Stress Fractures in Figure Skating

[sisinka]

Stress fracture and stress reaction including is known like overuse injury. Too big load on a certain segment of the body for too long. Bone which cracks because it is not ready for such a big challenge.

I picked exactly this injury, because of the mechanism - it is caused by overuse....NOT from unlucky fall or sprain. Because it is caused by repetitive force = elements being done TOO MANY times.

And mainly because it could be PREVENTED using RIGHT (smaller) training dose.

The idea of this topic came from the fact that I am a doctor, so my mindset is to help people to be more healthy. I also don't like to see when any skater is FORCED to retire from medical reasons.

Some users here mentioned more injuries connected with young skaters training ultra C jumps. That is definitely one of topics to debate. But first, it must be proved.

I would also like to collect all skaters with stress fractures history.

I will be glad for any feedback which could in the end produce some ideas about decreasing the number of stress fractures in this beautiful sport.

In the beginning of every journey we can never be sure if we will get to desired goals in the end. Despite this I believe that we should try...because health of figure skaters worth it.

I would like to point out that none of my posts are meant as an attack to anyone from Figure Skating world. To criticize is not a purpose. To be careful enough to avoid and not to repeat those injuries is my purpose.

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List of skaters with STRESS FRACTURES:

SINGLE LADIES

SINGLE MEN

(date in the brackets is supposed date when fracture happened, if it is not visible from the excerpt)

I welcome every note about other skaters with stress fractures. If somebody would want to collect datas for Pair and Dance cathegory, it will be great.

 

[sisinka]

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stress-fractures/symptoms-causes/syc-20354057

- Stress fractures are tiny cracks in a bone. They're caused by repetitive force, often from overuse...

RISK FACTORS of stress fractures:

- Certain sports
- Increased activity
- Sex. Women, especially those who have abnormal or absent menstrual periods, are at higher risk of developing stress fractures.
- Foot problems. People who have flat feet or high, rigid arches are more likely to develop stress fractures.
- Weakened bones. Conditions such as osteoporosis...
- Previous stress fractures.
- Lack of nutrients. Eating disorders and lack of vitamin D and calcium can make bones more likely to develop stress fractures.


LET'S TAKE A LOOK at science studies connected with figure skating.

1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2372078/
STRESS FRACTURES IN FIGURE SKATERS
- study from 1990
- a total of 42 world class skaters
- of the 42 skaters, 9 had stress fractures, the fracture occurred in the take-off leg.
- 9 skaters of 42 = 18% with stress fracture

2) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27214736_STRESS_FRACTURES_IN_ELITE_FIGURE_SKATERS
STRESS FRACTURES IN ELITE FIGURE SKATERS
- 412 skaters - 245 females and 167 males (both junior and senior) with a median age of 16 years for females and 18 years for males
- 41 females (16.7%) and 25 males (13.8%) reported stress fractures
- stress fractures were the most frequent in single cathegories

3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30985309/
PEDIATRIC AND ADOLESCENT FIGURE SKATING INJURIES: 15-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW
- retrospective study from 2021 (review of 2003-2017).
- 295 skaters (271 female and 23 male)
- Age rage: 9 to 19 years. Mean age: 14.2 ± 2.3 years.
- About 11.8% of all injuries were bone stress reactions/fractures with the majority occurring at the back (42.2%), foot/ankle (32.4%), and lower leg (15.7%).

4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34529544/
DISTRIBUTION AND RISK FACTORS FOR STRESS FRACTURES IN COMPETITIVE FIGURE SKATERS AND ASSOCIATION WITH ACUTE FRACTURES
- study from 2021
- 164 skaters from novice to Olympic level
- career prevalence of stress fractures was 24.4%, most commonly affecting tibia and ankle
- There was statistically significant increased risk of stress fracture in those training ≥12 times/week (33.3% vs. 17.8%; P = 0.028) but no increased risk associated with level or gender of skater.
- There was a higher prevalence of acute fracture in those with a history of stress fracture (45.0% vs. 21.8%; P = 0.007).


I am glad that such studies exist. I am sure it took a lot of time and effort to collect data.
Personally I think that today's number of stress fractures is much higher.

But what I feel is a limitation of these studies...there is nothing about skater's load. Only one study mentions hour of practise per week.
No study mentions how does on ice practise looks like, especially jumps...what about off ice jumps...what kind of jump (double / triple / quad) are executed...how long regeneration is between practises...

As to practised kind of jumps - we may expect that number of stress fractures will be bigger in those with more difficult jumps. Which means that Basic Novices will probably have smaller numbers of stress injuries while the numbers will rise in junior and senior cathegory... counting all those skaters together... percentage of stress fractures for junior and senior cathegory will be undervalued.

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Interesting topic!

Is there any way to identify a possible stress fracture before it´s too late? I mean do skaters mostly experience some pain in advance? It´s not like they can take a lot of x-rays to see how the bones are doing.

I guess it´s difficult when skaters feel good when doing the same exercises and want t better and fast. I can only relate in terms of when I used to run and felt I was really thriving and could run for a long time and wanted to train for a half marathon, only to discover afterwards I had overdone in and that I hadn´t built up my muscles enough all though I experienced no problems in the moment. It left me with tendinitis in my foot which set me back and I would start from scratch again after a break.

I guess coaches play a role and should restrict their students from not repeat the exercises too much leaving too much load on the body.

I guess if you are aiming for the most difficult elements you are extra prone, because the more difficult jump, the more you need to practice and repeat.

And in overall the technical layout you need is become difficult for all in general. If you started skating late, or live in a country with restricted ice time or hours to train (because of mandatory school) you are left with less time to get the achieved level to be competitive and there is a chance to repeat too much when you have ice tiem. Not that starting early or more ice time helps if you just overtrain more like you mention achieving the difficult elements faster.

 

[Mathematician]

I used to run and felt I was really thriving and could run for a long time and wanted to train for a half marathon, only to discover afterwards I had overdone in and that I hadn´t built up my muscles enough all though I experienced no problems in the moment.

I think this is one of the biggest issues. All athletes can probably relate to how good you feel in the moment versus after. I was playing football one time and sprained my foot quite severely, but somehow managed to keep playing for hours. Then the next day I couldnt walk at all and ended up on crutches for a couple weeks. And never mind the day-after realizations I experienced in martial arts. So how can athlete really know when to stop?

I guess coaches play a role and should restrict their students from not repeat the exercises too much leaving too much load on the body.

Yes but its very hard because how do you draw the line between protecting and limiting the student? The biggest issue being that everyone is very different so you can't just have an encompassing regime for everyone.

 

[sisinka]

whole post

Great mentions.

Is there any way to identify a possible stress fracture before it´s too late? I mean do skaters mostly experience some pain in advance? It´s not like they can take a lot of x-rays to see how the bones are doing.

Yes, it is possible to prevent it. Simply not overdose...which is easy to say and difficult to do.

Not X-ray (but some stress fractures can be seen there), golden standard is MRI - Magnetic resonance imaging.

For finding acurrate answer for not overdosing, we would need to know detailed training process. Both on and off the ice. Lenght of regeneration. Which we don't know. Surprisingly even some on ice coaches (how many???) doesn't know. And we would need to compare it with training process of skaters with stress fracture (time right before the fracture).

We would need to know additional informations - foot abnormalities, nutrition troubles. Bone density.

We would need to decide whether the stress fracture happened because of:
1) too big load on normal bone - it will be majority of athletes
or thanks to
2) normal load on abnormal bone.

Bone is more solid than soft tissue. So first soft tissue will react on overloading. Pain overall, muscle imbalances, pain in place where tendon inserts into bone...possibly smaller swelling...body warns you that something is not OK.

Unfortunately skaters like almost all athletes are lead to overcome pain. Which in case of overtraining and overdosing is counterproductive. They also have higher pain threshold.

And in overall the technical layout you need is become difficult for all in general. If you started skating late, or live in a country with restricted ice time or hours to train (because of mandatory school) you are left with less time to get the achieved level to be competitive and there is a chance to repeat too much when you have ice tiem. Not that starting early or more ice time helps if you just overtrain more like you mention achieving the difficult elements faster.

Great clean technique is always the best protection of health.

I guess it´s difficult when skaters feel good when doing the same exercises and want t better and fast. I can only relate in terms of when I used to run and felt I was really thriving and could run for a long time and wanted to train for a half marathon, only to discover afterwards I had overdone in and that I hadn´t built up my muscles enough all though I experienced no problems in the moment. It left me with tendinitis in my foot which set me back and I would start from scratch again after a break.

