Skaters who retired too early.

[s_parks]

Sasha Proklova and Adien Pitkiev come to mind

Thanks a lot, I'm overcome with crippling depression thinking of those two

 

[plushyfan]

I realise Nirti was probably being sarcastic, but I do actually think she could have carried on a bit longer.

She was amazing when she appeared in the End Of Year Oberstdorf Gala a year or so before her announcement.

CaroLiza_fan

I liked her!

 

[ladyjane]

Why has no one yet mentioned Oksana Baiul? Only 16, Olympic champion, and it looked like she couldn't wait to go professional!

Another one I was sad to see go was Shawn Sawyer from Canada.

And yeah Ilya Klimkin. So so different in style and refreshing to watch!

Klimkin...so sad. Had one of the best Swan Lakes ever (apart from Rudy Galindo who had the very best in 1996), was so original.

 

[el henry]

Nicole Orford & Asher Hill

:sad21:

 

[wasabi]

Vanessa Crone
Male Hubbell

 

[lanceupper1114]

Yuka Sato!

 

[esteticlove]

Potentially coming 2nd to Aliona/Bruno in the Olympics, or 3rd behind Sui/Han, too, would have been a letdown after gold in 2014, though.

Well, holding onto the Olympic podium after a new 4 year cycle with new stars is a great achievement for me but , I guess, this is very subjective. Also..Aljona and Bruno made a mistake in the SP, so with a clean SP and FS V/T would have had the chance for gold. As I said the quality between those two pairs is not that far appart. And still... could have, would have. ..It is how it is .

 

[katymay]

Kristy Yamaguchi. She could easily have won a few more Olympic Gold medals.

 

[Tonichelle]

Oksana Baiul apparently had horredndous conditions for skating back them in Odessa (there were blackouts and the skaters would have to resurface their own ice), but going pro at 16 ruined her. She had talent, but was not at her peak in 16 and then all her trouble took toll on her and she done some tragically messy performances.

she was the equivalent of a Child Actor in Hollywood. She had a lot of money and fame at the height of the North American golden era of skating. She was an overnight sensation as the little orphan annie of the Olympics thanks to American Media. No one was really there to tell her no, and those that did she shoved away from her (Petrenko and her coach). It's very, very sad. She was taken advantage of (not in any sort of scandalous way that I know of, just in a business sense) and I'm not sure she's ever truly recovered from it.

 

[minze]

Fumie Suguri.

 

[Totentanz]

Laura Lepistö

 

[cathlen]

han yan

joannie rochette

Hey, Han Yan isn't officialy retired yet! Don't jinx! It's just Chinese Fed has not listed him for team, bu he did NOT retired.

 

[Shayuki]

Alexandra Proklova.

 

[arewhyaen]

Keauna McLaughlin who was one half of the pairs team with Rockne Brubaker. SHe retired in 2010 after a mistake at nationals cost them a trip to the olympics. The team swept just about everything on the junior circuit and I believe they not only would they have dominated nationals but had the potential to medal at worlds and olympics for years to come.

 

[linda vanwormer]

Naomi Nari Nam, Angela Nikodinov, Alissa Czisny and Rockne Brubaker

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Ludmila Nelidina. She was the third or fourth woman to land a 3A and I don't think she competed after the season she accomplished the feat.

 

[Charlotte 71]

Going waaaay back, but has anyone said Denise Beillmann yet? She had a great and very long pro career, but if she had hung on until 1984 for the Olympics she would have much stronger content than Katarina Witt or Rosalyn Sumners, at least based on what Denise could do in 1980-81. It was probably a money thing, but retiring after she won Worlds in 1981 she missed her chance to win Olympics in '84, and if she had stayed in she probably would have pushed the ladies field technically. Katarina was capable of triple flip and loop, but she didn't do them much because she didn't need to. If Denise had stayed in maybe she would have needed them, maybe Tiffany Chin, who was doing triple Axels in practice, would have been more serious about doing them in competition and beaten Midori to the punch. The whole world could have been different, Denise!

Oh well, it was a long time ago, and the ladies got there in their own good time.

God, I'm such a old codger.

 

[rosy14]

I’m a true fan of Valentina ( I was able to talk a little to her at the end of the Nationals Championships in Milan last year) but I don’t think she had much a road to a podium after Sochi with the new Russian girls coming up.
As for her career in pairs: this year she and Ondrei had surely chance to podiums in GP, but again not even at Euros.
And she’s 30 y.o.
So I believe she reached her full potential and fulfilled her promises.

 

[heyheyhey]

I would’ve liked to see more of Sale and Pelletier and how far they could go. They were the perfect competitors for the time they were amateurs (seriously did David ever make a mistake? Like ever?) and based on how far they pushed themselves on the professional circuit, I think they had more years of competing in them. But the Olympic experience probably jaded them & it was probably better for them to cash in while they had all exposure on them.

Ilia Kulik maybe? He got his Gold and he just dipped lol

 

[Spiralgraph]

Going waaaay back, but has anyone said Denise Beillmann yet? .....

God, I'm such a old codger.

Me too!

I was thinking of Denise Biellmann too And to go even further back, Janet Lynn was only 18 or 19 when she retired in 1973. Although she had been competing a long time. With her artistic virtuosity, ah what we might have seen from her.