Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

[Wyliefan]

Lord help us. Poor Gracie.

Honestly, these parties sound lethal. It sounds like every predator in the sport grabs their chance there to prey on the vulnerable. If I were a skater, I'd be scared to go to them. (I realize it's not JUST parties, before someone says it.)

 

[coppertop1]

21... that means the 2016-17 season. Goodness.

That explains so much why she was struggling that season. I remember how Johnny and Tara commentated about her, that season and they were awful! Of course, they didn't keep above tho but their lack of empathy was appalling.
Poor Gracie.

That's two of the USA's top women who were assaulted at parties. Awful.

 

[Wyliefan]

Plus the unnamed skater who accused Sorensen. She said that happened at a party.

 

[Firedancer]

TW: rape, eating disorder, depression

https://www.wsj.com/sports/olympics/gracie-gold-figure-skating-memoir-outofshapeworthlessloser-8e70b876?st=rurq2spsgs8du35&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

I am very much looking forward to reading Gracie’s book. But from this article it sounds like Safe Sport never did anything with her case and doesn’t have any idea where it is. That beyond unacceptable.

 

[kosjenka]

Phil Hersh mentioned he has been reading the book, i assume he was sent an advance copy.
How she was able to narrate her audiobook… poor Gracie

 

[Lanie]

It doesn't surprise me having dealt with SafeSport in the past and what we're hearing from other athletes about their particular brand of, well, seeming incompetence.

Poor Gracie.

After-competition parties are pretty wild. A lot of drinking goes on.

 

[On My Own]

That explains so much why she was struggling that season. I remember how Johnny and Tara commentated about her, that season and they were awful! Of course, they didn't keep above tho but their lack of empathy was appalling.
Poor Gracie.

That's two of the USA's top women who were assaulted at parties. Awful.

Frank Carroll's treatment of her too...

 

[Vagabond]

Poor Gracie.

After-competition parties are pretty wild. A lot of drinking goes on.

Where were the responsible adults?

 

[angi]

She was sixteen at the time. Where were the responsible adults?

I think it states she was 21 when the attack happened (2016/17 season)

Safe Sport investigates regardless of the identity of the attacker, right? At first, I took the quote to mean it was a US skater but reading again it can be any skater and Safe Sport would still investigate given the complaint came for a US skater.

 

[PRlady]

She was sixteen at the time. Where were the responsible adults?

I think we’ve known she had family drama and irresponsible parents. Ashley also had a difficult home situation. I wonder if that scenario makes some kids into ambitious perfectionists, trying to prove they are worthy.

 

[Vagabond]

I think it states she was 21 when the attack happened (2016/17 season)

Thanks for the correction. I still wonder whether there were any minors present and where the responsible adults were.

 

[rfisher]

It doesn't surprise me having dealt with SafeSport in the past and what we're hearing from other athletes about their particular brand of, well, seeming incompetence.

Poor Gracie.

After-competition parties are pretty wild. A lot of drinking goes on.

There have been multiple threads discussing what fans have witnessed in skater hotels after events. I think this is especially true when skaters are away from home. Teenagers have little sense of self-preservation. Katia Gordeeva wrote about how she was left behind after winning her first OGM while the rest of the team went partying and how hung over they all were for the gala. I well remember the picture of her sitting all by herself in the stands watching other events.

In the case of Gracie's party, she and her sister would have been the responsible adults since they were 21 and hosted the party.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

TW: rape, eating disorder, depression

https://www.wsj.com/sports/olympics/gracie-gold-figure-skating-memoir-outofshapeworthlessloser-8e70b876?st=rurq2spsgs8du35&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Gosh, makes my stomach in a knot and its shocking that so many women have experienced a sexual assault, both her and Ashley, the top two from 2014 through 2017, women in pairs, dance, it’s so widespread…

Question, did she not report it to police? Only safe sport? I have no idea what I would do in the situation

 

[angi]

Thanks for the correction. I still wonder whether there were any minors present and where the responsible adults were.

There have been many stories and even photos from parties that involved underage skaters and no doubt also included drinking and god knows what else. I remember seeing photos of V/M and D/W at a costume party when they were 17-19 and those photos had a distinct vibe. I always wondered how it even works when minors travel internationally to competition without family members (and sometimes with them). Is it the coach's responsibility to keep them safe? The federation officials? Someone must be legally responsible for their well-being and I have to admit that I wonder if there's a clearly defined individual holding that responsibility.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Karina Manta wrote in her book that when she moved to train with Johnson, she moved into a family’s house, and the two parents left them there and went to live in their other house or apartment.

I grew up in a town where if any kid had been “bad” at Catholic School (K-8) that day, the mother’s’ phone tree would be abuzz and everyone knew about it. It was a “takes a village” kind of town, where parents had no qualms schooling other people’s kids. Yet I, as a nerd, knew where all of the popular kids’ drinking/smoking parties were from 8th grade on. Somehow all of the parents who were into everyone’s business for all of those years were oblivious and fooled. And graduation? The drinking age was 18, and I was at many parties hosted or “hosted” by parents who were in the house while the parties took place inside and out.

Add in living away from home. Add in a mix of legal young adults and minors who are intensely connected. It’s not a formula for safety.

 

[NinjaTurtles]

That’s really awful.

