Life after ice. What figure skaters who have finished their careers do

For the last four years, very young figure skaters have been medaling at major competitions. At the Grand Prix in Turin, Russian athletes Trusova, Kostornaya 和 Shcherbakova, who are only 15-16 years old, took the entire podium. The same situation was repeated at the Russian Championships in Krasnoyarsk.

If you look at the statistics of the past years, it is easy to see that figure skating is rapidly falling into childhood: the age of the champions is getting lower and lower. Girls who only recently shone at the Olympics as teenagers are now losing to the new generation and cannot regain their leadership status. Recently, 17-year-old Alina Zagitova, winner of the Pyeongchang Games, announced the suspension of her career. The statement caused a lot of controversy in the sports world. We wonder what athletes do after the end of their careers at a young age? We tell you about five figure skaters who went to comprehend life off the ice.

She took everything from figure skating. Alina Zagitova

In December this year, Alina announced a pause in her career. In the ongoing season, the girl will not perform at any of the starts. Many are afraid that the athlete may not return to the line at all. Zagitova explains her decision by the fact that at the age of 17 she took everything from figure skating. She managed to combine the gold of the Olympic Games, European Championships, Grand Prix Final and World Championships. Thus, the figure skater has no sporting goals at all.

In one of the interviews, Alina admitted that she is tired of the training regimen, the clear desire to go to the start is gone, and she wants it back. Immediately after the loud statement Zagitova hastened to reassure fans in “instagram”:

I’m not even thinking about leaving. As an athlete who has achieved all possible first places, I want to be on the highest pedestal, and for this I need to train even more and stronger. I am still in the Russian national team and I can compete for the country at international competitions. I continue my figure skating journey with the support of my coaches.

Despite the temporary pause, the figure skater will appear in public. She recently debuted in the lead role in the ice show “Sleeping Beauty. Legend of the two kingdoms” by Tatiana Navka. Performance with the participation of the champion was a great success and collected a good box office. And in addition to participating in the show, Alina clearly has something to do: she is starring in a movie with her dog and acts as an ambassador of Puma and Shiseido.

Depression, commentating and ice shows. Elena Radionova

Unlike Sotnikova, who is enjoying triumph at the Sochi Olympics, Radionova failed to qualify for the Games twice, although she showed great promise in the 2015/16 season. Elena tried to make her way to the 2014 and 2018 competitions, but after unsuccessful results she began to suffer bouts of depression and thought about ending her career. In an interview with the portal of the Federation of figure skating she confessed:

Naturally, I drew conclusions from everything that happened. At first I had different thoughts in my head: to skate – not to skate. The state was so incomprehensible. I didn’t understand what to do, how to be. I didn’t train, I didn’t want to do anything. Empty. No thoughts. I just lived my life without any events, any reasoning or thinking….

Radionova has not officially announced her retirement from the ice, but it is unlikely that she will be able to return to the new era of figure skating. Now the girl devotes more time to ice shows, she also tried herself as a commentator. Elena twice performed in the Art on Ice project, which takes place in Switzerland. In addition, the skater played one of the sisters in the ice version of “Cinderella” from Evgeny Plushenko.

Happily married. Anna Pogorilaya

She can be confidently called a diligent singles skater who has always shown discipline. Anna won the title of famous figure skater after the Junior World Championships in Milan, ahead of Radionova and Lipnitskaya. The start at the adult level went well for Pogorila. She won the Russian Cup final and took two medals – gold and bronze – at the Grand Prix stages. But at one point the career of the figure skater went down, and the girl stopped appearing at competitions.

In 2018, Anna married colleague Andrei Nevsky, who represented Latvia in ice dancing. Judging by the “instagram” of the figure skater, she still devotes time to training and participates in ice shows. However, without skates, the athlete feels just as good and lives a happy life.