Good News??

http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSL0238238320070402

Good news, perhaps?

Yep, i watched an interview with them yesterday and they did say that it wasn't sure whether they stay or not.
...as a big fan, i would like them to stay and i know that they won't stop being the best, but i am worried if the judges will give them the gold again...i mean three years in a row? I just hope that they won't be deceited by mean judges, because they do deserve the gold.

Yeah, I know what you mean...they've already done a big thing by winning twice! And they've changed so many other 'standards' in ice dance, that I could totally see them coming back with another original program and just winning it all.

And the very selfish part of me just wants to see them skate, regardless of the results Albena and Max represent an era in ice dance and it would be very sad to see them go So I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!!

xox!

I'm going to miss them tremendously if/when they do retire, but although of course it would be nice to see them skate, they also deserve (at some point of their choosing) to be able to do something else with their lives besides train and compete and train and compete and train and compete etc ad nauseum. It's a really hard life!

So I don't know. Whatever they choose is okay with me.

Have ALL my fingers crossed so that they decide to stay!!!!

cute_n_gorgeous wrote:

Have ALL my fingers crossed so that they decide to stay!!!!

Me too.... IMO now they look more into the idea to stay then they were last year..I hope Nathalia to convince them...like ALbena said "She will start to call us in a month to ask when we are going to train'

lanadd wrote:

cute_n_gorgeous wrote:

Have ALL my fingers crossed so that they decide to stay!!!!

Me too.... IMO now they look more into the idea to stay then they were last year..I hope Nathalia to convince them...like ALbena said "She will start to call us in a month to ask when we are going to train'

well, I think this year their victory was even more solid than the last year's one. They seem to be in a very good form - so why leave???
And all these things about age - it's not gymnastics or something!!!!

I'm sooooo confused. I was under the impression that Albena and Maxim were planning to take next year off, and afterwards decide on whether to return to competition or not. Is that still the plan? Or is there another plan? I guess I will just have to wait for their official decision on this matter!

Lana wrote:

I'm sooooo confused. I was under the impression that Albena and Maxim were planning to take next year off, and afterwards decide on whether to return to competition or not. Is that still the plan? Or is there another plan? I guess I will just have to wait for their official decision on this matter!

No they haven't decided anything yet...when asked from the journalists,they say they want to rest first, before taking such an important desicion..that they have the desire and the strenght to compete, but that they also need some time to have a personal life..They promised to announce their decision soon (in a month probably)
For me the most important thing is that they have the desire

lanadd wrote:

They promised to announce their decision soon (in a month probably)

In a month??? Ufff... Too long. hehe. Oh well, it's an important decision, they should take all the time they need to make it.

oh wow!!!
it would be great if they decided to stay!!

They'll stay because winning the gold isn't enough-they want to become a legend and most couples who have reached the legend status have 4-5 world titles, so Albena & Maxim still have some work to do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Figure_Skating_Championships
Noone can beat them soon, so why waste the chance?Stay.

Lacey wrote:

They'll stay because winning the gold isn't enough-they want to become a legend and most couples who have reached the legend status have 4-5 world titles, so Albena & Maxim still have some work to do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Figure_Skating_Championships
Noone can beat them soon, so why waste the chance?Stay.

Good thinking I believe Linichuk will use the same logic to convince them...but what about the judges...won't they be tired of giving the tittle to Bulgaria?

Lacey wrote:

They'll stay because winning the gold isn't enough-they want to become a legend and most couples who have reached the legend status have 4-5 world titles, so Albena & Maxim still have some work to do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Figure_Skating_Championships
Noone can beat them soon, so why waste the chance?Stay.

Lacey, thanks for the link! It's sooooo interesting!
erm, I thought Marina and Gwendal have two world titles, but actually it's only one So, A&M have more gold medals than the Frenches Aaaand Bulgaria is on 6th place in the ranking of the medalists! Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!

I was thinking a couple of days ago...that maybe giving up would be the best, and not because of the age or the years they've spend training and stuff, but because i was worried that maybe the judges won't give them the gold they deserve again...
....now i have a new wish, i want them to stay too , now they are in the best shape they can ever be, and what's the point of giving up
..stay with us Albena and Maxim, because you are the best

Well, after they won the world title last year, I was like, as much as I want them to stay, I don't think the judges will give them another world title. It's happened to bulgarian sportsmen before - someone wins a title, or a match or whatever, but then the judges do anything to stop them from winning again. So I was sure the same would happen to Albena and Maxim. Fortunately, it didn't! I've never been happier to be proven wrong!
The question is, what will happen this season. Will the judges decide that Albena&Max have had enough, or will they judge them fairly, now that A&M have two world titles. As much as I would love them to stay, it would be awful if they stay and be treated like they were at the European championship. They were so frustrated and unhappy and pessimistic then... I wouldn't want them to have to endure all this stress again.
Well, it's up to them to decide, and I'm sure all the fans will support them whatever their decision is.

iv4eto_k wrote:

I was thinking a couple of days ago...that maybe giving up would be the best, and not because of the age or the years they've spend training and stuff, but because i was worried that maybe the judges won't give them the gold they deserve again...
....now i have a new wish, i want them to stay too , now they are in the best shape they can ever be, and what's the point of giving up
..stay with us Albena and Maxim, because you are the best

I hope if they skate the way they can these judges won't have a single chance to underesteemate them!!!

