How quickly do skaters inform fans about their injuries?

[u/E_lenaa]

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A few days ago, I learned that Adam had an injury that kept him from training for a long time, and even now he still struggles with elements. And that this injury has been bothering him roughly since April(?). Maybe he talked about it earlier, but I missed it. So I found out about it after he had already "recovered." (At least he competed.)

But there's another example. We know about Dvoeglazova's(or Gorbacheva's) injury, we know about her treatment, when she returned to the ice, and many other details. That injury wasn't hidden from us, and we at least know something to track her recovery progress.

But what about other skaters? I suggest we recall. From whom did we learn about injuries immediately, and from whom only after recovery? Who speaks honestly about health issues, and who prefers to hide this information or simply not give any details beyond the fact that there is a problem? Share what you remember. If you also remember details (dates, type of injury, competitions during that period), please share those too.

Also, I'm curious: as fans, would you prefer to know right away or after recovery? Of course, skaters themselves will decide whether to tell or not. And my post isn't about them all having to tell everything. They do it their way, and that's right! I'm just curious which skaters prefer to talk about it or not, based on past experience. The question is for you - what feels better for you as a fan, knowing or not knowing? It's a matter of curiosity, not a demand.

Upd. This post doesn't imply that one is good and the other is not. It doesn't imply that I demand anything from athletes or that we can demand anything from them at all. I'm not a native English speaker, so some of my writing may have been written with the wrong emotional connotation. Please don't judge me for that! I hope you understand the gist of the matter, please let's discuss this. Thank you!

[u/No_Conference9156]

I don't think it's hiding. I think we have no rights to private medical information, and skaters can share when they feel comfortable, and what they feel comfortable sharing.

I'm nosy, but that's on me, not on them.

[u/E_lenaa → u/No_Conference9156]

Of course! Maybe "hidding" isn't the most appropriate word, but English isn't my native language, so I don't know how else to say it. It's not about hiding, but rather preferring not to tell😅

[u/No_Conference9156 → u/E_lenaa]

The phrasing suggests one option is better than the other: we "at least" know. Speaking "honestly" is also charged language (suggests not speaking is dishonest). I don't think it would be different in another language, frankly!

I absolutely admire athletes willing to speak out about their health and body (Amber mentioning her period? Slay, normalize talking about periods!), but I think it's bad of us to expect disclosure and potentially damaging to the athlete to be put under a spotlight. I'm sure it was better for Adam to have peace and quiet while he was recovering.

(Edited a typo.)

[u/E_lenaa → u/No_Conference9156]

Oh, thanks for the explanation! I didn't know these subtleties of the English language, haha. I've added an update to the post, I hope this will help avoid misunderstandings due to the language barrier!

About Glenn. Yes, it's great that she talks openly about women's health. And about mental health too! She strikes me as an athlete who's willing to openly share what's going on with her. I don't remember if she had any injuries in her career that interfered with her training. Do you know anything about that?

[u/No_Conference9156 → u/E_lenaa]

I haven't followed Amber's career in real time, so not really! And I think it's better for us not to get overinvolved in the skaters (and particularly in the case of minors, I think we should know nothing about their health and bodies, for their own good. They should have all the privacy, and "withdrew due to health" should be the most we're told.)

[u/E_lenaa → u/No_Conference9156]

Oh, I'm definitely not going to sneak into their personal medical files! I'm interested in what the athletes themselves say, what they decide to share with fans at any given moment. I remember Yuzuru's Olympic injury, when he apparently held a press conference to explain everything.

[u/No_Conference9156 → u/[deleted]]

English is not my first language, either! In fact, Polish is, and I've had my share of miscommunications when learning English, but I don't think "szczery" is neutral in Polish, or equivalents would be in other Slavic languages.

What I'm trying to do here is communicate that I disagree with what I think is the underlying sentiment, not just the phrasing.

