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Post by Admin on Jul 18, 2020 19:24:20 GMT
Alexandrovskaya was born in Russia, but in 2016 obtained Australian citizenship and competed for her adopted country in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics with skating partner Harley Windsor. The pair previously won the 2017 world junior title and were twice Australian national champions in pairs figure skating. Alexandrovskaya retired from the sport in February after suffering several injuries. http://instagram.com/p/CCx2L1Appxa Mr Windsor, Australia's first Indigenous Winter Olympian, said he was "devastated" by the news of Alexandrovskaya's death. "The amount we had achieved during our partnership is something I can never forget and will always hold close to my heart," he said in an Instagram post. The Australian Olympic Committee released a statement on Saturday night describing the news as a "terrible blow". Known as Katia, Alexandrovskaya was a popular member of the Australian team in South Korea, according to 2018 Chef de Mission for Pyeongchang Ian Chesterman. "It is enormously sad to lose Katia who was a vibrant and talented person and an incredible athlete," he said. "She was quiet and humble in her manner but incredibly determined to be the best she could be. "Katia was an important member of our team in Pyeongchang, who loved the opportunity to compete with Harley and embraced her time in the Australian Olympic Team. "We are all deeply saddened to hear the news today. Life since the Games has not been easy for her and this is another timely reminder of just how fragile life is. "Katia's death is another blow to our winter sports community who is still reeling from our loss of Chumpy Pullin. "But we are a close-knit community that will continue to offer support to each other at this incredibly sad time." Alex Pullin, known as Chumpy, drowned at a popular Gold Coast beach on July 8 while spearfishing. Olympic Winter Institute of Australia chief executive Geoff Lipshut said Alexandrovskaya had a special place in Australia's winter sport history and together with Mr Windsor the pair were Australia's first figure skating world champions.
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Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2020 19:30:07 GMT
Ekaterina 'Katia' Alexandrovskaya felt her life had fallen apart shortly before she died aged 20, her friends and former coaches say. The Russian-Australian star had been told to give up sport - in which she had been training since she was just four - after being diagnosed with epilepsy. She struggled to come to terms with the diagnosis, and one report on Russia's Channel 5 claimed she had been 'forced to work in a striptease club' to make ends meet. Other accounts said the Russian-born star found the pandemic lockdown crushing at a time when she was also trying to forge a new life. Her mother was hospitalised 'with shock' in Moscow after the skater was found dead at the base of a sixth floor residential building in the Russian capital. Latest reports in Moscow suggest the skater had been 'drunk' before she fell from the building on 1905 Street in central Moscow. Her death is believed to be suicide based on preliminary information, according to Russian law enforcement sources. REN TV showed footage of the block. She died at the scene. A female friend named Veronika said Ekaterina had been depressed in the period leading to her death. The pair had recently spoken on the phone and Veronika said she got the impression 'Katia could not find herself'. 'She felt lonely. I supported her as best I could... but due to circumstances I could not devote much time to her, which I regret now. I was due to meet her the other day,' she said. Veronica said that Ekaterina had hoped to be able to return to the sporting world she loved. 'She wanted to return to big sport, but did not know how to do it,' she said. She had hoped to get a TV job linked to sport but was turned down for it. Five years ago she suddenly lost her father, and since hitting her own crisis had felt his absence more deeply, she said. Andrei Khekalo, who was Ekaterina's former coach, said she hadn't trained since January 10th. 'Then she had an attack. She was put in for an examination, it was before the Championship of the Four Continents,' he said.
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Post by Admin on Jul 20, 2020 19:24:02 GMT
'It was a very serious competition for Katia and Harley (Windsor), where they had to perform well. 'Katia did not come to training, because she suffered an epileptic seizure. 'Her mum was scared, it's good that she was at home. An ambulance was promptly called, and Katia was examined for two weeks. After that I went to see her doctor, who told me that it was epilepsy.' The strong recommendation was that she should stop professional sport, he told RIA Sports. The coach said: 'I still tried to convince her to perform, but they convinced me that Katia should finish and take up another life. 'She was urged to study and she was a 'smart girl - I had no doubt that she would get into any university'. It is unclear if she followed this advice, but it is known she tried to get a TV job in Moscow, and failed. She was in the care of psychologists but treatment had not helped her, it was reported. Khekalo also added that she had previously struggled with sleepwalking. 'Katia had such cases so at first when I learned about her death, I thought this could be the reason,' he said.
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Post by Admin on Aug 27, 2020 22:37:55 GMT
The move is a bid to reduce the immense pressure on pre-teen and early adolescent skaters to perform complex jumps and dangerous routines in order to be ready for the Olympics and other international competitions before their bodies have matured. An investigation by The Australian and The Daily Telegraph into Alexandrovskaya’s apparent suicide has also prompted the Australian Human Rights Commission to say its investigation into athlete welfare in gymnastics should also apply to other sports, including figure-skating. More than a month after Alexandrovskaya took her life, Australian sporting officials have still not agreed to an inquiry into the circumstances leading up to her death, despite serious concerns about accountability and the welfare of underage athletes. Other authorities are therefore taking matters into their own hands and looking at major reforms, including raising the age of Olympic ice skaters. Under ice skating’s international regulations, competitors are permitted to enter senior competitions from the age of 15 but critics say that’s far too young, that it increases the risk of injury and promotes international “trading” of talented child athletes — a practice World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe likened to “human trafficking”. Alarmed by the burnout rate and injuries to teenage skaters attempting dangerous jumps, the Dutch Skating Federation last year submitted a proposal to the ISU to raise the minimum age to 17. The matter was not discussed after it was removed from the agenda following a procedural motion but ISU president Jan Dijkema said Alexandrovskaya’s death had triggered a rethink. Sporting federations have been shamed into taking action as more cases emerge, including the global gymnastics scandal, the death of Alexandrovskaya and Jessica Shuran Yu’s account of how she was physically and emotionally abused while training in China. Mr Dijkema also revealed the ISU’s medical commission had begun a full review into mental health issues affecting young skaters and was working with the International Olympic Committee to find real solutions to the dark secrets emerging as more athletes speak up. “The ISU, through the respective ISU member federations, is trying to obtain information that might lead to review certain ISU rules and procedures, especially related to the applicable age limits,” he said. “Besides a possible ISU council proposal to be put on the agenda of the 2021 congress, some ISU member federations have signalled their intention to do so … there will most likely be a debate on the issue (at the) congress.” The ISU congress was to be in Thailand this year but was pushed back 12 months because of the pandemic; decisions about raising age limits will come too late for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Gymnastics Australia recently engaged Australia’s peak human rights authority to conduct an independent review to examine “the nature and impact on athletes of misconduct, bullying, abuse, sexual harassment and assault within gymnastics in Australia” and come up with recommendations to prevent it happening again.
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