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

[chewy]

@chewy Meagan even brought this up near the end of her TSL interview (at this point): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKt4PQAm5JE&t=3752s

@Sylvia thank you for the link to that point. I can’t stand to listen to them and would never have known otherwise.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

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.

This... Totally. Meagan has always been very focussed on her own goals and never quite reached out to her training mates. She is very goal-orientated more than relationship-oriented. Sometimes triggered when the attention is on someone else more than her.
These are great athlete’s assets but sometimes transition more or less well into real life. Too much intensity is like not enough. Life is sometimes about being and not just achieving.
Going back to the topic of control, one can see she was in control of every details while she was skating and I still have that feeling about her reading her comments on Facebook on TSL posts where she is pro-active in convincing people about her story (or to remind them to watch the video before commenting).

 

[dds262]

This... Totally. Meagan has always been very focussed on her own goals and never quite reached out to her training mates. She is very goal-orientated more than relationship-oriented. Sometimes triggered when the attention is on someone else more than her.
These are great athlete’s assets because sometimes transition more or less well into the real life. Too much intensity is like not enough. Life is sometimes about being and not just achieving.
Going back to the topic of control, one can see she was in control of every details while she was skating and I still have that feeling reading her comments on Facebook on TSL posts where she is pro-active in convincing people about her story (or to remind them to watch the video before commenting).

Very well said.....

 

[Immortelle]

Oops

 

[Dragonlady]

It's slightly off topic, but I actually think this is really important. Meagan trained at the highest level of skating for most of her life, was in pairs (arguably the most dangerous and intense discipline), doing quads, in her 30s, and never had a major injury (that we know of). She obviously knows how to fuel and take care of her body.

Megan had a lot of injuries when she was younger - stress fractures nearly ended her career in 2006/2007. She was given two GP assignments as a singles skater but had to pull out of both. But after she moved to Montreal, she's hasn't had a major injury.

 

[_Lola_]

Though I'm now in my 40s and not built quite like I used to be, I still absolutely hate the judgement put onto people who are naturally slender - how they must have unhealthy eating habits, be over-exercising, look sickly, etc. Just like some people are naturally heavier, there are people who are naturally skinnier. And unless Anna asked Meagan for her opinion on her body, no comments are required.

I had exactly the same experience and was very sensitive towards such comments when I was a teenager. Meagan herself has been a target for body-related criticism. I would expect her to know better that slim-shaming is just another form of body shaming. If we want to criticize, we should criticize a sport of figure skating as a system - what's in that system problematic and what are the positive examples of overcoming these problems. This type of criticism, in my opinion, would be helpful.

 

[Dragonlady]

This... Totally. Meagan has always been very focussed on her own goals and never quite reached out to her training mates. She is very goal-orientated more than relationship-oriented. Sometimes triggered when the attention is on someone else more than her.
These are great athlete’s assets but sometimes transition more or less well into real life. Too much intensity is like not enough. Life is sometimes about being and not just achieving.
Going back to the topic of control, one can see she was in control of every details while she was skating and I still have that feeling about her reading her comments on Facebook on TSL posts where she is pro-active in convincing people about her story (or to remind them to watch the video before commenting).

Of course she was focussed on her own goals. The reason why Megan is a 2-time World Champion with Olympic medals of every colour is precisely BECAUSE of her single minded focus on become a WORLD CHAMPION. Successful athletes have that ability to shut out everything else and focus on getting there. She wasn't going to the rink to "reach out of others". She was there to work!!! World Champion athletes don't become world champion athletes without that single minded focus on succeeding.

One of my neighbours in Toronto was a recently retired prima ballerina from the National Ballet, who had danced until after age 40. I asked her once if she missed dancing and she replied "I am no longer able to maintain the level of self-absorbtion it takes to dance at this level". It takes that same level of "self-absorbtion" to become a world champion, too.

 

[Bigbird]

Hello. Have we not seen how the majority of ET students completely transform after ending their competitive careers? Evgenia Medvedeva just seems like a flacid ragdoll to me no strength at all. Meghan made a valid point based on existing evidence. We do not recall the hell Julia L. went through to attain a normal relationship to food. People were reprimanding her for looking like a normal teenager. Elena I. was repeatedly body shamed in Russian media for refusing to conform and having a normal body. In my humble opinion Lawrence Founier Boudry is thrice the dancer of any of Russia's current crop but yet she and partner will never get the scores or recognition that more gaunt looking girls will get in dance. It's a culture and it's accepted. Only time will tell if Meghan was off base or not with Anna, but nobody was shaming the girl. Meghan should probably have said nothing because that culture has the willing participation of coaches, parents and athlete.

