Lipnitskaia withdraws from GPF: Gao takes slot

[Skater Boy]

Not much, but life goes on, and if one is alone, one must think as best as on can. It is hard not to think...if it were serious concussion, I think there would be more of a statement. She is young, and the brain is more plastic than we think. I feel bad that Gao's opportunity comes at julia's expense, but I think Gao will give it her best. I expect she may be last, but still, 5th or sixth in the top skaters group in the world is pretty amazing, and this season has put her on the map for the first time I suspect, with many judges, fans,etc. She is a very blessed girl, beauty, brains, family likely awesome and a talented skatr at her chosen sport.

It seems Brian Orser figures in the bios of a few top skaters. I think he makes an impression on his skaters positively, even if just passing through. I am and always will be an Orser fan, can you tell? Her current people in Boston seem to be a good ingluence as well. This is a win-win for Gao, regardless of her placement. God luck, Ms Gao.

ETA: Skaterboy, we realize rachael and Allissa both have things they wanted to prove, and their careers have unfinished business because they have done some terrible skates. Alissa certainly did bomb at Worlds, she isn't a competitor, just a lovely skater when not under pressure. Flatt is an amazing very smart woman, who maybe should have withdrawn. But the fact is, while you sound like you'd think of others and so definitely I would have, these girls got to the top of US figureskating by working hard and competing all those years from little age to teen years before they "made it' in USFSA. They are tenacious. Alissa may cloak it better than Kwan, but no one gets to be US Champion without having a team of helpers. It is "all about me." as Kwan said about being a top skater. You have beat that horse to death, as have others. These girls had agendas to win. Flatt is a fighter and we don't know all the reasons, etc. Many athletes compete injured every day at all levels of sport.

We are all selfish, and when one is fighting for a position in skating, we should understand. I wish we had a dollar for every negative comment about the smart, pretty PETITE blond who skated to 7th place (many said she deserved 5th) with two clean, energetic performances in Vancouver. I have never seen a more maligned skater than Rachael Flatt. I don't get it. Yes, her best days were when training full-time. She is a National champion, and someone a lot ofn student/skaters look up to. She did us proud in her first Olympics. She does have a round face and is not a speedy skater. Her body is matronly looking for one so young. This seems to make her the butt of so many comments. Alissa, as most beautiful US Champion maybe in many eyes, gets a lot of points. Beauty is power and it helps. We never know the true condition/situations of these people. They are competitive figure skaters, and you are not going to find sacrificial type people. I was a social worker. You can assume from that, I'd step aside for another...and you'd be right. But the "winners" in the world like Flatt/Alissa and they are winners, usually put themselves first, as do other people. That is the nature of competition. When are people going to move on. They are hardly bad people. Maybe , as I said you can make a case for self-serving at worst.

Fortunately Flatt has huge confidence as an only child, winner of the genetic lottery for IQ, a former US Champion. She knows she is blessed. Maybe it is time we forgive her, even though she and Alissa may not have been thinking what was best for US skating. It is what it is. I too have said plenty, and hang on to things forever. We are a selfish bunch, by and large. I have not met too many saints in my life, lol. And I would not look at sports to find my heroes, anyway. I say we forget Flatt's sins as she is done, and I think Alissa likely is too. They gave us some nice, even inspiring performances. What else can we expect of these people?

Speaking of beating a dead horse, who really knows what is in the head of these skaters and what there motives are. Rarely is anyone going to be so transparent - other than on these websites it seems, and people rant on and on about their skaters. That is their or our biases - we all have them and most of us are just armchair skating enthusiasts. Skating is more than me first it is a bit of luck, genetics, money is a huge issue, timing as well right now in ladies this is a great chance for a good but not excellent skater like Ashley to win it all. As for maligned skaters, what about patrick chan who is constantly picked on this site. He arguably skates by the rules. People consistently on this site usually take some kind of position and a lot depends on your stance. Fortunately, most of us, I do hope judges don't read this site or any site and by unduly influenced, are not the judges - oy I am sure there would be some other site saying how crazy we were as judges.

And we don't have to forgive anyone's "sins" so to speak that's not our job. My point was simple and you can malign it - it was nice Julia gave someone else a chance or she could have waited til the last minute helping the chance of her teammate.

And yes, if you want to call it skating is a "me" sport; but we are free to comment on it just like skaters are free eto skate on or retire.

 

[Tonichelle]

I think remembering that these athletes are human just like the rest of us is a good thing for everyone to remember, but it's going to be heated and the blame mainly on the wrong folks as far as who's skating what and why and how... it's human nature to debate heatedly. Society loves underdogs, villains... modern fairytales if you will...

 

[verte76]

She's injured?