When patients after injury ask me about load, I say: "It is individual...everybody is different. Start with smaller load and the day after - you will feel good or be in pain. Being in pain means that it was too big load. So rest and next time go for smaller load comparing to the first time and once again - day after reaction. If on the contrary body is pain free with initial load, go for more and wait for the next day to evaluate." I also reccomend them to continue with Rehabilitation exercises. If break from sport was longer they need to work on right deep muscle activation and overall muscle strengthening.

You should always evaluate from "day after" reaction.

It looks kind of "turtle speed" aproach. But if an athlete overload again, the second time injury will be worse and recovery longer and getting back to the sport with more troubles. And you can build chronic injury as well.

 

[dorispulaski]

Considering the tendency of skaters to have disordered eating, wouldn't bone density problems be a bigger risk for fractures of all types, including stress fractures?

Also, some stress fractures have been associated with badly fitted boots
Michelle Kwan's was said to be related to a change of boot supplier.

FIGURE SKATING ; A Lingering Foot Injury Leaves Kwan in a Cast (Published 1997)

US hopes for gold medal in Olympic figure skating suffer setback when Michelle Kwan sustains stress fracture and her left foot is placed in cast (M)

www.nytimes.com

Figure Skaters Blame Boot Design For Injury Plague

In the past decade, rule changes intended to make figure skating more athletic and appealing to audiences have coincided with a marked escalation of skaters' injuries. Despite the trend, little progress has been made toward developing a safer skating boot.

web.archive.org

 

[surimi]

-------
List of skaters with STRESS FRACTURES:

SINGLE LADIES (soon to be added)

SINGLE MEN (later to be added)

(date in the brackets is supposed date when fracture happened, if it is not visible from the excerpt)

I welcome every note about other skaters with stress fractures. If somebody would want to collect datas for Pair and Dance cathegory, it will be great.

Are we supposed to share the cases we know of here? I sure could write a few paragraphs about Sota's repeated stress fracture, but that's the only case I can speak of with some certainty Otherwise, we all know of other grievous stress fractures, sometimes career-ending, like Polina Edmunds, Rika Kihira, Satoko Miyahara, Yuma Kagiyama, Darya Usacheva... but I've never delved deeper into anoyone's injury but Sota's.

 

[sisinka]

LIST OF SINGLE LADIES WITH STRESS FRACTURE HISTORY:
(alphabetic order)

- Sofia Akantyeva - "...The Russian champion suffered a stress fracture in June (2023). ...“The figure skater has sustained a fracture that is likely a recurrence of her previous stress fracture,” the source reported." (https://fs-gossips.com/sofia-akatev...a-stress-fracture-recurrence/#google_vignette )

- Starr Andrews - "...At her December tune-up competition prior to nationals, Andrews finished sixth overall. However, she didn’t include the triple Axel in either of her programs, likely due to a fractured ankle sustained before the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships (which she also won).." (2018) (https://www.nbc4i.com/news/rising-starr-andrews-shooting-for-a-place-among-figure-skatings-best/)

- Mai Asada - "...Mai suffered a stress fracture in her ankle..." (2007) (https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2007/07/12/more-sports/mao-chan-to-miss-yokohama-show/ )

- Kiri Baga - "...Baga back in top form. After being sidelined with a stress fracture this summer (2010),..." (http://eric-minnesotaice.blogspot.com/2010/ )

- Becky Bereswill - "...Bereswill, who will also continue in singles, finished 13th in the senior ladies competition at the 2010 U.S. Championships in Spokane, Wash., while skating with two stress fractures that developed in her back in 2008." (https://figureskatersonline.com/news/2010/05/09/becky-bereswill-set-to-make-pairs-debut-this-summer/ )

- Samantha Cesario - "...has withdrawn from this month's figure skating (2011) Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. after a CT scan Thursday revealed fractured vertebrae. The injury is expected to keep her off the ice at least six to eight weeks...The Oceanside senior, who had a similar injury when she was 12, was very disappointed...During a practice Tuesday, Cesario complained of severe pain and was sent for the CT scan, which showed a fracture in the Lumbar 5 vertebrae. Cesario will wear a back brace to help hasten the recovery,..." (https://www.newsday.com/sports/high-school/oceanside-s-cesario-will-miss-nationals-p27039 )

- Karen Chen - "...Then I had my stress fracture in my right foot..." (season 2018-19) (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/karen-chen-figure-skating-cornell )

- Lu Chen - "...She had missed the entire fall competition season 1996 and several months' training with a stress fracture in her right foot." (https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/03/19/chen-a-shadow-of-her-former-self/ )
..."The stress fracture in her left foot is apparently not completely healed, either..." (1998) (https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/specials/olympics/nagano/fig/021598oly-fig-chen.html )

- Tiffany Chin - "...After a stress fracture of the ankle kept her out of the 1981 nationals..." (https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/13/sports/outlook-is-shiny-and-goals-are-set-for-tiffany-chin.html )

- Sasha Cohen - "...After medaling at Nats in 2000, Sasha Cohen also had to skip the 2001 Nationals due to a stress fracture in her back ... and came back strong." (FS Universe Forum)

- Gabriella Daleman - "...A stress fracture in her right foot last season (season 2013-14) hobbled her efforts at the Olympics 2014 (she placed 17th)." (https://skatecanada.ca/2014/09/jump-by-jump-gabby-daleman-is-shooting-for-the-stars/ )
"...It’s with an extremely heavy heart that I announce I have to withdraw from Nationals due to a stress reaction in my back (written on December 2022), It’s on top of a previous fracture......I thought nothing of it when I competed at my 2 Grand Prix this year with it, I just thought it was simple back pain until I found out what the real problem was. I was told by my doctor it was dangerous for me to continue skating after Sheffield. It’s has been 5 weeks and I’m just starting to skate again..." (https://fs-gossips.com/9572/ )

- Louann Donovan - "...won gold in her senior international debut at the 2004 Nebelhorn Trophy. Doing a triple flip after the event, she broke the navicular bone of her right foot in half. As doctors initially believed it was a sprain, she attempted to compete at the 2004 Finlandia Trophy and injured her foot further..." (Wikipedia )

- Antonina Dubinina - "...It was very difficult for me because an injury happened at the most inopportune moment. Just at the height of the season - in November (2022). ...And what was the injury? In the beginning it was stress fracture of an ankle. And then the same injury happened again... No, the injury was on the left leg, and in August (2023) it happened on the right. On the left it completely went away, everything is fine. I trained fully almost all summer, but then the same problems began with my right ankle..." (https://sport.rambler.ru/figureskat...erelom-uhod-ot-sokolovskoy-nravitsya-valieva/ )

- Polina Edmunds - "... 17, suffered a bone bruise in her right foot that limited her ability to perform jumps, according to U.S. Figure Skating." (March 2016) (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/...gure-skating-world-championships-mirai-nagasu)

- Rachel Flatt - "...She was sent to the 2011 World Championships. A week before the event, Flatt was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right tibia (her landing leg)." (Wikipedia)

- Anna Frolova - "...January–February of this year, just during the Olympics (2022).... I had a number of stress fractures in my foot.... There were several (stress fractures in one foot)." (https://fs-gossips.com/i-had-a-numb...-from-injuries-and-returning-to-competitions/ )

- Anastasia Galustyan - "...stress fracture in right foot happened one week before World Championships 2021..." (https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZJhRos21u/?igsh=MTdzMTl6bGswZWIyZQ==)

- Amber Glenn - "...The intense training led to some overuse injuries, including multiple stress reactions in her foot and an ankle cyst that needed to be removed, forcing her to withdraw from the free skate of the Cranberry Cup in August 2021 and take three weeks off the ice to heal...She trained quads this summer and was getting close before her body decided enough was enough." (https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...amber-glenn-is-peaking-at-the-right-time.aspx )

- Gracie Gold - "...U.S. figure skating champion Gracie Gold has withdrawn from the Grand Prix Final (2014) because of a stress fracture in her left foot." (https://www.espn.com/olympics/figur...978105/gracie-gold-withdraws-grand-prix-final )

- Diana Guseva - "...At the same time as Anya (Shcherbakova - season 2017-18), I had an injury - a stress fracture..."
(https://www.championat.com/figuresk...nie-s-zagitovoj-vostorg-ot-tuktamyshevoj.html )

