2020-21 Canadian Pairs News & Updates

[Colonel Green]

I don't imagine Meagan would be too happy about that!

Yeah, based on her apparent unhappiness, I’m guessing the Oakville hub of coaches is out.

Maybe Josee Picard would take a relatively short-term job?

 

[pat c]

There’s also Duhamel’s Instagram comments which would lend credence to this whole idea of a Radford/James pairing. I thought it was strange a couple of days ago when she made it clear she would not be doing shows with Radford in the future, but said she was still looking to skate in shows herself. And then a quote posted today that said “There’s something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty”

Do we know that this is directed to skating or to perhaps something else going on in her life?

Duhamel has a baby girl now, I can see her returning to skate for fun but not to compete again. If Radford wants to compete, she should be supportive of him rather than throw shade at him. Just my thoughts.

We don't know that she isn't.

Dust settle, speculation chill. And it doesn't have anything to do with us anyway. I'm sure that behind the scenes there is more going on than we know about.

 

[honey]

Do we know that this is directed to skating or to perhaps something else going on in her life?

We don’t know what the quote was referring to, but she’s made a few comments recently about having a tough time (and said something to the effect of “the blows just keep on coming” the other day). The timing of the quote about loyalty was around the same time as the possibility of Eric/Vanessa started to be discussed publically here/TSL last night, so it’s hard not to associate the two.

 

[pat c]

We don’t know what the quote was referring to, but she’s made a few comments recently about having a tough time (and said something to the effect of “the blows just keep on coming” the other day). The timing of the quote about loyalty was around the same time as the possibility of Eric/Vanessa started to be discussed publically here/TSL last night, so it’s hard not to associate the two.

True. And maybe she is disappointed about J&R, maybe not. We'll move on and so will she.

 

[litenkyckling]

Also - no one knows what's been going on behind the scenes. She clearly had planned to have a show career with Eric previously, so this would perhaps feel like the break of an agreement between close friends for her. If it was communicated poorly to her, then that isn't fair on Meagan, imo.

The whole decision seems odd, I can't see them going beyond 2022 given they will be 34/37 in February 2022 - and with a country in lockdown and the possibility of an unreliable season ahead it doesn't seem like that would set them up well for success. Perhaps this energy and support should be focused on the teams they already have, particularly in the juniors as those are the teams they will be relying on in the next quad.

 

[honey]

I don’t think we really need to wonder what Meagan was referring to now.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN2tnyrrF4y/?igshid=pfxs0umn0pod

 

[Colonel Green]

Well this seems pretty clear now from Meagan’s perspective.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN2tnyrrF4y/?igshid=pfxs0umn0pod

Yikes.

Was she actually interested in competing again? If so I could understand the anger, but otherwise I’d have to say she’s in the wrong here.

 

[hoptoad]

I don’t think we really need to wonder what Meagan was referring to now.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN2tnyrrF4y/?igshid=pfxs0umn0pod

Does she have a black eye?!

 

[Colonel Green]

Does she have a black eye?!

I think that’s just the lighting.

 

[tony]

James is already released from France, so this will move forward without issue.

 

[litenkyckling]

Yikes.

Was she actually interested in competing again? If so I could understand the anger, but otherwise I’d have to say she’s in the wrong here.

I don't really understand why should would be in the wrong here - she's clearly been deeply hurt by this decision

 

[Catherine M]

Yikes, that’s quite the post from Meagan. Personally I think she should take a break from Instagram and live her life off of social media for awhile.

 

[shutterbug]

Maybe I'm mis-remembering, but when D/R announced their retirement, did Eric not say he was physically unable to continue competing?

 

[Colonel Green]

I don't really understand why should would be in the wrong here - she's clearly been deeply hurt by this decision

Yes, she’s obviously hurt, but accusing someone of “betrayal” is a very loaded accusation and I’m not sure what the basis for it is.

Maybe I'm mis-remembering, but when D/R announced their retirement, did Eric not say he was physically unable to continue competing?

He certainly said he was ready to be done with it (as did she).

 

[kwanfan1818]

Since both have Canadian citizenship, there's no reason that they have to be resident in Canada. They could, for example, train with Massot or in Berlin. Radford's husband, Luis Fenero, might be happy to return to Europe, and Radford trained with Steuer in Germany, so it wouldn't be his first time living and training in Europe.

ETA: It's less than a year to Beijing. It's not the huge commitment it would be if it were even a two full year commitment, let alone a full cycle project.

 

[Lil Sarah]

Yikes.

Was she actually interested in competing again? If so I could understand the anger, but otherwise I’d have to say she’s in the wrong here.

If they were planning to continue doing shows (if and when) they are able to return, it would be like a broken business relationship. One of the few monetary gains of skaters.

 

[honey]

@Lil Sarah This is where my head went as well. This effectively ends any professional opportunities she would have had with Radford.

 

[Karen-W]

Frankly, I'm not seeing a huge upside to this pairing. As others have noted, both Radford and James are getting a little long in the tooth, so what is the longterm potential of this? Not much.

Where does it leave the rest of the Canadian pairs scene? Possibly/probably on the outside looking in for an Olympic berth or Worlds assignment next season. Similar to how V/M coming back for 2018 caused a lot of Canadian dance teams to retire rather than fight for the leftover scraps, this is more likely to be demoralizing for those other teams who have been working toward Beijing.

