ISU statement on Mariah Bell and Eun soo Lim

[LarrySK8]

Bell was aggressive in her run-through. But it happens all the time. It was such a minor incident, and Mariah was vilified and accused of all sorts of things. Nice to see the US Skating standing behind her . So gutless. Has this happened to a Russian or a Canadian, the federations would have been all over it.

In looking at the video, it is obvious Mariah's music was playing and SWSNBN was oblivious to that. She was hanging around the boards, not looking into the rink and was unaware of anything around her.

One thing Mariah could have done, as many skaters have done, is actually yell, "RUN THROUGH!!!" to get the oblivious skater's attention - but that's annoying to have to do in the middle of a run through. Personally, I once had to do this during a practice at a national level event 3 times to the same skater in my way when my music was playing, literally having to yell at them. On the third pass by them, I actually said, "oh it's you again, wake up." or words to that effect. AND we were using a neon hunting vest to identify ourselves.

Some skaters never learn to yield or share the ice, and that's a coaching issue. Take note SWSNBN and coaching team.

 

[UGG]

If you watch the video, she somewhat skates infront of Mariah.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

In looking at the video, it is obvious Mariah's music was playing and SWSNBN was oblivious to that. She was hanging around the boards, not looking into the rink and was unaware of anything around her.

One thing Mariah could have done, as many skaters have done, is actually yell, "RUN THROUGH!!!" to get the oblivious skater's attention - but that's annoying to have to do in the middle of a run through. Personally, I once had to do this during a practice at a national level event 3 times to the same skater in my way when my music was playing, literally having to yell at them. On the third pass by them, I actually said, "oh it's you again, wake up." or words to that effect. AND we were using a neon hunting vest to identify ourselves.

Some skaters never learn to yield or share the ice, and that's a coaching issue. Take note SWSNBN and coaching team.

Oh I agree. I don't mean "aggressive" as in trying to hurt someone. I mean she was going fast, with full extension. I am sure Raf told her to go hard at it, so she could get into a good competitive mindset for the SP.

 

[Willin]

@Perky Shae Lynn Per an interview this is exactly the case. For that runthrough Raf had told her to go fast into her jumps without hesitation.

 

[CaliSteve]

Did ATS ever release any proof of Mariah bullying Ensoo?

 

[Willin]

@CaliSteve That's the real question here, especially given that they were promising to do so after Worlds.

This only gives more credence to the theory that this was a publicity stunt on ATS's part...

 

[eurodance2001]

Bell has responded: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvj6gMt...tm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1k76qgw6f12kh

 

[Wyliefan]

Bell has responded: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvj6gMt...tm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1k76qgw6f12kh

Good statement. Clear, direct, and positive.

 

[Willin]

@eurodance2001 What does it say? Her account is now set to private

 

[VGThuy]

I'm sure it's fine that I post what she wrote. She's only protecting her IG account from being vandalized by "fans":

"I’m happy to be back home after two good skates at World Championships and a season that I’m really proud of. I want to thank my family, fans and friends, Rafael and Vera Arutunian and U.S. Figure Skating for their support last week. As I told Eunsoo in Japan, the incident at practice was very unfortunate and I meant absolutely no harm. Our training environment is professional and supportive, and I’ve never changed locker rooms or training times or anything like that. The comments that my friends, family and I received on social media were hateful and disturbing and hopefully this situation raises awareness and causes people to think twice before hitting ‘tweet’ or ‘post.’ I learned a lot about my inner strength last week, and I’m excited to continue to train in the lead up to Beijing in 2022. "

 

[Tinami Amori]

Bell was aggressive in her run-through.

I am not arguing against you, just asking, what elements/moments (that you've seen on the 2 videos of the incident that were posted) lead you to conclusion that "Bell was aggressive"?

I watched those videos several times, at different speeds, and all the fotos available. I also looked at Bell's performances of this same programme at other events, practice and competitions, to check for "speed and spacing" for this very element during which she sliced Eunsoon.

I do not see even slightest "aggression" in what Bell did during that practice. Her speed, location, dynamics of that move are very same as in other performances/practices. (i can give links to what i watched, but they are the same for all who are watching event videos on youtube).

If to nitpick, hypothetically Bell could have "caved in" her trajectory to be away from Eunsoon, changing her established pattern. But that's subjective, and why should she, if it is her right of way, and she did not think she would nip Eunsoon's leg?

But it happens all the time. It was such a minor incident, and Mariah was vilified and accused of all sorts of things. Nice to see the US Skating standing behind her . So gutless. Has this happened to a Russian or a Canadian, the federations would have been all over it.

It happened as you know during pairs' practice, with French and Italians.... much harder, and just before the event, not in morning practice. Nobody made a story of it...

 

[VGThuy]

It happened as you know during pairs' practice, with French and Italians.... much harder, and just before the event, not in morning practice. Nobody made a story of it...

