Sofia Samodurova retires

[Wyliefan]

https://twitter.com/AnythingGOE/status/1520079127600062464?t=A2qV2iVgcM8AcW8SY_G8Vg&s=19

She'll be coaching younger students in Mishin's group.

I'll miss her. But under the circumstances, it's probably the best thing she could do. She didn't have much of a future in Russia to begin with, and now no Russian skater has much of a future at all, at least for the time being. But I enjoyed her so much. From storming onto the senior scene and winning Euros, to being the sweetest and most enthusiastic cheerleader for her teammates, she's been a joy.

 

[Colonel Green]

I'll always remember her Euros win fondly.

 

[coppertop1]

Another woman who got buried by RusFed. All the best

 

[Rhumba d’Amour]

https://twitter.com/AnythingGOE/status/1520079127600062464?t=A2qV2iVgcM8AcW8SY_G8Vg&s=19

She'll be coaching younger students in Mishin's group.

I'll miss her. But under the circumstances, it's probably the best thing she could do. She didn't have much of a future in Russia to begin with, and now no Russian skater has much of a future at all, at least for the time being. But I enjoyed her so much. From storming onto the senior scene and winning Euros, to being the sweetest and most enthusiastic cheerleader for her teammates, she's been a joy.

Sofia showed so much effervescence on the ice and such delightful, genuine personality. I think she would make a fabulous coach; the youngsters in her care will be lucky to have her!

 

[Wyliefan]

Sofia's Instagram announcement: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc8h1fZI0P6/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

[her grace]

Samordurova made my list of JGP standouts post back in 2016. Glad she won her Euros title. Glad she had a full quad as a senior. Onwards and upwards, Sofia!

 

[Wyliefan]

She won two Grand Prix medals, too. Skate America that year had one of my favorite ladies' results ever -- Satoko winning and Sofia in third. (And now they're both retired. )

I'll always be glad she had one year to shine before the 3A's turned senior.

 

[karmena]

Sofia was one of those skater's who has their own, distinct personality on the ice. I never ever met her or saw her skating live ( only on the screen) however Sofia has left me in impression that she has a wonderful character and creative spirit. She will be a great coach.

 

[soogar]

I'm very sad that Sofia has retired so young. She had a wonderful presence on the ice and really looked like she enjoyed skating. It makes Tuk's perservence look heroic. I hope Sofia is happy with her decision to retire. I heard that she was being pressured to retire a few years ago after the three As became seniors.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I really enjoyed her rise on the junior grand prix scene, as well has her surprise win at the 2019 European Championships.

I also had the pleasure of seeing Sofia skate live and in person at the 2019 World Team Trophy in Fukuoka. The Japanese fans really loved her skating, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL3aVQmmr3k

 

[Ananas Astra]

The only one who knew how to properly do "Burlesque". I still rewatch her Euros-winning performance from time to time and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

All the best to Sofia, I am sure she will be a great coach.

 

[Wyliefan]

Short interview with Sofia:

Sofia Samodurova: “Summing up my career, it was successful. I couldn’t dream about becoming European champion even in the season when it happened. I was lucky.”

European Champion 2019 Sofia Samodurova about the decision to end her sports career, how she came to it, what she experienced, and also about her emotions from Kamila Valieva's performance at the Beijing Olympics.

fs-gossips.com

It sounds like she loves coaching the kids. I can easily imagine her being great with children.

 

[Sylvia]

English version of a recent interview with Sofia during a training camp in Kislovodsk for the first time as a coach (includes photos): http://www.figureskating-online.com/s-samodurova.html

 

[Wyliefan]

On the one hand, it was sweet of Mishin to give her a job; and it sounds like she's good at it. On the other hand, things being as they are, I really wish she'd gotten out of Dodge and joined her parents as planned.

 

[floridaice]

On the one hand, it was sweet of Mishin to give her a job; and it sounds like she's good at it. On the other hand, things being as they are, I really wish she'd gotten out of Dodge and joined her parents as planned.

