Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

[kwanfan1818]

If they only got married when she was 17 because they were just too in love to wait and their parents inexplicably thought it was fine, why hide the fact that they were married and wait to have the church wedding until she was actually 18? If everyone involved thought there was really nothing wrong with her getting married underage, they would have been honest. They all knew it was something to hide.

Yes, they knew it was something to hide when they hid it, but even if they weren't part of a pattern with WASA, and even if there wasn't a citizenship issue, I'm sure if a 17- and and 19-year US citizen dance team announced that they were married with their parents' consent, no one would have criticized them for being too young or their parents for signing off on it, and everything would have been unicorns and rainbows and , here and elsewhere.

I might have hidden it too, just to keep the narrative from being hijacked, but I'm not in a judged sport or a $1million investment, so I would be a different person than the one who would have announced it and then told everyone to piss off.

 

[Yyzskater]

Solene Mazingue's courage inspired Polish ice dancer Olivia Oliver to tell her own story of an incident that occurred on a trip to Montreal : https://www.instagram.com/p/DBg7QrEvVxA/

Absolutely heartbreaking. You can feel the pain through her words. How many more have not come forward and are suffering in silence?

The figure skating community needs to take a really close look at itself and make REAL changes and not performative ones.

 

[Karen-W]

IAM could be in real trouble here.

We have the way they handled the Nik Soerensen case, the despicable lack of support they offered Solene happening at the same time the Soerensen suspicion were just becoming public, and this is followed on by Olivia Oliver now publicly stating she was in Montreal and raped by a "colleague" in the public bathroom of her hotel in May 2022; and that doesn't even take into consideration the comments Gabriella Papadakis made about how she was treated by the IAM team after she found out she was pregnant sometime ahead of the 2022 Olympics.

What parent, in their right mind, would ever want their child to go to IAM knowing that the environment seems ripe for abuse and does not seem to care about its female skaters in any real way?

 

[kwanfan1818]

The same parents who send their daughters to camps where they'll be starved and/or pushed to compete with severe injuries and concussions?

Parents can look at IAM and decide to see only Chock and Bates, Hubbell and Diaz, and Hawayek and Baker -- not romantically, but how supportive they are of each other -- and decide that it's all one big happy family for those who behave, don't complain, and don't bring their problems to the rink.

 

[skateblessing]

IAM could be in real trouble here.

We have the way they handled the Nik Soerensen case, the despicable lack of support they offered Solene happening at the same time the Soerensen suspicion were just becoming public, and this is followed on by Olivia Oliver now publicly stating she was in Montreal and raped by a "colleague" in the public bathroom of her hotel in May 2022; and that doesn't even take into consideration the comments Gabriella Papadakis made about how she was treated by the IAM team after she found out she was pregnant sometime ahead of the 2022 Olympics.

What parent, in their right mind, would ever want their child to go to IAM knowing that the environment seems ripe for abuse and does not seem to care about its female skaters in any real way?

After reading Olivias post I also feel that IAM seems to be common issue here. A lot of people have been denying that Nik case is related to IAM because it happen apparently before he joined them, but the things coming forward... As you say GP also saying she was not supported, and Solene not getting support from her coaches.. and now Olivias post...

Also note this quote from Olivias post: "there is a lot of selected protection in the environment which I want to see eliminated" - environment seems to be IAM?

 

[Karen-W]

After reading Olivias post I also feel that IAM seems to be common issue here. A lot of people have been denying that Nik case is related to IAM because it happen apparently before he joined them, but the things coming forward... As you say GP also saying she was not supported, and Solene not getting support from her coaches.. and now Olivias post...

Also note this quote from Olivias post: "there is a lot of selected protection in the environment which I want to see eliminated" - environment seems to be IAM?

Ehhhh... It's not just IAM - the WASA ice dance situation is completely separate from that, for sure; same with the John Coughlin, Dalilah Sappenfield, and Morgan Cipres issues in pairs; and let's not even talk about Nikolai Morozov's history (and the Nik Soerensen rape happened in Connecticut, not Montreal, before he moved there). The sport is rampant with problems.

 

[tangerine dream]

I didn't say they weren't in love. I'm saying they got married for other reasons regardless of whether they were in love.

If they only got married when she was 17 because they were just too in love to wait and their parents inexplicably thought it was fine, why hide the fact that they were married and wait to have the church wedding until she was actually 18? If everyone involved thought there was really nothing wrong with her getting married underage, they would have been honest. They all knew it was something to hide.

Whatever their feelings for each other and however they conduct their lives, I think it's very clear that they chose to get married when she was 17 for reasons that were time sensitive, such as citizenship.