I think it was the whole "bullying" story that got people riled up and then they started imagining Mariah Bell being the type of person who would skate up to Lim and sneakily slice her ankle and skate away without hesitation. It helped that with the James/Cipres and Della Monica/Guarise situation, we all saw that happen in real time, Matteo helped Vanessa up right away, the gravity of the accident where both got hurt made people know there's no way it could have been done on purpose, and even if I wrote that I felt Vanessa should have been watching out a bit more in the PBP during the heat of the moment, I never thought to think she was doing anything wrong on purpose and knew it was an accident. There was no time for interested third parties to spin this into whatever narrative they wanted as people saw it right then and there and already formed their own impressions.

With the Bell/Lim situation, nobody saw the actual video until a day or so after it was reported by ATS with their version of the events and people's imaginations were going wild without knowing that it was during an official practice, that Mariah's music was playing, and she was well into her program while it happened, and that the extent of Lim's injury wasn't that bad so we can see Mariah not knowing it had occurred until being told it did. Plus, I bet people have an implicit bias in believing young women are so catty and sneaky that they would be slicing each other on the sly whereas they wouldn't so readily believe that story if the players were different. Also, Lim being portrayed as helpless victim due to her age and looks played a part too and played into people's perceptions of people based on their appearances.

 

[LarrySK8]

"I’m happy to be back home after two good skates at World Championships and a season that I’m really proud of. I want to thank my family, fans and friends, Rafael and Vera Arutunian and U.S. Figure Skating for their support last week. As I told Eunsoo in Japan, the incident at practice was very unfortunate and I meant absolutely no harm. Our training environment is professional and supportive, and I’ve never changed locker rooms or training times or anything like that. The comments that my friends, family and I received on social media were hateful and disturbing and hopefully this situation raises awareness and causes people to think twice before hitting ‘tweet’ or ‘post.’ I learned a lot about my inner strength last week, and I’m excited to continue to train in the lead up to Beijing in 2022. "

Good for her.

 

[Spun Silver]

I think it was the whole "bullying" story that got people riled up and then they started imagining Mariah Bell being the type of person who would skate up to Lim and sneakily slice her ankle and skate away without hesitation. It helped that with the James/Cipres and Della Monica/Guarise situation, we all saw that happen in real time, Matteo helped Vanessa up right away, the gravity of the accident where both got hurt made people know there's no way it could have been done on purpose, and even if I wrote that I felt Vanessa should have been watching out a bit more in the PBP during the heat of the moment, I never thought to think she was doing anything wrong on purpose and knew it was an accident. There was no time for interested third parties to spin this into whatever narrative they wanted as people saw it right then and there and already formed their own impressions.

With the Bell/Lim situation, nobody saw the actual video until a day or so after it was reported by ATS with their version of the events and people's imaginations were going wild without knowing that it was during an official practice, that Mariah's music was playing, and she was well into her program while it happened, and that the extent of Lim's injury wasn't that bad so we can see Mariah not knowing it had occurred until being told it did. Plus, I bet people have an implicit bias in believing young women are so catty and sneaky that they would be slicing each other on the sly whereas they wouldn't so readily believe that story if the players were different. Also, Lim being portrayed as helpless victim due to her age and looks played a part too and played into people's perceptions of people based on their appearances.

Plus, as we saw, the media were only too thrilled to have something they could plug into the Tonya-Nancy template.

 

[Jarrett]

I'm confused by the "and I’ve never changed locker rooms or training times or anything like that." The statement from ATS didn't say Mariah had to change anything that as far as I remember it said Lim had to change lockrooms.

 

[DreamSkates]

I learned a lot about my inner strength last week, and I’m excited to continue to train in the lead up to Beijing in 2022. "

Yes, you go girl!

 

[DreamSkates]

Plus, as we saw, the media were only too thrilled to have something they could plug into the Tonya-Nancy template.

I sent an email to CBS and asked why they would on the news, the way they did - misrepresenting the situation. And then later saying, oh it didn't really happen. That is not NEWS based on facts. Also why I don't watch much "News" anymore.

 

[DreamSkates]

The fanatics are keyboard heroes mostly.

Good point. Well not "good" but that is the point...keyboard heroes (not).

 

[VGThuy]

I'm confused by the "and I’ve never changed locker rooms or training times or anything like that." The statement from ATS didn't say Mariah had to change anything that as far as I remember it said Lim had to change lockrooms.

I'm sure Mariah's comment was meant to be all inclusive about locker room changes or having schedules changed due anything she was involved with especially since she added "anything like that". There were so many comments going on about what was alleged to have happened and it snowballed on social media. Who knows? Maybe Mariah is trying to play slick, but if she was, her making that statement would open the flood gates of further questioning and response from ATS if Lim had indeed changed schedules and locker rooms because that was the result of some issue going on between Lim and Mariah and others who were allegedly bullying her.