- Kati Hadford - "...But then about three weeks before the US Nationals (January 2005) I had a stress fracture in my landing knee..." (https://absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=articles&id=2005katihadford )

- Hanna Harrell - "...had to withdraw from the 2019 JGP Italy due to a stress fracture in her foot that was repeatedly misdiagnosed. "(Wikipedia)

- Aya Hatakawa - "...“She’s in Japan,” Savchenko said. “She had stress fracture, but they didn’t find out until a couple of months ago. Before that, she always had pain and we didn’t know why. We sent her to the doctor but she didn’t want to go. She was really fighting with herself when she went to German nationals (in 2022)." (https://europeonice.com/2023/02/14/...ng-a-new-path-five-years-after-olympic-glory/ )

- Joshi Helgesson - "...I worked so hard on those it resulted in a beginning of a stress fracture of the fibula (September 2012). I was doing triple toe-triple toe combinations...It was the take off leg that suffered the fracture. I had not been able to jump in six and a half weeks...I had only skated two weeks before the Cup of China, and four weeks before the Trophée Eric Bompard (2012) (https://absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2012joshihelgesson )

- Loena Hendrickx - "...a 2016 stress fracture in her back, later a bone bruise on her landing knee..." ( https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/...rise-making-grand-prix-debut-at-skate-america )
..."Several fractures in my spine, my foot and my ankle kept me off the ice lots of times which made it difficult for me to be at my best." ( https://www.loenahendrickx.com/loenas-story/history )

- Courtney Hicks - "...X-ray, and it showed a triangular piece of bone about one inch on all sides had come away (from the tibia) below the knee,” Nicks said. “The doctor told me he had never really seen one like that before.”
Nicks said the injury occurred on the jump, a triple flip, that opens her free skate. But the coach wondered if her two falls on jumps in the short program might have owed something to the incipient leg problem." (autumn 2011)
(https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/10/12/injury-knocks-top-young-us-skater-out-for-season/ )

- Wakaba Higuchi - "...suffered a stress fracture in her right shin that ruled her out for 2022-23." (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/mai-mihara-figure-skating-grand-prix-final )

- Haruka Imai - "...who suffered from a stress fracture in her foot during the summer..." (2011) (https://www.goldenskate.com/imai-embraces-change/ )

- Lina Johansson - "...I practised jumps extra hard. It started to hurt my left foot, the one that was fractured before. I thought it was stress, overstrained...I continued to train but couldn’t go on the ice at the Swedish team camp in September (2008) because it hurt so much. ...I went to the hospital for an X-ray. It showed a stress fracture..." (https://www.absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2009linajohansson )
..."I got my first stress fracture at 16. It lasted one year, got all the jumps back, was in good shape, broke my other foot. I was gone for another 6 months but skated at Euros..." (https://www.absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2009linajohansson )

- Caryn Kadavy - "...She withdrew from the 1989 U.S. Championships due to a stress fracture in one ankle..." (Wikipedia)

- Tamara Katz - "...She sustained a stress fracture to her right foot and a broken hand in December 2008..." (Wikipedia)

- Maya Khromykh - "...However, problems with her back resurfaced after the hand injury. “An old spine injury flared up – it had been with me since junior age,” Maya stated. “After the situation with my hand seemed to be improving, I landed a quadruple jump and felt that something was wrong. The doctor said if you want to skate, rest for at least a month. Skating in a corset was very uncomfortable. But I was too hasty to get back on the ice.” (https://fs-gossips.com/maya-khromyk...she-was-afraid-also-there-was-a-lot-of-blood/ )

- Rika Kihira - "...Kihira withdrew from the 2021–22 Japan Championships due to a talus stress fracture in her right foot, first discovered in July 2021..." (Wikipedia)

- Eva Lotta Kiibus - "...Kiibus was diagnosed with stress fractures in both shinbones in January last year after the European Championships (2023)." (https://fs-gossips.com/the-unknown-...ut-returning-to-competitions-after-an-injury/ )

- Yelim Kim - "...After finally returning to Korea, her stress fracture, which had occurred in early January as a minor scratch, had worsened significantly. When she initially injured herself in early January, it was a small scratch, but by the end of March, after continuing to skate on it, the fracture had worsened, with a fissure forming around almost the entire circumference of the bone." (year 2020) (https://fs-gossips.com/yelim-kim-i-...continue-their-careers-until-they-are-20-yea/ )

- Yu Na Kim - "...23, will be sidelined for about 6 weeks with a metatarsal injury on her right foot, reports Eurosport. “During training Yuna felt a lot of pain in her right foot,” says an official from the Korea Skating Union. “The diagnosis she received is that she would need around six weeks to recover and will also require physio after she returns.” (https://louettafootandankle.com/edu...yuna-kim-suffers-foot-injury-during-training/ )

- Alena Kostornaya - "...On 3 March (2021), ... Sports.ru also reported on the situation with the additional detail that Tutberidze was hesitant to accept due to doubts that Kostornaia would be able to regain her previous form after struggling with a back injury and a stress fracture on her leg..." (Wikipedia)

- Michelle Kwan - "...Kwan's stress fracture is located in the second toe on her left foot." (1997) (https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/19/...gering-foot-injury-leaves-kwan-in-a-cast.html )

- Haein Lee - "...In 2019, she suffered from a stress fracture in her ankle..." ( https://fs-gossips.com/haein-lee-no...ics-became-the-driving-force-for-development/ )
..."During the 2020-2021 season, while preparing, she faced various setbacks. She had to regain her sense of jumping as she grew taller, and she also experienced setbacks such as reflux esophagitis and a stress fracture in her pelvis." (https://fs-gossips.com/10676/ )

- Laura Lepisto - "...She then missed much of the season due to injury, having developed a stress fracture in her right hip as a result of practicing too many triple loops." (autumn 2006) (Wikipedia)

- Isabeau Levito - "...After recovering from an unspecified lower-body injury, Levito competed at her first senior level U.S. Championships in January 2022." (Wikipedia)
..."Oh no, Isabeau had a right-leg stress fracture..." (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/t...mens-short-program.90214/page-12#post-2884201 )

- Amy Lin - "...She placed eighth in the short program at JGP Japan before withdrawing due to injury. Post-competition examinations revealed a bone bruise in her left ankle..." (September 2016), (Wikipedia)

- Karen Magnussen - "...In 1969, ...she was diagnosed with stress fractures in both legs in February 1969, spent three months in a wheelchair, and returned to the ice in mid-May. She was 1973 world champion, 1972 Olympic silver medallist." (Wikipedia)

- Evgenia Medvedeva - "...Olympic figure skating favorite Yevgenia Medvedeva‘s right leg is in a cast after an MRI revealed bone cracks in her right foot,..." (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/yevgenia-medvedeva-foot-injury-figure-skating )
... “It showed that I had three fractures in the lower spine and a serious stage of osteoporosis…“ (https://fs-gossips.com/13645/ )

- Mai Mihara - "...In the end of the summer (2023), before the start of the season she felt a pain in her ankle. After finishing 7th at the Four Continents Championships 2024, Mihara revealed that her right ankle injury was a stress fracture." (https://fs-gossips.com/mai-mihara-i...-to-those-who-have-supported-me-so-i-thought/ )

- Satoko Miyahara - "...who turns 19 on Sunday, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her left hip." (2017) ( https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports...g/injury-forces-miyahara-world-championships/ )

- Ye Bin Mok - "...In the summer of 1998, she suffered a stress fracture and was off the ice for three months. Two years later, it was a pinched nerve in her back that aggravated her, and then in 2003, following the U.S. Championships, a stress fracture in her lower back kept her from training for five months." (https://charactermedia.com/august-i...he-ice-after-struggling-with-eating-disorder/ )

- Kanako Murakami - "...Murakami had many stress fractures." (https://fs-gossips.com/i-got-my-per...ted-as-bad-and-she-was-ignorant-about-health/ )
..."According to this article, Kanako has stress fracture on her left foot and has been getting treatment all this month. Good job for delivering a clean skate tonight." (written in December 2016)
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20161225/fgr16122522370020-n1.html - this link doesn't work anymore (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/kanako-murakami.40582/page-35 )

