"It's time to open a new page in life": figure skater Radionova announced her retirement

"I said to myself: either you do it well, or stop altogether."

The bronze medalist of the World Figure Skating Championship, Elena Radionova, announced her retirement at the age of 21 on Tuesday afternoon.

The athlete reached out to her followers with a special post on Instagram.

In it, she declared her desire to "open a new page in life."

She also thanked the fans and coaches she has worked with throughout her career.

“Figure skating will forever remain in my heart.

This is how I lived.

It taught me how to cope with difficulties, gave me willpower, exciting emotions and invaluable experience.

I miss our whole big skating family!

It was an incredibly cool time, which I will remember only with love and trepidation, ”wrote Radionova.

In conclusion, the girl promised not to move away from figure skating and noted that she wanted to try herself in a new role and pass on her rich experience to the younger generation.  

“I am discovering a new chapter in my life, which will be no less exciting and interesting.

I love you very much, ”added Radionova.

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Publication by Elena Radionova (@lenok_radionova) Sep 22, 2020 at 4:00 PDT

A little later, the bronze medalist of the World Championship, who has not taken to the ice in major tournaments since December 2017, spoke in more detail about the reasons that prompted her to hang her skates on a nail.

According to Elena, she finally realized that she would end up with sports after the test skates in 2018.

“My first thoughts came to me when I didn't qualify for the Olympics of the same year.

But I thought that the post-Olympic year is always very unpredictable.

I went to Art On Ice, got in good shape at the end of the season, put on good programs, life got better.

But the offseason turned out to be insanely hard and absolutely blurry.

I said to myself: either you are doing it well, or stop altogether, ”the R-Sport sportswoman quotes.

Radionova admitted that the main reason that prompted her to end her career was a serious hormonal imbalance, due to which she gained weight.

At some point, for this reason, the Universiade champion was even stopped to go to the rink, since she could get injured.

In the summer of 2018, Radionova tried to get in shape for the last time and even took part in the Russian Cup stage in Yoshkar-Ola, but managed to skate only a short program.

“I exhausted myself so much that afterwards I never regretted that I quit figure skating.

I'm so tired of all this.

In my opinion, I squeezed the maximum out of myself, ”added Radionova.

In October 2018, the Russian woman was still announced for two stages of the Grand Prix, but withdrew from both.

Nevertheless, the Moscow native was in no hurry to announce the end of her career.

“I needed time for the skater to fade out of me and another person with other goals matured, who with a calm soul could say: this is really the end,” explained Radionova.

According to the skater, at the moment she is passionate about choreography and literally lives by it.

Perhaps Elena, after the end of her career, will find herself in this very path. 

There were several other interesting moments in an interview with Radionova.

For example, she admitted that as a teenager, she wanted to have her ribs removed in order to have a narrower waist.

Elena also noted that she respects Yana Rudkovskaya, Olga Buzova and Natalia Vodianova as women who made themselves. 

The now ex-skater also told about her relationship with CSKA football player Konstantin Kuchaev, which has been going on for several years.

According to Radionova, the midfielder of the Russian youth team became her first young man.

“Kostya and I find it easier in the sense that I understand what fatigue is after training and what a sportsman's state is before and after a game.

And sometimes, other girls want, first of all, to take a walk with their footballer, but at this moment he needs peace, ”- said Radionova.

"Radionova did a lot for our figure skating"

The end of Radion's career caused a serious resonance in the world of Russian figure skating.

So, the president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) Alexander Gorshkov wished her good luck in her future endeavors.

“Lena Radionova is an athlete who was in the forefront of our girls, who began to actively win back and gain leading positions.

She is a talented athlete who has done a lot for our figure skating.

I would like to wish Lena good luck in her future plans and endeavors, ”the functionary said.

And the coach of Radionova Elena Buyanova called her “the ideal of women's single skating”.

In addition, the specialist suggested that Radionova is capable of staging programs well.

“She is very sensitive to music, so I am very glad that Elena stayed with us at CSKA as a program director.

She's good at it.

I would like her to continue to develop in this direction, I know that she will definitely succeed, and her talent as a director will help to reveal many athletes, ”the coach said.

Buyanova was supported by another well-known specialist, as well as commentator Tatyana Tarasova.

According to her, Radionova should become a good choreographer.

“I think we need such people.

You see how nothing goes missing in Canada, She-Lynn Bourne is already working at the highest level.

The best choreographer in the world.

And why then Lenochka won't succeed?

Everything should work out for her, ”Tarasova summed up.

Finally, the choreographer and program director Ilya Averbukh, who also collaborated with Radionova, called her skating very beautiful.

“Lena looks brilliant in ice shows.

I want her to find herself in life.

This is a very talented, spiritualized and gifted person.

I have only fond memories of working with Lena.

I wish her all the best, "- quotes Averbukh" Championship ".

And two-time Olympic champion Maxim Trankov expressed regret that the stage of Radionova's growing up did not fall on the Olympic Games. 

Two world championship medals and an unrealized Olympic dream

21-year-old Radionova, indeed, often remained in the shadow of the main stars of the Russian national team, Yulia Lipnitskaya, Adelina Sotnikova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Evgenia Medvedeva.

Elena's career saw the rise of a number of very strong Russian figure skaters.

As a result, the Muscovite never managed to perform at the Olympic Games.

Nevertheless, Radionova's skating was always recognizable, and she herself enjoyed the well-deserved love of the fans.

Elena's career peaked in 2015, when she won medals at the European and World Championships.

At the planetary championship in Shanghai, she lost only to Tuktamysheva and Satoko Miyahara.

Moreover, after the short program, the Rosiyanka was second, but she performed unsuccessfully in the free program and let the Japanese woman pass ahead.

At the European Championship in Stockholm, a similar situation developed, only Radionova completed the short program first.

As a result, she was less than a point ahead of the same Tuktamysheva.

A year later, at the European Championship in Bratislava, Elena again remained second.

This time she was bypassed by the rapidly gaining strength of Medvedev.

At the same time, Radionova skated her programs cleanly, and Evgenia won with a fall due to complexity.

At the World Cup, Elena became only sixth.

The last full year of her career was 2017, when the world championship medalist performed at two stages of the Grand Prix and even became the third in Beijing.

And a year later, Buyanova reported about her ward's health problems.