 

[sap5]

Hello. Have we not seen how the majority of ET students completely transform after ending their competitive careers? Evgenia Medvedeva just seems like a flacid ragdoll to me no strength at all. Meghan made a valid point based on existing evidence. We do not recall the hell Julia L. went through to attain a normal relationship to food. People were reprimanding her for looking like a normal teenager. Elena I. was repeatedly body shamed in Russian media for refusing to conform and having a normal body. In my humble opinion Lawrence Founier Boudry is thrice the dancer of any of Russia's current crop but yet she and partner will never get the scores or recognition that more gaunt looking girls will get in dance. It's a culture and it's accepted. Only time will tell if Meghan was off base or not with Anna, but nobody was shaming the girl. Meghan should probably have said nothing because that culture has the willing participation of coaches, parents and athlete.

I think Lawrence's figure has little bearing as to why that team isn't getting top scores.

 

[_Lola_]

Hello. Have we not seen how the majority of ET students completely transform after ending their competitive careers? Evgenia Medvedeva just seems like a flacid ragdoll to me no strength at all. Meghan made a valid point based on existing evidence. We do not recall the hell Julia L. went through to attain a normal relationship to food. People were reprimanding her for looking like a normal teenager. Elena I. was repeatedly body shamed in Russian media for refusing to conform and having a normal body. In my humble opinion Lawrence Founier Boudry is thrice the dancer of any of Russia's current crop but yet she and partner will never get the scores or recognition that more gaunt looking girls will get in dance. It's a culture and it's accepted. Only time will tell if Meghan was off base or not with Anna, but nobody was shaming the girl. Meghan should probably have said nothing because that culture has the willing participation of coaches, parents and athlete.

Well, Osmond? Does Meagan criticize her as well? Daleman? She's still competing though... I think there is an elephant in the room.

 

[marbri]

Well, Osmond? Does Meagan criticize her as well? Daleman? She's still competing though... I think there is an elephant in the room.

Criticize them about what?

 

[Dragonlady]

Hello. Have we not seen how the majority of ET students completely transform after ending their competitive careers? Evgenia Medvedeva just seems like a flacid ragdoll to me no strength at all. Meghan made a valid point based on existing evidence. We do not recall the hell Julia L. went through to attain a normal relationship to food. People were reprimanding her for looking like a normal teenager. Elena I. was repeatedly body shamed in Russian media for refusing to conform and having a normal body. In my humble opinion Lawrence Founier Boudry is thrice the dancer of any of Russia's current crop but yet she and partner will never get the scores or recognition that more gaunt looking girls will get in dance. It's a culture and it's accepted. Only time will tell if Meghan was off base or not with Anna, but nobody was shaming the girl. Meghan should probably have said nothing because that culture has the willing participation of coaches, parents and athlete.

Medvedeva does NOT look like a "flaccid ragdoll". She went to Orser and learned how to SKATE. She transformed herself into an adult skater, with speed and power, something that Eteri hasn't succeeded in doing with ANY of her skaters. Now she's forced Medvedeva to return to her camp, because she feared that Orser would do for her what Mishin is doing for Tuk.

It is NOT a culture to have sickly thin girls. It is abuse of the athletes.

 

[Bigbird]

I think Lawrence's figure has little bearing as to why that team isn't getting top scores.

Really? A couple of seasons ago their RD was scoring higher than S/K at EC. They have continued to improve and yet they've reached a plateau? It's like the actual ability to dance and be creative doesn't hold a candle to basic element by element skating done as a result at high speeds. Also what are the new French ice dance couple doing in the Zhulin camp in the Olympic year, like really? But I'll stop here because that's a whole other pointless conversation about a pointless discipline.

 

[marbri]

Really? A couple of seasons ago their RD was scoring higher than S/K at EC. They have continued to improve and yet they've reached a plateau? It's like the actual ability to dance and be creative doesn't hold a candle to basic element by element skating done as a result at high speeds. Also what are the new French ice dance couple doing in the Zhulin camp in the Olympic year, like really? But I'll stop here because that's a whole other pointless conversation about a pointless discipline.