I agree with you. I will point out that in this scenario no crime was committed. It is not that uncommon for a couple to move up their wedding date to keep a foreign-born person in the country. They wed at a courthouse and have their "real" wedding with friends and family several years later when they are ready and can afford it. If the relationship is legitimate, a green-card marriage is not illegal.

 

[Willin]

IAM definitely seems to be an issue at this point. But given how skaters' scores and placements seem to magically increase by sole virtue of being there I somehow think things aren't going to change. The judges are still sending the message that if you want to win you have to go to IAM. In the last couple seasons a few other schools have broken through with individual teams, but success elsewhere doesn't seem to be nearly the slam dunk immediate success it is at IAM.

 

[Prancer]

Once again, could people PLEASE show some common sense and not post rumors from dubious sources?

 

[jiejie]

An angle I haven't seen mentioned anywhere: a foreigner with a US citizen marriage shortcut to a green card, can begin sponsorship of US immigrant visas for family members. The colloquial term is "chain migration" and while legal, it has a lot of detractors. Ice dance careers are perhaps the immediate focus of these teen marriages, but there may also be longer term objectives at play here, at least by some of the involved parties.

 

[Private Citizen]

The same parents who send their daughters to camps where they'll be starved and/or pushed to compete with severe injuries and concussions?

^^^ This.

Many skating parents are not "in their right mind."

In the early 2000s, I was friendly* was several skating parents. One sent their daughter to a known molester (now suspended). When I approached the parent to ensure that they were aware of the rumors, they laughed and said, "oh, he only molests boys." I felt ice in my veins upon hearing those words. But I'm sure they weren't the only ones doing that.

Another skating parent was fine sending their kid to a coach known for starvation who supplied teenagers with cigarettes to manage their weight. They were OK with their underage kid smoking, as long as it was in support of a skating medal.

Many of the skating parents I knew ended up divorced, deeply in debt, or both.

*In hindsight, they weren't actually friendly. They were using me in an attempt to get favorable online press for their skater. Which in itself is batshit crazy. I recognize my sample was skewed: the ones who sought me out were almost all the obsessive crazy ones. Looking back, a couple of them should have been in mental institutions - without exaggeration. A few of them might even admit it themselves. The rest are probably still reliving the skating career that never was.

 

[kwanfan1818]

but there may also be longer term objectives at play here, at least by some of the involved parties.

Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, have long made extreme sacrifices to better their families’ situations. Sometimes it betters their own as well, but not always.

 

[Debbie S]

In the early 2000s, I was friendly* was several skating parents. One sent their daughter to a known molester (now suspended). When I approached the parent to ensure that they were aware of the rumors, they laughed and said, "oh, he only molests boys."

Assuming we're talking about the same coach, I heard a similar comment from a coach at my rink when I expressed concern about a skater we knew going to train with him.

 

[Willin]

^^^ This.

Many skating parents are not "in their right mind."

In the early 2000s, I was friendly* was several skating parents. One sent their daughter to a known molester (now suspended). When I approached the parent to ensure that they were aware of the rumors, they laughed and said, "oh, he only molests boys." I felt ice in my veins upon hearing those words. But I'm sure they weren't the only ones doing that.

Another skating parent was fine sending their kid to a coach known for starvation who supplied teenagers with cigarettes to manage their weight. They were OK with their underage kid smoking, as long as it was in support of a skating medal.

Many of the skating parents I knew ended up divorced, deeply in debt, or both.

*In hindsight, they weren't actually friendly. They were using me in an attempt to get favorable online press for their skater. Which in itself is batshit crazy. I recognize my sample was skewed: the ones who sought me out were almost all the obsessive crazy ones. Looking back, a couple of them should have been in mental institutions - without exaggeration. A few of them might even admit it themselves. The rest are probably still reliving the skating career that never was.

We had a skater that was very talented - she was expected to sail through to Nationals. Unfortunately she got an injury on practice ice at sectionals. Her long time coach refused to let her skate on said injury - I think a very bad adductor strain? Something where she couldn't jump or spin safely. Anyways, instead of pulling her out, the mom fired the coach mid-competition, went coach shopping for other better known local coaches and made the switch at the competition. Needless to say she bombed the competition due to injury and didn't make Nationals. In fact, the injury lingered long enough that she never really lived up to her prior success. Probably because her Mom made her train with the new coach as if she was going to Nationals.

