Karen Magnussen passes the torch after 45 years!

[Elizabeth]

Bev Smith writes on the ladies event at Worlds with comments and insight from Karen Magnussen who last won the ladies event there for Canada 45 years ago:

https://bevsmithwrites.wordpress.com/20 ... the-torch/

I had been wondering if Karen had watched the live stream as I had. She went one better and was in California so was able to watch on the new "Olympic Channel" that is available on US cable only

[kittykins]

Thanks for the lovely article. I think Joannie might have won the gold if she'd be able to go to Worlds after Vancouver, but of course that was impossible with her situation. She said she wished she'd gone when all the other ladies made mistakes. I guess that's common after the Olympics. I do think that Kaetlyn was the best well-rounded skater and deserved the gold.

As for the eating less comment by the Russian coach...is she crazy and how mean??!! Anorexia must be rampant there. That would not such a "great" comment for Alina to hear afterwards...blaming her lack of performance on that. Unbelievable. I would think though if she grew over an inch in that short amount of time, her timing would be off for sure. Poor girl!

[Kevin]

As for the eating less comment by the Russian coach...is she crazy and how mean??!! Anorexia must be rampant there. That would not such a "great" comment for Alina to hear afterwards...blaming her lack of performance on that. Unbelievable. I would think though if she grew over an inch in that short amount of time, her timing would be off for sure. Poor girl!

If I'm not mistaken, similar comments were made about Yulia Lipnitskaya, who has now grown into a woman, lost all her jumps, and bears little to no resemblance to the skater we saw at Sochi. I worry that Zagitova may suffer a similar fate. We've already heard that an increase in height has played a part in Medvedeva's inconsistencies this season. I wonder when (if!) someone will step in to protect these young athletes from potential physical, and emotional damage, all at the cost of winning.

[Elizabeth]

As for the eating less comment by the Russian coach...is she crazy and how mean??!! Anorexia must be rampant there. That would not such a "great" comment for Alina to hear afterwards...blaming her lack of performance on that. Unbelievable. I would think though if she grew over an inch in that short amount of time, her timing would be off for sure. Poor girl!

If I'm not mistaken, similar comments were made about Yulia Lipnitskaya, who has now grown into a woman, lost all her jumps, and bears little to no resemblance to the skater we saw at Sochi. I worry that Zagitova may suffer a similar fate. We've already heard that an increase in height has played a part in Medvedeva's inconsistencies this season. I wonder when (if!) someone will step in to protect these young athletes from potential physical, and emotional damage, all at the cost of winning.

Sadly, it's unlikely to get stopped as long as there is a ready supply of pre-pubescent girls willing to "pay the price" and have the short-term success. For example, the young junior Russian lady who is landing quads.

[fred]

It's a problem. Nations want a high medal count. They pump it up in the media and everybody thinks it makes their country look good. They hide their "mistakes."