- Emilia Murdock - "...Emilia has her eye on the 2022 Olympics — and not even a recent back fracture can derail her. (February 2017) “She was doing a split jump, and it just snapped,” said Emilia’s mother, Yalin." (https://www.bostonherald.com/2018/02/02/kalter-broken-back-didnt-deter-newton-teen/ )
..."While at practice, Emilia fell and fractured her back (autumn 2019). In an email with The Darien Times, she wrote that her fall isn’t as bad as what happened to her in 2017, when she broke her back as a result of a stress fracture."
(https://www.darientimes.com/news/article/Darien-figure-skater-injured-will-not-compete-14988168.php )

- Mirai Nagasu - "...A stress fracture kept Nagasu out of training for a month during the summer. She returned to practice in September 2010." (Wikipedia)

- Naomi Nari Nam - "...the 1999 women’s runner-up, suffered a stress fracture in her hip. Nam, 15, lost too much practice time to compete at Boston." (Jan 2001) (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-21-sp-15208-story.html )

- Kaetlyn Osmond - "...She suffered the stress reaction -- a precursor to a stress fracture -- in August (2013), and was off the ice for several weeks." (https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/canad...lyn-osmond-poised-for-olympic-debut-1.1632310 )

- Yukina Ota - "...let us know about your right ankle injury which seemed to concern you from 2003-04 season (later ir was told that Yukina was in pain for 4 season because of this). Yukina: "It was bone bruise..." (https://pigeon-post.net/interviews/JS_Yukina_Interview_en.html )

- Darya Panenkova - "Stress fracture of the foot, not bad as a real fracture but it need some time to recover." (October 2017)
(https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/daria-panenkova.59799/page-8#post-1802594 )

- So Youn Park - "...who suffered a stress fracture last December (2016), was my sister-in-arms." (https://olympic.kz/en/article/1252-denis-ten-ya-ne-gotov-sdavatsya )

- Cynthia Phaneuf - "...2005-06: Hurt right ankle in practice, led to a stress fracture that cost her the season and an Olympic berth." (https://olympic.ca/team-canada/cynthia-phaneuf/ )

- Nina Pinzarrone - "...In August 2022, I got injured right when I was moving up to the seniors. Two stress fractures in my hip, sustained on the last day of training camp for the season." (https://fs-gossips.com/nina-pinzarr...ot-easily-made-feel-insecure/#google_vignette )

- Susanna Poykio - "...This year (2001) was a good start...but the beginning was very hard. I had a stress fracture on the top of my foot and had to keep off the ice for six weeks." (https://www.goldenskate.com/finlands-poykio-makes-skating-history/ )

- Elena Radionova - "...It was important for me to win the second time (Junior World Championships), despite my big toe injury. A common injury for skaters: fractures appear on the finger due to lutz and flip." (https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/elena-radionova-announces-her-retirement-“i-gave-it-all”.107603/ )

- Kimmie Repond - "...the 2022 CS Ice Challenge held in Graz, Austria in November. Doctors discovered a partial fracture in her foot days before the competition but she still decided to skate to qualify for the European Championships. ...After the competition, she took a 3-week break to let her foot heal." (Wikipedia)

- Brynn Roberts - lower leg stress fracture in August 2024
(https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_OC8T6vI0-/?igsh=MXFqazM5dDRiMmMwaw== )

- Joannie Rochette - "...In November 2002, Rochette withdrew from competition due to a stress fracture." (https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/joannie-rochette )

- Kaori Sakamoto - "...Due to a stress fracture in her right shinbone, she stayed off the ice in October 2015 and resumed skating without jumps in November." (Wikipedia)

- Serafima Sakhanovich - "...At my first Junior World Championships (2014) it was terribly painful to jump flip and lutz. When we arrived home and I had medical surveillance, it was found out that I was competing with two broken bones in my foot." (https://fs-gossips.com/serafima-sakhanovich-i-want-to-be-remembered-by-the-audience/ )

- Audrey Shin - "...Although, back in May 2021, Shin was still recovering from a stress fracture in her fibula." (https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...n-looks-to-repeat-magic-at-skate-america.aspx )

- Ksenia Sinitsina - "...Sinitsyna took intermediate first place after the short program; the judges rated the skater’s performance in the short program at 73.77 points. ...“..., a few days later I took the picture (x-ray) again. I went, and the radiologist said: “So you had a fracture, you know?” (https://www.championat.com/figuresk...ayus-prygayu-a-u-menya-zarastaet-perelom.html)

- Adelina Sotnikova - "...She had a torn ligament (ankle) and a broken bone in her foot." (August 2017) (https://rsport.ria.ru/20170827/1124897513.html )

- Fumie Suguri - "...The stress fracture on both feet : I decided to postpone the surgery until after the Olympics." (2000-01) (https://fumiesuguri.tripod.com/quotes.htm )
..."Suguri, 20, plagued for years by stress fractures in her ankles, did not compete at the 2000 worlds and ranked 20th with disastrous performances in 1999." (https://www.espn.com/skating/nextlipinski.html )

- Sofja Stepcenko - "...When I was 14, my left hip started to hurt. ...Only after three months, I did the MRI, and they found a stress fracture in the hip...After one month, I started to jump and I started to have the pain again......From August until December [2021], I was really thinking I was crazy. My first two junior Grand Prix events, I was competing with a stress fracture, and then in December, I decided to go to the doctor, and they told me, ‘You have a stress fracture with necrosis inside of your bone, and half of your hamstrings are broken...! ( https://anythinggoe.com/latvian-skaters-speak-about-abuse/)

- Veronika Taubeova - her parents allowed me to tell that she had ischial stress fracture in autumn 2024 (13 years old), coming back on the ice on January 2025

- Katy Taylor - "...A stress fracture in her right foot, first suffered in 2006, led to shin splints and other problems that kept her off the ice for weeks at a time in 2007." (https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Houston-skater-Taylor-deciding-if-career-is-over-1762623.php )

- Bradie Tennell - "...After winning the 2015 U.S. junior title at age 16, two stress fractures in her back kept her off the ice for a total of six months in her first two senior seasons." (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/bradie-tennell-figure-skating-injury )
..."She also worked on including a triple Axel into her routines, which was ready at the beginning of the season, but a stress fracture in her foot in July 2019 prevented her from using it." (Wikipedia)

- Lindsay Thorngren - "...This season, Thorngren said she missed a month of training due to a lower back fracture in September 2023" (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/lindsay-thorngren-nhk-trophy-figure-skating )

- Juulia Turkilla - "...Back stress fractures, knee sprain, ankle, athlete's hernia. The list of injuries started to tire Turkilla, who no longer saw a future as a single skater." (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/t...o-choose-between-two-beautiful-species.94082/ )

- Elizabet Tursynbayeva - "...when the back problems started. It happened in August 2019. ...He diagnosed a stress fracture (back) and said that I needed a year off to fully recover." (https://fs-gossips.com/elizabet-tur...ri-tutberidze-to-jump-a-quad/#google_vignette )

- Alexandra Trusova - "...is still recovering from a stress fracture." (November 2021) (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?id=100063818712758&story_fbid=10161342568417538 )

- Natalie Warren - "...in the July 11-14 (2024)...just before the competition, an injury she’s been dealing with flared up...she has a stress fracture in one of her vertebrae..." (https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/s...talie-warren-battles-through-injury-in-boston )

- Shiika Yoshioka - "...She had stress fracture which prevented her from finishing the previous competition..." (2019) (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2019-20-japanese-ladies-figure-skating.81078/page-2 )
..."She's been recovering from a stress fracture in her foot from last season and only started practicing triples again recently..." (written on September 2022, so it means season 2021-22) (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/kanto-regionals-関東選手権大会-block-2.93129/page-2#post-3014214 )

- Maria Zakharova - "...She had a stress fracture of the scaphoid bone of her right leg (summer 2022), she even underwent surgery, she already has arthrosis. In fact, we ourselves did not expect that it would take so long. She didn’t go on the ice for 10 months at all, that summer she came out... (https://tass.ru/sport/21687173 )

- Christine Zukowski - "...It started when she was 16 (year 2005), and at first she assumed that the pain was simply caused by something out of alignment in her back. After countless doctor’s appointments and endless testing, it was discovered that she had a herniated disk and a stress fracture in her back." (https://temple-news.com/zukowski-begins-new-life-chapter/ )

 

[Mathematician]

LIST OF SINGLE LADIES WITH STRESS FRACTURE HISTORY:
(alphabetic order)

- Sofia Akantyeva - ...The Russian champion suffered a stress fracture in June (2023). ...“The figure skater has sustained a fracture that is likely a recurrence of her previous stress fracture,” the source reported. (https://fs-gossips.com/sofia-akatev...a-stress-fracture-recurrence/#google_vignette )

