Eric Radford and Vanessa James to compete in pairs together for Canada

[skatingguy]

 

[calica]

i am sad.. i don´t understand english... summary please... more whining?
PS: if anybody found it with spanish sub, please, put link

 

[Sylvia]

Meagan doesn't come off as whining to me. She explained that she had planned to bring a nanny for Zoey to Japan for the SOI tour (that's happening right now; as it turned out, all overseas skaters who were invited were not able to travel there). She confirmed that she was discussing show plans with Eric (such as North American Stars on Ice in the fall) at the same time that he and Vanessa were training together and waiting to see if she would be released by France. Meagan is not okay with the fact that she was "left in the dark for months" because he didn't let her know that he wanted to return to competition with Vanessa (or perform in shows together), but says she knows it was a "business decision" on his part and that he is "not an evil person" and likely didn't tell her because he didn't want to hurt her feelings with the truth. She knows Eric is not sexist, having grown up in a family with a strong working mother, but he "gave an excuse that appeared to be sexist" [this is a recap of the first 19 minutes].

 

[calica]

he is not an "evil person" and likely didn't tell her because he didn't want to hurt her feelings with the truth.

this is funny... honestly...

 

[olympic]

Moving past the orgy of drama, I had a few questions / confirmations to note -

Flipping through the thread, it seems that VJ has CAN citizenship and the French Fed. released her? This means that she is automatically eligible to compete for CAN at the 2022 Olympics?

My open-ended question is how quickly can they become or how much work remains to be done for them to become a medal threat in the individual Pairs competition? I don't think we will have an answer until late next Fall when they've competed at a couple of international ISU events. I assume SC will give them a berth at SC.

How long will they last? ER was almost 30 at Sochi and initially he and MD were going to retire, but they found an extra gear, then competed to 2018. He is going to be 37 (?) next year. I know from my experience with heavy training that the body starts to rebel against repetitive pounding by this age; I developed my first chronic shoulder injury at 38. So, is the consensus that this is a one-year comeback for the Olympics or something more? It is not unheard of for athletes to take a last shot during an Olympic year.

Just curious.

 

[Sylvia]

Flipping through the thread, it seems that VJ has CAN citizenship and the French Fed. released her? This means that she is automatically eligible to compete for CAN at the 2022 Olympics?

ETA to clarify - yes, the French federation has released Vanessa to represent Canada internationally (refer to @kwanfan1818's post below mine re. the Olympics).

My open-ended question is how quickly can they become or how much work remains to be done for them to become a medal threat in the individual Pairs competition? I don't think we will have an answer until late next Fall when they've competed at a couple of international ISU events.

@olympic, did you already watch J/R's practice clip montage (scroll down here): https://twitter.com/CBCOlympics/status/1384874647670468610

 

[kwanfan1818]

Flipping through the thread, it seems that VJ has CAN citizenship and the French Fed. released her? This means that she is automatically eligible to compete for CAN at the 2022 Olympics?

No: according to the Olympic Charter she will need an exception by the IOC to compete for Canada, since she competed at a championship for another country (France) within three years of the Olympics. (By about a month.) I've read here that both the Canadian and French Olympic Committees have to agree as well.

Her release allows her to compete in any ISU event.

 

[sap5]

this is funny... honestly...

If she really believed that about Eric, then why did she put him on blast the way she did?

 

[Alilou]

Rumor has it that next season, Evgeni Krasnopolski has his eyes on Duhamel as a potential partner.

Duhamel would eat him for breakfast. If they paired it might be the first time ever that he quits because he can't take the heat, rather than dumping his partner.

 

[tony]

I listened to the first hour (Duhamel leaves shortly after that) and I'm surprised; I didn't think it was a good idea and I thought Dave was going to egg her on to speak about things that she hadn't really discussed. But it was a good listen.

The sexism thing she cleared up because she said she was reading comments and getting messages about Eric being that way, but she repeated several times that it's not the case and he just said something that sounded that way as a means of attempting to explain why he did what he did. However you feel about her, it has to be hard to listen to how skaters/friends/teammates texted her to say they knew what was going on (after the announcement) because Eric had let them in on it earlier than he told her. I will be honest in saying I haven't had any further discussions with her, but that part of it really has to sting that she really may have been one of the last people to find out. I think, from what it sounds like, Dave Lease was even clued in to the whole thing way earlier and he didn't want to say anything to Meagan about it. So, I still get it and understand her feelings.

