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

[ЭPiKUilyam]

I don't know exactly what Duhamel said, but will point out that she is very concerned with nutrition and fitness. She's studied nutrition and SFAIK, has acquired certain credentials.

Could it be that she is just concerned about girls being healthy, while participating in a sport where eating disorders are common? Like so many other people?

No. Her comments about Anna Shcherbakova were wrong. She was body shaming little Anna, who is a CHILD. So she's a misogynist, and well, a total asshole. To see Dave and Jon going with her bs is predictable. Needless to say in the skating world there are MANY who support Eric. Me-again has a reputation for being, well, what you see. Horrid personality. With a loud mouth. And a persecution, narcissistic complex. Perfect for TSL. And some of you on this board.

 

[muffinplus]

I really don't know how Radford thought he was going to come out of this smelling like roses if Duhamel was the last person to know. There's no way to slice that that makes Radford look good. She should have been the first to know, not the last.

He could have had his reasons, which you are not privy to. ..so tired of people with no first hand knowledge passing judgement from their couches.

 

[misskarne]

He could have had his reasons, which you are not privy to. ..so tired of people with no first hand knowledge passing judgement from their couches.

There is no reason. Duhamel was his skating partner, whom he had been actively planning shows with. She absolutely should have been the first person he told, not the last. That's basic courtesy.

 

[Tavi]

No. Her comments about Anna Shcherbakova were wrong. She was body shaming little Anna, who is a CHILD. So she's a misogynist, and well, a total asshole. To see Dave and Jon going with her bs is predictable. Needless to say in the skating world there are MANY who support Eric. Me-again has a reputation for being, well, what you see. Horrid personality. With a loud mouth. And a persecution, narcissistic complex. Perfect for TSL.

Do you not get enough attention in real life or what?

 

[muffinplus]

There is no reason. Duhamel was his skating partner, whom he had been actively planning shows with. She absolutely should have been the first person he told, not the last. That's basic courtesy.

at "There is no reason". Like I said you have absolutely no first hand knowedge of the relationship between these people (other than what Meagan said) , but carry on...

 

[skatingguy]

Yes, "He is not an evil person" is being oh so generous. lol. Maybe I'm still sore from what she said a couple of weeks ago about Anna Scherbakova where she attacked a CHILD. She said she could barely watch her because she was super skinny. Body-shaming, much, Megs? Of course she tried to change her narrative and said "It was due to ********* that I said that!!!!" BS. Anyone who saw that interview knew exactly that she was body-shaming a CHILD. She's not the one to jump on board with. She nasty, and I suppose also a misogynist? A total "Mean Girl".

She used the words frail & sickly to describe Shcherbakova - I would say fragile instead of frail, and I disagree with sickly, but the video was before Worlds & Shcherbakova did look a lot better at Worlds then she did at Russian Nationals when she was clearly still dealing with the affects of COVID. Is that body shaming? That seems like a stretch.

 

[misskarne]

at "There is no reason". Like I said you have absolutely no first hand knowedge of the relationship between these people (other than what Meagan said) , but carry on...

No, I don't. But it is very basic courtesy - personal courtesy, let alone professional courtesy that should be in play here - that when you are ending a partnership you tell the partner first, not last.

 

[muffinplus]

She used the words frail & sickly to describe Shcherbakova - I would say fragile instead of frail, and I disagree with sickly, but the video was before Worlds & Shcherbakova did look a lot better at Worlds then she did at Russian Nationals when she was clearly still dealing with the affects of *********. Is that body shaming? That seems like a stretch.

The way she was walking sounded very much like she was talking about her weight (you know, in the same video comparing Anna to Tuktamysheva who looks healthy) and she made her sound like some sad depressed girl who is being made to skate by her coaches. She then backtracked by saying it's really her illness she was referring to..which I wasn't buying.

 

[muffinplus]

No, I don't. But it is very basic courtesy - personal courtesy, let alone professional courtesy that should be in play here - that when you are ending a partnership you tell the partner first, not last.

If you don't, then you really are in no position to pass judgement. I mean, of course,you can have your opinion, but , again, it is just to be reading things like "there is NO way he looks good" when you weren't there and don't know...

 

[misskarne]

If you don't, then you really are in no position to pass judgement.

Are you suggesting that Eric Radford should not have used basic professional courtesy when breaking off his partnership with Duhamel, with whom he was planning show work? Yes or no answer, please.

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

She used the words frail & sickly to describe Shcherbakova - I would say fragile instead of frail, and I disagree with sickly, but the video was before Worlds & Shcherbakova did look a lot better at Worlds then she did at Russian Nationals when she was clearly still dealing with the affects of *********. Is that body shaming? That seems like a stretch.

