Inappropriate commentary

[ElleW22]

I'm trying to put a list together of ALL the inappropriate commentary of skaters over the years. Can you help me??
Examples I'm looking for are:
1- Commentators commenting on a skaters body in a sexualized manner
2- Commentators commenting on body/weight or other personal appearance
3- Commentators NOT mentioning anything about an accusation or investigation (ie: No one saying why Sorensen was not competing at 2024? Nationals)

Looking for EXACT quote/examples not general statements about how someone may have spoken about a skater or the sport please.
Open to any and all examples from any network, country event, or year. BONUS points to anyone who has the video/audio to go with it.

 

[Aceon6]

Help us understand the context. Are you gathering info for a legal proceeding? Representing an individual or individuals for a rebuttal? Doing scholarly writing? Or just curious? If the latter, Google is your friend.

 

[MacMadame]

You do realize that there are literally thousands of such incidents? And that's just what is available to the public. It doesn't include comments at local club comps, coaches at rinks, etc.

 

[On My Own]

BONUS points

What can I do with them?

 

[Coco]

Not for skating but gymnastics:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Gymnastics/comments/tadqn5/best_of_the_worst_monica_phelps_quotes/

Lately, Google hasn't been my friend. The AI summaries are hit or miss.

 

[Wyliefan]

Lately, Google hasn't been my friend. The AI summaries are hit or miss.

They're useless the majority of the time. I just scroll past them and look at the results below them.

 

[Vagabond]

Ecosia is your friend, and it's better for the environment.

 

[Private Citizen]

A few examples from the 1990s:

Kurt Browning called 13-year-old Michelle Kwan sexy (https://youtu.be/Lboyhb7VX9k?si=eVJQJK3OTPG5lXuc&t=83)

Dick Button wanted to spank Nicole Bobek a few times and wring her neck another time - can't find the clips.

Scott Hamilton commented on Tonya Harding being visibly overweight at 1992 Skate Canada: https://youtu.be/d0HnEE1LN4M?si=zy6GpYcbWo_EpOyO&t=25. Listen also to the clip at 1:30. To be fair, Tonya was overweight. She herself said she lost 10 lb in the three weeks between Skate Canada and the pro-am. She was described in the press as overweight throughout 1992, e.g., https://time.com/archive/6719575/1992-winter-olympics-spinning-gold/

Natalia Mishkutenok's weight gain was discussed in a fluff piece around the 1994 Olympics: https://youtu.be/IJaEj9wDJNA?si=ABBH35n2gKXyROnK&t=135. The entire treatment of Natalia in the fluff piece is outrageous.

 

[On My Own]

Kurt Browning called 13-year-old Michelle Kwan sexy (https://youtu.be/Lboyhb7VX9k?si=eVJQJK3OTPG5lXuc&t=83)

Isn't this par for course in much of media?

Not at all to justify that. But as an example, here's something about the actor Taylor Lautner when he was 17. https://youtu.be/110OUbEVw_0?si=yA84ZJg0oJjNMzAM&t=388

 

[Private Citizen]

Isn't this par for course in much of media?

I found it outrageous given that Kwan was a pre-pubescent 13-year-old who was just skating her programs.

I think there's a big difference between that and the example you gave, which is a 17-year-old guy who had gone through puberty and was engaging in commercial activities (photo shoots, etc.) showing off his physique in a way designed to be sexy and suggestive. Yes, he was a minor, but a lot closer to adulthood and past the age of consent.

I'd have had less of an issue with the Kwan comment even in 1996, when she started to present in a more mature, adult-like way (though it still would've been inappropriate). In 1994 with her pink costume, ponytail, no makeup? It's friggin' creepy and makes Browning sound like a pedophile.