Dave does state, however, that he and Aliona were in contact with each other this week and she confirmed that there was an attempt on Radford's part to see about skating together post-2014, and then again I believe in 2019? There is a funny moment when Meagan shares a story about how Aliona had texted Meagan personally while Eric was in Germany for a show to ask if they could skate together for a day or whatever, and Meagan responds something like 'I mean I would want to partner with Aliona, how am I going to tell someone else no?!'

There is also some history behind Trankov's beef with Duhamel which is pretty tame, and she explains how Russian skaters are often asked about competitors below them/how they feel about other skaters, which is not something she's ever experienced with North American media while she was competing.

That said, I still don't think laying out the facts as they were presented to her, which Radford also laid out in his own statement to be true, are putting him on blast.

 

[calica]

exactly

 

[calica]

If she really believed that about Eric, then why did she put him on blast the way she did?

Exactly

 

[Judy]

I listened to the first hour (Duhamel leaves shortly after that) and I'm surprised; I didn't think it was a good idea and I thought Dave was going to egg her on to speak about things that she hadn't really discussed. But it was a good listen.

The sexism thing she cleared up because she said she was reading comments and getting messages about Eric being that way, but she repeated several times that it's not the case and he just said something that sounded that way as a means of attempting to explain why he did what he did. However you feel about her, it has to be hard to listen to how skaters/friends/teammates texted her to say they knew what was going on (after the announcement) because Eric had let them in on it earlier than he told her. I will be honest in saying I haven't had any further discussions with her, but that part of it really has to sting that she really may have been one of the last people to find out. I think, from what it sounds like, Dave Lease was even clued in to the whole thing way earlier and he didn't want to say anything to Meagan about it. So, I still get it and understand her feelings.

Dave does state, however, that he and Aliona were in contact with each other this week and she confirmed that there was an attempt on Radford's part to see about skating together post-2014, and then again I believe in 2019? There is a funny moment when Meagan shares a story about how Aliona had texted Meagan personally while Eric was in Germany for a show to ask if they could skate together for a day or whatever, and Meagan responds something like 'I mean I would want to partner with Aliona, how am I going to tell someone else no?!'

There is also some history behind Trankov's beef with Duhamel which is pretty tame, and she explains how Russian skaters are often asked about competitors below them/how they feel about other skaters, which is not something she's ever experienced with North American media while she was competing.

That said, I still don't think laying out the facts as they were presented to her, which Radford also laid out in his own statement to be true, are putting him on blast.

Ugh kinda like when your spouse/girlfriendboyfriend/partner has cheated and everyone knew but you. Not quite the same .. but yah the same feelings.

 

[Bigbird]

'That other guy' = Andreï Novoselov

Ta. These names you know.

 

[Rukia]

Did we already know that Danny O'Shea had tried out with Vanessa James? I found that interesting.

I thought Meagan came off pretty well. She did a good job of separating facts from her feelings. Hopefully she'll chill now and let whatever happens happen.

 

[cholla]

Ta. These names you know.

I don't blame you. Had he not skated for France, I would have probably forgotten his name too

 

[PeterG]

What will they skate to this season though? We haven't even begun to think about that?

Rumour has it that there's a fist-pumping arena anthem by Adele that Eric has had his eye on for a while.

 

[Cherub721]

Still listening but she comes off 100% better here than in print, especially that vague post she did before the actual announcement (which I still think was a huge mistake). She says she had her statement prepared before the announcement and was waiting to be contacted by CBC or Skate Canada for a comment, but she never was, so she posted it herself.

 

[allezfred]

Thank you for your service to those who watched the TSL video so the rest of us didn't have to.

 

[MacMadame]

Thank you for your service to those who watched the TSL video so the rest of us didn't have to.

Word!

 

[Colonel Green]

Did we already know that Danny O'Shea had tried out with Vanessa James? I found that interesting.

Yeah, I found that interesting too since Vanessa isn't a US citizen and couldn't become one on short notice.

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

Meagan doesn't come off as whining to me. She explained that she had planned to bring a nanny for Zoey to Japan for the SOI tour (that's happening right now; as it turned out, all overseas skaters who were invited were not able to travel there). She confirmed that she was discussing show plans with Eric (such as North American Stars on Ice in the fall) at the same time that he and Vanessa were training together and waiting to see if she would be released by France. Meagan is not okay with the fact that she was "left in the dark for months" because he didn't let her know that he wanted to return to competition with Vanessa (or perform in shows together), but says she knows it was a "business decision" on his part and that he is "not an evil person" and likely didn't tell her because he didn't want to hurt her feelings with the truth. She knows Eric is not sexist, having grown up in a family with a strong working mother, but he "gave an excuse that appeared to be sexist" [this is a recap of the first 19 minutes].

