ISU statement on Mariah Bell and Eun soo Lim

[Aussie Willy]

Next the skaters will Have to wear a neon construction vest

Many rinks use hi-vis vests or arm bands for practice sessions.

Wow the whole thing is like Chinese whispers. The video shows nothing untoward. Just skaters in a practice session. Definitely irresponsible and inappropriate reporting without facts based on an unfounded complaint.

As others have said the skater with the music has right of way and everyone must get out of their way.

Of course there are going to be Tonya and Nancy comparisons. It is the only thing that most people in the world know about figure skating. Nothing better than a skating catfight to create some reportable drama.

 

[centerstage01]

Lim needs to fire ATS immediately and as publicly as possible. And some serious apologies to Mariah are in order ASAP.

 

[becca]

Lim needs to fire ATS immediately and as publicly as possible. And some serious apologies to Mariah are in order ASAP.

It might be difficult I remember a few years ago they said Kim was funding a lot of Korean skaters and this is her company. It may need be super easy for Lim to break free. The Korean federation needs to step in though.

I want to be clear that Lim is 16 years old and it's the adults surrounding her paid to manage her that should be acting better.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

It reminds me of the last Olympics in short-track speed skating. Kim Boutin from Canada won the bronze mdal afther the skater from South Korea had been disqualified. Boutin received death threats on her social media. South Korean fandom is really something...

 

[rfisher]

My guess is things have taken place at the home rink and this "incident" was the last straw for Lim. I didn't see anything intentional in the video but if Lim or her people already felt there were problems before and it had been building up, then I could see how they would perceive what happened to be cause for issue.

Maybe she's jealous of Mariah and wants her boyfriend (who wouldn't ) and this is her way of getting Mariah out of the way and clearing her path to Roman. And the Bunny. Or maybe just the Bunny.

 

[JamieElena]

this story was in the lead on NBC Nightly News just now. :-(

 

[Plisskin]

Lead story on NBC Nightly News??? This isn't the 1st time this has happened, even with this agency. I remember the stink they rose with Denis Ten. But why is this story gaining so much traction worldwide by major news corporations? This is really weird.

 

[CaliSteve]

Lead story on NBC Nightly News??? This isn't the 1st time this has happened, even with this agency. I remember the stink they rose with Denis Ten. But why is this story gaining so much traction worldwide by major news corporations? This is really weird.

And non skating people are posting pics of Tonya/I Tonya.

 

[becca]

And non skating people are posting pics of Tonya/I Tonya.

Welcome to the world of social media. I was going to say it's one of the worst problems in our country. But I am starting to see this is a Global issue.

 

[BlueRidge]

this story was in the lead on NBC Nightly News just now. :-(

You have got to be shitting me

 

[Skittl1321]

this story was in the lead on NBC Nightly News just now. :-(

Do they have any understanding of figure skating and how practice sessions work? I'm wondering what their angle is.

 

[Daisy18]

It was on ABC World News Tonight as well, but not the lead story.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

It is infuriating that this is what it takes to to get attention for the sport. NBC execs must be kicking themselves now that they scheduled so little World's coverage. (I hope they are, anyway. )

 

[Lanie]

I figure ATS will not apologize or answer for this brouhaha they started. Now that it's become ridiculous world news and people who know nothing about skating have made up their minds that Mariah is some monster who assaulted another athlete...

 

[Laura4]

this story was in the lead on NBC Nightly News just now. :-(

The story was also just reported on ABC World News Tonight.

 

[BlueRidge]

There's no story here!

 

[VGThuy]

Those who have done the most to antagonize Bell are already changing the story to saying Bell saw where Lim was and decided to skate that close to her anyway knowing she COULD have hurt Lim. Seriously. They won't let go of the "poor victimized Lim" angle.

 

[Firedancer]

Just saw the NBC story (can’t believe this made NBC news). They actually had a slightly better video and said it was during Mariah’s run through and she had the right of way. They also included Adam’s tweet from yesterday. But they quote statements from the Korean article about the bullying and that it was premeditated, which is where they pull in Nancy and Tonya.

It is clear in the video Lim is not paying attention and makes no attempt to move out of the way. Also, it didn’t seem that Mariah had any idea she had made contact with Lim. This whole thing is disgusting. I feel so bad for Mariah and I really hope there are some repercussions for ATS. I can’t see how any coach would want to work with any of their skaters after they have created such an international incident.

 

[natsulian]

What people have done to both Eunsoo and Mariah’s reputation is sick. Why?

Eunsoo:
- People no longer think she can fend for herself
- Looked at as a child
- Coaches/choreographers will stay away from her because of the whole fiasco
- Her Worlds experience is ruined

Mariah:
- People think she’s a monster and should be disqualified
- Death threats/rumors/defamation of character
- Her Worlds experience is ruined

The thing with Mariah is... once her Free is done tomorrow and Eunsoo and her talk it out, she’ll be fine. Then Bell will probably do some news/media appearances to talk about her side of the story in the US and like everything else, people will forget about it and move on. The bad and good about social media is that sensationalized news is forgotten in a few days/weeke.

The long term effects for Eunsoo are far worse. Her agency has tarnished her reputation and credibility and a lot of the higher ups in the figure skating community will look to this incident as having been caused by her and her agency.

Also with Raf publicly supporting Mariah, the atmosphere in the training rink will be intense, regardless of the outcome.

I wish both ladies good luck in the Free. Let your skating do the talking and break through from this scandal.

PS: Most of the skaters are siding with Mariah... and that makes it even more hurtful for Eunsoo. Poor girl.

