Completely missed this story TWO WEEKS AGO, but it appears that Carolina Kostner is going to be training with Frank Carroll and Christa Fassi this season, per IceNetwork. Um, wonder how Mirai Nagasu feels about that. Also, Kostner has hired a sports psychologist. Jennifer Kirk blogged about the situation recently.
It will be interesting to see if this change positively affects her. My guess is that being in a completely new country, with two new coaches, after nearly a decade with ex-coach Michael Huth, may be too much for Carolina to handle, and I suspect this move will result in an increase of nerves when it comes time for her to compete.
I fear it may be too late in her career to completely turn her response to the competitive arena around–even with the help of a sports psychologist. I hope I’m proven wrong, though, because Carolina is an extremely talented skater, and I would love to see on the podium this year.
Earlier, Kirk writes that she thinks Kostner is often overscored. I understand why judges like Kostner, although I cannot say I am hoping to see her win a medal this year. Perhaps my view has been colored by seeing her overscored over the years? I can see the qualities that the judges like in her, though. I know she makes mistakes a lot, but I actually thought that her 2009 world championships meltdown was a complete anomaly, I mean, her head was obviously not in the game, so hopefully she can at least get back to whatever she was doing the year before when she won the world silver medal.