Megs came across as another Megs in the news whining about her lot in life. She is "woke" only to her narcissistic feelings. I mean, seriously, it seems rather obvious why Eric kept this quiet. Professional shows were gone. Vanessa James is an amazing pair skater. Olympics only a year away. Megs is raising a newborn. Why would he make an announcement while he was trying to see if the new pairing would work out? And then to see if Vanessa could represent Canada. Megs has always lacked class. Of course Eric would keep his distance from her. She's insufferable.

 

[Mme Bovary]

She says she had her statement prepared before the announcement and was waiting to be contacted by CBC or Skate Canada for a comment, but she never was, so she posted it herself.

That part kind of made me feel sad for her.

 

[Tavi]

Megs came across as another Megs in the news whining about her lot in life. She is "woke" only to her narcissistic feelings. I mean, seriously, it seems rather obvious why Eric kept this quiet. Professional shows were gone. Vanessa James is an amazing pair skater. Olympics only a year away. Megs is raising a newborn. Why would he make an announcement while he was trying to see if the new pairing would work out? And then to see if Vanessa could represent Canada. Megs has always lacked class. Of course Eric would keep his distance from her. She's insufferable.

Wow. All I can say is I disagree with everything you’ve said here. It seems like all of your perceptions are colored by a strong, existing dislike. I thought she did a great job addressing all the speculation, misconceptions, and accusations on social media, and she did so in a cool, calm, reasonable, and evenhanded way.

 

[quartz]

Erik is coming across as another Eric. Meagan and her husband are raising a toddler, not a newborn. Millions of women have children and work and travel, all at the same time!! - and are absolutely able to deal with it. Just like men who have children and work and travel.
Can we stop this ridiculous line of thinking and boot it off this merry-go-round of misogyny. I’m getting dizzy.

 

[Wyliefan]

And her name isn't Megs.

 

[TAHbKA]

Duhamel goes all facts facts facts and then comes Lease with his twits where he claims Savchenko wrote in her book things that are not there. I can only imagine what 'facts' TSL will be 'quoting' in a couple of months,especially if Duhamel ceases being their BFF. The skaters really should be more picky about who they talk to and the media they prefer to represent them....

 

[tony]

Duhamel goes all facts facts facts and then comes Lease with his twits where he claims Savchenko wrote in her book things that are not there. I can only imagine what 'facts' TSL will be 'quoting' in a couple of months,especially if Duhamel ceases being their BFF. The skaters really should be more picky about who they talk to and the media they prefer to represent them....

After you corrected an earlier post, I was surprised to hear Dave claim he was communicating with Aliona earlier this week and she confirmed what he said or maybe something different, and Duhamel honestly looked a little caught off-guard and, IIRC, she said she was also informed by her coaching team or some others in her camp way after the fact that Eric did try to do something in 2014. I don't really get that part of the story, especially if Dave is stating that he verified with Aliona (something that wasn't in the book, as you said).

 

[BittyBug]

Megs has always lacked class.

Ironic comment given the personal invective in your post. I wonder if we even watched the same interview? Duhamel was surprisingly unemotional, fair, and even generous when discussing Radford. The main issue she had was in being dropped like a stone when they had commitments, and in being the last to find out about it.

One comment not yet mentioned - Duhamel said she was speaking out in the hopes of helping others. She gave a few pieces of advice, and one was for any team to make sure they have a contract, something she repeated several times. It seems clear that she trusted Eric's word about touring in the fall and felt betrayed, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me at least.

Duhamel also mentioned that she has not yet spoken with her sister in law, but that she understood that it was a great business opportunity for Marcotte.

 

[Tavi]

Duhamel goes all facts facts facts and then comes Lease with his twits where he claims Savchenko wrote in her book things that are not there. I can only imagine what 'facts' TSL will be 'quoting' in a couple of months,especially if Duhamel ceases being their BFF. The skaters really should be more picky about who they talk to and the media they prefer to represent them....

But during the interview he said he spoke to Aliona twice and she confirmed. Meagan also said she was aware of 2014 (years after the fact) and 2019.