Gosh, makes my stomach in a knot and its shocking that so many women have experienced a sexual assault, both her and Ashley, the top two from 2014 through 2017, women in pairs, dance, it’s so widespread…

Question, did she not report it to police? Only safe sport? I have no idea what I would do in the situation

She didn’t do either, technically. She told a USFSA official and said official reported it to SafeSport.

I assume this would be 2016 Skate America as the associated event preceding the after-party, given the timing and Gracie and Carly hosted (it was in Chicago that year).

 

[once_upon]

That's two of the USA's top women who were assaulted at parties. Awful.

That's only a microplasm of what has happened for eons. I compare it too frat parties and college years. If you don't know someone who was raped at one of those parties, they haven't whispered the secret or you ignored the signs.

It doesn't matter if you are top elite at your sport, your whatever. It happens all the time. ALL

Where were the responsible adults?

Just like everywhere. Blinded. Or they are the "adults". What were YOU doing at the time you went off to college or first had access to alcohol or drugs?

Yes, it's horrific. Safe Sports needs to be more effective, but every one of us needs to be aware.

 

[tony]

Just like everywhere. Blinded. Or they are the "adults". What were YOU doing at the time you went off to college or first had access to alcohol or drugs?

I'm going to guess not everyone here shared the same 'coming of age' experiences throughout high school and college that are, from my experiences, pretty commonplace. Even if they didn't actually partake in such experiences, I find it hard to believe that they weren't aware that it was happening-- even with some perfect students. And I don't think we can just pinpoint it to responsible adults or ways of being raised. Kids start to get freedoms (staying home alone without babysitter from a certain age, going to friends' houses/spending the night, getting a drivers license), and no parent is going to be attached at the hip 24/7.

 

[Colonel Green]

I think it states she was 21 when the attack happened (2016/17 season)

Safe Sport investigates regardless of the identity of the attacker, right? At first, I took the quote to mean it was a US skater but reading again it can be any skater and Safe Sport would still investigate given the complaint came for a US skater.

If it wasn't a US skater or someone training with USFS-licensed coaches, I don't think SafeSport would have any jurisdiction over them.

 

[Vagabond]

What were YOU doing at the time you went off to college or first had access to alcohol or drugs?

Since you asked....

I first had access to alcohol when my parents gave me a sip of wine.

I have never used drugs.

And when I went off to college, I didn't go to frat parties. Not my scene.

 

[angi]

If it wasn't a US skater or someone training with USFS-licensed coaches, I don't think SafeSport would have any jurisdiction over them.

Have to say, looking at the list of participants at Skate America, that's a short list of skaters that likely fall under that category (that being said Skate America is not the only possible relevant occurrence).

 

[Wyliefan]

There's a non-American skater on that list who was investigated by SafeSport for a different incident.

 

[PRlady]

Uh, with both Cipres and Roganov there, that already seems skeevy.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

If it wasn't a US skater or someone training with USFS-licensed coaches, I don't think SafeSport would have any jurisdiction over them.

Or someone who coaches in the US.

 

[Gris]

Uh, with both Cipres and Roganov there, that already seems skeevy.

Sorry for the unrelated stuff, but what did Alexei Rogonov do? /gen

 

[On My Own]

... what is gen

 

[Cherub721]

Uh, with both Cipres and Roganov there, that already seems skeevy.

Are you thinking of the coach Sergei Rozanov? It's pairs skater Alexei Roganov on the roster.

 

[Gris]

... what is gen

"genuinely asking". Like "/s" for "sarcasm".

 

[On My Own]

"genuinely asking". Like "/s" for "sarcasm".

Well if I had a million guesses I wouldn't have guessed that.

Why is it needed if we already have /s. Wouldn't it be that the rest is genuine? Not that I feel tone indicators are needed on Internet. Ruins the effect.

 

[Vagabond]

I think it states she was 21 when the attack happened (2016/17 season)

Safe Sport investigates regardless of the identity of the attacker, right? At first, I took the quote to mean it was a US skater but reading again it can be any skater and Safe Sport would still investigate given the complaint came for a US skater.

If it wasn't a US skater or someone training with USFS-licensed coaches, I don't think SafeSport would have any jurisdiction over them.

Or someone who coaches in the US.

It was a skater, not a coach. The event could have been Skate America or Nationals.

https://www.wsj.com/sports/olympics/gracie-gold-figure-skating-memoir-outofshapeworthlessloser-8e70b876?st=rurq2spsgs8du35&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Gold’s memoir “Outofshapeworthlessloser,” which will be published Tuesday, includes her explosive allegation that at 21 she was raped by a fellow skater at an event after-party—and that five years after the incident was reported to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, she has no idea whether the case has been resolved....

She struggled with the aftermath of an imperfect performance at the 2016 world championships.

Her next competitive season was a disaster, and the rape occurred around this time, Gold says, in a hotel suite where she and her sister were hosting an event after-party.

I don't think that SafeSport would investigate a foreign skater training under a USFS-licensed coach. It isn't invesitgating Nikolaj Sorensen, who was training in the United States at the time of the incident discussed upthread. Even so, Gold might have thought that SafeSport would investigate.

This is another reason why victims of sexual assault should report incidents to the police as well as other pertinent bodies such as SafeSport.