 

[starrynight]

Nice to see the US Skating standing behind her . So gutless. Has this happened to a Russian or a Canadian, the federations would have been all over it.

I think the USFSA is so spooked by all the anonymous keyboard warriors marching around with swords of self-righteousness that they are too scared to do anything.

I hope that maybe this is a stepping stone to a realisation that online trolls shouldn't be allowed to dictate the conversation on everything. And that the skaters and real humans are more important than trying to hide from 15 minutes of online 'cancel culture'.

 

[natsulian]

I don't think US Skating was prepared for a massive online backlash of such magnitude. This is a wakeup call and I think that being with Mariah personally and showing her that they have her back 100% is more important. The incident has long passed, and both Eunsoo and Bell are over it.

 

[Meoima]

Honestly... I am still so confused about ATS. Accusing Mariah of intentionally attacking Eunsoo was one thing, at least there was an accident.
But bullying? Why would they do that? What happened? Did Eunsoo have to change her locker room? Did any misunderstanding happen? Maybe the locker room was changed but due to a different reason but the ATS side misunderstood that? It’s just so bizarre to put anyone on such a heavy accusation.

 

[shine]

I'm still in the perpetual state of being pissed that there's no further demand for ATS to supply proof in support of their accusations. Why isn't the USFS doing anything? Why isn't Mariah/Mariah's representative doing anything? If truly nothing happened as ATS claimed, why is no one even trying to hold them accountable for making the very serious allegations they did? Sure this might not have led to any legal consequences, but what about Mariah's reputation and the cyber bullying that she had to endure because of ATS? What kind of precedent is this setting?!

 

[UGG]

I don't think US Skating was prepared for a massive online backlash of such magnitude. This is a wakeup call and I think that being with Mariah personally and showing her that they have her back 100% is more important. The incident has long passed, and both Eunsoo and Bell are over it.

How do you know they are over it?

 

[Spun Silver]

I'm still in the perpetual state of being pissed that there's no further demand for ATS to supply proof in support of their accusations. Why isn't the USFS doing anything? Why isn't Mariah/Mariah's representative doing anything? If truly nothing happened as ATS claimed, why is no one even trying to hold them accountable for making the very serious allegations they did? Sure this might not have led to any legal consequences, but what about Mariah's reputation and the cyber bullying that she had to endure because of ATS? What kind of precedent is this setting?!

We don't really know what is going on behind the scenes, plus Mariah is preparing for WTT and may not want to think about ATS right now.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

I am not arguing against you, just asking, what elements/moments (that you've seen on the 2 videos of the incident that were posted) lead you to conclusion that "Bell was aggressive"?

Sigh.... As I previously said, she was attacking her program. Moving at a high speed and extending fully. Not aggressive towards others. She couldn't hurt anyone on purpose if she wanted to. Hope this helps.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

Excellent statement from Mariah. Down to earth, not overly emotional, and completely to the point.

 

[karmena]

I dare to jump in this debate/thread without reading all the opinions and comments...I apologize in advance :-(
Could I say my take, without reading everything what is written previously... ?
Imho, it was Raf's responsibility and obligation to see what has happened during a practice. Did not he see Mariah's leg touching/kicking Eunsoo???? Why he did not do anything??? Why he did not talk with the girls?? Eunsoo comes from a completely different culture, and she is only 16 year old, and in foreign country. If Arutyunyan had acted immediately and wisely, there would been no problem at all. A coach, apart from being excellent in teaching skating techniques, has to have elementary psychological knowledge, too. Also language skills are important at least in order to communicate with a foreign student... ( I say this without any judgment, I am myself very clumsy in English and know very well what does it mean not to have a good language proficiency). Secondly, I do not believe that Lim's management company's members ever have been skaters themselves! So it is almost certain, that they do not had any idea how the skating practices work; what are the rules there and etc. So a timely explanation after an incident from Arutyunyan would have helped a lot. Also, I believe, it was not Eunsoo wish or desire to complain...she is only 16... ATS apparently did what seemed the best in their understanding. One have to take into consideration cultural differences, too. Oh, too long "runt" of me...my apologies ....and, anyway, whatever I do say or do not say here... it is not going either help nor to solve anything :-( :-( :-( It is sad, it is sad because both, Mariah and Eunsoo, are so promising skaters.
At the end, I strongly believe, that all the parties did the best they could; the best hey could in their understanding and capabilities...

 

[Spun Silver]

Ah @karmena, your English is great. It's rant, not runt though, but maybe that was a joke. As to your points, I haven't seen any indication that Raf was there, and very little about exactly what happened immediately after the accident before ATS spoke. I think you are going a bit too easy on ATS. It's a professional sports management agency representing many top skaters. I'm sure they know rink rules. Certainly Yu Na and her mother (the CEO) do.

 

[RoseRed]

I disagree that all parties did the best they could. It seems to me that ATS knew what they were doing, which was lying and making false (or at the very least hugely exaggerated) accusations to create drama for whatever reason.