Will Yu Na be around for 2010?

[meem]

I totally agree. I've been bothered by the posts suggesting that Yu Na compete as little as possible until the Olympics. Figure skating is a sport (how many times do we fans have to state that to the nonfans who have no respect for figure skating and/or do not look at skaters as athletes?) and skaters need to be as competitive as possible, not constantly avoiding competitions while nursing serious injuries. The latest news about Yu Na is worrisome. Brian Orser seems to be blaming her flare up of the "old" injury on the new footwork demanded by the powers that be but that doesn't make sense to me (otherwise all the other skaters would be complaining about the demands of the footwork on their bodies). ~sigh~I love this sport but I'm concerned about young athletes bringing on life-long injuries at such a young age.

 

[Medusa]

I may be an outlier here but I am always put aback by the idea the primary focus of a competitive skater should be to skate in an Olympics.

That is one of the concepts killing the popularity of figure skating. How long would golf and tennis survive if they only had one major or slam every four years? I understand Bob Costas' obsession since NBC pays so much for the Olympics but how they convinced USFSA and ISU to go along with that self-destructive myth is amazing. Anyone remember who won Olympic gold in tennis? Anyone care? Good!

Done ranting.

Back on topic -- Yu-Na should skate as long as she can and wants to without risking permanent injury. Saving herself for 2010 is no way to have a skating career. If she can't compete on a regular basis during the season then I would hope she would give up competitive skating altogether and get on with the rest of her life --- she has great star-power in Korea and could do wonders with their skating programs over there. She'll have no difficulty translating her star power into financial rewards if that is important to her.

Sure an athlete can avoid injuries by not competing or not playing the game. To plan an entire career around avoiding injury is absurd and really, it wouldn't work anyways. Without competing, no matter how clever her practices, no matter how great her talent, it just wont work. . . and for the health of figure skating in general and for the sake of the athletes who go out there and put their bodies and pride on the line 4 or 5 times a season I sincerely hope it doesn't work . . . and I am a long time fan of Yu-na and would like nothing better than for her to have a successful career -- which to me means far far more than 8 minutes in Vancouver.

Oops, too many... But you are just right, it doesn't sound like a great and bullett-proof plan to leave out most of the competitions. She has also proven that she can fall in her programs, that the programs aren't always perfect - and she just needs competitions to gain more experience - what senior events has she done so far, two full grand prix circles = 6 competitions plus one World Championships. I don't think that is enough for her. Plus, imagine the pressure she would face if she only went to Worlds 2009 and then the olympics?

 

[Tonichelle]

...Tennis is an olympic sport? (can you tell I don't follow the Summer games?)

It does make me wonder, though, if other sports have as much disdain for the olympics as figure skating fans seem to have....


... it doesn't seem, to me, that the athletes see it the same way.