 

[VGThuy]

Lim's supporters have done the most to infantilize her. I guess they see her as this pretty, helpless girl that they need to protect.

I wouldn't be so sure about Mariah being able to recover from this as easily as you say. This news hit the big time and no matter how much post-Worlds publicity she does, there will be this huge group of people who think she's a monster, see the video of her run-through and will twist it to make it seem like she did it on purpose anyway, and now think she's a bully and a racist because they haven't seen the actual video, followed-up, and just go by first impressions. All the Tonya comparisons will be forever as if anybody thinks of Bell now, they'll think of Tonya/Nancy.

 

[overedge]

Maybe she's jealous of Mariah and wants her boyfriend (who wouldn't ) and this is her way of getting Mariah out of the way and clearing her path to Roman. And the Bunny. Or maybe just the Bunny.

If this is really some kind of jealousy/stalking thing, hope the Bunny doesn't end up like the bunny in "Fatal Attraction"

 

[starrynight]

It’s worth remembering that nothing in Mariah’s life has prepared her for this.

Her photo is everywhere now. People she knows will have seen this, family friends, co-workers of her family etc. and may have got the wrong impression.

She would have lived a pretty much anonymous life up until this point.

 

[Teamgracie]

Just going to say the same, I doubt Mariah will be just fine. I would hope so but if she is a sensitive person this could haunt her and do serious psychological harm. I know someone who was a teacher and accused of something small that was totally false. It nearly destroyed her because of her passion and sensitive nature.

 

[natsulian]

The way this entire scandal has been handled is a living public relations nightmare. When the news first broke out, back when it could be contained, USFS should have sent for an investigation as soon as possible. Cameras are everywhere in the rink, it should not take 24+ hours to find practice tapes. The ISU should have sent out an official statement ASAP, stating that they are trying hard to investigate and will relay back the information. The video should have then been made public with both the ISU and USFS sending out official statements alongside it. Once Mariah and Eunsoo wake up, they should’ve been made to talk with each other as soon as possible and make it public. But no... the incompetency of the USFS and ISU to handle this situation well has now led to two beautiful ladies being crushed by the media.

 

[VGThuy]

Why is it all on USFS and the ISU and not KSU? ATS I realized had their own agenda and the truth would not have benefitted them as they caused this entire mess.

 

[Skittl1321]

The way this entire scandal has been handled is a living public relations nightmare. When the news first broke out, back when it could be contained, USFS should have sent for an investigation as soon as possible. Cameras are everywhere in the rink, it should not take 24+ hours to find practice tapes. The ISU should have sent out an official statement ASAP, stating that they are trying hard to investigate and will relay back the information. The video should have then been made public with both the ISU and USFS sending out official statements alongside it. Once Mariah and Eunsoo wake up, they should’ve been made to talk with each other as soon as possible and make it public. But no... the incompetency of the USFS and ISU to handle this situation well has now led to two beautiful ladies being crushed by the media.

I doubt the ISU or USFS thought anyone would take notice of this story. It's totally bizarre that US media has picked it up. When do they ever care about skating?

And why are the ISU and USFS responsibility, but not the Korean federation?

This is ATS's mess. They've destroyed Mariah's reputation with the public, before she really even had one.

 

[natsulian]

I’m not ready for the Free. I keep saying good luck, but I’m not mentally prepared for what’s going to come. Either we have meltdown after meltdown or a Phoenix rise from the ashes. I hope and pray for the latter.

 

[CaliSteve]

What people have done to both Eunsoo and Mariah’s reputation is sick. Why?

Eunsoo:
- People no longer think she can fend for herself
- Looked at as a child
- Coaches/choreographers will stay away from her because of the whole fiasco
- Her Worlds experience is ruined

Mariah:
- People think she’s a monster and should be disqualified
- Death threats/rumors/defamation of character
- Her Worlds experience is ruined

The thing with Mariah is... once her Free is done tomorrow and Eunsoo and her talk it out, she’ll be fine. Then Bell will probably do some news/media appearances to talk about her side of the story in the US and like everything else, people will forget about it and move on. The bad and good about social media is that sensationalized news is forgotten in a few days/weeke.

The long term effects for Eunsoo are far worse. Her agency has tarnished her reputation and credibility and a lot of the higher ups in the figure skating community will look to this incident as having been caused by her and her agency.

Also with Raf publicly supporting Mariah, the atmosphere in the training rink will be intense, regardless of the outcome.

I wish both ladies good luck in the Free. Let your skating do the talking and break through from this scandal.

PS: Most of the skaters are siding with Mariah... and that makes it even more hurtful for Eunsoo. Poor girl.

If I was a coach I would stay AWAY from any skater that was represented by ATS. Look what they did to Brian Orser.

 

[Spun Silver]

Brian is doing just fine and I have hope that Mariah and her reputation will recover too. I don't think you get to her level by being a fragile lily.

 

[hanca]

I think they dont really care if Mariah did or did not. Its all about PR

If I was a coach I would stay AWAY from any skater that was represented by ATS. Look what they did to Brian Orser.

If I was the coach, I would tell Lim that if she wants to remain in his group, it is her job to fix the situation. After all, it was her agency who started this mess. So that would mean Lim going public, apologising to Bell for the negative publicity, saying that she is certain that Bell didn’t hurt her on purpose and taking the full responsibility for getting injured (it was Bell’s run through which means that Lim should have looked out and moved out of her way. She wasn’t paying attention and it is her fault she got injured. The person whose music is playing has the right of way.) And then it is up to Lim to choose, does she want to stay with the coach or not.