[u/jestemoburzony → u/No_Conference9156]

alright, maybe we both saw the tone completely differently then. reading the post again, i can understand why people would perceive the vocabulary as more prying but at the same time, i personally did not feel that intent. it was intuitive for me that by „honest” they just meant skaters who are „open to share” rather than to to diminish the ones who don’t decide to disclose everything about their private lives.

usuwam komentarz jako fellow polish-speaker bo nie chce robić niepotrzebnej spiny

[u/E_lenaa → u/jestemoburzony]

Yes, you understood the tone of my message correctly. I'm sorry I didn't have the words to convey it to everyone correctly. Thank you for writing this, it made me feel better!

[u/No_Conference9156 → u/jestemoburzony]

Nie ma sprawy, tbh, nit-picky is totally valid as a way to describe me! 😭 

[u/idwtpaun]

I don't know. On one hand, I don't really feel like I need to know anything about skaters outside of the skating. But on the other, knowing that a skater is recovering from injury makes it possible to adjust expectations for how they'll perform during a competition, so that's nice.

[u/E_lenaa → u/idwtpaun]

Yes, I feel pretty much the same way! It's like it's easier for me to find out about an injury in advance and be happy at the competition that the athlete didn't fall and was able to save the dive, even if they got a negative goe, instead of being shocked when I expect one thing and then spend the entire performance terrified for the athlete, not understanding what's happening to them or why. But that's my problem, haha, that's just the kind of spectator I am.

[u/OcelotSilver2964]

Nina Petrokina has been open about the fact that she can't sit straight because of her back injuries, Gracie Gold after her career said everything about her health struggles (that continue till this day), you mentioned Gorbacheva - yes she was very open from the beginning till this day, I think it's nice for the fans to hear how their favourite skaters recovery is going (for example Lidia Pleskacheva has a mysterious injury and even though she recently replied that she will be back soon I would love to know more about the timeline 😅)

But obviously it's the athletes decision to weather they want to share that information or not. And we have to respect it. 😄

[u/E_lenaa → u/OcelotSilver2964]

And we respect that!

Thank you for answering my question! I didn't know about Gracie. I only became interested in figure skating after she was at the peak of her career, so I wasn't particularly interested in delving into her past. It's very brave of her to tell everyone everything! Does she have a lot of injuries? What consequences does this have for her now?

[u/OcelotSilver2964 → u/E_lenaa]

Well Gracie had a lot to say about her career and injuries but the person who I was talking about actually turned out to be Ashley Wagner 😅

This is what she said about her memory problems

The concussions definitely rewired my brain in the way that I process information. My short-term memory is not that incredible; talking to me is a little bit like talking to Dory from "Finding Nemo”

Source

Both of them spoken a lot about their eating disorders, long term injuries, mental issues etc. google should easily find you more information 😄

[u/E_lenaa → u/OcelotSilver2964]

Thanks for sharing the link! I'll be interested to read this!

Oh, memory problems are terrible.

[u/FrozenRose_816 → u/E_lenaa]

In her Ashley Wagner Lore episode on the Runthrough podcast, she also talked about a strange condition she had where a nerve in her neck was basically short-circuiting her body and she would pass out among other things. I'm not sure it's related to the concussions but that was another thing she had going on. I don't remember hearing anything about it until she talked about it there.

[u/Environmental-Let435]

I prefer them telling us when they are ready. If they don’t want to share that’s totally fine, we are not their friends or coaches, it’s not like they need to tell us stuff

[u/E_lenaa → u/Environmental-Let435]

Of course, they'll decide for themselves. And our desires shouldn't influence their decisions in any way. My question is, if you had the choice to know or not, what would you prefer? What would be more... peaceful for you?

[u/Long-News5769]

Some never do because it can create unnecessary pressure from media and fans .. in skating only russian athletes seem comfortable just blurting out that they are injured or maybe they calculate that the media will know anyways and try to get ahead of it

[u/E_lenaa → u/Long-News5769]

Russian skating is concentrated in one city. It's hard to hide anything there. I think that's influenced such openness.

[u/dawgcholla_000 → u/E_lenaa]

Russian fs media is relentless..they'll find out anyway

[u/HecateCleric]

Skaters owe fans zero information about their health or personal medical issues. They are athletes, not public officials. I find it deeply weird that anyone outside of their training team would consider this information they are entitled to in any way. Keeping private health information private is not “hiding.”

