Russian Figure Skater tests positive for drugs - delays ceremony for team medals

[mjb52]

In Minneapolis, K/O definitely got a hostile reception and that did seem to be about B/K. Am I still mad? Maybe?

I think the late 90s/early 00s were the height of the North American alliance, but it faded at some point thereafter.

 

[WOULDACOULDARETURNS]

If going by fan/audience, most Canadians cheer for anyone BUT the US to win

I remember one year I was flipping through the channels when a world junior hockey tournament taking place in (I think) Calgary. The game I came across was US vs (I think) Norway. Almost the entire Canadian audience was loudly cheering for Norway.

Gee, I always cheer for Canada, and I’m from the US. Then again, I tend to cheer for individual skaters, regardless of country, and cheer for many skaters in one competition. And when anyone falls or misses an element, I groan or smack my thigh with my fist. I have many bruises from the Olympics. I’m too empathetic for this sport. Watching Valieva’s long program broke my heart. I can’t wait for the season to end, so I can get my blood pressure back down!

 

[Rob]

If going by fan/audience, most Canadians cheer for anyone BUT the US to win

I remember one year I was flipping through the channels when a world junior hockey tournament taking place in (I think) Calgary. The game I came across was US vs (I think) Norway. Almost the entire Canadian audience was loudly cheering for Norway.

I think it can depend on the sport. There is a huge US-Canada hockey rivalry. I think US would cheer for Norway too if playing Canada. True of a lot of other sports as well, especially team sports.
For skating, back during the controversy years, US and Canada were more aligned against the perception of At 2003 Worlds in Washington, DC, there were loud cheers for Bourne/Kraatz.

 

[escaflowne9282]

In Minneapolis, K/O definitely got a hostile reception and that did seem to be about B/K. Am I still mad? Maybe?

I think the late 90s/early 00s were the height of the North American alliance, but it faded at some point thereafter.

Ugh. I still remember the NBC promo for SLC about Sale and Pelletier trying to win the gold for North America.

 

[Sylvia]

Nathan is on a whirlwind media tour in NYC today and just showed up on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" (at end of the hour, just before 1 pm ET):

https://twitter.com/mitchellreports/status/1496181296015499271
On silver medal ceremony delay, @nathanwchen: "We're hoping for the best. This can take quite some time and I don't have concrete details quite yet but hopefully soon and we would love to get our medal soon."

https://twitter.com/mitchellreports/status/1496181678838013959
On doping controversy, @nathanwchen: "I'm proud of my team and what we've done. We competed and we did everything we needed to do correctly and we did our very best and able to come up with the second place fairly. From there, I think we deserve our medal soon."

 

[skategal]

If going by fan/audience, most Canadians cheer for anyone BUT the US to win

I remember one year I was flipping through the channels when a world junior hockey tournament taking place in (I think) Calgary. The game I came across was US vs (I think) Norway. Almost the entire Canadian audience was loudly cheering for Norway.

Yes it’s well known that Canadian hockey audiences don’t cheer for Russia or USA.

I don’t know if we can say the same about figure skating audiences though.

It seems to depend a lot on if (we) Canada also has a medal contender in the race.

 

[screech]

Yes it’s well known that Canadian hockey audiences don’t cheer for Russia or USA.

I don’t know if we can say the same about figure skating audiences though.

It seems to depend a lot on if (we) Canada also has a medal contender in the race.

Based on the people I know, whenever possible most Canadians cheer for everyone except USA, whether Canada has a chance or not, regardless of the sport in question.
I don't know if it's a 100% fully representative sample of Canadians, but speaking from my own experience, it's 'Go everyone but USA!'

 

[skategal]

Based on the people I know, whenever possible most Canadians cheer for everyone except USA, whether Canada has a chance or not, regardless of the sport in question.
I don't know if it's a 100% fully representative sample of Canadians, but speaking from my own experience, it's 'Go everyone but USA!'

Really?

Because I can’t imagine a figure skating audience in Canada not cheering for Nathan Chen.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Really?

Because I can’t imagine a figure skating audience in Canada not cheering for Nathan Chen.

Hey, let's try not to speak for all Canadians. Some of us neither knit nor give standing ovations

 

[screech]

Really?

Because I can’t imagine a figure skating audience in Canada not cheering for Nathan Chen.

You can cheer for someone in acknowledgement of a job well done, while also hoping that someone else does better and wins.

 

[skategal]

You can cheer for someone in acknowledgement of a job well done, while also hoping that someone else does better and wins.

