Should Eteri be called "The Madame" at this point?

[ToFarAwayTimes]

I'm basing this off two cases, but I find this woman vile and loathsome.

1. The exhibition she has her 15 year old skater writhing around in sexual poses in a skintight outfit on Olympic ice.

2. What she/her/they did to Yulia Lipnitskaia.

This just gives me the Karolyi vibes to the max. Use these girls, starve them to death, sexualize them when they are children, collect the paycheck and accolades and glory, then send them on their way to become whatever they are going to become in life with the 'llessons' she gave them, medals or not.

Nobody else finds this woman as vile as me?

 

[Areski]

Yes, Eteri is a witch.

 

[Willin]

I think to some extent what annoys me the most is how much Russia's system (and Eteri) exploits some skaters. Yes, many like to skate, and yes, the top few will see great benefits, but there are many more that go through the harsh training and abuse for nothing but training costs.

I also wonder if it's cultural. In Russia abusive training methods seem to be accepted as necessary to win; if the USA Gymnastics backlash about training methods at the Karolyi Ranch is any indication, abusive training is disliked but not entirely absent in the US.

In some ways it's similar to college sports - the athletes have to go through intense training in hopes that they may get the miracle contract (NBA/NFL/MLB) that might help their family live a better life. But in college sports those athletes are 18 or very close to it. In Russian skating, you start as young as 8-10. In skating if you aren't one of the lucky few you leave with nothing; in college sports they'll leave with a degree and/or job connections to build off of. I think it's awful that both systems play off the desire of athletes to help their families through a slim shot at sports notoriety and only help those at the top 0.1%, but at least the collegiate system offers something to those who will never make it big.

 

[teacakes]

I 100% believe that the mental wellbeing of her students is not a priority. It's results.

It makes me uncomfortable seeing people praise her to the high heavens whilst simultaneously forgetting what happened to two of her promising students: Lipnitskaya and Pitkeev.

I honestly hope her students have long, healthy careers in spite of her.

 

[briancoogaert]

I think to some extent what annoys me the most is how much Russia's system (and Eteri) exploits some skaters.

I think judges are guilty of that too. They are the ones who give high marks to those kids, even if it's not deserved.

 

[Coquelicot14]

Your sour grapes are showing...

 

[StasiyaGalustyanLove]

I am confused! Are you referring to the Madame who was the creation of Waylon Flowers?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1a/ab/69/1aab6902a682c53626716add3a77ac31.jpg

I always found Madame entertaining, but also just a little bit scary! Her face looks like strange things have been done to it, and I would not want to get on her bad side or come across her in a dark alley way!

 

[cholla]

To me ToFarAwayTimes clearly refers to a female pimp and as much as I dislike Tutberidze's coaching methods and standards, I find it uncalled for and insulting.

 

[Coquelicot14]

Extremely insulting. Trying to taint the girls' incredible work by making dirty references.
Sour grapes.
What a loser.

 

[Twilight1]

I actually find it disturbing that her skaters get the PCS they do. Her skaters are also hard to root for when they are lucky if they last 3 seasons in seniors (aka Evgenia)

How do you really root for a skater if you feel like there are 5 more waiting in the wings like an assembly line and they won't be around next season?

 

[Coquelicot14]

Rooting for any skater or coach is a personal choice.
However these type of misogynistic comments are uncalled for. (I am referring to the initial thread post and title)
Also, so far both Medvedeva and Zagitova expressed interest in going on futher and competing at Worlds.
I have a feeling Medvedeva will stay on to the next Olympics for sure.
And kudos to Eteri for bringing Russian Ladies back to the top ranks in fs!

 

[Wyliefan]

I don't know that we need to call her names. And botox jokes aside, I don't know that she's entirely without feeling -- she seemed to have some for Janny the other night. Obviously her methods are very successful with the sort of personality that thrives on a challenge and will run itself ragged to meet it. I just wish there were a little more concern for those that don't quite have the stamina or the toughness to survive that environment, and a little more willingness to act like the mature adult in the situation when it's called for. She needed to act like a professional and caring adult when Julia had trouble and had to go elsewhere (save your pixels, Lipnitskaya detractors, I've heard it all before). She shouldn't have been bragging about Julia's willingness to starve herself in the first place; even if she didn't cause that problem, she certainly didn't help. And right now she needs to kindly but firmly tell Alina, "You're a minor. Save the tigersuits and the sexy ads for when you're not."

