Sara Hurtado & Adrià Díaz split

[MidnightSkater]

Well I do think that Sara is fortunate that she was 'able' to just quit her job when it became clear it was emotionally unhealthy for her. In the USA in particular where there isn't any social safety net if you just quit a job (if you are laid off there is something of one, but not if you quit, and even if you're laid off you don't get anything close to what you were making from unemployment benefits) it's true many people can't put their personal happiness or even their mental health (if the job is truly awful) over the job and the money that comes with it. Until they find a new job they are pretty much stuck with what they have. So she's actually in a fortunate situation to be able to say this is not healthy for me, bye, and that's that. On the other hand skating is one of the few jobs where you often have to spend money to be able to do it instead of getting money from it- she might actually be financially in a better position now.

But basically, I do not think anyone should or should have to stay in a job that is making them truly and consistently unhappy, or where they are enduring mental, physical, or emotional abuse (not saying Sara was at all) or where the job for whatever reason is negatively impacting their mental health. I think anyone in one of those situations should do all they can to extract themselves from the situation and I am happy for her that she was able to do so.

Don't get me wrong. If she is happy & able to change her work environment then good on her but I'm sorry that potentially we may never see a talented young skater like her compete at the top level again.
I think it's just sad & a decision she may regret. Plus, how much say did he have in this ?. He is also left without a partner so maybe two careers have been spoilt.

 

[MidnightSkater]

Maybe if you have people depending economically of you and you don´t know to do other things, otherwise is a BAD decision to stay in that job. And like tulosai said, Sara is investing money in figure skating.

True. I think it's a real loss for European Ice Dance that a couple as good as this have split. They had improved so much & I really think it's a shame.

 

[xibsuarz]

I just think she had such potential to do well & maybe even be on the podium at a European Championships that she could have just stuck it out until the next Olympics. Many people have jobs they don't like & happiness is not an option they just do it.
I really think she has made a big mistake that she will regret when older.
If she does not find a good enough partner & just drifts down the ranks then I think it's a real waste.

Unfortunately, based on their last competition together where she looked really upset in the K&C and wasn't even seated, it seems like the problems in their partnership and friendship were showing in their skating. I'm not sure how well it would have worked for them in terms of results to stick together any longer. Definitely a big loss for European Ice Dance, they had a lot of talent, but it would have been just as bad to see them underperform because of it.

 

[Hyena]

I think she is a foolish girl to end this partnership. We all work with people we don't get on with but we just get past it.
She had a wonderful opportunity to have a good career in ice dance with a talent many would love to have & she has just thrown it away.
She has little chance of finding another quality partner & you have to question if she ever really wanted this at all.
A total waste.

You're entitled to your opinion and you're not the only one who's sad about their split. But calling her a foolish girl is, IMO, unnecessarily patronizing. Not sure if you're a native English speaker. If not, calling her a girl instead of a woman at her age is a bit disrespectful especially when adding a harsh word like "foolish" in front of it.

Don't get me wrong. If she is happy & able to change her work environment then good on her but I'm sorry that potentially we may never see a talented young skater like her compete at the top level again.
I think it's just sad & a decision she may regret. Plus, how much say did he have in this ?. He is also left without a partner so maybe two careers have been spoilt.

This, I can understand and to an extent agree with.

 

[blue_idealist]

Skating isn't really like a traditional job. There are definitely other jobs Sara could do, even without formal education (I don't know if she has any), if she doesn't continue skating.

 

[NorthernDancers]

I think she is a foolish girl to end this partnership. We all work with people we don't get on with but we just get past it.
She had a wonderful opportunity to have a good career in ice dance with a talent many would love to have & she has just thrown it away.
She has little chance of finding another quality partner & you have to question if she ever really wanted this at all.
A total waste.