P.S. And while I have just decided to learn bulgarian it would be mean of them to quit

Lana wrote:

I'm sooooo confused. I was under the impression that Albena and Maxim were planning to take next year off, and afterwards decide on whether to return to competition or not. Is that still the plan? Or is there another plan? I guess I will just have to wait for their official decision on this matter!

seems familiar?!
The same podium, the same choices...is is possible to have the same results?!

Aah, I fully agree with you, Grace. I will miss them too much. I already do and the season has barely finished. I can't cope yet with the prospect of not seeing them in competitions again.
But I am more or less preapred to face this aspect. It's a hard life and they really deserve to rest...more than a week or a month.
But if they decide to stay I will be.....too happy!!

I'm really hoping that whatever they choose to do with their lives ..it would be the best..
P.S. cute_n_gorgeous, good luck in the bulgarian..it's one of the 4th most difficult languages in the world but doesn't seem like such a problem to me (of course..i'm a bulgarian ) , if you come here for like an year - you'll be fine

Last year I didn't want them to stay because I was sure the juges would not give them the title again! But at Skate America I totally loved their two program and I was very happy that they were still skating

I know one the reasons Albena & Max stayed is because the OD was Tango...but next year it's Folk

So I don't know if I want them to skate next season, but if they think they can do 2 beautiful programs, why not

Quote :

I know one the reasons Albena & Max stayed is because the OD was Tango...but next year it's Folk

Their tango was divine this past year. It was easily the best tango I've ever seen on/off the ice!!

Folk...hmm...it could be a good tribute to Russian folk music for Maxim, maybe?

Girlse,i think we should not be such egoists.of corse i also be very happy,if they will stay,but on the other hand,it seems they not so yong and they should have life without ise

K.S wrote:

Girlse,i think we should not be such egoists.of corse i also be very happy,if they will stay,but on the other hand,it seems they not so yong and they should have life without ise

Well, and is their life on ice that bad? I think many people have to work extremely hard without having even 1 per cent of the love and appreciation A&M get. It's not as if they were 40 something.. after all.

SaraSofia wrote:

Folk...hmm...it could be a good tribute to Russian folk music for Maxim, maybe?

I seriously hope that if they do compete next year, they do a Bulgarian folk OD, not a Russian folk OD. Some of the Bulgarian folk music/dances are really fascinating and I have a strange feeling that everyone and their mother is going to wimp out and default to Russian folk next year-- the last thing we'd need is for Albena and Maxim to be Russian Folk OD #324902.

cute_n_gorgeous wrote:

Well, and is their life on ice that bad? I think many people have to work extremely hard without having even 1 per cent of the love and appreciation A&M get. It's not as if they were 40 something.. after all.

The thing is, of course, that it's really not about the love and appreciation they get at and directly following competitions and shows (which of course is much more than many skaters ever get!). But if you added up the time they spend being adored by their many fans, I'm quite sure it would add up to less than a quarter of the year.

The rest of the year, of course, is spent getting up, going training, taking a nap, and going back training, day after day after day after day. Continual exhaustion, injuries, pain, stress, strictly regulated diets, being away from family for months at a time, living in boring small towns (trust me, Newark, Delaware, is not exactly a hotbed of excitement ), difficult travel schedules... no, maybe their life "on" ice isn't bad, necessarily, but it's not all that much fun, either, and much harder than it looks from the outside.

In the grander scheme of things, they're definitely not old, but when you think that they've been training and competing since they were 8 or 9 years old-- they've had the same "job" for more than 20 years, and for basically their entire lives. They're at the age where many people like to settle down and start a family, and as long as they're competing, that's impossible.

I love to see them skate as much as anyone else, but at this point I think that if they wanted to walk away from competitive skating forever, it would be completely and totally understandable. At some point the question really becomes, how much longer are you going to put the rest of your life on hold for the sake of this sport?

iv4eto_k wrote:

I'm really hoping that whatever they choose to do with their lives ..it would be the best..
P.S. cute_n_gorgeous, good luck in the bulgarian..it's one of the 4th most difficult languages in the world but doesn't seem like such a problem to me (of course..i'm a bulgarian ) , if you come here for like an year - you'll be fine

I think it win't be that difficult for me cause it's a slavic language