I saw another skating parent with two kids in the sport. Both competed for the US, although the older one got ALL the resources: double the coaching time, new dresses, $5k choreography from a nationally known name, you name it. The younger one was just along for the ride. (Very Maddie and McKenzie from dance moms) Then, when the older one went off to college, the mom suddenly expected the younger one to be doing double axels and triples and compete internationally for their small fed home country. I watched as she, in tears, kept trying and falling on jumps she hadn't landed before. No coach, just mom at the boards telling her she had to land them and compete internationally. This went on for an hour.

Point being that some skating parents care more about success than the safety of their children.

 

[rfisher]

Point being that some skating parents care more about success than the safety of their children.

this is hardly limited to figure skating. Ever been to a little league baseball game? Or soccer? Or high school football or basketball? Or tennis parents? Or even golf parents to say nothing of gymnastics. A whole lot of parents push their kids into sports especially if there are significant gains to be made if they excel.

 

[justalittleinfo]

Willin, As a parent who was not in her right mind, I want to say that you are completely correct. I can't believe the things that I allowed to happen in the search for gold. Not an excuse, but the money it takes to train a skater at the highest level drives parents mad. It happens slowly. So, it all seems normal at the time. You have to get far away from the sport to see how wrong you were. I lost my daughter, and my marriage and was deeply in debt. I have turned my life around but letting my daughter be involved in the skating world is my deepest regret in life.

 

[deegee]

Solene has stated, explicitly, just a couple hours ago, on her IG stories the following:

1) she does not plan on naming her aggressor publicly at this time
2) she has not received support from her coaches

I'd say that until and unless she publicly names her aggressor, we should probably still refrain from speculating. For all we know, one of the two unnamed "sources" sport-express is citing could be our favorite Xwitter FS gossip.

isn't she coached at i am?

 

[overedge]

"selective protection" sums it up exactly. I'm so sorry that Olivia had that experience, but she has the perfect description of the fundamental structural problems that the sport refuses to address.

 

[kwanfan1818]

isn't she coached at i am?

According to her team’s latest isu bio (from 2023-24), yes:

https://results.isu.org/bios/isufs00111363.htm

 

[Andrea82]

^^^ This.

Many skating parents are not "in their right mind."

In the early 2000s, I was friendly* was several skating parents. One sent their daughter to a known molester (now suspended). When I approached the parent to ensure that they were aware of the rumors, they laughed and said, "oh, he only molests boys." I felt ice in my veins upon hearing those words. But I'm sure they weren't the only ones doing that.

Another skating parent was fine sending their kid to a coach known for starvation who supplied teenagers with cigarettes to manage their weight. They were OK with their underage kid smoking, as long as it was in support of a skating medal.

Many of the skating parents I knew ended up divorced, deeply in debt, or both.

When Fajfr went on trial in Germany in mid 90s, some of the parents didn't come out in good light.

 

[tangerine dream]

According to her team’s latest isu bio (from 2023-24), yes:

https://results.isu.org/bios/isufs00111363.htm

Ugh, so if/when she's ready to compete again her choices are: return to IAM where they didn't support her but did support Sorenson or find a new coaching team and likely lose support from judges without the IAM team behind them. That's a real shame.

 

[Desperado]

Olivia's story is horrific, blood and hospitalization were mentioned. This "colleague" is probably out there doing this still and I have nothing but hatred for his multiple enablers.

I hope some day soon, they're officially named and shamed, for this or any similar event.

 

[kwanfan1818]

When Fajfr went on trial in Germany in mid 90s, some of the parents didn't come out in good light.

And, yet, skaters went to train with him after he was convicted and allowed back into the sport.

 

[Andrea82]

And, yet, skaters went to train with him after he was convicted and allowed back into the sport.

I still have this is one of lowest K&C points

https://media.gettyimages.com/id/468953801/photo/figure-skating-winter-olympics-day-5.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=opmim1eiUGfU45JziyUPdL5ej4DxBFGRq-8OjSqCvRQ=

 

[overedge]

Rick Westhead from TSN is reporting on Xitter that "in April 2025, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport will replace the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner as the agency responsible for investigating national team level coaches and athletes. While the OSIC makes sanctions public immediately after investigating, the CCES wrote in a draft document that it will not publish sanctions on a public registry until all appeals have been exhausted. Safe sport advocates say that this may delay by years the public learning about those who have been sanctioned for misconduct".

 

[IHH0628]

this is hardly limited to figure skating. Ever been to a little league baseball game? Or soccer? Or high school football or basketball? Or tennis parents? Or even golf parents to say nothing of gymnastics. A whole lot of parents push their kids into sports especially if there are significant gains to be made if they excel.