This is overly harsh. A skating partnership is not like a traditional job. It's more like an arranged marriage. In a normal job, one does not spend 6 to 8 hours a day side by side, in each other's faces literally, working really hard physically and mentally and creatively, and trusting each other's lives and physical safety in each others hands under intense pressure. There must be a core level of respect and compatibility. Together this team has climbed the ladder in ice dance, and done very well. But last year and this year, they have not made progress. They've regressed in some respects. And they clearly are not happy. Competitive skating is only for a short time, and then there must be a whole new life, which means one's first responsibility is to be healthy - mentally and physically - so that there is a whole new life to be lived well. I don't share your doom and pessimism about her not being able to find another partner. Perhaps she will not find anyone. But there are many examples of elite skaters who have made a transition. She will absolutely need to look internationally. But it is not impossible. In my opinion, a more compatible partnership and a new training environment with a coach or team of coaches who have the time and expertise to build the team quickly is what is needed.

 

[tulosai]

This is overly harsh. A skating partnership is not like a traditional job. It's more like an arranged marriage. In a normal job, one does not spend 6 to 8 hours a day side by side, in each other's faces literally, working really hard physically and mentally and creatively, and trusting each other's lives and physical safety in each others hands under intense pressure. There must be a core level of respect and compatibility. Together this team has climbed the ladder in ice dance, and done very well. But last year and this year, they have not made progress. They've regressed in some respects. And they clearly are not happy. Competitive skating is only for a short time, and then there must be a whole new life, which means one's first responsibility is to be healthy - mentally and physically - so that there is a whole new life to be lived well. I don't share your doom and pessimism about her not being able to find another partner. Perhaps she will not find anyone. But there are many examples of elite skaters who have made a transition. She will absolutely need to look internationally. But it is not impossible. In my opinion, a more compatible partnership and a new training environment with a coach or team of coaches who have the time and expertise to build the team quickly is what is needed.

I agree wholeheartedly with this except for that last year (and this year, but honestly I don't think they skated enough this year yet to make a definite judgment on that) they didn't make progress... last year they finished 5th at Euros (up from 10th the year before and basically 15th in the three years before that), had two GPs for the first time (and finished 4th at one of them), and finished 14th at Worlds, their highest Worlds showing ever. They also posted their PB scores last year overall and in both the SP and LP individually as well, somewhat late in the season at Euros. Objectively based on competitive data they were indeed on an upward trajectory and making progress.

 

[MidnightSkater]

You're entitled to your opinion and you're not the only one who's sad about their split. But calling her a foolish girl is, IMO, unnecessarily patronizing. Not sure if you're a native English speaker. If not, calling her a girl instead of a woman at her age is a bit disrespectful especially when adding a harsh word like "foolish" in front of it.



This, I can understand and to an extent agree with.

I'm half American & half British so "foolish girl" is a common saying. It's NOT patronizing. Calling somebody a girl could be taken as a compliment by some. I DO think she is foolish to quit on quite a successful partnership even if their personal relationship is not going well.
It's not just a decision that has changed her life but also his.
I totally stand by my original comments. I have not made any nasty comments like some do on here about skaters. I have given my honest opinion. Only time will tell if Sara's decision has been good for both her & Adria. I hope they both move on & find happiness.
But please stop taking offence to such small things. If you take time to read my other posts you can clearly see I would never write a derogatory post. I was a huge fan of this ice dance team & I really think they should have competed in the Grand Prix Series first before taking such a big step to split.

 

[MidnightSkater]

This is overly harsh. A skating partnership is not like a traditional job. It's more like an arranged marriage. In a normal job, one does not spend 6 to 8 hours a day side by side, in each other's faces literally, working really hard physically and mentally and creatively, and trusting each other's lives and physical safety in each others hands under intense pressure. There must be a core level of respect and compatibility. Together this team has climbed the ladder in ice dance, and done very well. But last year and this year, they have not made progress. They've regressed in some respects. And they clearly are not happy. Competitive skating is only for a short time, and then there must be a whole new life, which means one's first responsibility is to be healthy - mentally and physically - so that there is a whole new life to be lived well. I don't share your doom and pessimism about her not being able to find another partner. Perhaps she will not find anyone. But there are many examples of elite skaters who have made a transition. She will absolutely need to look internationally. But it is not impossible. In my opinion, a more compatible partnership and a new training environment with a coach or team of coaches who have the time and expertise to build the team quickly is what is needed.

