Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

skateblessing said:
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?
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I assumed it was all of skating. Because it is.

Private Citizen said:
Many skating parents are not "in their right mind."
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I was going to say this. I have "seen some things" though nothing I could report to CPS, just parents doing and saying things that were not wise and pushing their kids to keep skating past when they wanted to.

But I've also seen a small minority of parents who encouraged their kids to get out of the sport rather than see them get damaged by it even kids who had a lot of potential. I respect them tremendously.
 
MacMadame said:
I assumed it was all of skating. Because it is.
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I think it's assumed she meant IAM because she said it happened while she was in Montreal. But yes, the issue is with all skating
MacMadame said:
I was going to say this. I have "seen some things" though nothing I could report to CPS, just parents doing and saying things that were not wise and pushing their kids to keep skating past when they wanted to.

But I've also seen a small minority of parents who encouraged their kids to get out of the sport rather than see them get damaged by it even kids who had a lot of potential. I respect them tremendously.
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While SA is probably at the very top of atrocious things to happen to a skater, it is at the top of a very large pile of garbage that skaters have to deal with from all sides. No one talks about the toxic environment of skating schools that are churning out very young advanced skaters because the monetary investment is so high. They are blinded by the possibility of "success" that they are willing to forego the mental and physical health of their children. Everyone talks crap about the Russians and the short life cycle of their skaters and how they are discarded after. No one should fool themselves into believing this doesn't happen here. Parents should not forget their skaters are just a commodity to the coaches so they must be the voice of reason and their biggest advocates.
 
I disagree with JudgeThree on this issue. I don't see anyone claiming that IAM is the problem - like @Willin explained so well, they are an example of much larger problems in the sport, including the unwillingness of federations to take substantive action against abuse. But that shouldn't mean that IAM shouldn't be criticized for its actions, or lack of actions.
 
Yyzskater said:
I think it's assumed she meant IAM because she said it happened while she was in Montreal.
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Besides IAM, are there no other figure skating training facilities in Montreal?

In Olivia's post, she says the attack occurred in a Montreal hotel in 2022 and that her assailant was a colleague from the same sport. So the person could be a skater, coach, or official who was in Montreal in 2022. I don't feel comfortable assuming anything more specific than that.

Olivia's account was harrowing and heartbreaking. I hope she gets the justice she deserves.
 
vireo said:
Besides IAM, are there no other figure skating training facilities in Montreal?

In Olivia's post, she says the attack occurred in a Montreal hotel in 2022 and that her assailant was a colleague from the same sport. So the person could be a skater, coach, or official who was in Montreal in 2022. I don't feel comfortable assuming anything more specific than that.

Olivia's account was harrowing and heartbreaking. I hope she gets the justice she deserves.
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Yes, most definitely there are other figure skating training centers/academies in Montreal aside from IAM. However, they are the dominant ice dancing group there and Olivia Oliver is an ice dancer, so take what she said at whatever value you wish.
 
Kasey said:
Olivia said “colleague”. I would take that, personally, to mean a fellow skater, because it seems coaches and officials would be seen as superiors.
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The standard definitions of "colleague" I've seen say it's often, but not always, used to refer to a peer or someone of similar rank. Given the room for interpretation, I don't like to presume a narrow definition.

More details may come out in the future and then we'll know for sure what Olivia meant.

www.merriam-webster.com

Definition of COLLEAGUE

an associate or coworker typically in a profession or in a civil or ecclesiastical office and often of similar rank or status : a fellow worker or professional… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com www.merriam-webster.com
 
Solène Mazingue hasn't been on the ice since April because she was too frightened she would face her abuser again. She overcome a nasty accident to resume her career and now this. I can see all too well how she was received when she went to her coaches: she is cognitively impaired, she doesn't know what she is saying. I want the abuser in jail and her professional entourage punished. It's horrible enough to have cognitive impairment, being abused then dismissed is way too much. This has to end. Men have to learn that when they can't keep it in their pants it's NOT normal behavior and there will be severe consequences. There has to be severe consequences for psychological abuse too. Teams have to learn how to protect their athletes, female AND men (who can be abused too) and when they don't they must face punishment too. This has really gone too far. It is sickening.
 
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Unless these sorts of crimes are punished quickly and severely and are universally acknowledged as disgusting by all upstanding women AND men (who are often very complicit in not saying anything against this kind of behavior or feel injured if a woman even INSINUATES that she is afraid of certain situations or men) it will not change.

But it has to.