Well they became Canada #2. I think Nik getting injured hampered their shot to overtake G/P that debut season.

 

[MsZem]

Really? A couple of seasons ago their RD was scoring higher than S/K at EC.

This happened once, in 2017, when S/K had a rough competition and finished 10th overall - behind the Poles even!!! (does anyone remember what happened?). S/K were ahead in 2015 and 2016 and did not compete in 2018, the last year F-B/S were at Euros.

 

[mjb52]

Think that was the competition where there was a big twizzle issue in one phase. All this is a bit off topic though isn't it? Has the conversation on James/Radford fizzled out?

 

[MsZem]

Think that was the competition where there was a big twizzle issue in one phase. All this is a bit off topic though isn't it? Has the conversation on James/Radford fizzled out?

FSU discussions are always on topic!

Nobody has done anything exciting with respect to the new partnership so far today.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Of course she was focussed on her own goals. The reason why Megan is a 2-time World Champion with Olympic medals of every colour is precisely BECAUSE of her single minded focus on become a WORLD CHAMPION. Successful athletes have that ability to shut out everything else and focus on getting there. She wasn't going to the rink to "reach out of others". She was there to work!!! World Champion athletes don't become world champion athletes without that single minded focus on succeeding.

I would add that Duhamel was focused on their (competitive) goals, which is also a reason why Radford is a 2-time World Champion with Olympic medals of every colour and why they were invited to shows. She put in a lot of individual work to fulfill their common goal.

 

[MsZem]

I would add that Duhamel was focused on their (competitive) goals, which is also a reason why Radford is a 2-time World Champion with Olympic medals of every colour and why they were invited to shows. She put in a lot of individual work to fulfill their common goal.

They both did. It was a good partnership.

 

[Dragonlady]

I would add that Duhamel was focused on their (competitive) goals, which is also a reason why Radford is a 2-time World Champion with Olympic medals of every colour and why they were invited to shows. She put in a lot of individual work to fulfill their common goal.

Absolutely he did. That's the one thing that made them a really good match. Both of them were willing to put in the work, because there was nothing about their style or their skating that matched. They MADE that happen, by sheer work and effort.

 

[puglover]

I watched the interview and thought Meagan was concise and fair in stating her feelings. The one point she made a number of times was "have a contract". It is easy to assume you don't need anything more than a person's word when they are a friend. It certainly sounded like Eric was pursuing both shows with Meagan and training with Vanessa simultaneously and that fact was kept from Meagan. No one likes to feel like they are the last to know - especially when you are one of the key players. It sounds like many people knew before her. A few years ago our daughter got engaged and she and her husband came to us for our blessing. Their next stop was to tell her former husband. They were afraid it would not go well and that would be putting it mildly. It actually got physical. Regardless, letting him know first was the correct thing to do, she and he have two little boys together. Meagan deserved better from Eric.

 

[Erin]

Of course she was focussed on her own goals. The reason why Megan is a 2-time World Champion with Olympic medals of every colour is precisely BECAUSE of her single minded focus on become a WORLD CHAMPION. Successful athletes have that ability to shut out everything else and focus on getting there. She wasn't going to the rink to "reach out of others". She was there to work!!! World Champion athletes don't become world champion athletes without that single minded focus on succeeding.

Sure...but it might not make her a lot of friends around the rink when others might have a more team-minded attitude. It reminds me of all those people on reality shows who say, "I didn't come here to make friends, I came here to be number one!" Which...fine, but then don't get upset after if people aren't that enamoured with you.

 

[tony]

Sure...but it might not make her a lot of friends around the rink when others might have a more team-minded attitude. It reminds me of all those people on reality shows who say, "I didn't come here to make friends, I came here to be number one!" Which...fine, but then don't get upset after if people aren't that enamoured with you.

Which may be true, but is there insider info coming from other skaters that she wasn’t well-liked or are people just projecting based on their own feelings? The entire gold medal team from 2018 that retired all seemed to be close, she’s getting plenty of other skaters both retired and present to take part in her online clinics, etc. Remember she was also super supportive of Aliona and Bruno when they won and enjoys skating so much in general that she’s typically seeming to root for everyone.

