That's not a question any of us can answer because we don't know enough about the circumstances and degree of injury.
Now please see the thread about "HEART."
Rachael skated with a painful injury and surely tried to do her best. She is one tough cookie :yes:
That is enough to gain my admiration.
I thought long and hard before replying to this - well, 30 seconds anyway - and I totally and completely disagree on the topic of competing with an injury. Its simply a stupid thing to do. I was all about Michelle getting her shot in 2006 and that was wrong. Encouraging athletes to compete injured is wrong. No one knows their body better than a athlete, amature and pro alike, and they know when to let it go and they never want to but sometimes the grown ups need to shut it down - esp young athletes. Where was Team Flatt?
And no, I'm not talking about medals, MiRai, national pride or three spots. I'm talking about being responsible to the kid paying the bills. We ask so much of these kids - that we need to also say no to them. Rachael has been off all season and yet she continued to skate. Are we surprised that whatever is ailing her finally said "enough."
I'm sick of this "heart" conversation. That's not heart, that's madness. What exactly are we doing to these kids and their young bodies? I speak from experience. My 13 year old son is plays soccer. This past fall, he tweeked his groin - nothing serious, but he should've sat out and rested. But he has so much "heart" that his coach, trainer, dad and I decided that we'd let him play with the promise that he'd "take it easy." Needless to say, he took a hard shot, pulled his groin and was out for four weeks. That night, my husband and I looked at each other and wondered if we had been smokin' crack all week.
Now, does my kid's soccer season compare to skating at the World Championships? Heck no. But parents, coaches and support staff need to wake up and get real about the long term damage that "sucking it up" and "competing with heart" actually mean: young athletes with shorter careers because someone didn't have the sense to say enough.
Rachael can be a tough cookie - all the skaters are tough cookies. But she should've been a tough cookie from the stands and chatted with Tara Lipiniski about the importance of long term health vs. short term gain.