Zagitova announces a temporary suspension of her competitive career; will perform in shows, incl. 'Art on Ice 2020'

rfisher said:
40% no less. Which is why Plushenko wants her. He "coached" Sotnikova for a year and promptly put her in all his shows which compete against Navka's. All these top skaters really need their own sports agents to help negotiate their contracts.
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Maybe Plushenko would be a good change for Zagitova? Not only work more on artistry via ice shows, but have new input into her technical skills. She seems loyal to her current coach but loyalty doesn't always bring the results desired. I would guess she has the next Olympics in the back of her mind, at her age, why not go for 2 gold medals. But she knows she must up her technical anty to even get a spot on the Russian team. It's good that she has time to take a break and think things over.
 
No.
Tahuu said:
Alina, come live and skate in the US (because of the relative strength of skating and living std and other opportunities). RusF should have no problem releasing her and she could represent the US after a year in competitions and get her citizenship before 2026 for the Olympics. She's too young at 17 to leave competition. Competitions could help maintain and enhance her sponsorships. After 2026, she's only 24 and if she wants she could be a coach in the US. If she indeed is leaving skating competitions for good, I hope she could work to become a model.
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Here Alina adds more some explanations in her official Instagram to her statement on TV.
www.instagram.com

Alina Zagitova on Instagram: “После эфира на Первом канале мне приходит много вопросов о том, "что означает моё интервью" и "почему я завершила карьеру"? Я очень…”

92.7k Likes, 3,402 Comments - Alina Zagitova (@azagitova) on Instagram: “После эфира на Первом канале мне приходит много вопросов о том, "что означает моё интервью" и…”
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

Following my latest TV appearance I am getting a lot of questions about "what all this means" and "why I retired". Yesterday I was feeling worried and I could not manage to deliver my thoughts clearly. For me Figure Skating is my life and professional sport is all about what I always worked for and continue working for since I was 4 years old. All my achievements, including Olympic gold🥇and WC gold 🥇, are not accidental. For all my life I will be very grateful to my coaches for the tremendous job we have done and I am not planning either to stop or "retire". I am still part of team Russia and still I can take part in international competitions for team Russia. I am continuing my figureskating way with the great support from my coaches
 
DreamSkates said:
Maybe Plushenko would be a good change for Zagitova? Not only work more on artistry via ice shows, but have new input into her technical skills. She seems loyal to her current coach but loyalty doesn't always bring the results desired. I would guess she has the next Olympics in the back of her mind, at her age, why not go for 2 gold medals. But she knows she must up her technical anty to even get a spot on the Russian team. It's good that she has time to take a break and think things over.
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Except, Eteri is right in that he doesn't actually coach any of the skaters at his rink. He's too busy with his own shows. What he wants is for her to skate in his shows. There are other coaches at his rink, but none are going to teach her the 3A or quad jumps. Mishin might, but he's only got Tuk who is winning at this point, including his juniors so it's not as if he's doing a lot with the other skaters at his rink, male or female. Plus, I don't see that happening. If she really wants to learn the 3A and quad, Sambo-70 is the best club at this point. I suspect she either can't or doesn't want to do them.
 
If I was going to learn something very hard at this age, I wouldn’t do it in front of much younger people who did it with ease. (I’d never join a gym filled with young hard bodies or take a class with them.) I’d feel pathetic.

I know it’s only a two-year age gap but look at the new girls’ bodies and at Zags. They’re in different categories. Aside from the fact there’s no evidence that Eteri can teach post-pubescent skaters or Daniil provide innovative choreo, I’d bet Alina herself isn’t going to be the pathetic old lady at Sambo trying to learn quads with her iffy technique.
 
I'm sad because this sounds like a retirement. I wasn't delighted by her win in 2018 - but it was the scoring, the backloaded program that bugged me.

But then she went and improved and grew and became and better skater - more compelling and expressive than anyone would ever have predicted. And her triple (anything)-triple loop combinations are somehow more exciting to watch than any other skaters. She brings drama to every program.

Her win at Worlds, to me, is more of a triumph than the Olympic gold medal because she had to climb back to the top. I hope takes pride in her career. She has accomplished so much.
 