 

[Cachoo]

Not sure this fits your parameters....

https://www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkating/comments/w7t97v/eteri_tutberidze_one_gram_of_fat_is_one_gram_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

 

[just tuned in]

Help us understand the context. Are you gathering info for a legal proceeding? Representing an individual or individuals for a rebuttal? Doing scholarly writing? Or just curious? If the latter, Google is your friend.

Or writing a book? Are you planning to compensate your informants?

 

[carriecmu0503]

Who can forget this one?!

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figure-skating/isu-replaces-commentators-apology-meagan-duhamel-1.6396109

 

[myhoneyhoney]

I know I wanted to smack Scott Hamilton when he was commenting on Natalia Mishkutionok during the 1994 Olympics pairs.

 

[tony]

The weight thing was always a mainstay in skating commentary well into the early 2000s. ABC used to list the skaters weights in the splash screen before they skated, I think into the early 90s. Dick Button used to rip into skaters being out of shape, too, especially throughout the 80s. I think one of the last instances I can remember off the top of my head was Sokolova in the fall of 2003 where ABC decided to show both of her Grand Prix free skates even though she was finishing like 9th in her events (World silver medalist and all). Pretty sure both Dick and Peggy really went in on her physique at Skate Canada.

 

[starbucks]

Dick Button pinched Irina Slutskaya's cheek on TV during an interview. https://youtu.be/LpzzqvGkjUg?t=482

 

[Simone411]

The weight thing was always brought up about Rachael Flatt. I remember Rachael said once that the judges would make comments about her weight and saying she could improve her skating if she lost some weight. She also said she remembered being constantly teased and was once called "Rachel Fat" instead of Rachael Flatt." The most positive thing about Rachael was that she didn't let it bother her. I for one thought she was a darn good skater. She skated well enough to go to the 2010 Olympics.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Didn't Dick Button call Angela Nikodinov a "fridge break"?

I'm sorry, but if you're getting paid to be a commentator, you don't get fridge breaks, let alone call a skater one.

 

[tony]

Didn't Dick Button call Angela Nikodinov a "fridge break"?

I'm sorry, but if you're getting paid to be a commentator, you don't get fridge breaks, let alone call a skater one.

2000 US Nationals.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[overedge]

I'm trying to put a list together of ALL the inappropriate commentary of skaters over the years. Can you help me??
Examples I'm looking for are:
1- Commentators commenting on a skaters body in a sexualized manner
2- Commentators commenting on body/weight or other personal appearance
3- Commentators NOT mentioning anything about an accusation or investigation (ie: No one saying why Sorensen was not competing at 2024? Nationals)

Looking for EXACT quote/examples not general statements about how someone may have spoken about a skater or the sport please.
Open to any and all examples from any network, country event, or year. BONUS points to anyone who has the video/audio to go with it.

This is a lot to ask on your very first post on a forum.

FSU has a search function (magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of the page). A lot of posters here are very diligent about providing links or contextual info with their comments. You could use the search function yourself to find a lot of what you are asking for.

 

[tony]

This is a lot to ask on your very first post on a forum.

FSU has a search function (magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of the page). A lot of posters here are very diligent about providing links or contextual info with their comments. You could use the search function yourself to find a lot of what you are asking for.

Or people can just be helpful in the thread regardless of amount of posts? The search function is not available to those who are not paying members.

 

[TAHbKA]

Good luck rewatching ALL the competitions Tarasova had ever commented.

 

[Simone411]

I found the article about Rachael just by doing a google search. It's quite interesting what you can find with Google.

What Happens When Your Figure Skating Career Ends?

After women retire from sports that focus on their youth and bodies, they have to figure out their real long program. Rachael Flatt helps build digital mental-health tools for those who will come next.

stanfordmag.org

And it wasn’t limited to anonymous commenters. “I constantly received feedback from judges and coaches about needing to lose weight and to tone up,” Flatt says. “It was very frustrating for me to deal with that, but fortunately it never progressed beyond that.” She credits her support system of parents and friends with helping her maintain a healthy relationship with food. They’d remind her, “OK, you need to be realistic. Take care of your body. Fuel your body.”