I competed at Junior International level in tennis & maybe my take on sport is a little different.
I was always taught to just take the bad no matter what. I had a coach whom I hated but put up with it because I knew it was the best thing for my development. There were times when I was deeply unhappy but I just got on with it.
I would sometimes spend 8-10 hours a day with my coach at tournaments but I was totally focused on my game & career rather than personal issues.
Sara will probably have to leave Spain to find a new partner but as we have seen with other skaters that this will take time & may danger her competing in the next Olympics.

 

[moriel]

I competed at Junior International level in tennis & maybe my take on sport is a little different.
I was always taught to just take the bad no matter what. I had a coach whom I hated but put up with it because I knew it was the best thing for my development. There were times when I was deeply unhappy but I just got on with it.
I would sometimes spend 8-10 hours a day with my coach at tournaments but I was totally focused on my game & career rather than personal issues.
Sara will probably have to leave Spain to find a new partner but as we have seen with other skaters that this will take time & may danger her competing in the next Olympics.

Sometimes at tournaments, but every day and training? Was the person you hated in hold with you a lot? Would this person lift you? Would your safety depend of this person skills?
I don´t skate, but i have some dance background - and while there are bad things you just have to take, a partner that doesn´t suit you is not one of them. It pretty much like a relationship - you spend more time in a day with your dance partner than you spend with your relationship partner. You have that person touching and holding you all time (and that can be extremely awful if you have a bad relationship with that person). You MUST trust that person for some moves like lifts, like really trust that the person will not just drop you on the floor at random. If this trust is gone, it will just not work, because you cannot just force yourself to trust the person, its either there or not there. And then, on instinct, you just wouldnt do something dangerous - try getting some random person to hold you in the air, for example, and see how it feels. How comfortable you can be with it? How well you can execute dance moves in such a position?

 

[Celine]

It must have been very hard for them to see what had been their "domain" during the Olympic season become so changed and literally almost over-run by so many new ice dance teams who went to Montreal to train. Almost all were teams that were just barely ranked ahead of them, making it hard for anyone to not somehow think that they were being somehow pushed down the pecking order in one way or another.

I wish them both well and would love to see them return with different partners. TWO teams for Spain!!

 

[blancanieves]

Did Sara say she hated him ?. Or did not trust him ?.
I would spend 10 hours a day with my coach-alone. And yes he would have to touch me at times to help me with my technique. I would also travel to tournaments with him alone. I was 12, 13, 14 at the time. My parents could not travel with me as they had full-time jobs.
Has Sara stated that she hated Adria ?. If so, why ?.

Castelli and Shnapir were famously candid about their difficult relationship, but I think most skating teams tend to keep tensions on the down low. You want the fans to root for you, to project a warm working dynamic, not an unfriendly one.

Sara's announcement reaches out to the fans, but it's not written to reveal all the intimate details of the partnership's dynamic. As thoughtful as she is, this is still a PR statement. Only Sara and Adria, and their coaches and training partners, know how difficult or not difficult it was for them to skate together, and what led to her decision.

 

[katha]

At times? just remember ice dance is a pair thing and you skate with your partner more than sometimes just showing the technique.
As for trust, just trying to show you some particulars of what this "foolish girl" did that have nothing to do with your personal experience, which was basically a singles sport.
I am not claiming she hated him, but just pointing out that there is a point in dance and ice dance where you just can't stay with the partner, which is not even about hate. When you cannot stay with the person you are not comfortable with anymore because of some great prospects, because the elationship between you and your partner went to a point where there is no such prospects, because you two just cant perform some elements together.
It doesnt even have to be hate or lack of trust in the partner, just look at this as example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_Marinin#Accident
Yeah, those two kept skating, but not everybody is that strong.