DreamSkates said:
Maybe Plushenko would be a good change for Zagitova? Not only work more on artistry via ice shows, but have new input into her technical skills. She seems loyal to her current coach but loyalty doesn't always bring the results desired. I would guess she has the next Olympics in the back of her mind, at her age, why not go for 2 gold medals. But she knows she must up her technical anty to even get a spot on the Russian team. It's good that she has time to take a break and think things over.
Click to expand...
Plushenko would be my last choice for a "coach" in Russia. His skaters come to him for a season, get worse, and then leave. If Alina wants to switch coaches, she has far better options.
 
lily said:
Here Alina adds more some explanations in her official Instagram to her statement on TV.
www.instagram.com

Alina Zagitova on Instagram: “После эфира на Первом канале мне приходит много вопросов о том, "что означает моё интервью" и "почему я завершила карьеру"? Я очень…”

92.7k Likes, 3,402 Comments - Alina Zagitova (@azagitova) on Instagram: “После эфира на Первом канале мне приходит много вопросов о том, "что означает моё интервью" и…”
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

Following my latest TV appearance I am getting a lot of questions about "what all this means" and "why I retired". Yesterday I was feeling worried and I could not manage to deliver my thoughts clearly. For me Figure Skating is my life and professional sport is all about what I always worked for and continue working for since I was 4 years old. All my achievements, including Olympic gold🥇and WC gold 🥇, are not accidental. For all my life I will be very grateful to my coaches for the tremendous job we have done and I am not planning either to stop or "retire". I am still part of team Russia and still I can take part in international competitions for team Russia. I am continuing my figureskating way with the great support from my coaches
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“I am still with Team Russia.” I guess that means that she will continue to do World Team Trophy. The Japanese must pay very, very well.
 
UGG said:
why would you single out Kwan whenthere are others like Cohen and Slute who stayed just as stagnent?
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Apologies for the thread drift but the original comment from @Louis also conveniently ignores that Kwan did try to up her technical content (mainly in the fall of 2001) but basically couldn’t. I watched her do many successful* triple lutz-triple loop and triple sal-triple loop combos in practice at 2001 Skate Canada but she tried one in the program and it didn’t go well and she ended up third. I can see why she decided to go back to what worked.

We also don’t know how long she had her hip injury, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the reason for scaling back the technical content post-2002. I can say from experience that one can live with a labral tear in the hip for a very long time and continue to do a lot with it, but it does limit you.

*I’ll caveat that I mean successful by 2001 standards. I wasn’t paying a ton of attention to underrotations, except I didn’t notice any of the egregious Bonaly-at-1995 Worlds variety
 
Last edited:
essence_of_soy said:
For the record, Tuktamysheva earned 80.54 in the short program and 153.89 in the free skate at the 2019 World Team Championships. Had she skated in Saitama, the combined total would have given her 234.43 points, and the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships.
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One would take WTT serious? :inavoid: :slinkaway
I remember Evgenia scored somewhere 160 at WTT without a true Lutz, no 3A and of course no quad. And only a 2A2T2T something...:shuffle:
 
Erin said:
Apologies for the thread drift but the original comment from @Louis also conveniently ignores that Kwan did try to up her technical content (mainly in the fall of 2001) but basically couldn’t. I watched her do many successful* triple lutz-triple loop and triple sal-triple loop combos in practice at 2001 Skate Canada but she tried one in the program and it didn’t go well and she ended up third. I can see why she decided to go back to what worked.

We also don’t know how long she had her hip injury, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the reason for scaling back the technical content post-2002. I can say from experience that one can live with a labral tear in the hip for a very long time and continue to do a lot with it, but it does limit you.