Absolutely not. Yes, Anna was obviously unwell at RusNats. But if you watched that TSL interview, it was obvious (also remember Dave somehow came up with Eteri FORCES Anna to weigh 82#) she was body shaming Anna. If Me-again really was concerned for the "Covid sickliness" about Anna at Nats and said that... well,.. anyone with eyes and ears knows Me-again was body shaming Anna. When Tuktamyeshava was huffing and puffing and looking sickly as well. Me-again didn't mention Covid making her feel uncomfortable watching Tukt and how uncomfortable she feels watching Tukt.. Only Shcherbakova. She's a Mean Girl. And probably totally deserving of all her sh*t. At least Dave and Jon can give her a platform and "support".... And obviously some on here feed into it. That's too bad.

 

[skatingguy]

The way she was walking sounded very much like she was talking about her weight (you know, in the same video comparing Ann to Tuktamysheva who looks healthy) and she made her sound like some sad depressed girl who is being made to skate by her coaches. She then backtracked by saying it's really her illness she was referring to..which I wasn't buying.

Yeah, I can see that - Shcherbakova is very slight, even for a skater, and generally speaking singles skaters are much small than the average person.

 

[skatingguy]

Absolutely not. Yes, Anna was obviously unwell at RusNats. But if you watched that TSL interview, it was obvious (also remember Dave somehow came up with Eteri FORCES Anna to weigh 82#) she was body shaming Anna. If Me-again really was concerned for the "********* sickliness" about Anna at Nats and said that... well,.. anyone with eyes and ears knows Me-again was body shaming Anna. When Tuktamyeshava was huffing and puffing and looking sickly as well. Me-again didn't mention ********* making her feel uncomfortable watching Tukt and how uncomfortable she feels watching Tukt.. Only Shcherbakova. She's a Mean Girl. And probably totally deserving of all her sh*t. At least Dave and Jon can give her a platform and "support".... And obviously some on here feed into it. That's too bad.

I see you're trolling, and not genuinely interested in discussion. I should have realized that from the first post, so I'll leave the conversation at this point.

 

[Japanfan]

I really don't know how Radford thought he was going to come out of this smelling like roses if Duhamel was the last person to know. There's no way to slice that that makes Radford look good. She should have been the first to know, not the last.

ITA.

Looks like Meagan has replaced Jamie Sale as the most hated person on the board. Which I find really unfair. She's basically been dumped with little notice.

Sure, she may regret airing her grievances on social media for some years to come. But for now she's hurting. Plenty of people do things they later regret when they are hurting.

 

[muffinplus]

ITA.

Looks like Meagan has replaced Jamie Sale as the most hated person on the board. Which I find really unfair. She's basically been dumped with little notice.

Sure, she may regret airing her grievances on social media for some years to come. But for now she's hurting. Plenty of people do things they later regret when they are hurting.

On social media it's Eric who is getting the hate. I don't see much hatred for Meagan. It was definitely there when she made the Anna comments, but not really now... she is getting a lot of sympathy and support actually.

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

I see you're trolling, and not genuinely interested in discussion. I should have realized that from the first post, so I'll leave the conversation at this point.

Is having a strong opposing feeling "Trolling" to you? Well if it is, you are not worth my time, or really anyone's. If you don't see how wrong Megs is in this, well, god bless you.

 

[_Lola_]

It was quite difficult for me to listen to the interview and I've got anxiety after the first 10 minutes of listening. Meagan is so very intense and comes across as lacking empathy that it would be probably difficult for me to be around her for longer time. I assume that if Eric has a softer personality, he might feel the same. I can understand why he could have been intimidated and not willing to speak to Meagan before things are done. I wouldn't be surprised if he parted ways with Meagan partially because of clashes of personalities. The fact that he tried to skate with someone else at least twice, in 2014 and 2019, gives a hint that there was something else in addition to his desire to go back to sport. I don't see this situation as similar to Liuba/Charlie. I would think of Grishuk and Platov when Platov left Oksana because she was intense to the out-of-control level and had her Hollywood goals as priorities. Meagan had her priorities. She's got a family and she says they wanted kids with Bruno when Dave asked her directly if Eric knew. She didn't inform Eric that they were trying to conceive a child. She told him when she got pregnant. In the same way, he didn't tell her when he had this try out with Vanessa; he told her once Vanessa got her release. It's weird to talk about conceiving a child vs "conceiving" a pair, but the whole Meagan's argument for why she was upset was about that - Eric didn't tell her about the tryout. Overall, Meagan had a reason to be upset and angry for sure - by the fact that Eric left. But I'm on his side.

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

On social media it's Eric who is getting the hate. I don't see much hatred for Meagan. It was definitely there when she made the Anna comments, but not really now... she is getting a lot of sympathy and support actually.