Yes this is true.

 

[hanca]

Whoa. Chill out. You need some xanax.

Do I? And you need to think harder before you post, because it seems that at the moment your hands are faster than your brain, unfortunately.

 

[UGG]

You're perfectly illustrating the point.

She was part of a system (Gaillaguet) that sold lies to the public about her very identity, making her out to be someone she wasn't. How's that for instrumentalization?
Whilst the US media portrayed her as a skater with poor skating skills, this particular piece of information was not being fed back to her, or if it was it was completely being drowned by racist remarks. The noise was that she was "not artistic enough", "not graceful enough" or too muscular, which in the context of her actually putting her heart and performance ability into beautifully choreographed programs, at a time when most skaters were skating empty circles round the rink with the occasional token armwave, she knew to be plain untrue.

Bonaly was a French icon, featured on the national news incredibly frequently, as in all magazines etc. The whole country was behind her and had fed into the narrative that she was being marked down by judges for racist reasons. This was the truth, but not the whole truth. She was being treated with horrid racism but she also had poor skating skills - it's just that in her eyes and the eyes of the French public, the racism overshadowed all else.
When Yuka Sato won, someone who wasn't a top name, she took it as the judges would literally put anyone in the world on top of the podium, rather than her. She believed this because the French media had fed this to her on a daily basis for years.

It's a shame that her emotions came out after one of her luckluster performances because the true injustice was rather in 1993 when she comprehensively outskated Baiul but got placed 2nd.

Any doubt Surya was treated with racism evaporated on the professional circuit, where she outjumped, outskated and outperformed all her peers for years on end only to "lose" in professional contests to skaters with embarrassingly empty / poor programs. It was painful to watch the overt racism there, and having it all layed out painted a small picture of what she had always endured.

I understand that out of the media context that existed in France back then, US viewers might have thought she was just a skater with poor skating skills and a bad attitude.
This impression had been fed by racist commentary such as this for years:

Surya Bonaly 1999 Keri Lotion Figure Skating Challenge program

2nd with the world team - December 18, 1999 - Kennewick / USA

youtu.be

(this performance of surya's is one of her best ever and of course she was underscored. "very little grace" ).

Thank you for your post- I guess I don’t have all the facts. I was 15 in 1994 when that happened. But I remember thinking it wasn’t a slam dunk gold medal performance. As far as I go, it’s perspective as a 15 year old in 1994 vs a 44 year old in 2022. I will go back and watch again.

As far as losing to Oksana in 1993…I mean I guess both of Oksana’s big wins were very controversial. Her 1994 Olympic long program was extremely empty and I think she did not even include a combo with a triple jump, correct?

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Thank you for your post- I guess I don’t have all the facts. I was 15 in 1994 when that happened. But I remember thinking it wasn’t a slam dunk gold medal performance. As far as I go, it’s perspective as a 15 year old in 1994 vs a 44 year old in 2022. I will go back and watch again.

As far as losing to Oksana in 1993…I mean I guess both of Oksana’s big wins were very controversial. Her 1994 Olympic long program was extremely empty and I think she did not even include a combo with a triple jump, correct?

Barely squeezed out a combination with a double jump at the very end of her LP, IIRC?

 

[giselle23]

Yes, but do Americans competing in Canada have a hometown advantage? Do Canadians in the U.S.?

No and no.

 

[Aussie Willy]

In Minneapolis, K/O definitely got a hostile reception and that did seem to be about B/K. Am I still mad? Maybe?

I think the late 90s/early 00s were the height of the North American alliance, but it faded at some point thereafter.

I was there at that event (the only worlds I have ever attended). It was more against A&P than K&O. During even the compulsories, the bulk of the crowd were the Canadian fans who all sat together at ends of the rink (because it was the least attended event). The red and white was pretty obvious. There were a few moments of behaviour the person who I was there with and I just were shaking our heads in terms of crowd behaviour. It was very interesting to say the least.

 

[giselle23]

The amount of people posting in this thread who have ZERO idea about trauma response should feel lucky. If you think Trusova was being a “bratty teen” …thank your lucky stars. Because for those of us who understand trauma, it was heartbreaking. This wasn’t Surya Bonaley ripping off a silver medal. OMG

I think that winning a silver medal instead of a gold is pretty mild trauma. 17 year old Michelle Kwan managed it without incident in 1998. Or was there some other trauma that she suffered? Really, someone should have been helping her manage her expectations. Not many people were predicting her for the gold medal.

