Comeback kids- skaters who made comebacks from illness or injuries

[Vash01]

Didn't Plushenko have several surgeries - like knee and back? As I recall, he skated in the team event in Sochi after back surgery and re-injured it so he pulled out of the individual event.

Yes. See my post number 10

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Didn't Plushenko have several surgeries - like knee and back? As I recall, he skated in the team event in Sochi after back surgery and re-injured it so he pulled out of the individual event.

After so many reconstructions, Plushenko really was the Six Million Rouble Man!

 

[npavel]

Carolina Kostner

 

[Habs]

The first one that comes to my mind is Kurt Browning's back injury in 1991-92, and the comeback he made to win worlds in 1993.

 

[Vash01]

Irina Rodnina - was dumped by her partner, as a skater and a woman. Returned with Zaitzev to win several Worlds and Olympics.

Alina Zagitova - had a broken leg, then a broken arm, almost quit skating, then Eteri offered to return. During this summer's training camp, she went into deep depression (from all the media and Med-fan attacks), wanted to quit skating, one day she ran out of the rink in her skates and kept running in an empty field until Eteri found her and made her come back. After that Zagitova was laying in her bed for several days not wanting to get out or skate and Eteri came to her house, made her get up and skate again. Few days before the GP event in Moscow, Zagitova fell into another "bad mental hole" and moved from her apartment into a hotel room, because she wanted to be alone. She said that "everything around her disturbed her", she did not want to talk to people or see anybody. She said she has no friends but her dog, because "who she thought were friends turned out to be two-faced/not-sincere". She only came to practices at Megasport, talked to her coaching team, fulfilled her endorsement and media obligations, and then hid in her hotel room. But she won, as she did in prior situations.

.. there are many more skaters with serious injuries and emotional states which almost prevented their return to ice..... But they don't talk about it in public, and yet return and win.

Rodnina's case was unique. Her partner Ulanov fell in love with her competitor- the number two pair, I think. He left Irina after their 4th world title to skate with the woman he loved. Irina was heartbroken but she picked up the pieces and searched for her next partner. With Zaitsev she won 6(?) more world championships and 2 more OGMs.

ETA- Wikipedia says she won 10 straight world titles. So it may have been 6 with Zaitsev and 4 with Ulanov.

 

[puglover]

Thanks for starting this thread Vash01. It is good to remember that most skaters face some pretty formidable challenges on their way to the top. And these are only the ones we know about.

 

[screech]

Jeff Buttle had a stress fracture in his back in (I think?) the fall of 2006, and missed much of the 06/07 season. The next season (07/08) he was world champion.

 

[attyfan]

Not illness or injury, but Sasha Cohen came back to competition after a four year hiatus.
...

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.

 

[giselle23]

Nathan Chen was injured after 2016 Nationals. He came back to win in 2017 and 2018 (and was World Champion as well in 2018).

 

[Lovemyvike]

I had stopped watching skating for a number of years, but I remember watching Irina Slutskaya's performance at the 2005 (or 2006?) Worlds in a hotel room with tears coming down my face. I had some of the same health issues she did, and it blew my mind that she could come back and compete the way she did. For her to have that performance in Moscow was SO SPECIAL!

 

[Aussie Willy]

Slutskaya was the first one to come to mind when I saw this thread title. Such a memorable performance.

 

[DreamSkates]

Just to make sure my info does not sound like rumors or hearsay, here are the articles by Eteri and Zag confirming..

"Zagitova ran away into the cornfield in skates, wanted to quit, but we found her and talked to her.."
https://www.eurosport.ru/figure-skating/story_sto7015268.shtml
https://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sport...vylovili_ubedili_chto_nado_prodolzhat_katatsa

"Before the start, everything (everyone) makes me crazy. I want to stay alone in a hotel room."
https://sport24.ru/news/other/2018-...yet-besit-potomu-zhivu-v-gostinitse-a-ne-doma
https://rsport.ria.ru/figure_skating/20181116/1146081109.html

Thank you for sharing this, and your sources. I had no idea it was so hard for her. That makes her win sweeter for her, and gives a reason to have compassion toward her.

 

[Alexa]

More specifically, Nathan came back with two more quads after his 2016 hip surgery, winning 2017, 2018 national titles, 4cc, GPF 2017, and worlds 2018

 

[mackiecat]

Christine Hough and Doug Ladret both had horrific falls with head injuries. When at the hospital with Doug, Kerry Lietch told the doctors that he had a competition in a couple weeks and when could he get back on the ice. The doctor’s reply “ if he lives through the night, we can talk about skating in the morning”

 

[all_empty]

When mentioning Deanna Stellato let's not forget Naomi Nari Nam who had terrible hip injuries and returned as a pairs skater.

