Figure Skating: He's Here, He's Weir, Get Over It

[tanyak]

Feb 14, 2022 19:33:39 GMT -4 seat6 said:

One of them (I forget which one), can no longer turn to the left.

Evgenia Medvedeva, the 2018 silver medalist, is permanently disabled.

Awful.

[scarlet]

Johnny and Tara's thoughts on this:

link

[technicolor]

Feb 14, 2022 12:20:45 GMT -4 lpatrice said:

I feel bad for the skaters but let’s be honest, this mess is exactly what WADA, IOC, ISU and all the other alphabet soup agencies deserve. Hopefully, this will lead to some badly needed reforms and a system overhaul (but I don’t have high hopes). Also, it’s time for the other countries to push back, I don’t understand why everyone does a perfunctory song and dance about the ridiculousness of it all and then quietly acquiesces and slinks back into corner. What is Russia holding over their heads?

I think the ugly truth is probably that if you looked at the sports programs of many countries, perhaps what you'd find wouldn't be pretty either... Not necessarily state sponsored doping, but yeah... Which is why the tepid responses to such cases keep happening.

And I'm all for raising the age for seniors to 18 in figure skating. Tara Lipinski also comes to mind with a hip surgery because she learned all that stuff way too early. Tutberidze pretty much runs a systematic child abuse program, far as I am concerned. And just like with the Karolyis in the US officials/audiences are eager to look away because it produces results. These girls are prodigies, Valieva is a once in a decade talent IMO, but there's got to be a way to train them in a more nurturing way.

[Mutagen]

Roundup of reactions from other skaters on this Reddit post. I haven't gone through all of them but I'm pleased most other skaters seem to be directing their anger at the organization/coaches and not at Valieva herself. Adam Rippon's take in particular I agree with.  Also, the fact that Yuna Kim waded in is pretty startling - good for her.

[Ginger]

I did watch the skating this morning and regardless of how well Valieva does or doesn't do, it's extremely unpleasant to watch. There was already way too much pressure on her, and she was never going to get any TLC from her abusive witch of a coach if she screwed up, and now she's out there with this extra scrutiny and stigma. The ROC is going to make her take the fall for the doping. Who cares about her GOE and full rotations? It's all just sad.

[Deleted]

I've pretty much decided I can't watch this. It's just so wrong on so many levels. I didn't even know that Evgenia was permanently disabled, that's horrific.

Best of luck to Mariah, Karen, and Alyssa. Congratulations to Nathan Chen, and to Hubbell and Donohue. (And Chock and Bates, 4th at the Olympics is certainly an accomplishment.)

[cabbagekid]

If they didn’t punish her because she’s too young to know better, then move the age limit to 18.

I want to watch figure skating because it’s my favorite winter sport but at the same time, i know if she wins, her coach wins and I don’t want her coach to win. Now I find myself wanting a 15 year old to fall and I don’t have the stomach for that when the 15 year old didn’t do anything wrong.

Ugh, it’s such a mess.

[tanyak]

I looked at Evgenia's Instagram last night. It looks like she's in some sort of skating/performance show with a partner. I didn't translate her captions, but the photos seem to go back to at least the fall. She also seems to be hawking some products and maybe doing a little modeling. She's crazy gorgeous. I remember thinking that four years ago.

She seems to be doing Ok, but it's awful to know that she can no longer jump in one direction.

I read that Kamila was very emotional after her skate and didn't speak to the media. My heart breaks for her.

[seat6]

Today after my 60 min workout I drank about 20 oz of water. I thought about those poor girls putting in 12 hr practices and being forbidden from meeting basic human needs during competitions and I was so sad for them.

No gold medal is worth destroying so many lives.

[OnyxRose]

Feb 15, 2022 17:49:37 GMT -4 tanyak said:

I looked at Evgenia's Instagram last night. It looks like she's in some sort of skating/performance show with a partner. I didn't translate her captions, but the photos seem to go back to at least the fall. She also seems to be hawking some products and maybe doing a little modeling. She's crazy gorgeous. I remember thinking that four years ago.

She seems to be doing Ok, but it's awful to know that she can no longer jump in one direction.

I read that Kamila was very emotional after her skate and didn't speak to the media. My heart breaks for her.

She’s dating an awful Russian Tik Toker…girl needs to love herself.