And, piggybacking off the discussion in the "David Wilson Calls for new Leadership at Skate Canada" - how exactly is this developing and nurturing the younger pairs teams? There is a finite amount of time you can keep going back to the well of success from the last generation of skaters. Time to move on and put your money and time and support into the next ones.

 

[Cant Skate]

Frankly, I'm not seeing a huge upside to this pairing. As others have noted, both Radford and James are getting a little long in the tooth, so what is the longterm potential of this? Not much.

Where does it leave the rest of the Canadian pairs scene? Possibly/probably on the outside looking in for an Olympic berth or Worlds assignment next season. Similar to how V/M coming back for 2018 caused a lot of Canadian dance teams to retire rather than fight for the leftover scraps, this is more likely to be demoralizing for those other teams who have been working toward Beijing.

And, piggybacking off the discussion in the "David Wilson Calls for new Leadership at Skate Canada" - how exactly is this developing and nurturing the younger pairs teams? There is a finite amount of time you can keep going back to the well of success from the last generation of skaters. Time to move on and put your money and time and support into the next ones.

This was my thoughts exactly.

 

[aka_gerbil]

Eric and Vanessa are older and there’s no time to gel before the Olympics.

I feel like W/M are likely to end up with the short end of the stick and be left out when they’re the team SC needs to be investing in for the future. I think a trip for them to a Beijing has better odds of paying off in the long haul than sending a brand new team of older skaters.

 

[miffy]

I feel very sorry for Meagan and can completely see why she is so upset.

And...

I’m quite excited and intrigued to potentially see Vanessa skating again.

 

[aml78]

Is it possible they are just pairing up for show skating (Radford/James)?

 

[kwanfan1818]

It's a big $$$ investment to train at that level for even a year. But after 2014 Worlds, Savchenko was angry with Szolkowy for refusing to do a weekend's worth of shows in Japan that would have paid tens of thousands of dollars, which I assume she expected to use for training with Massot. So maybe it is worth the investment, if they'd end up doing CSOI plus international shows for at least a few years.

 

[shutterbug]

So maybe it is worth the investment, if they'd end up doing CSOI plus international shows for at least a few years.

So somehow the thinking is Eric would have a more successful pro career with Vanessa rather than the partner with whom he won 2 World Championships and an Olympic bronze medal?

 

[her grace]

There’s also Duhamel’s Instagram comments which would lend credence to this whole idea of a Radford/James pairing. . . And then a quote posted today that said “There’s something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty”

Guess Radford should have stayed with Kirkland then.

I can't say that this pairing excites me. After James' social media support of her child abuser partner, I can't root for her skating again.

 

[skategal]

So somehow the thinking is Eric would have a more successful pro career with Vanessa rather than the partner with whom he won 2 World Championships and an Olympic bronze medal?

And a Team Olympic Gold.

 

[Karen-W]

So somehow the thinking is Eric would have a more successful pro career with Vanessa rather than the partner with whom he won 2 World Championships and an Olympic bronze medal?

Wouldn't skating with Duhamel, professionally, also depend on her availability?

Remember, what we are seeing on Duhamel's IG is her view of the situation. We don't know what has been discussed privately between them, especially as the pandemic has worn on, about professional skating opportunities that might or might not materialize. He might want to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way, she might want to be more cautious (especially seeing as she had a child and husband who would be affected by those choices - we all saw that she went to stay with her parents after Bruno came back from Worlds so that she and the baby wouldn't have to quarantine indoors).

 

[Colonel Green]

Frankly, I'm not seeing a huge upside to this pairing. As others have noted, both Radford and James are getting a little long in the tooth, so what is the longterm potential of this? Not much.

Where does it leave the rest of the Canadian pairs scene? Possibly/probably on the outside looking in for an Olympic berth or Worlds assignment next season. Similar to how V/M coming back for 2018 caused a lot of Canadian dance teams to retire rather than fight for the leftover scraps, this is more likely to be demoralizing for those other teams who have been working toward Beijing.

And, piggybacking off the discussion in the "David Wilson Calls for new Leadership at Skate Canada" - how exactly is this developing and nurturing the younger pairs teams? There is a finite amount of time you can keep going back to the well of success from the last generation of skaters. Time to move on and put your money and time and support into the next ones.

This wouldn’t be a team with long-term potential, but the short-term is not irrelevant here. The Olympics is the most important moment for figure skating every four years — it’s vital for the Canadian federation to put forward the strongest team/performance it possibly can, because that is a major determinant of the sport’s visibility going forward.

As far as them versus Walsh & Michaud go, if James & Radford on really short preparation end up being the better team, that’s sort of a self-resolving question.

I don’t think this affects any of the other younger pair teams, because they’re all already long shots for this Olympics. It’s not like when V/M came back and took up what would otherwise have been an open spot.

 

[skatfan]

Is it possible they are just pairing up for show skating (Radford/James)?

Which would make it even worse for Duhamel - I'm sure that they had set out some goals/promises about a professional career. Getting dumped from the partner with whom you won two World Championships and a couple of Olympic medals seems pretty awful, if that is what happened.

 

[overedge]

Duhamel has a baby girl now, I can see her returning to skate for fun but not to compete again. If Radford wants to compete, she should be supportive of him rather than throw shade at him. Just my thoughts.

She's not under any obligation to support him.