Probably hard to pass up the opportunity to learn to coach under Mishin.

 

[soogar]

Probably hard to pass up the opportunity to learn to coach under Mishin.

She can go anywhere after studying with Mishin. Smart move on her part. I always loved her performance skills. I think she would be very good at choreography as well.

 

[Scott512]

https://twitter.com/AnythingGOE/status/1520079127600062464?t=A2qV2iVgcM8AcW8SY_G8Vg&s=19

She'll be coaching younger students in Mishin's group.

I'll miss her. But under the circumstances, it's probably the best thing she could do. She didn't have much of a future in Russia to begin with, and now no Russian skater has much of a future at all, at least for the time being. But I enjoyed her so much. From storming onto the senior scene and winning Euros, to being the sweetest and most enthusiastic cheerleader for her teammates, she's been a joy.

I'm going to miss her too but Russia needs to create another Organization for skating a world skating Union or World skating Association or something like that now that they've been ridiculously canceled along with Belarus.
The ISU and sports act like there's never been an invasion of another country before in recent history. I can name five invasions of other countries into other countries but what's the point.

We have to face reality that they're just aren't enough spots for the Russians in three of the four disciplines with the ISU and it's ridiculous that somebody like Sofia has to retire at 19 while Mariah and Bradie skate into their mid-20s completely unchallenged. Look what skating did in her mid-twenties for Mariah Bell one of the most beautiful artistic skaters and she had years and years to hone her craft and the Russian ladies just don't have those chances because of the depth of talent and not enough spots given by the ISU.

Good luck to SS in her coaching career and congratulations on an excellent career and being a European champion.

 

[Trillian]

the Russian ladies just don't have those chances because of the depth of talent and not enough spots given by the ISU rampant systemic abuse and corrupt machinations of their own federation.

Fixed this for you.

If you genuinely want these skaters to have long careers, throwing your support behind a federation that has intentionally, very publicly pushed a training regime that forces skaters to retire before the age of 20 whether they want to or not is a weird way of showing it.

I wish Sofia all the best, too. Like her teammates, she deserved better.

 

[Scott512]

Fixed this for you.

If you genuinely want these skaters to have long careers, throwing your support behind a federation that has intentionally, very publicly pushed a training regime that forces skaters to retire before the age of 20 whether they want to or not is a weird way of showing it.

I wish Sofia all the best, too. Like her teammates, she deserved better.

Alysa retired at 16. 16! The girl survived a brutal bout with puberty was coming into her own had her triple axle kind of back who knows what she could have done the next couple years especially without the Russians. But she didn't want to continue. Hmmm.

The sport is hard for everyone not just Russian girls. Tara retired at 15. It's never been just a Russian thing no matter what the media says. SS is 20. She can still be a world-class skater but there's no point because there's NO ROOM. That is not the case with tennis and golf and swimming and other individual sports you can go for long careers there because the ranking systems are workable.

I hope Sofia is happy coaching kids. But figure skating is really the only major sport where athletes retire as teenagers and that should be unacceptable to everyone. Now I am concerned about Anna who just had some kind of knee surgery she pushed hard since the Olympics winning the gold medal in stunning fashion. I hope she made a lot of money with all these shows and takes the proper amount of time to return. But I have a feeling she won't return because how can you top winning worlds and Olympics back to back?

 

[Trillian]

Alysa retired at 16.

Alysa retired by choice and appears to be reasonably healthy. I’m sure USFS would love it if she kept going. A long list of Russian teenagers have retired because their federation’s entire business model is centered on pushing broken kids out the door as soon as they’ve won a few medals. Russia is not the only country where successful skaters sometimes retire at a young age under less-than-ideal circumstances. It’s just the only major ISU country where the federation has made very clear publicly that they want this to happen, they don’t care about the kids, and they’re engaging in abusive practices deliberately in order to bring about these outcomes. One teenager in the U.S. who decided she wanted to go to the mall with her friends more often is not the “gotcha” that you think it is.