- Starr Andrews - ...At her December tune-up competition prior to nationals, Andrews finished sixth overall. However, she didn’t include the triple Axel in either of her programs, likely due to a fractured ankle sustained before the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships (which she also won) (2018). (https://www.nbc4i.com/news/rising-starr-andrews-shooting-for-a-place-among-figure-skatings-best/)

- Mai Asada - ...Mai suffered a stress fracture in her ankle (2007) (https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2007/07/12/more-sports/mao-chan-to-miss-yokohama-show/ )

- Becky Bereswill - ...Bereswill, who will also continue in singles, finished 13th in the senior ladies competition at the 2010 U.S. Championships in Spokane, Wash., while skating with two stress fractures that developed in her back in 2008. (https://figureskatersonline.com/news/2010/05/09/becky-bereswill-set-to-make-pairs-debut-this-summer/ )

- Samantha Cesario - ... has withdrawn from this month's figure skating (2011) Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. after a CT scan Thursday revealed fractured vertebrae. The injury is expected to keep her off the ice at least six to eight weeks...The Oceanside senior, who had a similar injury when she was 12, was very disappointed...During a practice Tuesday, Cesario complained of severe pain and was sent for the CT scan, which showed a fracture in the Lumbar 5 vertebrae. Cesario will wear a back brace to help hasten the recovery, (https://www.newsday.com/sports/high-school/oceanside-s-cesario-will-miss-nationals-p27039 )

- Karen Chen - ...Then I had my stress fracture in my right foot (season 2018-19) (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/karen-chen-figure-skating-cornell )

- Lu Chen - ...She had missed the entire fall competition season 1996 and several months' training with a stress fracture in her right foot. (https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/03/19/chen-a-shadow-of-her-former-self/ )
The stress fracture in her left foot is apparently not completely healed, either. (1998) (https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/specials/olympics/nagano/fig/021598oly-fig-chen.html )

- Sasha Cohen - ...After medaling at Nats in 2000, Sasha Cohen also had to skip the 2001 Nationals due to a stress fracture in her back ... and came back strong. (FS Universe Forum)

- Gabriella Daleman - ...A stress fracture in her right foot last season (season 2013-14) hobbled her efforts at the Olympics 2014 (she placed 17th). (https://skatecanada.ca/2014/09/jump-by-jump-gabby-daleman-is-shooting-for-the-stars/ )

- Polina Edmunds - ... 17, suffered a bone bruise in her right foot that limited her ability to perform jumps, according to U.S. Figure Skating. (March 2016) (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/...gure-skating-world-championships-mirai-nagasu)

- Rachel Flatt - ...She was sent to the 2011 World Championships. A week before the event, Flatt was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right tibia (her landing leg). (Wikipedia)

- Anna Frolova - ...January–February of this year, just during the Olympics (2022).... I had a number of stress fractures in my foot.... There were several (stress fractures in one foot). (https://fs-gossips.com/i-had-a-numb...-from-injuries-and-returning-to-competitions/ )

- Anastasia Galustyan - ...stress fracture in right foot happened one week before World Championships 2021 (https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZJhRos21u/?igsh=MTdzMTl6bGswZWIyZQ==)

- Amber Glenn - ...The intense training led to some overuse injuries, including multiple stress reactions in her foot and an ankle cyst that needed to be removed, forcing her to withdraw from the free skate of the Cranberry Cup in August 2021 and take three weeks off the ice to heal...She trained quads this summer and was getting close before her body decided enough was enough. (https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...amber-glenn-is-peaking-at-the-right-time.aspx )

- Gracie Gold - ...U.S. figure skating champion Gracie Gold has withdrawn from the Grand Prix Final (2014) because of a stress fracture in her left foot. (https://www.espn.com/olympics/figur...978105/gracie-gold-withdraws-grand-prix-final )

- Hanna Harrell - ...had to withdraw from the 2019 JGP Italy due to a stress fracture in her foot that was repeatedly misdiagnosed. (Wikipedia)

- Aya Hatakawa - ...“She’s in Japan,” Savchenko said. “She had stress fracture, but they didn’t find out until a couple of months ago. Before that, she always had pain and we didn’t know why. We sent her to the doctor but she didn’t want to go. She was really fighting with herself when she went to German nationals (in 2022). (https://europeonice.com/2023/02/14/...ng-a-new-path-five-years-after-olympic-glory/ )

- Loena Hendrickx - ...a 2016 stress fracture in her back, later a bone bruise on her landing knee ( https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/...rise-making-grand-prix-debut-at-skate-america )

- Wakaba Higuchi - ...suffered a stress fracture in her right shin that ruled her out for 2022-23. (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/mai-mihara-figure-skating-grand-prix-final )

- Haruka Imai - ...who suffered from a stress fracture in her foot during the summer (2011) (https://www.goldenskate.com/imai-embraces-change/ )

- Lina Johansson - ...I practised jumps extra hard. It started to hurt my left foot, the one that was fractured before. I thought it was stress, overstrained...I continued to train but couldn’t go on the ice at the Swedish team camp in September (2008) because it hurt so much. ...I went to the hospital for an X-ray. It showed a stress fracture... (https://www.absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2009linajohansson )

- Maya Khromykh - ...However, problems with her back resurfaced after the hand injury. “An old spine injury flared up – it had been with me since junior age,” Maya stated. “After the situation with my hand seemed to be improving, I landed a quadruple jump and felt that something was wrong. The doctor said if you want to skate, rest for at least a month. Skating in a corset was very uncomfortable. But I was too hasty to get back on the ice.” (https://fs-gossips.com/maya-khromyk...she-was-afraid-also-there-was-a-lot-of-blood/ )

- Rika Kihira - ...Kihira withdrew from the 2021–22 Japan Championships due to a talus stress fracture in her right foot, first discovered in July 2021 (Wikipedia)

- Eva Lotta Kiibus - ...Kiibus was diagnosed with stress fractures in both shinbones in January last year after the European Championships (2023). (https://fs-gossips.com/the-unknown-...ut-returning-to-competitions-after-an-injury/ )

- Yelim Kim - ...After finally returning to Korea, her stress fracture, which had occurred in early January as a minor scratch, had worsened significantly. When she initially injured herself in early January, it was a small scratch, but by the end of March, after continuing to skate on it, the fracture had worsened, with a fissure forming around almost the entire circumference of the bone. (year 2020) (https://fs-gossips.com/yelim-kim-i-...continue-their-careers-until-they-are-20-yea/ )

- Yu Na Kim - ...23, will be sidelined for about 6 weeks with a metatarsal injury on her right foot, reports Eurosport. “During training Yuna felt a lot of pain in her right foot,” says an official from the Korea Skating Union. “The diagnosis she received is that she would need around six weeks to recover and will also require physio after she returns.” (https://louettafootandankle.com/edu...yuna-kim-suffers-foot-injury-during-training/ )

- Alena Kostornaya - ...On 3 March (2021), ... Sports.ru also reported on the situation with the additional detail that Tutberidze was hesitant to accept due to doubts that Kostornaia would be able to regain her previous form after struggling with a back injury and a stress fracture on her leg (Wikipedia)

- Michelle Kwan - ...Kwan's stress fracture is located in the second toe on her left foot. (1997) (https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/19/...gering-foot-injury-leaves-kwan-in-a-cast.html )

- Haein Lee - ...In 2019, she suffered from a stress fracture in her ankle ( https://fs-gossips.com/haein-lee-no...ics-became-the-driving-force-for-development/ )

- Laura Lepisto - ...She then missed much of the season due to injury, having developed a stress fracture in her right hip as a result of practicing too many triple loops. (autumn 2006) (Wikipedia)

- Isabeau Levito - ...After recovering from an unspecified lower-body injury, Levito competed at her first senior level U.S. Championships in January 2022. (Wikipedia)
Oh no, Isabeau had a right-leg stress fracture (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/t...mens-short-program.90214/page-12#post-2884201 )

- Evgenia Medvedeva - ...Olympic figure skating favorite Yevgenia Medvedeva‘s right leg is in a cast after an MRI revealed bone cracks in her right foot, (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/yevgenia-medvedeva-foot-injury-figure-skating )

- Mai Mihara - ...In the end of the summer (2023), before the start of the season she felt a pain in her ankle. After finishing 7th at the Four Continents Championships 2024, Mihara revealed that her right ankle injury was a stress fracture. (https://fs-gossips.com/mai-mihara-i...-to-those-who-have-supported-me-so-i-thought/ )

