Osmond to skip Grand Prix (and more?)

aml78

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Catherine M

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Wouldn't be a surprise if she is indeed testing the waters of retiring as she has the full compliment of Olympic medals--Gold, silver and bronze--and now a world championship.
 

aml78

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I’m preparing for next season to be a big disappointment. So many skaters will be in transitional years or are calling it a career. I hope I am pleasantly surprised. Kaetlyn leaves a big hole in this sport.
 

kittyjake5

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Oh I hope she does not retire. Totally understand her taking time off though. She has
had a very successful season capped off with winning the World Championship. I will miss her.
 

barbarafan

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I am not excited for her. How can I be? I just bought tickets to Four Continents in large measure to see her :(

Besides that.........it is all about me, anyway

At this point she is only skipping the GP series. She may have a few opportunities she wishes to explore and might not be quite ready to choose music..get choreo and then kill herself for 2 months getting back into competition skate. She has plenty of time to be ready for nationals...
 

Foolhardy Ham Lint

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I’m preparing for next season to be a big disappointment. So many skaters will be in transitional years or are calling it a career. I hope I am pleasantly surprised. Kaetlyn leaves a big hole in this sport.

Osmond always had the potential to be a world champion. But in Milan, the stars aligned in her favour after Medvedeva withdrew, Zagitova and Kostner tanked, and Higuchi skated a poor short.

With a history of injury, maybe she wants to pace herself leading into 2019. Being a favourite puts new pressure on her, too.

Actually, I think next season will be very exciting. There are a lot of skaters making the transition from the junior level, too.

Japan has also qualified three women, and that means the likes of Riha Kihara, Marin Honda, Kaori Sakamoto, Mai Mihara, Yuna Shiraiwa, Mako Yamashita, Wakaba Higuchi, and Satoko Miyahara will be gunning to make the world team in Saitama.
 
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skatfan

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Not surprising, and I'm guessing that she doesn't have enough time to get everything put together. But if she retired, I'd totally understand that decision. Winning two Olympic medals and a world championship? Others have decided that was plenty...
 

honey

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Not surprising, and I'm guessing that she doesn't have enough time to get everything put together. But if she retired, I'd totally understand that decision. Winning two Olympic medals and a world championship? Others have decided that was plenty...

I don’t think it’s to do with no time to prepare. The day after worlds ended she spelled out her intended timeline to PJ Kwong, which was very detailed and thought through (take two weeks off after tour, then two weeks of choreo with no jumping, then back to full training beginning of July).

My guess is that with now two months perspective, her mindset has shifted and reality of her accomplishments + the reality of the grind of training has her stepping back. I said this in another thread, but I don’t think Kaetlyn is an extremely competitive person. With everything she has achieved I think the motivation to continue could be tough to find. I’ll miss her though :)
 

IloveFS

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The CBC article is quite interesting - refers to "retired" Virtue/Moir - have I missed a formal retirement announcement?

I think in all likelihood she (Osmond) is retiring but wants to keep her options open at least until fall.
 

skatfan

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I don’t think it’s to do with no time to prepare. The day after worlds ended she spelled out her intended timeline to PJ Kwong, which was very detailed and thought through (take two weeks off after tour, then two weeks of choreo with no jumping, then back to full training beginning of July).

My guess is that with now two months perspective, her mindset has shifted and reality of her accomplishments + the reality of the grind of training has her stepping back. I said this in another thread, but I don’t think Kaetlyn is an extremely competitive person. With everything she has achieved I think the motivation to continue could be tough to find. I’ll miss her though :)

Ah, that does make more sense. Thanks for the info.
 

barbarafan

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Not surprising, and I'm guessing that she doesn't have enough time to get everything put together. But if she retired, I'd totally understand that decision. Winning two Olympic medals and a world championship? Others have decided that was plenty...

