so, i’ve had many hours to think about everything and how i want to write this all down, so here we go: first and foremost, alina zagitova deserves better. she deserves coaches who genuinely care about her, care about her growth as an athlete and her well being as an athlete, and human being. not a coach who after a rough skate decides for herself that “this will determine whether or not to retire alina”. that is no one’s choice to make but alina’s. and she’s made it very clear that she has no reason to quit now. she has no reason to be disappointed in not winning everything, because she already has won everything. she’s said countless times how much she loves what she does, even when she’s had moments when she didn’t think she could continue on (dealing with the growth spurt, the pressure last year and the rough outings) but what this girl has shown time and time again is a strength beyond words, picking herself right back up and going out there and doing what she’s done. she has never been a consistent skater, but she has been someone who has done her very best when it mattered, and she’s still capable of that. she showed us at worlds after europeans last season, and she showed us this season at NHK. she deserves coaches who will tell her she’s absolutely right to continue on and grow in more ways than just the technical side. not cast her aside for other kids these people are putting in danger with quads. it’s so important to her to skate well, because she doesn’t want to disappoint her country or her fans, but she deserves to know that she’s so much more than a score and a medal winning skate. i’m not her fan because she’s won everything there is to win, i’m her fan because she genuinely brings me so much joy. she’s a huge part of why i care about skating as much as i do. she deserves fans who love her not because they love eteri and the medals that team churns out of girls every couple years. she deserves people, peers in this sport who believe in her and want to see her continue on. it disgusts me that not only fans, but people with important voices in this sport have been so negative towards her ever since she joined the senior ranks. all because she had programs strategically set by her /coaches/ (who by the way, did so thinking she probably wouldn’t be able to pull it off and i will 100% note that so much of alina’s success has come from her just being as strong and brilliant as she is and eteri and company should NEVER take credit for that, it was all alina.) there was such an outrage over backloading and oh no she’s just a jumping bean, and i saw too many “i guess this is the death of skating” comments. and now where are we? regardless of the scores, and as an alina fan i am sick of constantly having to justify my support and love of her with the Yes I Know She’s Overscored tagline attached to it. the backlash and the hate she has gotten since she was 15 goes way beyond just being angry at some blackloading and some scores. now we’re in a place where suddenly a 17 year old is irrelevant and should consider retiring because oh no poor disadvantaged girl doesn’t have any quads or a triple axel. i admire her for standing firm in refusing to do quads, for not risking herself and looking for other ways to grow and continue on in this sport. where is the same outrage a 15 year old girl received the brunt of, rather than judges and a coaching team known for pushing and breaking girls by pushing extreme training methods on them, and all of these jumps now. where is it? we shouldn’t be awed by quads taught by abusive coaches, doing damage to young girls bodies. because where will we go next? 16 year olds or even younger potentially ending their careers over dangerous jumps, or not having them to begin with? alina zagitova does, and has always deserved so much better. she should be supported and encouraged to continue this sport for as long as she likes, to grow in ways beyond what all of these big scoring jumps are pushing the discipline to be now. i will never understand the cruelty this girl has received since she turned senior and while i understand her skating is not for everyone, i just will never understand the pure outrage and hatred directed at her and only her, as if she ruined everything for everyone by simply taking the ice. and if you’re one of those people who suddenly feel sorry for her now, we don’t want you. we don’t want you when you think she’s failing and suddenly you sentimentally like her because she isn’t the overscored, constantly winning girl you all hated two years ago, or even a year ago. she isn’t just a nice girl trying her best when it’s convenient for you. she has always been a good, kind, well-meaning, incredibly strong and gifted girl who, say it with me, deserves better. always has. and my hope everyday is she never loses this love and motivation she carries with her. i want to see this girl for years to come and it doesn’t matter if she never wins another major title again, what matters is what is so wrong about a girl wanting to skate because she loves it? that should be encouraged and celebrated and that is what makes this sport beautiful. and i thank her everyday for reminding me of that.
baratheonpilled
ellievsbear
areudirty
stormborns
janainaart
yousharknotpass