- Satoko Miyahara - ...who turns 19 on Sunday, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her left hip. (2017) ( https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports...g/injury-forces-miyahara-world-championships/ )

- Ye Bin Mok - ...In the summer of 1998, she suffered a stress fracture and was off the ice for three months. Two years later, it was a pinched nerve in her back that aggravated her, and then in 2003, following the U.S. Championships, a stress fracture in her lower back kept her from training for five months. (https://charactermedia.com/august-i...he-ice-after-struggling-with-eating-disorder/ )

- Kanako Murakami - ...Murakami had many stress fractures. (https://fs-gossips.com/i-got-my-per...ted-as-bad-and-she-was-ignorant-about-health/ )
According to this article, Kanako has stress fracture on her left foot and has been getting treatment all this month. Good job for delivering a clean skate tonight. (written in December 2016)
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20161225/fgr16122522370020-n1.html - this link doesn't work anymore (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/kanako-murakami.40582/page-35 )

- Mirai Nagasu - ...A stress fracture kept Nagasu out of training for a month during the summer. She returned to practice in September 2010. (Wikipedia)

- Naomi Nari Nam - ...the 1999 women’s runner-up, suffered a stress fracture in her hip. Nam, 15, lost too much practice time to compete at Boston. (Jan 2001) (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-21-sp-15208-story.html )

- Kaetlyn Osmond - ...She suffered the stress reaction -- a precursor to a stress fracture -- in August (2013), and was off the ice for several weeks. (https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/canad...lyn-osmond-poised-for-olympic-debut-1.1632310 )

- So Youn Park - ...who suffered a stress fracture last December (2016), was my sister-in-arms. (https://olympic.kz/en/article/1252-denis-ten-ya-ne-gotov-sdavatsya )

- Cynthia Phaneuf - ...2005-06: Hurt right ankle in practice, led to a stress fracture that cost her the season and an Olympic berth. (https://olympic.ca/team-canada/cynthia-phaneuf/ )

- Nina Pinzarrone - ...In August 2022, I got injured right when I was moving up to the seniors. Two stress fractures in my hip, sustained on the last day of training camp for the season. (https://fs-gossips.com/nina-pinzarr...ot-easily-made-feel-insecure/#google_vignette )

- Susanna Poykio - ...This year (2001) was a good start...but the beginning was very hard. I had a stress fracture on the top of my foot and had to keep off the ice for six weeks. (https://www.goldenskate.com/finlands-poykio-makes-skating-history/ )

- Elena Radionova - ...It was important for me to win the second time (Junior World Championships), despite my big toe injury. A common injury for skaters: fractures appear on the finger due to lutz and flip. (https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/elena-radionova-announces-her-retirement-“i-gave-it-all”.107603/ ) несмотря на травму большого пальца на ноге. Распространенная "фигурная" болячка, из-за лутца и флипа на этом пальце появляются трещины.

- Joannie Rochette - ...In November 2002, Rochette withdrew from competition due to a stress fracture. (https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/joannie-rochette )

- Kaori Sakamoto - ...Due to a stress fracture in her right shinbone, she stayed off the ice in October 2015 and resumed skating without jumps in November. (Wikipedia)

- Serafima Sakhanovich - ...At my first Junior World Championships (2014) it was terribly painful to jump flip and lutz. When we arrived home and I had medical surveillance, it was found out that I was competing with two broken bones in my foot. (https://fs-gossips.com/serafima-sakhanovich-i-want-to-be-remembered-by-the-audience/ )

- Audrey Shin - ...Although, back in May 2021, Shin was still recovering from a stress fracture in her fibula. (https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...n-looks-to-repeat-magic-at-skate-america.aspx )

- Ksenia Sinitsina - ...Sinitsyna took intermediate first place after the short program; the judges rated the skater’s performance in the short program at 73.77 points. ...“..., a few days later I took the picture (x-ray) again. I went, and the radiologist said: “So you had a fracture, you know?” (https://www.championat.com/figuresk...ayus-prygayu-a-u-menya-zarastaet-perelom.html)

- Adelina Sotnikova - ...She had a torn ligament (ankle) and a broken bone in her foot. (August 2017) (https://rsport.ria.ru/20170827/1124897513.html )

- Fumie Suguri - ...The stress fracture on both feet : I decided to postpone the surgery until after the Olympics. (2000-01) (https://fumiesuguri.tripod.com/quotes.htm )
Suguri, 20, plagued for years by stress fractures in her ankles, did not compete at the 2000 worlds and ranked 20th with disastrous performances in 1999. (https://www.espn.com/skating/nextlipinski.html )

- Katy Taylor - ...A stress fracture in her right foot, first suffered in 2006, led to shin splints and other problems that kept her off the ice for weeks at a time in 2007. (https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Houston-skater-Taylor-deciding-if-career-is-over-1762623.php )

- Bradie Tennell - ...After winning the 2015 U.S. junior title at age 16, two stress fractures in her back kept her off the ice for a total of six months in her first two senior seasons. (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/bradie-tennell-figure-skating-injury )
...She also worked on including a triple Axel into her routines, which was ready at the beginning of the season, but a stress fracture in her foot in July 2019 prevented her from using it. (Wikipedia)

- Lindsay Thorngren - ...This season, Thorngren said she missed a month of training due to a lower back fracture in September 2023 (https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/lindsay-thorngren-nhk-trophy-figure-skating )

- Juulia Turkilla - ..."Back stress fractures, knee sprain, ankle, athlete's hernia. The list of injuries started to tire Turkilla, who no longer saw a future as a single skater. (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/t...o-choose-between-two-beautiful-species.94082/ )

- Elizabet Tursynbayeva - ...when the back problems started. It happened in August 2019. ...He diagnosed a stress fracture (back) and said that I needed a year off to fully recover. (https://fs-gossips.com/elizabet-tur...ri-tutberidze-to-jump-a-quad/#google_vignette )

- Alexandra Trusova - ...is still recovering from a stress fracture. (November 2021) (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?id=100063818712758&story_fbid=10161342568417538 )

- Shiika Yoshioka - ...She had stress fracture which prevented her from finishing the previous competition (2019) (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2019-20-japanese-ladies-figure-skating.81078/page-2 )
She's been recovering from a stress fracture in her foot from last season and only started practicing triples again recently (written on September 2022, so it means season 2021-22) (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/kanto-regionals-関東選手権大会-block-2.93129/page-2#post-3014214 )

- Christine Zukowski - ...It started when she was 16 (year 2005), and at first she assumed that the pain was simply caused by something out of alignment in her back. After countless doctor’s appointments and endless testing, it was discovered that she had a herniated disk and a stress fracture in her back. (https://temple-news.com/zukowski-begins-new-life-chapter/ )

Samodelkina as well I believe

 

[icewhite]

Honestly as much as I appreciate the attempt to take a closer look at this topic I feel it does not make much sense to make such a list because I think the majority of skaters have actually had stress fractures at some point. Sometimes they talk about it, sometimes they don't even look closer themselves. Maybe this list can show how common these fractures are, but... I'm not sure what exactly you are hoping for as a result.
I think this will just be a very, very long list.

 

[sisinka]

Considering the tendency of skaters to have disordered eating, wouldn't bone density problems be a bigger risk for fractures of all types, including stress fractures?

Good mention. You are right.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31100189/
Risk factors of stress fractures due to the female athlete triad: Differences in teens and twenties
- science article from 2019
- The female athlete triad (low energy availability with or without disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction, and low bone mineral density) is associated with stress fractures and athletes aged 16-17 years are most susceptible.
- 390 elite female athletes and was conducted from 2012 to 2016 at Japan Institute of Sports Sciences.
- 36 developed new stress fractures within 3 months of registration.
- The risk for stress fractures due to the Triad in teenage athletes was higher than for athletes in their 20s.
- In teenage female athletes, secondary amenorrhea, low BMD for the whole body, and a low ratio of actual body weight to ideal body weight increased the risk for stress fractures by 12.9 times, 4.5 times, and 1.1 times, respectively.

Some ladies who opened up about their experience with Eating Disorders or amenorrhea are in the list - Gracie Gold, Laura Lepisto, Gabrielle Daleman, Kanako Murakami.
Evgenia Medvedeva mentioned poor nutrition those times as well in some interviews.

Lower bone density can be also caused by medicaments - corticosteroids for example which are used as a treatment to some diseases.

