Юлия Липницкая
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At just 15 years old, Yulia Lipnitskaya was heralded as the next star of the figure skating world after her viral skate at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Coached by then-unknown Eteri Tutberidze, Yulia's skating skills made her an immediate standout as she entered the world of international competition. Although she did not win in the individual category, she brought home a gold medal for Russia in the team event as the youngest figure skater to win an Olympic Gold Medal since 1936.
After the 2014 Olympics, the bright young star of figure skating begins to struggle. The post-Olympics years are marked with falls on jumps, slower skating, and poor performances.
Yulia leaves her coach, Eteri Tutberidze in order to stay in the game.
YULIA RETIRES FROM SKATING AT JUST 19 YEARS OLD
After her retirement, Yulia was hospitalized for treatment for anorexia.
It was revealed that she was on a diet of nothing but powdered nutrients during Sochi 2014.
Body image issues and eating disorders are not uncommon in the sport. As the body matures, it becomes harder to execute the more rigorous jumps and elements, thus prompting some athletes and coaches to put the pressure on to stay as thin-not healthy-as possible.
Evgenia Medvedeva & Alina Zagitova, the 2018 Olympic Silver and Gold Medalists (respectively). Both girls trained under Eteri Tutberidze and succeeded Yulia.
Despite the prevalence of eating disorders in the sport, it's no surprise that Yulia suffered from anorexia. Other students that trained under Eteri have openly talked about how they are not allowed to drink water on competition day because every gram matters and weight gain will thwart the athletes' technique. Not only does Eteri's coaching method rely on young, pre-pubescent athletes, but on having an extremely low body weight as well. This is wildly unhealthy for anyone, let alone growing teenagers.
Yulia was the first in a long line of Eteri proteges–not meant to be coached as athletes with long-lasting, sustainable careers, but pawns on an assembly line of champions. Their success is tremendous, but fleeting; as soon as they begin to break down from the abuse on their prepubescent bodies, they are quickly replaced by another up-and-coming successor.
The figure skating community coined the term "Eteri Expiration Date" to describe the average age at which Eteri's students tend to lose their skills or even retire:
17 years old.
But it doesn't matter, as there will be a new girl ready to take her place soon after.
Yulia's unfortunate end to her career represents the brutality of the sport on these young women: when training is too intense, the athletes must sacrifice their health and well-being at the expense of greatness. In Yulia's case–and many other athletes'–retirement at such an early age comes not as a choice, but as being forced out of the sport due to injury.