(Not that anyone ever needs to wear a tigersuit, IMHO. Catsuits can look very cool, but tigersuits just strike me as a little silly!)

 

[Sylvia]

Another view of Eteri T. from this Ladies' FS recap article -- by an American ice dancer who trained with her for 2 years in Cincinnati: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/02/23/267000814

... her coaching career began in the U.S. 20 years ago, when the show she was touring with lost its financial backing and left her stranded in the Midwest. Lacking money and just learning English, she and pairs skater Nicolai Apter ended up in Cincinnati, doing a skating adagio act at Kings Island amusement park. For extra money, she started giving lessons at a local rink.
"She was not a huggie, smiley, laughing person on the ice, although she can be playful off the ice," said Rob Shmalo, a former U.S. ice dance competitor who trained with Tutberidze for two years. "She really wanted you to work hard, and she would work hard with you."
Tutberidze's coaching methods, including on-ice stroking classes and off-ice exercises, were exotic for Cincinnati at that time, and Shmalo remembers many coaches being wary of her technique. But she became close to Shmalo's family, attending his sister's bat mitzvah and gifting his parents a balalaika guitar that still adorns their living room. Eventually, she had to relocate to other cities because she couldn't get enough work in Cincinnati.
"She believed in using every second possible on the ice, to really practice whatever you were working on at any given time," Shmalo said. "She got right down to business. People looked at her in an interesting way, but I loved every second with Eteri."

 

[judgejudy27]

I am sorry but why on earth are you blaming Julia's fall on Eteri. I love Julia, but reality is Julia grew, had injuries, never had the best jump technique to fall back on to begin with, and lost her jumps. And yes Evgenia replaced Julia as Eteri's #1, well gee what kind of coach would ever prioritize a kid who comes in and starts dominating the sport to someone who is a bit of a spent force who never was a dominant skater even at her peak. :rollseyes: I dont mean to be cruel, but lets be real here, any other coach would have done the same thing.

 

[ToFarAwayTimes]

To me ToFarAwayTimes clearly refers to a female pimp and as much as I dislike Tutberidze's coaching methods and standards, I find it uncalled for and insulting.

Good. It was meant to be offensive and insulting. If an adult in a coaching position encourages their charges into self-destructive behavior, to win at all costs, they deserve far worse than a harshly worded post on a message board.

This is child abuse, plain and simple.

How do you really root for a skater if you feel like there are 5 more waiting in the wings like an assembly line and they won't be around next season?

It's easy to root for them. They are just girls with hopes and dreams. Even the misguided ones or the ones whose skating you don't favor. This isn't about the girls, it's about the people around them who should be adults but are using and abusing children to serve their own interests.

She shouldn't have been bragging about Julia's willingness to starve herself in the first place; even if she didn't cause that problem, she certainly didn't help. And right now she needs to kindly but firmly tell Alina, "You're a minor. Save the tigersuits and the sexy ads for when you're not."

I'd heard otherwise, that Alina is just trying to take care of her family and she is encouraged to do these things by Eteri. Logically, that makes sense.

Another view of Eteri T. from this Ladies' FS recap article -- by an American ice dancer who trained with her for 2 years in Cincinnati: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/02/23/267000814

I'm all for tough coaching. It takes hard work and discipline to be good at anything. This isn't the snowflake Olympics, softies are not going to succeed. But that's entirely different from crossing very clear lines and abusing children to win at all costs.

I am sorry but why on earth are you blaming Julia's fall on Eteri. I love Julia, but reality is Julia grew, had injuries, never had the best jump technique to fall back on to begin with, and lost her jumps. And yes Evgenia replaced Julia as Eteri's #1, well gee what kind of coach would ever prioritize a kid who comes in and starts dominating the sport to someone who is a bit of a spent force who never was a dominant skater even at her peak. :rollseyes: I dont mean to be cruel, but lets be real here, any other coach would have done the same thing.

It should be pretty obvious why. Yulia had anorexia. She has shown a lot of courage talking about the subject in recent years, since it's not openly discussed in Russia or the skating community. She doesn't even look at skates these days let alone put any on, she detests skating and what it did to her life so much. At the very least, Eteri and the adults around her were willfully ignorant and negligent in their duties to take care of her as a person first, and as a competitor second. At worst, she was encouraged to starve herself in order to 'help' her perform better on the ice. Which case do you think?