 

[sisinka]

Also, some stress fractures have been associated with badly fitted boots
Michelle Kwan's was said to be related to a change of boot supplier.

FIGURE SKATING ; A Lingering Foot Injury Leaves Kwan in a Cast (Published 1997)

US hopes for gold medal in Olympic figure skating suffer setback when Michelle Kwan sustains stress fracture and her left foot is placed in cast (M)

www.nytimes.com

Figure Skaters Blame Boot Design For Injury Plague

In the past decade, rule changes intended to make figure skating more athletic and appealing to audiences have coincided with a marked escalation of skaters' injuries. Despite the trend, little progress has been made toward developing a safer skating boot.

web.archive.org

I can't read whole article without registration.

 

[sisinka]

Are we supposed to share the cases we know of here? I sure could write a few paragraphs about Sota's repeated stress fracture, but that's the only case I can speak of with some certainty Otherwise, we all know of other grievous stress fractures, sometimes career-ending, like Polina Edmunds, Rika Kihira, Satoko Miyahara, Yuma Kagiyama, Darya Usacheva... but I've never delved deeper into anoyone's injury but Sota's.

I would like you to write any skater I didn't find on the Internet with source (article, forum, or somebody told you).

I want to collect single men, but I need time. So I will appreciate if you write. And cases of repeated stress fractures should get more attention.

I didn't include Daria Usacheva because there are at least two versions of what her hip injury really was. And there was back injury as well.

 

[sisinka]

One thing I need to mention.
I would like to analyse elite single skaters with stress fracture.

With more difficult content I do believe that percentage of this injury will be higher than only from 11.8 to 24.4 % like in science studies above in my second post.

Informations are taken from Internet which means that I will still get lower number of skaters with diagnose of stress fracture in comparison with reality.

Because:
1) Not every skater wants to share her / his health troubles in detail. Reading foot problem or back trouble - you can really imagine anything.
2) Not every skater is that popular to be interviewed about her / his injuries.
3) Not every stress fracture is diagnosed. Sometimes doctor having negative X-ray doesn't continue with MRI, so the case is probably diagnosed like soft tissues injury. The basic method for revealing stress fracture is Magnetic resonance.

 

[sisinka]

Honestly as much as I appreciate the attempt to take a closer look at this topic I feel it does not make much sense to make such a list because I think the majority of skaters have actually had stress fractures at some point. Sometimes they talk about it, sometimes they don't even look closer themselves. Maybe this list can show how common these fractures are, but... I'm not sure what exactly you are hoping for as a result.
I think this will just be a very, very long list.

I will try to explain.

Reading science articles, it creates the idea that only from 11 to 24% of skaters build stress fracture. I think percentage is bigger. You suggest that most of skaters had stress fractures in their career.

Even from what you wrote I have a strange feeling that stress fractures (like Eating Disorders) are so frequent that Figure Skating world takes it like NECESSARY and ANAVOIDABLE to happen. But it is not right.

You don't have to fracture to win. On the contrary if you fracture yourself, you will withdraw and somebody else will win, you lose training time and getting back will be difficult.

Rika Kihira was so promising young skater winning Grand Prix Final, nobody doubt that this girl will become World Champion one day, whole package skater... stress fractures led to missed two seasons and come back is rough - underotations, simple jump content, 11st place at Japanese Nationals. What do you think? Would she wish to know what load was borderline to avoid stress fractures? She didn't know even later, she re-fractured.

Wakaba Higuchi missed almost whole season thanks to stress fracture. Bradie Tennell's career got repeatedly interrupted thanks to these injuries.

If you skate with fracture, the damage of your body will be bigger, the treatment prolonged, the return on the ice even more difficult...

Maybe skaters remember Evan Lysacek who was able to skate through not healed stress fracture and win World Championships 2009 and Olympic Games 2010. They probably don't concentrate on the rest of the story - making more simple jump content without quad jump which created BIG story around his victories, withdraw from more competitions Sochi Olympics 2014 including, multiple injuries, two stress fractures. He was lucky because he was able to win big titles. But he paid the prize for overloading. Another hundreds of skaters are paying the prize for overloading without that lucky moments on the podium. Because it really rarely happens that stress fractures allows to peak skating form at top events.

I also do have strange feeling there is that unwritten rule in Figure Skating: "The more the better." We saw in Eating Disorders Thread what this approach leads to. After many years of silence skater talk and try to change this approach into right one.

"The more I train, the more I learn, the better I become, the more and sooner I win." NO. The more I train without knowing the borderline = the more and sooner I fracture.

When I was looking for skaters with stress fracture, reading articles...many skaters mentioned how difficult time it was for them, also mentioning depression dealing with injury. All those troubles not because you have to undergo it in order to win. It happened because you overloaded.

Icewhite, I would like to see progress. Through generations we see technical progress, choreography progress...I really admire skaters who were able to jump triple jumps with legs aside, not crossed, but today's technique is much better...that is also a progress in technique.

We have psychologists and mental coaches like part of the team, people open up about eating troubles. This is another progress.

And medical view? Stress fractures?

Karen Magnussen - ...In 1969, ...she was diagnosed with stress fractures in both legs in February 1969, spent three months in a wheelchair, and returned to the ice in mid-May. She was 1973 world champion, 1972 Olympic silver medallist. (Wikipedia)

50 years later with all modern technologies skaters and their teams still down know how to find out ideal load on body. After the bone cracks...yes, it was too much. For me this is kind of strange and too rough strategy how to find out that load is too big.

Where are studies about the load on skater's body? Where are recommendations about looking for adequate load on body?

Nobody can protect skaters from unexpected or expected falls, it will always happen with injuries following. But once again stress fractures are about overloading.

So I would also like to point out that THERE IS A PROBLEM, IT IS CALLED STRESS FRACTURES. It is caused from OVERLOADING, because until this moment skaters and their teams don't know to find out ideal load on figure skater's body.

And I do appreciate ideas and opinions even criticism, because this is kind of brainstorming which can lead to some interesting ideas and suggestions.

 

[icewhite]

I will try to explain.

Reading science articles, it creates the idea that only from 11 to 24% of skaters build stress fracture. I think percentage is bigger. You suggest that most of skaters had stress fractures in their career.

Even from what you wrote I have a strange feeling that stress fractures (like Eating Disorders) are so frequent that Figure Skating world takes it like NECESSARY and ANAVOIDABLE to happen. But it is not right.

You don't have to fracture to win. On the contrary if you fracture yourself, you will withdraw and somebody else will win, you lose training time and getting back will be difficult.

Rika Kihira was so promising young skater winning Grand Prix Final, nobody doubt that this girl will become World Champion one day, whole package skater... stress fractures led to missed two seasons and come back is rough - underotations, simple jump content, 11st place at Japanese Nationals. What do you think? Would she wish to know what load was borderline to avoid stress fractures? She didn't know even later, she re-fractured.

Wakaba Higuchi missed almost whole season thanks to stress fracture. Bradie Tennell's career got repeatedly interrupted thanks to these injuries.

If you skate with fracture, the damage of your body will be bigger, the treatment prolonged, the return on the ice even more difficult...

Maybe skaters remember Evan Lysacek who was able to skate through not healed stress fracture and win World Championships 2009 and Olympic Games 2010. They probably don't concentrate on the rest of the story - making more simple jump content without quad jump which created BIG story around his victories, withdraw from more competitions Sochi Olympics 2014 including, multiple injuries, two stress fractures. He was lucky because he was able to win big titles. But he paid the prize for overloading. Another hundreds of skaters are paying the prize for overloading without that lucky moments on the podium. Because it really rarely happens that stress fractures allows to peak skating form at top events.

I also do have strange feeling there is that unwritten rule in Figure Skating: "The more the better." We saw in Eating Disorders Thread what this approach leads to. After many years of silence skater talk and try to change this approach into right one.

"The more I train, the more I learn, the better I become, the more and sooner I win." NO. The more I train without knowing the borderline = the more and sooner I fracture.

When I was looking for skaters with stress fracture, reading articles...many skaters mentioned how difficult time it was for them, also mentioning depression dealing with injury. All those troubles not because you have to undergo it in order to win. It happened because you overloaded.

Icewhite, I would like to see progress. Through generations we see technical progress, choreography progress...I really admire skaters who were able to jump triple jumps with legs aside, not crossed, but today's technique is much better...that is also a progress in technique.

We have psychologists and mental coaches like part of the team, people open up about eating troubles. This is another progress.