Narcisstists know how to gather "a lot of sympathy and support". Drama Queens and their interviewers are really good at that. Would it not have been better for TSL to have her on and she can bite her tongue and just say "This was unexpected, but we haven't seen each other in over a year. I am sad and disappointed, but I wish the new team well". I mean, how old is she? She acts like a jilted tween. A very poor example for her daughter. Why doesn't she just SHUT UP? It's not about her. And HER TRUTH. HER FACTS. HER VICTIMHOOD. I hope that her little girl doesn't grow up to be tall and thin. Me-again seems to be a very jealous and rather nasty person. Will Megs body-shame her daughter for being tall and thin unlike her? I feel sorry for the kid already. Megs, listen to your advice: "Close your mouth". Works for me.

 

[BittyBug]

"Close your mouth". Works for me.

Apparently not.

 

[el henry]

Is having a strong opposing feeling "Trolling" to you? Well if it is, you are not worth my time, or really anyone's. If you don't see how wrong Megs is in this, well, god bless you.

Demetrios would be proud. You are making even less sense than him, Rikky my man. And you are obviously posting for the same reasons.

I don't need God to bless me to see that Meagan is not wrong in her feelings.

Bye bye

 

[MsZem]

Me-again

This is obnoxious, and contrary to what you seem to think, not remotely clever.

No, I don't. But it is very basic courtesy - personal courtesy, let alone professional courtesy that should be in play here - that when you are ending a partnership you tell the partner first, not last.

Not necessarily. There may be reasons not to do that: if you want to seek other people's advice on how to proceed; if you're not sure you will be in a position to leave, and prefer not to create tension if things are still up in the air.

What one does owe one's partner, assuming that person is not a total loss as a human being, is an honest and forthright conversation and gratitude for what they've done with you. Which I'm not sure is quite what Duhamel got.

 

[starrynight]

Anyone who has followed Meagan’s career and socials over the years knows she’s a very intense personality who tunnel visions with exclusivity on her own goals and experiences.

It’s that kind of personality that makes a great elite athlete. But it’s the kind of personality that does struggle outside of sports.

 

[tony]

Anyone who has followed Meagan’s career and socials over the years knows she’s a very intense personality who tunnel visions with exclusivity on her own goals and experiences.

It’s that kind of personality that makes a great elite athlete. But it’s the kind of personality that does struggle outside of sports.

except Duhamel transitioned into so many other things upon retirement in a sport that many skaters can’t ever get out of/have trouble finding anything to do. She created those seminars during lockdown when most people have zero motivation to do anything, she teaches several classes, she has a baby and family, etc.

Not really sure what she’s struggling with outside of her sport.

 

[starrynight]

Not really sure what she’s struggling with outside of her sport.

Why the huge drama train wreck then all over the social networks?

 

[TAHbKA]

Why the huge drama train wreck then all over the social networks?

Because TSL.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

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.

Not that it actually happened, but I believe The Protopopovs were considering skating for Switzerland in Nagano.

He would have been 65 and she would have been 62 in 1998.

They were still skating quite well at the time, too.

 

[skatingguy]

Why the huge drama train wreck then all over the social networks?

Because TSL.

I don't think that's fair. Duhamel is an example of many people these days who live on social media, and that's what she's doing. Wouldn't be my choice & one of the reasons that I don't have these accounts myself, but this a much larger, and broader trend then one podcast/social media account.

 

[Xsktrx]

I’m not a Meagan “walks on water” fan like some of the posters here but I do feel for her. I think she envisioned her post competition skating life involving doing shows with Eric and when not doing shows running the pairs school with Bruno in Oakville. We know why the Eric/show thing didn’t turn out the way she hoped. As for the coaching Bruno has a technically strong assistant coach in Brian Shales and shares his top two pairs with Alison Purkiss. It’s possible that didn’t leave much room for Meagan’s involvement with those top pairs which probably didn’t sit well for someone with her level of skating success. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she and Kirsten didn’t play well together. But hey, life rarely turns out as we plan.

 

[antmanb]

I’m not a Meagan “walks on water” fan like some of the posters here

There aren't enough of these - on the planet for this statement. If you can find even a single post on here that discusses Meagan as if "she walks on water" then please go ahead and post it otherwise it might be helpful to stop lurching from extreme to extreme in this discussion.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Anyone who has followed Meagan’s career and socials over the years knows she’s a very intense personality who tunnel visions with exclusivity on her own goals and experiences.

It’s that kind of personality that makes a great elite athlete. But it’s the kind of personality that does struggle outside of sports.

One of the reasons why she and Eric were able to keep improving, was Duhamel's deep understanding of IJS.

In every Kiss & Cry, she would literally break down what they did element for element, knowing what they needed to do in order to maximise their potential.

That girl was a machine like Irina Rodnina in her heyday.