As well...another 4 yrs straight without a real break? And also a steady serious boyfriend accross the country could maybe mean it is time to take 6mths off. His training is in Ontario and he is at a point in his career that he could be pairs team#2 or maybe pairs #3 in Canada so he needs to jump in with both feet shortly. Maybe she will stay in Ontario for a few months while he trains full out just conditioning and training for a bit on her own. Then back out west to get ready for Nationals, 4cc and worlds.I really don't see her retiring before worlds in Mtl.
 

aml78

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She’s actually stated that she’s a very competitive person so I don’t think she lacks the drive. But I do wonder if she’s taking stock of her life and deciding where she wants to go. She said she hadn’t had time to reflect on her accomplishments. Maybe now that she has she wants to make sure she can find a new goal to drive her as much as her old ones did. She was so gung ho about continuing when she came back from Korea. I was excited to follow her journey. I also recognize that these athletes need to strike while the iron is hot. If she has opportunities in front of her that can set her up for a life beyond skating that may not be there in 1,2,4 years from now I can certainly understand why she might take them. Doesn’t make it any easier to digest a Kaetlyn-less future.
 

Bellanca

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I suppose that it’s possible Kaetlyn is taking a break from the sport with the intention of returning at some point... If not, she has undoubtedly fulfilled her dreams and aspirations in competitive skating and delivered many moments of joy and happiness to her fans for which I hope is returned to her in spades!

Whatever the future might have in store for Kaetlyn, and if she is seriously considering retirement, I will miss her terribly. Either way, I wish her the very best!
 

Dr.Siouxs

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Blast, I wish we could keep her another quad. But with her huge success this past season as well as her long track record of injuries I can't say I'm surprised. :( Any promising Juniors coming up the Canadian ranks?
 

aftershocks

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Oh I hope she does not retire. Totally understand her taking time off though. She has
had a very successful season capped off with winning the World Championship. I will miss her.

Frankly, it's seemingly been a long hard slog. And in the end, Kaetlyn showed gumption and toughness and she persevered. She came back from injury and experienced a tough season in her comeback. And then she made the World podium in the lead-up to the Olympic season. Fortunately, she finally went back to her boffo sp in the Olympic season, ditching the imperfect and unseasonable Summertime. :p

Post the Olympic team comp in Pyeongchang, something clicked for Kaetlyn. Maybe she thought, "It's now or never." It truly looked like she was stoked to be in third after the sp individual event. She was not going to allow that Olympic medal to elude her grasp. It also helped I think for Kaetlyn (and the rest of Team Canada) to win Olympic gold in the team event. Their competitive spirits were surely boosted. Kaetlyn came out with attack and a level of confidence she hadn't displayed before in her Swan Lake fp. And one slight bobble on a landing did not throw her off either. Her command was a delight to witness, finally.

Kaetlyn was prepared for Worlds too, but she was also helped by the meltdowns of other top contenders at Worlds (mental and physical exhaustion perhaps by a number of top skaters). Still, Kaetlyn's overall talent was far-and-away superior to that of other ladies, even at the Olympics to be honest. :) What Kaetlyn seriously had to work on has always been her competitive nerves. Fortunately for her, her true mettle came through at the right moments in the biggest competitions of the season.

I can see Kaetlyn wishing to take some time off and regroup, especially in terms of finding perspective re her motivation and direction going forward.
 

Bellanca

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.... she only said she is skipping GP... it is not yet a reason for a career eulogy :lol:
Well, that’s true, but you know how “the sky is falling,” doom and gloom stuff can go. :violin:

Usually, when a skater (who's been competing for a while) says they are taking the season off, (or GP) that's code for calling it a career. Not all, of course, (V&M, Patrick, Yuna, etc.)

So, who knows, maybe Kaetlyn will surprise. Always good to be prepared though! :COP:

ETA: I forgot about Caro! Shame on me! She stepped away for a bit, too. So...
 
