Tatsuki Machida | Page 41 | Golden Skate

Tatsuki Machida

It's never nice to have to deal with news of retirement, especially from someone whom you feel has incredible talent and potential. I am sad that we won't be able to see Tatsuki's LP in the form that he wanted to skate it, I was hoping that at Worlds, with enough rest and practice within him, he would be able to do so and bring himself satisfaction upon accomplishing it. But he has made his decision, and I respect it -- sometimes these decisions can be rather sudden, because when you have to choose between two things and you love both, you will try to stay and hold them together for as long as you can. Then it hits you that, no, you cannot really have both. I do feel that he already made his decision, at least partially, by taking the entrance exam. From there, he might have thought about making it work, but the past few weeks have told him that it won't. Honestly, I feel that he made a good decision, as the life of a scholar means years of hard work at academics, especially when you want to build a solid foundation for a future career. I just wish he held out until Worlds, but if this is what he feels is the right path for him, then I wish him well.

But, ahhh, Tatsuki -- in your heart of hearts, you knew how much turmoil you'd cause, didn't you? In the end, you retired on your own terms, and with quite a bang. You may want to be a scholar, but I do believe you have a future in the performance arts, especially considering your eye for fine detail and narrative building. Oh well -- may you be successful in your chosen path!
 
Very difficult to say... there are chances he may never come back to ice shows.
Ice shows bring money so I hope he will reconsider this decision. When he is not too busy I hope he will join some ice shows.
 
While I respect his decision and support him on the new chapter of his life, this announcement was way too sudden for me to not be saddened and to not regret it and think "oh, what could have been."

That's very natural ioanap. :) I would be very surprised if you feel the opposite.
It takes time to adjust, for us fans, to news like this. We want to see our favorites skate and compete for as long as possible.
 
I'm still in denial. This isn't happening... He could've at least gone to Worlds... Or he could've taken the rest of the season off and come back next year. I don't know, I refuse to believe this was inevitable.

I feel sad that I didn't follow his career or become his fan earlier.

Even though this saddens me, if he truly will not change his mind, then I hope he chose education of his own free will. Whether I agree with it or not, making his own choice is better than if finances or circumstances forced him.
 
I'm so heartbroken. I wish he could have gone to Worlds one last time and skated his LP the way he wanted to, but it wasn't meant to be. :(
 
I'm still in denial. This isn't happening... He could've at least gone to Worlds... Or he could've taken the rest of the season off and come back next year. I don't know, I refuse to believe this was inevitable.

I feel sad that I didn't follow his career or become his fan earlier.

Even though this saddens me, if he truly will not change his mind, then I hope he chose education of his own free will. Whether I agree with it or not, making his own choice is better than if finances or circumstances forced him.

Sandpiper, I am so sorry. The fact that you've only just become a fan roughly 2 months ago must add a lot to the sadness of seeing this amazing skater retire so sudden and premature. But his career feels short even to me, because his break through season only happened last year and it should have actually been the beginning, not the end. I'm sure more people would have realized what an unique gift he had. He is nothing like anyone I've ever seen in this sport, both skating wise and personality wise and even if he didn't have a long, fulfilling career like Dai's he is still leaving a gap in men's figure skating. He made a statement in such a short time, even if he didn't get as much appreciation as he deserved.
 
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