Yeah, the general outrage and lack of understanding in fan circles whenever a promising pair breaks up for "personal reasons" is something I find frustrating as well. You spend hours upon hours each day in very close, very intimate contact and you have to trust them with your career and often with your personal safety. If something isn't right anymore for whatever reason, then it becomes incredibly stressful and a chore to make it work. It doesn't even have to be necessarily about hating a partner, about not having good times with them as well, but if one part of a pair feels that they can't work with a partner anymore, then that's not some hineous crime.

C/B got a lot of hate because Evan left Emily, while for me the way he still to this day talks about his injury as one of the most traumatic events in his life gives a pretty good hint why he probably did do so. This is just my speculation, of course, but if he didn't feel comfortable skating with Samuelson after he got hurt then that's just how it was and he can't force himself to change that. This also doesn't make it Emily's fault, things in relationships sometimes don't work out without anyone being to blame or being evil or something.

Same with I/K tbh. Yes, the way Nikita went about it was terrible and he rightly caught flak for that. But the rose-colored glasses and revisionist history about I/K in some corners has made people forget what a troubled pairing they always were. They had stunning potential, but you never knew if they would deliver or face plant at any given competition. And that had been a destructive pattern for years. If it looked that dysfunctional and unstable from the outside looking in, how tense and miserable was it dealing with that every day? Again, I'm sure there were good times, but if Nikita felt that something was fundamentally broken about the relationship then it's understandable he wanted out.

And the last competition video for H/D doesn't look pretty. If she couldn't keep it together even in the rather exposed, public circumstances of a skating event (no matter how small), then it's better she broke it off. It's better for him as well.

 

[moriel]

Yup, last compo for H/D looks pretty... revealing.

And yeah for I/K... I understand their fans kinda wanting them to come back, but then i also want Bach to be still alive too =D
It just doesn´t work that way.

 

[Skater Boy]

You always feel bad when a promising team does not make its full potential but better they be happy than disenchanted and it would show in their skating. It is a private affair and we will never know the full truth because they will not be so transparent to us just like I and K who perhaps were far more tragic because they had shown actual glimpses of greatness and while it is rather silly they looked beautiful together lol. But not every pairing ends up with a fairy tale ending even G and G as we know had tragedy.

 

[GypsyFe]

I remember watching Tatiana Tarasova train a young French dance team (they eventually became world champs & I forget their names - can picture them too)...well when I watched them daily they were HS age, doing school work in between sessions, etc...
at times they fought! those days they wouldnt practice together but each would skate their part separately...
Luckily it didnt happen too often, but tempers sure can flare. And they did stay together.

 

[blue_idealist]

I remember watching Tatiana Tarasova train a young French dance team (they eventually became world champs & I forget their names - can picture them too)...well when I watched them daily they were HS age, doing school work in between sessions, etc...
at times they fought! those days they wouldnt practice together but each would skate their part separately...
Luckily it didnt happen too often, but tempers sure can flare. And they did stay together.

Delobel/Schoenfelder (World Champs 2008)? Wikipedia says they worked with Tarasova from 1998 to 2002.

 

[turquoiseblue]

Edges, lines, emotions: my week at 2015 Grand Prix Final by Florentina Tone from insideskating.net

The heart-warming (and, at times, heartbreaking) discussion with Sara Hurtado, one morning during the Grand Prix Final: what a wonderful girl, what a beautiful soul, deserving absolutely the best. An emotional get-together, with Sara talking about the hardest decision of her life – “I had to choose between myself, my happiness and the potential me and Adri had – either way, I was losing something…” –, but looking boldly, optimistically, at her future: “I want to keep skating, I still have a lot to learn, I’m not done with it. And if I’m going back, I would like to be at least at the level I was, or better”. Make sure you’ll read on Inside Skating about Sara’s new life – we’ll be publishing the story next month.

 

[turquoiseblue]

Sara Hurtado: “I’m not done with skating” by Florentina Tone

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I look forward to seeing her continue on and with her the best of luck. It's clear that she loves skating, and I like that she said she and Adri are still really good friends. They just couldn't work together anymore. She recently tweeted a congratulations to Maia Shibutani, and maybe that win will inspire her to keep going. She has a lot of examples to look to for partnerships created after the breaking of a previous one that continued on for success.