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aftershocks

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.... she only said she is skipping GP... it is not yet a reason for a career eulogy :lol:

:lol: Eh, my comments are far from being a career eulogy. It's just commentary about Kaetlyn's trajectory over the past several seasons, and in particular the recent Olympic season. We don't really know what Kaetlyn pulling out from GP series means. She might be wishing to take a break and a breather in order to gear up for doing battle at 2019 Worlds for all we know, with perhaps a senior B tune-up prior to Cdn Nats, and then going to 4CCs prior to Worlds.

Taking a break from the stress-filled GP series can be beneficial. We'll find out if the break becomes more than a break. The question is whether or not Kaetlyn has been working on some new programs, or whether she'll bring back her Swan Lake fp and get a new sp only. Or whether she will decide not to move forward competitively. At this point, I think Skate Canada will be happy for Kaetlyn to continue competing in the eligible ranks.
 

aliona22

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I’m preparing for next season to be a big disappointment. So many skaters will be in transitional years or are calling it a career. I hope I am pleasantly surprised. Kaetlyn leaves a big hole in this sport.

I expect the opposite... the Olympics can be really motivating for some skaters, and the last few post-Olympic seasons had some exciting developments. Liza Tuktamysheva absolutely destroyed the 2014/15 season, and Pakadakis/Cizeron also made a huge leap internationally that year. In 2010/11 we got the debut of Volosozhar/Trankov, and the start of Patrick Chan's three-year World reign. In 2006/07, both Virtue/Moir and Davis/White moved up to senior, and so did Yuna Kim!
 

Japanfan

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.... she only said she is skipping GP... it is not yet a reason for a career eulogy :lol:

Kaetlyn said:

While I still love competing and performing, I will be exploring other exciting opportunities during this time.

To me, this is a polite way of saying "I am considering retiring".

And why not go out on a high note? She's got World Silver and Gold and an Olympic Team Gold.
 

Marco

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I am so glad the stars lined up for her to be almost as clean as she could be at the Olympics and Worlds, and to now have a full set of Olympic medals plus a world title. She had the most exquisite programs and she skated beautifully.

If she was to call it a competitive career, she should have no regrets about it whatsoever.

P.S. just realizing, is Kaetlyn now the most decorated Canadian lady skater ever?
 
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Erin

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I am so glad the stars lined up for her to be almost as clean as she could be at the Olympics and Worlds, and to now have a full set of Olympic medals plus a world title. She had the most exquisite programs and she skated beautifully.

If she was to call it a competitive career, she should have no regrets about it whatsoever.

P.S. just realizing, is Kaetlyn now the most decorated Canadian lady skater ever?

Agree 100% that if she does decide to retire, she can do so with no regrets. As injury-prone as she has been, I wouldn’t blame her for doing so. Or even if she wasn’t - it’s her life and there is nothing wrong with realizing when it’s time to move on.

On the question of whether she is the most decorated Canadian lady, when you include her team Olympic medals, yes. But if you compare individual medals, I would have to go with Karen Magnussen (the last Canadian lady to win the world title before Kaetlyn), who has a world medal of each colour and an individual Olympic silver medal. Doesn’t diminish Kaetlyn’s very impressive accomplishments though.
 

barbarafan

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The CBC article is quite interesting - refers to "retired" Virtue/Moir - have I missed a formal retirement announcement?

I think in all likelihood she (Osmond) is retiring but wants to keep her options open at least until fall.

CBC isn't the sharpest. They kept saying V/M had retired from 2014 to 2016 whereas V/M said they were taking it year by year. Even now in a radio interview they said that they wouldn't rule out the next Olympics but this time they feel if they don't come back they will still feel fulfilled with all they accomplished and how they enjoyed each moment of this comeback.
 

berthesghost

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IMHO Barbara Ann Scott with an OGM, two world titles and two European titles is a hard star to eclipse! She was basically unbeatable for two years and won all the big titles there were to win. I think she won NA championship too iirc.
If Katelyn does compete and defend her title she’ll be only the second Canadian lady to do so.
 

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