 

[Nadya]

I think that winning a silver medal instead of a gold is pretty mild trauma. 17 year old Michelle Kwan managed it without incident in 1998. Or was there some other trauma that she suffered? Really, someone should have been helping her manage her expectations. Not many people were predicting her for the gold medal.

I was just thinking that people can traumatize me with silver Olympic medals all day long if they wish. I'm open!

 

[Wyliefan]

I think that winning a silver medal instead of a gold is pretty mild trauma. 17 year old Michelle Kwan managed it without incident in 1998. Or was there some other trauma that she suffered? Really, someone should have been helping her manage her expectations. Not many people were predicting her for the gold medal.

Pretty sure the reference was to the trauma of her training mate testing positive for drugs and the harsh spotlight it threw on them all, and the associated trauma of all of them training under a coach who's been mistreating them for years.

 

[hoptoad]

She was an IJS skater before her time. What is sad is that if she hadn't been treated with racism and the judges had plainly said "you have wonderful performance ability and but we need you to work on your edges" she most likely would have and would have been greater still. Instead she got lost chasing "artistry" which she already had in spades.

That is sad. It never occurred to me that she wasn't getting feedback about how others saw her edges and basic skating.

 

[BittyBug]

There were plenty of posts here about how the evil American audience sat on its hands for Lobacheva/Averbukh's rock and roll FD in DC in 2003, because we all wanted Bourne/Kraatz to win.

Some of us (at least two of us) were rooting for Lobacheva and Averbukh.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Some of us (at least two of us) were rooting for Lobacheva and Averbukh.

But you couldn't drown out the silence .

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Some of us (at least two of us) were rooting for Lobacheva and Averbukh.

Denkova and Staviski wuz robbed!

 

[emason]

Some of us (at least two of us) were rooting for Lobacheva and Averbukh.

Add me to the list. I could feel the sharp knives aimed at my back because I dared to do this.

 

[Areski]

Denkova and Staviski wuz robbed!

I can't at all these neverending discussions about 'wuzrobbed' cases from the 90s and early 00s. Lol, maybe it's time to move on?

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

I can't at all these neverending discussions about 'wuzrobbed' cases from the 90s and early 00s. Lol, maybe it's time to move on?

Some of us are trying to pretend we're still in the blush of first youth. Also, apparently some of us are mistaking this for a Dance thread. Oops...

 

[soogar]

Thank you for your post- I guess I don’t have all the facts. I was 15 in 1994 when that happened. But I remember thinking it wasn’t a slam dunk gold medal performance. As far as I go, it’s perspective as a 15 year old in 1994 vs a 44 year old in 2022. I will go back and watch again.

As far as losing to Oksana in 1993…I mean I guess both of Oksana’s big wins were very controversial. Her 1994 Olympic long program was extremely empty and I think she did not even include a combo with a triple jump, correct?

I was alive then and remember Surya. This revision of history that Surya was a victim of racism is the latest "woke" narrative of events. Surya was connected to the French Federation. She always participated in international events, with full French support. She won 5 European titles and finished 2nd in worlds 3 times. She also wore costumes designed by Christian LaCroix. I never got that she was ever discriminated in France. On a side note, I believe I have seen more black skaters competing for France than any country, even the United States.

She was held back due to her poor skating skills, and it seemed that her mother did not want her to change. The only racist thing I can recall was Sandra Bezic's incredibly harsh criticism of her skating skills. It was so harsh that it sounded like she despised Surya.

I think Surya should have been credited with the quad jump because she landed it and then tripped on her toe picks when she turned around celebrating it. She had clearly completed the jump and landed backwards. They credited Kurt's turnout on the quad toe landing.

However Surya had an amazing professional career. She was invited to COI annually and professional events. Her back flip landed on one leg into a triple salchow combination was very popular.

Oksana's win was not controversial from the view of Scott H and Sandra Bezic who were commenting at the time. In fact, I think that it's weird that they were so up in arms about the SLC pairs event, which there was a miniscule difference between the two pairs, yet were perfectly happy with Oksana winning with much less content. In fact, Scott defended Jan Hoffmann for his decision on how he split the two women.

 

[PRlady]

Denkova and Staviski wuz robbed!

The baroque OD was the bestest.

 

[Coco]

I think this is the first time @millyskate has been called woke.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Some of us (at least two of us) were rooting for Lobacheva and Averbukh.

L&A's OD rocked and they really surprised me. I thought it was the best of the bunch. Particularly their FD was very good. B&K's OD was pretty bad but they skated their Riverdance FD the best I had seen.