On Wednesday, 14-year-old figure skater Maria Simonova fell terribly from the support and hit her head on the ice. The episode is discussed everywhere, but it is not unique. The most dangerous incidents in pair skating are in the material Sports.
Lifts in figure skating seem to be not the most risky element. Most end with a normal landing and only tickle the nerves of the audience. This is not a jump or a throw, where the likelihood of falling is higher. Everything looks quite reliable: the man stands firmly on his feet and holds his tenacious, coordinated partner in strong hands.
In fact, modern lifts in pair skating and dancing have reached such a level of difficulty that a fall, if it does happen, it can have very dire consequences. The danger is that the one-hand grip, difficult positioning and changing positions within the support leave athletes no room for error.
The partner, even realizing that she is falling, is almost never able to group herself and put her hands up. And, if he does fall, he falls as best he can, including unplanned landings on his head. In exceptional cases, a partner can insure and soften the blow to the ice, usually exposing himself.
One of the craziest stories happened with the American figure skater Paul Binnebos. In 1999, he suffered a serious traumatic brain injury during an unsuccessful lift — he hit his head and dropped Laura Handy on himself.
Several surgeries and a long recovery saved Paul's life, but he was forever left with the right side of his face paralyzed. Of course, he didn’t return to sports, but he went back onto the ice and has been working as a coach for many years.
A concussion resulted in a fall from support for Russian figure skater Tatyana Totmyanina, American Ashley Kane and Czech athlete Olga Prokuronova. The video with the latter’s participation could top the list of the most terrible falls in history — not only did she fly face first into the ice at speed, but after the fall she turned around with her arms twisted, which were held by her partner all this time. It turned out to be almost a somersault parallel to the ice. By some miracle there was no spinal fracture.
But the Ukrainian figure skater Dmitry Palamarchuk, after falling from a support, developed such back problems, due to which he subsequently lost his leg. Fortunately, it is reversible — its functions were restored. But I had to spend a lot of time and effort on treatment. While he was lying in a hospital bed, his partner Julia Obertas left him. The same one whose life he saved by taking the impact of the fall upon himself.
Interestingly, the skater’s back problems were revealed later. At first, everyone was worried about Palamarchuk’s head — for some time after the fall he was disoriented, and then completely lost consciousness.
A very recent example is the fall of Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov at the 2022 Olympics in the team tournament. There were no serious consequences, fortunately, but it looked very scary. The partner in the kiss and edge had no face, so he must have been afraid for his partner and for himself.
This list is only a small part of such stories. Most falls happen in training behind closed doors and we never know about them. Well, unless it ends in serious injury. And it is, in fact, impossible to influence this — only if figure skating is completely banned.
A second loss of concentration, a slightly sweatier hand than usual, and even a new suit made of slippery fabric — all this can cost a couple an element, a place in the table, and in the sad prospect of even health and normal life.
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