*I’ll caveat that I mean successful by 2001 standards. I wasn’t paying a ton of attention to underrotations, except I didn’t notice any of the egregious Bonaly-at-1995 Worlds variety
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And at a time when Slute and Sarah Hughes were the only ones trying more difficult combos (albeit with mixed success), Michelle didn't really need to up her content beyond the 3T-3T. She won Worlds twice with it over Slute. By the 2002 Olympics, she had pretty much lost her 3-3 (she only did it once after that--in the Q round at Worlds), probably because of her hip problems. But she really didn't need it. If she had skated clean without it at SLC, she would have won.
 
giselle23 said:
And at a time when Slute and Sarah Hughes were the only ones trying more difficult combos (albeit with mixed success), Michelle didn't really need to up her content beyond the 3T-3T. She won Worlds twice with it over Slute. By the 2002 Olympics, she had pretty much lost her 3-3 (she only did it once after that--in the Q round at Worlds), probably because of her hip problems. But she really didn't need it. If she had skated clean without it at SLC, she would have won.
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Also no one in the 2006 Olys did a 3/3. Kwan gets a lot of crap for not upping the technical skills but she had a reliable 3/3 until 2002. And as far as Tara and Sarah-there is no way they would have maintained that technical advantage over Michelle has they stayed another Olympic cycle. Tara’s hip was done so good bye 3/3 loop, and we all saw the post Olympic Sarah.
 
Ahhh, love thread drift...it is what makes message boards superior to blogs, imo.

IIRC, a mild crackdown on underrotations started in the 2005-2006 season. I think this put people off of 3-3 combos.

I know this logic, that 2006 was winnable for Kwan because no one landed more than 5 clean triples, but Michelle would have been behind on levels, imo, and would have needed a 7th triple. I think the degree of difficulty on the podium in 2006 was greater than the degree of difficulty on the 2002 podium. Those steps and spins were killers, not to mention the requirements for the 2006 spiral sequence...shudder.

...off to pour over 2005 world protocols to see if my post is valid.. :)

I hope Zagitova has support for processing her emotions. Would love to see her have a wonderful time at her shows. Eteri needs to have a masters division so that Zags can train out of the pressure cooker, lol.
 
Coco said:
Ahhh, love thread drift...it is what makes message boards superior to blogs, imo.

IIRC, a mild crackdown on underrotations started in the 2005-2006 season. I think this put people off of 3-3 combos.

I know this logic, that 2006 was winnable for Kwan because no one landed more than 5 clean triples, but Michelle would have been behind on levels, imo, and would have needed a 7th triple. I think the degree of difficulty on the podium in 2006 was greater than the degree of difficulty on the 2002 podium. Those steps and spins were killers, not to mention the requirements for the 2006 spiral sequence...shudder.

...off to pour over 2005 world protocols to see if my post is valid.. :)

I hope Zagitova has support for processing her emotions. Would love to see her have a wonderful time at her shows. Eteri needs to have a masters division so that Zags can train out of the pressure cooker, lol.
Click to expand...

oh I didn’t mean it was winnable- I think at best bronze would have been a reachable goal (based on the way everyone skated) but realistically I think 4th-5th was where she would have landed. What I meant by bringing up the fact that no skater on the podium attempted a 3/3 was that no one upped jump content.
 
Kwan withdrew from the 2006 Olympics because she was not in any physical condition compete. At her historic best, and assuming she didn't botch her triple flip :shuffle:, she could have won and, at the very least, would have give Arakawa reason to attempt a triple-triple.
 
Meow!! Ouch! Plushenko goes off on Tutberidze in his Instagram. A quick synopsis:

- Eteri you only want Alina 'cause you're making money off of the poor girl!
- Eteri you suck as a coach, it's Dudakov who teaches them jumps, you're a "manager" not a coach!
- Eteri if I WANTED to steal other people's skaters, I would have had a splendidly funded team, what with my reputation, stature and financial resources!
- Eteri I never wanted to steal Alina, I just gave her a few tips when she asked me - perhaps your TEAM doesn't give her enough attention or just wanted some warm and fuzzies - and I told her to learn the quads; it's odd that your TEAM doesn't keep up with the trends of your sport
- Eteri tons of kids from your school defect to me voluntarily - that's cause I train them myself and I'm not a "manager" like you. Stop by, maybe you can learn something from me.
- Eteri you should be ashamed to throw shade at the great TAT whose feet you aren't fit to kiss. Remind me again, which skater did you raise from infancy? Trusova? Valieva? Kostornaya? Be grateful when the great advise you, don't pout now.
- Eteri everyone knows you only accept kids who already mastered all the triples as you don't wanna bother training them yourself. You're the chief stealer of skaters in this sport!
- Eteri, all of this I only wanted to whisper in your ear, but since you upped and went public, here it is, read and weep!

