Russian figure skating champion Evgenia Medvedeva has revealed that she is constantly forced to overcome pain during training, adding that every year it’s more and more difficult to compete against younger opponents.
The two-time world gold medalist confirmed that unexpected injuries and Covid-19 complications had disrupted her season, forcing her to withdraw from all national and international events and spend time in hospital.
Despite these difficulties, the skater hopes to fully recover and return to the ice to perform again.
“This season, I’ve had a lot of health challenges – I’m still fighting against them. My back is so much better… I’m healing every day,” Medvedeva said.
“In this world we’re living in [during the pandemic], it’s really difficult to stay motivated. I’m doing my best to stay healthy and prepare for competitions,” she added.
The two-time Olympic silver medalist admitted that having a spate of recurrent injuries has made it enormously difficult to skate, because of the constant pain accompanies every training session.
“I’m 21 and, with every year, it’s getting harder and harder to stay in shape and motivated, when your body is almost always in pain. It’s really difficult to wake up every morning and go to practice when you know you’ll feel the pain, but I’m doing my best,” the athlete said.
Last autumn, the prominent skater returned to her long-time coach, Eteri Tutberidze, but failed to demonstrate any of the results of their productive cooperation after being forced to miss all competitions due to her health problems.