Also Rena Inoue, who battled and beat cancer.

Fun fact, she competed in Olympics 14 years apart! She went to the 92 Games in pairs for Japan, 94 in singles, and 2006 skating pairs with John Baldwin. I'm not sure I can think of any other skater who has done that.

 

[Japanfan]

Elvis Stojko competed with an injured groin at the 98 Olympics, earning silver, then recovered from it and came back to competition, earning world silver in 2001 IIRC.

And I'll never forget Dan Zhang's horrible fall at the 2006 Olympics, after which she got up, dusted herself off, and completed the program.

 

[Lovemyvike]

Elvis Stojko competed with an injured groin at the 98 Olympics, earning silver, then recovered from it and came back to competition, earning world silver in 2001 IIRC.

And I'll never forget Dan Zhang's horrible fall at the 2006 Olympics, after which she got up, dusted herself off, and completed the program.

Yes! This was another one that was incredible!

 

[lala]

Plushenko had many back surgeries and he kept coming back. After the 2006 Olympics he did not compete for three years. He came back in the 2010?Olympic season and won the Olympic silver. He disappeared again from competing, had more surgeries, and came back in 2014 for the Olympics. He won the team gold.

Plushenko WD at WCH 2005 ( Moscow) and he had a groin surgery in Munich. After he came back and won the olympic gold in Torino 2006.

He had 15 surgeries in total

 

[tony]

When mentioning Deanna Stellato let's not forget Naomi Nari Nam who had terrible hip injuries and returned as a pairs skater.

Also Rena Inoue, who battled and beat cancer.

Fun fact, she competed in Olympics 14 years apart! She went to the 92 Games in pairs for Japan, 94 in singles, and 2006 skating pairs with John Baldwin. I'm not sure I can think of any other skater who has done that.

Drobiazko/Vanagas competed in all five of the Olympics between 92-06

 

[rosewood]

Just to make sure my info does not sound like rumors or hearsay, here are the articles by Eteri and Zag confirming..

"Zagitova ran away into the cornfield in skates, wanted to quit, but we found her and talked to her.."
https://www.eurosport.ru/figure-skating/story_sto7015268.shtml
https://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sport...vylovili_ubedili_chto_nado_prodolzhat_katatsa

"Before the start, everything (everyone) makes me crazy. I want to stay alone in a hotel room."
https://sport24.ru/news/other/2018-...yet-besit-potomu-zhivu-v-gostinitse-a-ne-doma
https://rsport.ria.ru/figure_skating/20181116/1146081109.html

Sad to hear about Zagitova's mental conditions.(((Zagitova&Masaru))) Would you kindly translate Eteri's short interview in this article? It's difficult for me to read Russian with google machine translation.
https://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sport...vylovili_ubedili_chto_nado_prodolzhat_katatsa

— Она у нас убежала в коньках на поле. Мы ее выловили. Убедили ее, что все-таки надо продолжать кататься. И в итоге — олимпийская чемпионка. Мне нравится это. Нравится, когда я говорю девочкам: вот ты поработаешь и получишь вот это, это и это. Когда они к этому приходят, я спрашиваю: обманула? Они говорят: нет! — сказала Тутберидзе в эфире Первого канала.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Sad to hear about Zagitova's mental conditions.(((Zagitova&Masaru))) Would you kindly translate Eteri's short interview in this article? It's difficult for me to read Russian with google machine translation.
— Она у нас убежала в коньках на поле. Мы ее выловили. Убедили ее, что все-таки надо продолжать кататься. И в итоге — олимпийская чемпионка. Мне нравится это. Нравится, когда я говорю девочкам: вот ты поработаешь и получишь вот это, это и это. Когда они к этому приходят, я спрашиваю: обманула? Они говорят: нет! — сказала Тутберидзе в эфире Первого канала.

The best i can... word for word, some phrases are informal, so it is not "word for word".
"She ran away from us (from the rink) wearing her skates into an open field. We caught her. Convinced her, that after all she needs to continue to skate. And what do we have in the end? - an Olympic Champion. I like how it ended. I like it when i tell the girls: if you work hard (like this and that), you will get this and that (results on the podiums). When they do reach it (the promised results), i asked them "did i lie to you? (was i right on or not?). And they (the skaters) say: No! (you did not lie to us). That's what Tutberdize said on air in Russia Channel 1".