Kisses,
Plushy

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TAHbKA said:
Pluschenko: `I think the pause in Alina's career is among other things for deciding on the coaches. Who knows, perhaps she'll switch a group? I wouldn't write that option off- Alina needs an attention that the Olympic champion deserves, she needs more coaching time. She has to go on - there is plenty of time ahead and she is a great athlete.
Yes, she had a bad GPF in Turino. I had the same - my GPF was rubbish and then I won the Worlds'

According to Tutberidze Pluschenko tried getting Zagitova into his group before. So there.

Am not sure what did TAT say, but I will guess her usual verbal diarrhea was quoted somewhere...
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Tarasova said, "don't be silly, of course she's not coming back. I'm so sad our best skaters have to retire after three programs." Plushenko chimed in and suggested - hey, maybe she needs a new coach.

To which Tutberidze posted, "dear TAT, just with three programs Alina accomplished more than some skaters do over their lifetime. It's too bad that as she was skating these thee programs, you had nothing but criticism for her. Maybe because you love her just SO MUCH. With that mind, I wish you give less love to our other skaters. And you, Plushenko, why you aren't even a coach. You trained no one and taught no one. You are trying to buy skaters every now and again but Alina didn't go for your tricks, no matter how much you dumped on her current team. Good luck with coaching darlin', don't forget you need to show up to make that happen. Kisses!" https://www.instagram.com/p/B6D-cYfJcYy/

A day later, Tarasova was asked to comment on the matter and she gave this succinct, illuminating commentary:

"GO TO HELL, ALL REPORTERS, THE ENTIRE LOT OF YOU!" https://govoritmoskva.ru/news/219135/
 
I'm curious about something: are ice shows that lucrative in Russia? I know in the U.S. they've died a slow death and really are not the huge money machines they were in the 1990's. Because I don't know why Zagitova making the sensible decision to take a break brings about such a fierce feud with accusations of money grubbing.
 
Coco said:
Ahhh, love thread drift...it is what makes message boards superior to blogs, imo.

IIRC, a mild crackdown on underrotations started in the 2005-2006 season. I think this put people off of 3-3 combos.

I know this logic, that 2006 was winnable for Kwan because no one landed more than 5 clean triples, but Michelle would have been behind on levels, imo, and would have needed a 7th triple. I think the degree of difficulty on the podium in 2006 was greater than the degree of difficulty on the 2002 podium. Those steps and spins were killers, not to mention the requirements for the 2006 spiral sequence...shudder.

...off to pour over 2005 world protocols to see if my post is valid.. :)

I hope Zagitova has support for processing her emotions. Would love to see her have a wonderful time at her shows. Eteri needs to have a masters division so that Zags can train out of the pressure cooker, lol.
Click to expand...

Kwan did have the highest base value at 2005 Worlds LP, had the highest scoring FW sequence, and placed 3rd there with a fall, a two-footed Salchow, and it being the first time she ever competed under IJS and did stupid things like not have the maximum level spiral sequence which she did have in the SP after that disastrous QR. Don't forget, eventual Olympic Champion Shizuka Arakawa placed 9th at those Worlds. That said, once they added a level 4 and required flexibility to reach it, Kwan would have been at a disadvantage with the spins. Arakawa had some slow ass spins in Torino but hit the level so she was able to score higher than skaters who had faster spins but didn't hit the levels. Kwan was not in optimal condition, could not do a triple loop by that point, and missed another GP series because of it. I think gold would have been far-fetched unless the judges decided none of that mattered for her because she'd been near the top of the podium for a decade; so long as she brought the goods.

If only Kwan could see into 2010 and realize she could do three double axels and two double axel/triple toes because that would have helped the no triple loop scenario and allowed her to do 6 triples with 3 double axels to boot to really maximize her base value. That could have narrowed the level 4 spin gap.
 
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