 

[Mrs. P]

Well, I still think it's beating a dead horse RE: moral standing in withdrawing/not withdrawing from events. So I'll leave it that and say that I hope Julia has a good recovery and glad to see a silver lining of Gao being at the final instead.

 

[tulosai]

Well, I still think it's beating a dead horse RE: moral standing in withdrawing/not withdrawing from events. So I'll leave it that and say that I hope Julia has a good recovery and glad to see a silver lining of Gao being at the final instead.

While I am a bit split between the camps on this point I also think it is worthwhile to spend some time thinking about the differences (which are obvious) between Julia (or typical Russian skater) and Alyssa (or typical American skater) SOLELY based on their country of birth.

1) I guarantee you, when Julia went down she was rushed to a doctor. Julia did not need to think about if she was going to the doctor or how she was going to pay for the doctor. Russia (or their figure skating federation) paid for the doctor, and Russia made her go to the doctor. Russia (or their figure skating federation) was immediately told of her injury. Contrast this to America, where our skaters have to decide on their own if their injury is serious enough to merit going to the doctor and paying the costs out of pocket.

2) The nature of Julia's injury was that it was obvious and apparent. I doubt she was questioning whether she was really injured and how or anything like that the way Alyssa seemed to have been for a time. She went down, she cut herself, and her head hurt. This is much different than a more subtle, consistently worsening injury whose origins you can't pinpoint.

3) The Russian Figure Skating Association is 100000 times more involved than USFSA. USFSA doesn't even know what is going on with its skaters probably 90% of the time. They don't really monitor them. It is for the skater to make the call. This closely relates to point 1 in a way, but Julia had close to 0% input in making the call. The Russian FSA told her she was withdrawing. When is the last time USFSA told someone they were withdrawing? Partly this is a problem in how often injuries are reported but that is a result of the very different systems.

JMO.

 

[Mrs. P]

While I am a bit split between the camps on this point I also think it is worthwhile to spend some time thinking about the differences (which are obvious) between Julia (or typical Russian skater) and Alyssa (or typical American skater) SOLELY based on their country of birth.

1) I guarantee you, when Julia went down she was rushed to a doctor. Julia did not need to think about if she was going to the doctor or how she was going to pay for the doctor. Russia (or their figure skating federation) paid for the doctor, and Russia made her go to the doctor. Russia (or their figure skating federation) was immediately told of her injury. Contrast this to America, where our skaters have to decide on their own if their injury is serious enough to merit going to the doctor and paying the costs out of pocket.

2) The nature of Julia's injury was that it was obvious and apparent. I doubt she was questioning whether she was really injured and how or anything like that the way Alyssa seemed to have been for a time. She went down, she cut herself, and her head hurt. This is much different than a more subtle, consistently worsening injury whose origins you can't pinpoint.

3) The Russian Figure Skating Association is 100000 times more involved than USFSA. USFSA doesn't even know what is going on with its skaters probably 90% of the time. They don't really monitor them. It is for the skater to make the call. This closely relates to point 1 in a way, but Julia had close to 0% input in making the call. The Russian FSA told her she was withdrawing. When is the last time USFSA told someone they were withdrawing? Partly this is a problem in how often injuries are reported but that is a result of the very different systems.

JMO.

Hope you don't feel I was picking at you, tulosai.

Namely, I was just expressing my weariness of these moral standing arguments. You actually make some really good points, regarding the underlying circumstances that have lead to one skater's decision versus another. I think this is more relevant to the discussion than whether skater X or Y was right or wrong in withdrawing or not withdrawing.

 

[Tonichelle]

Hope you don't feel I was picking at you, tulosai.

Namely, I was just expressing my weariness of these moral standing arguments. You actually make some really good points, regarding the underlying circumstances that have lead to one skater's decision versus another. I think this is more relevant to the discussion than whether skater X or Y was right or wrong in withdrawing or not withdrawing.

Agreed. :yes:

 

[tulosai]

Hope you don't feel I was picking at you, tulosai.

Namely, I was just expressing my weariness of these moral standing arguments. You actually make some really good points, regarding the underlying circumstances that have lead to one skater's decision versus another. I think this is more relevant to the discussion than whether skater X or Y was right or wrong in withdrawing or not withdrawing.

No of course I don't feel picked on! I always feel really safe on this forum even when people disagree or 'pick on' me :thumbsup:

 

[Olympia]

Tulosai, you make some very interesting points about the way the two systems, the Russian federation and the USFSA, are set up. Thanks for adding them to the conversation.

Definitely it's good that Julia withdrew for the sake of her longterm health and to prevent possible injuries if she skated while impaired this week. It's also very nice (however and by whomever it was decided) that she withdrew in time to give Gao a chance to take part. I like Gao's message wishing Julia well.