 

[Wyliefan]

She doesn't even look at skates these days let alone put any on, she detests skating and what it did to her life so much.

That was true for a while, but now she's working with kids. I saw a cute video clip on Twitter of her teaching a little girl.

 

[ToFarAwayTimes]

That was true for a while, but now she's working with kids. I saw a cute video clip on Twitter of her teaching a little girl.

That's good, very happy to hear that.

 

[Coquelicot14]

It should be pretty obvious why. Yulia had anorexia. She has shown a lot of courage talking about the subject in recent years, since it's not openly discussed in Russia or the skating community. She doesn't even look at skates these days let alone put any on, she detests skating and what it did to her life so much.

Yeah, Yulia detests skating sooo much...

https://www.instagram.com/academy_ilinykh_lipnitskaya/

Just like the other things you've "heard".

You are simply a troll.

Btw, Gracie also had eating disorders issues, are you insulting her coaches too...

 

[ToFarAwayTimes]

Yeah, Yulia detests skating sooo much...

https://www.instagram.com/academy_ilinykh_lipnitskaya/

Just like the other things you've "heard".

You are simply a troll.

You'll have to try harder to defend The Madame. Yulia told the press herself a few months ago that she hadn't skated in a year and didn't miss skating.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/figureskating/olympic-champ-lipnitskaya-anorexia-1.4285781

If that's changed and she's beginning to make a healthy recovery, then I'm very happy for her.

Btw, Gracie also had eating disorders issues, are you insulting her coaches too...

Yes Gracie had health problems also, and she's been pretty candid that she doesn't like her ex-coach. Unlike Yulia, she hasn't said much about her disorder though, like even when it started. If a pattern of behavior with a coach and multiple students can be shown, then I'm all for going after those bad guys too.

 

[Coquelicot14]

Taking a year off from skating equals some kind of trauma? Oh please. Obviously she is doing just fine.

Stop making up bogeymans and accept the fact that the sport has high sacrifices and high rewards.

Enjoy your own life of "participation trophies".

 

[skateboy]

Nobody else finds this woman as vile as me?

Nope. I think Eteri is great and works very hard to produce excellent results. Wish I could say the same for some of the coaches in the US.

 

[oleada]

I don’t think it’s Eteri who is coming across as vile and loathsome in this thread.

 

[Aerobicidal]

From now on, I'm never going to say "bitch face" or "the face of the bitch" on FSU. They will forever be "madame face" and "the face of the madame."

 

[Twilight1]

From now on, I'm never going to say "bitch face" or "the face of the bitch" on FSU. They will forever be "madame face" and "the face of the madame."

Resting Eteri face anyone?

 

[coppertop1]

Are you still harping about Russian Ladies? Sochi was four years ago. Get over it and stop blaming the skaters and coaches

 

[Wyliefan]

Look, it's common knowledge that Eteri was just fine with Julia living on protein powder as a teenager. We have the words from Eteri's own mouth. We don't have to say that she's Satan herself, but neither do we have to pretend she's not complicit in at least one young girl getting anorexia. It's not going to extremes to question some of her tactics.

 

[Meoima]

I think from Eteri’s view: to get to the top you have to sacrifice A LOT.
We don’t have to agree with her method.
But isn’t sacrificing is true for all the disciplines and top skaters though...

 

[cholla]

Useless hence deleted...

 

[vodkashot]

Eteri sexualizing children? Seriously...?

Besides Zagitova's awful tiger/catsuit EX this season, I can't think of a single instance of Eteri's students ever being presented in a sexual manner. Lipnitskaya under Eteri was always packaged as a little girl (e.g. the little girl in the red dress, the little girl drawing hearts in the sand), Medvedeva is almost always covered up in long-sleeved costumes with serious Averbukh programs in which she's pretending to do non-sexual stuff like skip ropes, read books, and be deaf, and Eteri's other skaters like Kostornaia, Tarakanova and Trusova all have age-appropriate programs and costumes (granted, Trusova's skating to "Big Spender" this season but the choreography is very much in a cutesy TA-DA style instead of sexual).

Given Eteri's track record of packaging her students as little girls, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Zagitova's awful EX was Zagitova's own idea instead of Eteri's.

 

[muffinplus]

Given Eteri's track record of packaging her students as little girls, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Zagitova's awful EX was Zagitova's own idea instead of Eteri's.

Actually, no, Eteri was the one who came up with this program for Alina according to Daniil Gleykh.