 

[nylynnr]

I don't know as much, I guess, as other posters as to whether or not Duhamel is team-focused at her rink, but she (and Radford) were absolutely team-focused at Olympics. They are not young and they gave everything they had to the team event in both the short and free, knowing it could be detrimental to their performances in the individual event. This certainly is not the way some other medal-hopeful athletes have handled the team event. Their attitude was, we are the top-ranked team in Canada and we're not taking any chances with this team gold medal.

I will just add, it's unfortunate Duhamel and Radford's skating career ends with this disagreement and a lot of chatter on TSL. They are great champions and were so thrilled with their bronze medal in Pyeongchang. I've never seen happier athletes at any of the four Olympics I have attended. I wish they could go back and freeze their feelings at that moment, but of course, the passage of more time will likely heal the wounds.

 

[Dragonlady]

Sure...but it might not make her a lot of friends around the rink when others might have a more team-minded attitude. It reminds me of all those people on reality shows who say, "I didn't come here to make friends, I came here to be number one!" Which...fine, but then don't get upset after if people aren't that enamoured with you.

I don't recall Megan saying any of those things. In fact, I don't recall Megan saying half of the stuff that is being attributed to her here. I see a lot of posters project their opinions and attitudes about Megan and what other skaters think about her into their posts.

I also find that those who are most critical of her are the fans of skaters who don't work nearly hard enough, but resent that they aren't as successful. Some people think they can coast on pure talent alone and don't have to work at it. They they think "I'm way more talented than she is or they are.

There were a lot of the skaters who were deemed more "talented", and "better" than Megan and Eric. They simply worked harder and smarter, and made history with their technical skills. Technical skills, like SBS 3Z, that Megan or Meagan and Eric were the first to complete in competition, are now increasing necessary to win.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Of course she was focussed on her own goals. The reason why Megan is a 2-time World Champion with Olympic medals of every colour is precisely BECAUSE of her single minded focus on become a WORLD CHAMPION. Successful athletes have that ability to shut out everything else and focus on getting there. She wasn't going to the rink to "reach out of others". She was there to work!!! World Champion athletes don't become world champion athletes without that single minded focus on succeeding.

One of my neighbours in Toronto was a recently retired prima ballerina from the National Ballet, who had danced until after age 40. I asked her once if she missed dancing and she replied "I am no longer able to maintain the level of self-absorbtion it takes to dance at this level". It takes that same level of "self-absorbtion" to become a world champion, too.

I guess you didn’t understand the underlying message... You can still be a champion and be more emphatic to others and a little bit less self-centered.
You can call my message an euphemism...

 

[VGThuy]

What skaters didn't work hard enough compared to Meagan and Eric? I had no idea there were so many lazy skaters competing at the top level in pairs. It couldn't be that people worked as hard as they could and their rankings and results were just a result of the performance of that day OR the limits of their ability no matter how hard they worked. And what's with this idea that only Meagan gave it her all and that it was only her work that led to her and Eric's success?

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Which may be true, but is there insider info coming from other skaters that she wasn’t well-liked or are people just projecting based on their own feelings? The entire gold medal team from 2018 that retired all seemed to be close, she’s getting plenty of other skaters both retired and present to take part in her online clinics, etc. Remember she was also super supportive of Aliona and Bruno when they won and enjoys skating so much in general that she’s typically seeming to root for everyone.

Yes.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

I don't recall Megan saying any of those things. In fact, I don't recall Megan saying half of the stuff that is being attributed to her here. I see a lot of posters project their opinions and attitudes about Megan and what other skaters think about her into their posts.

I also find that those who are most critical of her are the fans of skaters who don't work nearly hard enough, but resent that they aren't as successful. Some people think they can coast on pure talent alone and don't have to work at it. They they think "I'm way more talented than she is or they are.

There were a lot of the skaters who were deemed more "talented", and "better" than Megan and Eric. They simply worked harder and smarter, and made history with their technical skills. Technical skills, like SBS 3Z, that Megan or Meagan and Eric were the first to complete in competition, are now increasing necessary to win.

What do you really know about it?

 

[overedge]

When Meagan was competing as a singles skater, she was Canadian junior champion, but she never reached that same level of success in seniors. Plus she had two other pairs partners before she teamed up with Eric. She's said before that she just really loves to skate, and if she saw the potential with Eric to achieve the goals she wanted to achieve in skating, I can understand her being single-minded about pursuing those goals and pursuing them very intensely and strategically. Which would probably make it that much harder for her to accept the partnership ending so that he could go back to competition with a different partner.