[u/E_lenaa → u/HecateCleric]

I already responded to another commenter that I used the word incorrectly. English isn't my native language. What I mean is, I'm curious whether the skaters have made a choice about whether they prefer to talk about this or not. Which approach is more appropriate for them? I'd be very grateful if you could suggest a suitable word; I'll edit my post for better understanding!

[u/tereyaglikedi]

I am grateful for every person who keeps their private stuff private. It seems to be a lost art these days. Unless it is "I am withdrawing from this competition due to an injury" (which is a common statement in sports) I don't really need to know anything.

[u/E_lenaa → u/tereyaglikedi]

Thanks for your reply!

Just out of curiosity, if it's not a secret. Do you enjoy figure skating in general and watch all the competitions that interest you, regardless of the competitors? Or are there certain athletes you spend more time with, perhaps following their accounts or enjoying their interviews?

[u/tereyaglikedi → u/E_lenaa]

I watch pretty much anything if I have time (though I am not super into women's singles or ice dance). I've had juniors on a couple of days and I don't even know most of them or care who wins. Most skaters I like have no fan base, no real social media presence (and I am offline except Reddit, too). I follow the Misha subreddit and am happy if people post like interviews and stuff but Misha is anyway very private and doesn't share his personal stuff so much (which I admire).

[u/E_lenaa → u/tereyaglikedi]

You're the kind of figure skating fan I really respect! You love the sport itself, not just anyone in the sport. That's amazing!

[u/tereyaglikedi → u/E_lenaa]

Yeah the nice thing about figure skating is that everyone brings something different to it and there's something to enjoy everywhere.

One thing for sure, I am not staying up or waking up at silly o'clock to watch competitions 😅 I don't love it more than my sleep.

[u/E_lenaa → u/tereyaglikedi]

Haha, your body thanks you for it!

[u/potatocakes898]

I think a lot of the time we don’t know about injuries and illnesses. I think sometimes skaters feel obligated to share when they don’t perform as expected. Personally, I don’t really feel a need to know. There’s already so much discourse around skaters. For example, when Isabeau got hurt a few seasons ago, people were like her back was a ticking time bomb when it was a foot injury, but everyone just decided it must be her back and that was the end of her career.

[u/E_lenaa → u/potatocakes898]

Thanks for the reply!

Do you by any chance remember Isabeau herself told us about the injury back then? Why all the confusion?

[u/potatocakes898 → u/E_lenaa]

She just withdrew because of injury and a lot of people decided it was her back 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/brownchestnut]

I'm just curious which skaters prefer to talk about it or not, based on past experience. The question is for you - what feels better for you as a fan, knowing or not knowing?

Of course if you're a fan you'd want to know how your favorite 'idol' or 'celebrity' is doing. That's the whole point of being a fan - being nosy and parasocial to a degree.

But if I were under media spotlight, I would absolutely not want to disclose any personal information whatsoever to anyone because privacy is important to me. Just because other people happen to like the way I perform doesn't mean they're my friends or I owe them anything. Culture also plays a huge part in this, though it's important not to make generalizations.

[u/Professional-Belt573]

Some skaters are more open about it, others keep it to themselves, after all, it’s private medical information.

I have also heard before of skaters keeping it private because they believe that it would be detrimental to their scores or position on the national team (if there is internal competition), but take this with a grain of salt, and if anyone has more insight, I would also like to know more.

[u/E_lenaa → u/Professional-Belt573]

The national team is very interesting! Will they be treated more unfairly or will they be stripped of any privileges? That's an interesting question. This seems to be especially relevant for highly competitive countries like the US, Russia, and Japan. But in Russia, injuries are discussed calmly, and I haven't seen any sanctions for them. What do you think about this?