And medical view? Stress fractures?

Karen Magnussen - ...In 1969, ...she was diagnosed with stress fractures in both legs in February 1969, spent three months in a wheelchair, and returned to the ice in mid-May. She was 1973 world champion, 1972 Olympic silver medallist. (Wikipedia)

50 years later with all modern technologies skaters and their teams still down know how to find out ideal load on body. After the bone cracks...yes, it was too much. For me this is kind of strange and too rough strategy how to find out that load is too big.

Where are studies about the load on skater's body? Where are recommendations about looking for adequate load on body?

Nobody can protect skaters from unexpected or expected falls, it will always happen with injuries following. But once again stress fractures are about overloading.

So I would also like to point out that THERE IS A PROBLEM, IT IS CALLED STRESS FRACTURES. It is caused from OVERLOADING, because until this moment skaters and their teams don't know to find out ideal load on figure skater's body.

And I do appreciate ideas and opinions even criticism, because this is kind of brainstorming which can lead to some interesting ideas and suggestions.

I very much agree with your will to reduce the number of injuries from overloading and chronical strain on the body.
But I am having doubts that there actually is a healthy/safe way of being a successful singles skater today without a high risk of stress fractures. That it is possible to see the signs early and not "overload" (while I'm sure eating disorders could be extremely reduced with a change of mentality).
I'm applauding your attempt to look at this topic and find out more.
But from what I know (I'm everything but an expert) it seems that jumping on ice is inherently wrong in terms of health/bones and tissues.
Some single jumps here and there, probably no problem - but from what I know it is impossible to jump tough triples and quads without serious training - even if that training is spread out more, stopped when a stress fracture is coming etc. you still will, in the end, have to do many jumps on ice to be able to do them.
Still, I think there are worse and better ways of training / training loads. But is there a healthy way of doing figure skating if it goes beyond what some people can jump with just a few tries here and there - I seriously doubt it.

If the result of your list is, as apparently we both expect, that the rate is much higher than found in these studies, then what do we do with that? Raise awareness? That's a good thing, for sure. But at best I would hope that parents of children who are very young and or/not super competitive by talent monitor the amount of jumping of their kids much better and that coaches don't push such children to train more and more. That the effects are not overlooked. But I fear it might be wrong to advocate that there is a safe way of being a top skater today. Rather, we might have to think about whether this whole discipline as it is is morally acceptable when we know that people do not start jumping as adults.
Emotionally I don't want that conversation, but... I fear it would be the honest way.
But okay, maybe I'm getting ahead and the collection of such injuries is just the first, necessary, step.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Samodelkina as well I believe

Yes, here's an interview where she talks about it a bit: https://matchtv.ru/figure-skating/m...olbah_za_perenos_Olimpiady_i_podgotovke_k_ChR
(And an English translation: https://fs-gossips.com/sofia-samode...-to-2023-i-think-this-will-be-my-only-chance/)

 

[elbkup]

So much can be learned from meticulous scientific research and the science of sports medicine is no exception, particularly with regard to decades long, multigenerational research comparing methods from early decades onward as in the Framingham Heart Study where huge advances were made against heart disease. If stress fracture studies begin now with past and current techniques thoroughly investigated it MAY pave the way for improved methods of training in future, which might include diet, improved isometrics begun at an early age, landing technique, bone vs soft tissue etc. all a lay person’s guess on my part. Such research is never wasted as new useful information almost always emerges through study.
Reading through these posts increases my concern particularly for youngsters just beginning their careers, notably Ilia Malinin who is pushing unheard of limits. I wonder what his training entailed from a young age. Bradie Tennell just posted her return to ice following an ankle fracture last year which gave me pause; not much information about her healing/recovery process.
Not sure whether anything can be done regarding skating related fractures but moving forward with definitive study seems plausible.

 

[sisinka]

Samodelkina as well I believe

Yes, here's an interview where she talks about it a bit: https://matchtv.ru/figure-skating/m...olbah_za_perenos_Olimpiady_i_podgotovke_k_ChR
(And an English translation: https://fs-gossips.com/sofia-samode...-to-2023-i-think-this-will-be-my-only-chance/)

It rather looked like sprain ankle with suspicious stress fracture in the beginning. It happened in October 2022 - two weeks before Russian Cup in Sochi. But it was not confirmed as Sofia stopped feeling pain in few days and didn't go to second examination. Taking into account that she was still running at treadmill to keep in shape and after short period of time she jumped quad again and it didn't get worse...I rather tend to think it was not stress fracture.

https://fs-gossips.com/sofia-samode...-this-will-be-my-only-chance/#google_vignette
...And I went to the fifth axel... I twisted my leg badly... The next day I wake up with a swollen leg. I couldn’t even get into a sneaker. It hurt to stand....I did MRI and was told that something like a stone had formed in the ankle. And this is either a shadow from the bone, or a piece of it, and this would already be considered a fracture. The doctors said to come for a second examination in a week, and if they find this piece again, they will put a plaster cast. ...As a result, by the end of the week the leg started to be back to normal. It still hurted, but at least I could get into the skates and start jumping. Painkillers, freezing – and let’s go. ...For the rest of the week it healed completely, everything was fine. ...And we did not go for a second examination, since everything has healed.

 

[sisinka]

I very much agree with your will to reduce the number of injuries from overloading and chronical strain on the body.
But I am having doubts that there actually is a healthy/safe way of being a successful singles skater today without a high risk of stress fractures. That it is possible to see the signs early and not "overload" (while I'm sure eating disorders could be extremely reduced with a change of mentality).
I'm applauding your attempt to look at this topic and find out more.
But from what I know (I'm everything but an expert) it seems that jumping on ice is inherently wrong in terms of health/bones and tissues.
Some single jumps here and there, probably no problem - but from what I know it is impossible to jump tough triples and quads without serious training - even if that training is spread out more, stopped when a stress fracture is coming etc. you still will, in the end, have to do many jumps on ice to be able to do them.
Still, I think there are worse and better ways of training / training loads. But is there a healthy way of doing figure skating if it goes beyond what some people can jump with just a few tries here and there - I seriously doubt it.

If the result of your list is, as apparently we both expect, that the rate is much higher than found in these studies, then what do we do with that? Raise awareness? That's a good thing, for sure. ...

Top sport is never healthy you are right.

There are acute injuries from falls, the only way how to get ready and decrease possibility of bad injury is to learn the best possible technique and strengthen your muscles with exercises. With attention to centered position of lower extremity joints...which includes flat feet solving - insoles.

Degeneration of joints is another thing which cannot be changed, it will always happen. To do so many movements having the weight of your body and more weight in take-off and landings...skaters will always damage their cartilago fast and the start of osteoarthritis of joints will happen much sooner in comparison with non athletes.

But stress fractures are about overloading, so accurate load helps to avoid them. In the same moment those injuries are devastating - only healing from six weeks to multiple months, high probability of recurrence. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34529544/ - "There was a higher prevalence of acute fracture in those with a history of stress fracture (45.0% vs. 21.8%; P = 0.007)." After comeback you automatically need to start with small load, even six weeks in a cast are enough for muscles to lose strength as you can't do exercises of injured body's segment.

...But at best I would hope that parents of children who are very young and or/not super competitive by talent monitor the amount of jumping of their kids much better and that coaches don't push such children to train more and more. That the effects are not overlooked. ...

What parents monitor or not...maybe I would come back to this some day later.

...But I fear it might be wrong to advocate that there is a safe way of being a top skater today. Rather, we might have to think about whether this whole discipline as it is is morally acceptable when we know that people do not start jumping as adults.
Emotionally I don't want that conversation, but... I fear it would be the honest way.
But okay, maybe I'm getting ahead and the collection of such injuries is just the first, necessary, step.

We have no recommendations how to train and load properly since childhood (or at least I don't know about it), there are just some general recommendations for all sports IF you study Faculty of physical education and Sport. With todays possibilities of science studies and Universities and Faculties having enormous number of science projects...of course it is possible to come with research and create structure of training for child skater with recommended age of start more difficult jump's practise (and lifts in dance and pairs - I don't know if there is something like that, I have some kind of memory that I read that pair skater shouldn't be allowed to lift until he is 16 years old, but don't ask the source, I don't remember).

If I do understand correctly childs are allowed to practise more difficult jump when they master more easy jump.
From medical point of view they should be allowed to practise more difficult jump when their body is able to absorb the load of the jump not to completely destroy joints of their lower extremities and back.