Agree that there are similar concerns in other youth sports. However, the skating world is TINY compared to the other sports you list above. And the number of boys and men in the sport is exponentially even smaller. Sexual abusers can be women, too but most of the cases documented by safesport involved male perpetrators and I understand that statistics generally support that males are more likely to offend. My child's assailant was male. So that's another one out there. It just seems like proportionally there are an awful lot of incidents going on in this particular sport - and that's with the incidents we know about.

Plus, just because it happens in other sports doesn't mean the skating community should be any less concerned. Especially in an online skating community like this one.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Rick Westhead from TSN is reporting on Xitter that "in April 2025, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport will replace the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner as the agency responsible for investigating national team level coaches and athletes. While the OSIC makes sanctions public immediately after investigating, the CCES wrote in a draft document that it will not publish sanctions on a public registry until all appeals have been exhausted. Safe sport advocates say that this may delay by years the public learning about those who have been sanctioned for misconduct".

Amelia Cline of Athletes Empowered/Gymnasts for Change Canada is not impressed. Part of her Twitter/X comment: "Not publishing sanctions immediately strips parents/athletes of the ability to make informed decisions and shrouds alleged perpetrators in secrecy."

 

[Sylvia]

Rick Westhead from TSN is reporting on Xitter that "in April 2025, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport will replace the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner as the agency responsible for investigating national team level coaches and athletes. While the OSIC makes sanctions public immediately after investigating, the CCES wrote in a draft document that it will not publish sanctions on a public registry until all appeals have been exhausted. Safe sport advocates say that this may delay by years the public learning about those who have been sanctioned for misconduct".

Link: https://x.com/rwesthead/status/1849561441138835857

 

[kwanfan1818]

I don’t read criticism of IAM to mean that it’s the only place that abuse or not protecting and supporting their female athletes exists, but that they billed themselves up as the new, athlete-centric wholistic good guy/way of the future/cooperative/happy family/supportive training environment, and while they’ve certainly gone 180 on the single coach cult figure, and possibly have been more protective of their athletes’ physical health, they’re not living up to supporting their female athletes. I don’t see them acting any differently than JudgeThree cites from the USFS rulebook, elevating embarrassment-free over actual harm.

 

[Willin]

@kwanfan1818 They are definitely bringing this on themselves big time. And you're right that its probably because they're following the rule of embarrassment free. Of reasons people accuse IAM of being "the problem":

They built themselves into this happy, idealistic, and perfect image. They made it seem like everything and everyone is happy there.

• Of course we haven't heard all the stories, but when something negative comes out, this image shatters - and people wonder what else was behind the façade.
• This invites criticism because they necessarily must hide bad things to maintain their brand - and hiding things makes it much worse than just reporting things in the first place. Imagine the difference in reaction we'd have if they got ahead of the Sorensen case (I'm sure they were asked for a statement) and said "we did not know of these actions, but now that we do we are suspending him from our training rink pending investigation." Looks bad to have a predator, but that blows over much more quickly if you respond appropriately.

On that note, they don't understand branding/PR in this day and age. Only the old school ways to ignore embarrassment that are not effective now.

• This isn't 20 years ago when people forget things. Involved fans hold onto bad behavior for a lifetime - even one little quip or quote. If you don't fix it, you'll run into problems. IAM, by choosing to ignore their bad behavior, is letting the fans control the narrative about it. Maybe back in the day things like Gabby's description of what she faced could disappear by IAM ignoring it, but now the fans control the narrative with recent IAM stories that they haven't bothered to respond to.
• They ignore issues hoping they'll go away without thinking about the optics - like continuing to post/like pictures of and go to the K&C with Sorensen. Back pre-internet this may have been possible to get away with given most fans didn't have access to a forum/social media feed that let the story spread like wildfire.

They don't seem to have changed with the times as far as attitudes towards sexual assault and women go. Much like figure skating still prefers women to have a more traditional feminine image so as not to "embarrass" the sport.

• They don't seem to realize there's places like reddit, goldenskate, FSUniverse, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, etc. with a lot of younger fans. Even a lot of older fans participate in online social commentary. That means that yes, it's just a USAToday article and most people won't read that. But people will see Christine Brennan's tweets or the updates on the Ice Dance thread of whatever forum they're on - and while some older fans may have the much more strict innocent until proven guilty attitude of the past, younger fans are much less forgiving.
• Skaters have commented that the coaches there seem to favor the male partners in several ways (most famously demonstrated with the Gabby vs Guillame situation). This is definitely not good PR at a time when women have more power than ever.

So while they're definitely not the only problem, they're certainly emblematic of the problem in this sport.