HEART PROBLEM skates?

There's so much blah, blah, blah on her supposed illness, family, behavior, etc. which are all excuses. It's all about skating. If she skates that well, why should there be all this drama about her supposedly being sick, in need of money, etc. etc. Sympathy votes? Just plain "attention"?

Yes, it's annoying when people make assumptions (such as thinking a skater is really sick simply because her agent and publicists tell people so) and are so gullible, when the evidence is facing them right in front of their faces.

No I am not Irina nor have I spent time with her,but i can say what I say because i too have been horribly ill before and I too have to fight a chronic illness,therefore i know what someone in that situation is capable of pulling off when they have to! I also skate and I know that sometimes even if I feel like $hit I can go out and skate,not because i am well but because it helps me on the inside.And sometimes lifting your spirits can inable a person to do amazing things for the short period of time that is neccessary.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

:disapp: Um... does it really matter if Irina is nice or not? Does it really matter if she's nice to Michelle & a *itch to some upstart messing up the ice? I mean, seriously...

This whole thread is stupid, childish and pointless... I so wish I was a moderator and I'd put a big ol' lock on it and say tisk tisk tisk to all the naughty hooligans running around on this thread... You all should be ashamed... Its Chrismas/ Hanukkah / Santa Season.

Grow Up ...:disapp:

 

[Kwan101]

: This whole thread is stupid, childish and pointless... .:

So don't click on it. I think you'll find that permits you to avoid it quite nicely while still allowing those who wish to do so to read it and at the same time avoid your hall-monitoring. A true win-win situation.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

zzzzzz

 

[JanJam]

zzzzzz

 

[wvgal57]

Well Phillip Hersch from Chicago newpaper received okay from Irina to check with her specialist in Moscow, look at her doctor reports, etc He was one of the first in the US to report on what her final diagnosis is, Churgg Strauss.

Many times doubters are simply the insecure ones.