I was teased constantly about my weight and all that stuff. The running joke was Rachael Fat instead of Rachael Flatt.

At 17, Flatt became the U.S. national champion, and she and Mirai Nagasu represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics. In Vancouver, “I had the performance of my life but ended up not getting scored well, as I didn’t receive full credit for two of my highest-scoring jump passes,” she says. “It’s tough to be in those moments, to have the most amazing feeling when I finished my long program at the Olympics, which was probably the best I had ever skated. And then when my scores came back, they were a little low, and I was like, ‘Huh. That’s weird.’” She didn’t know it at the time, but it was the last time she would skate at center ice during an Olympics.

 

[overedge]

Or people can just be helpful in the thread regardless of amount of posts? The search function is not available to those who are not paying members.

Wanting ALL the examples of inappropriate commentary, with EXACT quotes and sources, is worth the (small) investment in a paid membership, if it's that important to collect this information.

 

[tony]

Wanting ALL the examples of inappropriate commentary, with sources, is worth the (small) investment in a paid membership, if it's that important to collect this information.

"All" isn't going to happen anyways since there's about 5 of us left who have any interest in maintaining video archives. FWIW, said poster said they are trying to put together the comprehensive [all] list, and asked for help. They didn't demand anything or even 'all' examples.

Nowhere in your first post did you mention the membership requirement, which would leave a new poster confused. I don't know their financial situation or even the purpose for creating such list, but it's just like any other request for examples-- which even long-time paid members could 'search' but often do not.

 

[Orm Irian]

Good luck rewatching ALL the competitions Tarasova had ever commented.

And a significant number of the ones Philippe Candeloro has. Hope OP speaks French!

 

[Prancer]

Wanting ALL the examples of inappropriate commentary, with EXACT quotes and sources, is worth the (small) investment in a paid membership, if it's that important to collect this information.

If people here aren't comfortable supplying information on this thread, they are under no obligation to do so.

 

[Simone411]

I'm trying to put a list together of ALL the inappropriate commentary of skaters over the years. Can you help me??
Examples I'm looking for are:
1- Commentators commenting on a skaters body in a sexualized manner
2- Commentators commenting on body/weight or other personal appearance
3- Commentators NOT mentioning anything about an accusation or investigation (ie: No one saying why Sorensen was not competing at 2024? Nationals)

Looking for EXACT quote/examples not general statements about how someone may have spoken about a skater or the sport please.
Open to any and all examples from any network, country event, or year. BONUS points to anyone who has the video/audio to go with it.

First of all, if you wish to find out all this info. there has to be a reason. I assume you're a skating fan. But who knows that for sure. If you've watched skating through the years like I have, you would have an idea about how to research all of this. Google is a really handy tool, and there's also YouTube.

If you're wanting all this information, another option would be to use the search feature, but I do believe you need a paid subscription for that. The thing is that FSU is like an encyclopedia or history book filled with information about everything Figure Skating. So many of the FSUers here have contributed info to this message board that is invaluable. I believe the majority of us members here have posted and shared helpful information about figure skating events from the past and present.

There are plenty places to find out information about the figure skaters including Wikipedia. Some of us here have websites also. If you wish to find out info from here, look in all the forums like the Trash Can and this forum, Great Skate Debate.

 

[briancoogaert]

Good luck rewatching ALL the competitions Tarasova had ever commented.

And Philippe Candeloro for France...

 

[once_upon]

I see your examples are girls/women body in nature or sexual abuse accusations, is that the purpose of your inquiry/desire of information?

Or are you also interested in other examples such as political affiliations, or comments on drug or alcohol use (unsubstituted usage) or speculation of partnership for citizenship only or comments on a skater's sexual orientation, etc

All of which could be deemed inappropriate too. Plus the requests for ALL seems a bit unreasonable and really seeking specific information.