 

[rosewood]

The best i can... word for word, some phrases are informal, so it is not "word for word".
"She ran away from us (from the rink) wearing her skates into an open field. We caught her. Convinced her, that after all she needs to continue to skate. And what do we have in the end? - an Olympic Champion. I like how it ended. I like it when i tell the girls: if you work hard (like this and that), you will get this and that (results on the podiums). When they do reach it (the promised results), i asked them "did i lie to you? (was i right on or not?). And they (the skaters) say: No! (you did not lie to us). That's what Tutberdize said on air in Russia Channel 1".

Got what Eteri said. Thanks! It sounded serious that she had to leave her apartment where her grandma and Masaru etc are living. Wish things go well and anyhow she'll be able to feel less pressures from madia/anti-fans etc. Since the season has already started, the only way for her to survive as a leading contender would be that she can just focus on what she has to do as well as trust in her team like Eteri said in the interview. Wish all the best for her.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Got what Eteri said. Thanks! It sounded serious that she had to leave her apartment where her grandma and Masaru etc are living.

That's another time and episode, the recent one, before the GP Moscow.

Eteri is also a "comeback coach". In the middle of the Olympics in Korea, she learned the news that hear mother is deathly ill. She had an option of flying back to Moscow, but she stayed with Zag and Med, to make sure they train right.

When Eteri returned to Moscow, she had to deal not just with mother's deadly illness, but with media, social obligations, events to attend, and preparing Zag for Worlds.

Then some "enemies" leaked the info (in March) into the press that Medvedeva is going to leave Eteri. Med posted an angry message to the media "leave me and my coach alone, we are fine and will forever work together".

In May this year Eteri could not reach Med, and learned from the "press" that Med is leaving, exactly at the time when her mother's condition was most critical. Most people "in skating", coaches, officials and the press, knew it.

At the same time, Eteri's "enemies" convinced and pushed few of her students to leave her, playing into their weaknesses and disappointments.

One of the well known journalists who led the "destroy Eteri" campain is Elena Sergeyevna Vaytsekhovskaya, currently with r-sport, formerly with sport-express, is a long time enemy and hater for Eteri, strictly for personal and selfish reasons. She does not hide the fact (in her blog) that her resentment for Eteri is personal (based on Elena's ego, sense of self-worth, and her affiliations with other coaches who give her more info about the skating and more kiss up and admiration). She posted in her official blog that "Eteri now has many problems (mother's near death condition and issues with girls) and I don't have sympathy or feel sorry for her at all, we have history.."

Vaytsekhovskaya continued to "dig under Eteri" in every way possible, courting Orser, cleverly setting Medvedeva up to say anti-Eteri comments (although Vayts lashed out at Med many times in the past while she was with Eteri, to such an extent that event TAT had to say on public TV - Elena Sergeyevan, STOP! this is unfair!).

Vaytsekhovskaya claimed that she left Sport-Express because of "finances" as if it was on her own free will, but in reality she was let go by the new company owners/management/investors, who were sick and tired of her using the official sports platform to vindicate her enemies and to attack athletes for personal reasons, athletes other than Eteri.. Like her hate for Protopopovs', when Vaytsekhovskaya wrote a very discrediting article about them on the day when Belousova died. She used Belousova's death to get back at Protopopov, for not giving her "enough respect and interviews".

Eteri had and has to deal with not just her mother's recent death (which took place 3 days before the Moscow GP) but with past 9 months of her mother's extremely critical condition, during which everyone who could and was jealous of Eteri attacked her KNOWING she maybe weak because of mother.

 

[rosewood]

That's another time and episode, the recent one, before the GP Moscow.

Yeah, I knew that. I said so since it was after Eteri drew her back to practice in summer that Alina left her apartment due to the feelings that everything (everyone) irritates her in the process of the preparation for CoR. It sounded more serious. I wish it was just a temporary thing and will not repeatedly happen as the season goes.

ETA: Sorry for hijacking this thread talking about Alina's issues. I stop now.

 

[nuge]

I just have to mention Isabelle Delobel. After falling pregnant at the beginning of 2009 while they were at the very top. After the birth she was back on the ice after a couple of weeks and trained for a solid three months Looking back I really don't know how she did it it's hard enough having a newborn especially the first.Shame they didn't medal but you've got to admire her determination

 

[Tinami Amori]

I very much hope that Daisuke Takahashi will soon become a successful come-back story..
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports...shi-wins-nagoya-reach-nationals/#.W_b-LzhKjIU

we'll see.... but i am hopeful.