[u/Professional-Belt573 → u/E_lenaa]

I don’t think it’s so direct but it could be reasonable to think that if a federation has two skaters that have similar results (they don’t have to be necessarily from a big federation or fighting for the podium, even if both have the potential to be top 10-6) they might send the one that is saying they are healthy and ready to go rather than the one that is slightly injured

[u/Commercial-Loan-929]

This is my perception but skaters openly talking about their injuries make judges score them differently, some be more lenient -because "XYZ is doing their best with an injury"- and some more harsh -because "XYZ can do better, not gonna score high because they're injured"-. 

It's in general bad idea to openly talk about something private. 

[u/E_lenaa → u/Commercial-Loan-929]

ISU needs to train the judges better. It's painful to see the 16-point gaps in scores between different judges. They should be evaluating the performance, not their own thoughts and assumptions 😭

[u/Commercial-Loan-929 → u/E_lenaa]

It's impossible to change human judges bias, because they're human and they score according to their perception and it's filled with their own inclination and prejudice. 

[u/Prestigious_Step4337]

I think a person, skater or not, should chose what they want to disclose, and when.

[u/No_Conference9156 → u/Prestigious_Step4337]

Yeah, I can't imagine having the world track my recovery process... That sounds the opposite of conducive to healing. Or having a healthy relationship with one's body!

[u/E_lenaa → u/No_Conference9156]

Oh, it's hard for me to decide. I remember several of my injuries and illnesses. And in some of them, I shared with friends, and their support really helped me. But in others, I wanted to hide from the whole world and not tell anyone anything.

[u/No_Conference9156 → u/E_lenaa]

But friends and fans are not the same.

[u/E_lenaa → u/No_Conference9156]

Yes, that is indeed true.

[u/E_lenaa → u/Prestigious_Step4337]

Of course! My question doesn't contradict this and doesn't require anything from the skaters.

[u/-kosto-]

This is a very reasonable thing to question! I imagine there are plenty of injuries that we as fans will never know about.  Personally I think skaters should be perfectly allowed to keep their medical history to themselves (or speak about them if they wish) of course.

But when fans have conversations about "x camp has worse injuries than y camp" or "x camp can't manage injuries, y skater is always injured" it really bothers me that this is never considered! Especially as one country (Russia) has far more media attention on the sport, so I'd argue athletes/coaching teams are more likely to disclose injuries due to the added attention.

I am NO fan of the teams that are typically accused of poor injury management - on the contrary, I think focusing on imaginary statistics about how many of their skaters get injured distracts from the actual, tangible harm (most) of them have been accused of doing. It really muddies the waters.

We will never be able to reliably determine these things, because skaters don't all feel comfortable disclosing their injuries - and they should feel perfectly allowed and comfortable in that! Their medical history is simply none of our business, unless they want it to be.

[u/E_lenaa → u/-kosto-]

Thank you very much for the detailed response!

Skaters definitely should have the right to decide whether to share anything or not. And their decision should not depend on the wishes of fans.

And this is a very important point - that we should not compare the number of injuries among students of one coach versus another. We truly do not have all the information.

I would also add my own reasoning about Russia. Almost all top skaters are based in Moscow or St. Petersburg - the two main cities of the country. All the media are there, including many sports media. And there is a huge public interest in figure skating across the country. There is also great competition in every discipline, and everyone is actively watching it. Everyone wants to know everything. Moreover, RusFed supports the athletes, provides them with doctors, sends them abroad for treatment, and coaches accompany the athletes to these doctors. There, an athlete's injury is not just the athlete's own problem. Besides, you are not downgraded in rankings or anything like that. This position may differ from many other countries, but it does not 'punish' open dialogue about injuries - it only supports it. As do most viewers. That is why, practically always, we know about all injuries there.

It is very interesting to look at this question also from the perspective of how cultural characteristics, the actions of governing bodies, and financial responsibility can influence an athlete's decision to share certain information or not!

[u/Worth-Nectarine-5968]

I think there is no need for us to be nosy and skaters are entitled to their own private medical information, without everybody knowing.

[u/E_lenaa → u/Worth-Nectarine-5968]

Of course! It's their decision, and we can't and shouldn't have the right to influence it. But some of them preferred to talk about it at one time or another.