The trial of Madame Pelicot gives me a little bit of hope.

And brave women like Solene and Olivia!
 
Hedwig said:
The trial of Madame Pelicot gives me a little bit of hope.
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This is the worse case of sexual abuse (of an adult woman) I've ever heard of. For those of you who don't know what this is about: a French man, Dominique Pelicot, drugged his wife and invited men to rape her while she was unconscious. It lasted 10 years. He kept pictures and videos in his computer. There are 51 men put to trial. 51 rapists, who are all your average guy.
 
Gisele Pelicot is an incredible woman, what she's doing in speaking out unashamedly is groundbreaking (I hope). The case throws a stark, shocking (but not) bright light on the magnitude of this problem in society. Although society might not even be the right world, more like our world.
 
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tangerine dream said:
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.
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Yes, my husband and I moved up our wedding date when we learned that his lawyer had not perfected his green card application filed 4 years earlier so he would have to refile with a new filing date (and new legal requirements). We learned this when we were asking for permission for him to go overseas the following year for our wedding if the green card hadn’t come through. It was easier and faster to file as a married couple than to go back and refile the application with his employer as his sponsor (he had his “brown card” (temporary work permit) from the 1980s). We were engaged anyway so it was just a matter of simplifying the wedding and getting married in the US instead of overseas a year later. We were late 20s (not 17).

L/M’s social media does read like a real couple. In addition to on ice photos, there are posts on vacations/hiking (with family), visits to North Dakota, the big wedding with family photos, and a honeymoon. All things that could pass muster with CIS even if they accelerated the wedding to get the filing dates rolling. F/D social media is mostly on ice, some off ice lift practice or group stuff with other skaters, and the posts showing that Isabella seems to still share a bedroom and bathroom with her sister. She’s 21 now so that’s a bit odd as a married adult. She does seem to be learning Russian, but if I know CIS, they’ll want to see more cohabiting/asset mingling. (End of lurking).

Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukov got married when Melissa was 19 about 6 months after they met/partnered (and reports are that he did not speak English at the time). According to wiki, they did go to Russia after the wedding so his family could celebrate. They’ve been married more than 20 years, with 2 kids. Hindsight is 20/20.
 
I did a deep dive into IF and ID's instagram last night. IF seems to market them heavily as a "romantic couple on ice" without actually being in a relationship. Like this. And this. And this. A bit like V/M with their very "sexy" lifts. Nowhere does she hint that she and ID are actually a couple off-ice.

Kinda creepy actually knowing that they've been married the entire time.
 
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canbelto said:
I did a deep dive into IB and ID's instagram last night. IB seems to market them heavily as a "romantic couple on ice" without actually being in a relationship. Like this. And this. And this. A bit like V/M with their very "sexy" lifts. Nowhere does she hint that she and ID are actually a couple off-ice.

Kinda creepy actually knowing that they've been married the entire time.
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I agree with you it's creepy, and it's very unsettling to see all this happening in ID. This reminds me of Wang/Liu being accused of ship-baiting on purpose throughout the Olympics and afterwards, even though it turned out the rumours about Liu had been out since 2019.

392k followers for an unknown ice dancer that is posting all these "romantic" and "intimate" videos? Creepy as shit.
 
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On My Own said:
I agree with you it's creepy, and it's very unsettling to see all this happening in ID. This reminds me of Wang/Liu being accused of ship-baiting on purpose throughout the Olympics and afterwards, even though it turned out the rumours about Liu had been out since 2019.

392k followers for an unknown ice dancer that is posting all these "romantic" and "intimate" videos? Creepy as shit.
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What is creepier is that I thought these lifts would show up in their programs. But that isn't necessarily the case. But on IG, it's post after post of them doing these "sexy" lifts with their lips not quite touching.
Knowing what we now know, it seems 100% calculated and deliberate on their parts to:
1. Build up a SM following of people who ship them
2. Cover up their actual relationship (being married legally)
 
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canbelto said:
What is creepier is that I thought these lifts would show up in their programs. But that isn't necessarily the case. But on IG, it's post after post of them doing these "sexy" lifts with their lips not quite touching.
Knowing what we now know, it seems 100% calculated and deliberate on their parts to:
1. Build up a SM following of people who ship them
2. Cover up their actual relationship (being married for real)
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They are not married ''for real''. That is clear
 
canbelto said:
What is creepier is that I thought these lifts would show up in their programs. But that isn't necessarily the case. But on IG, it's post after post of them doing these "sexy" lifts with their lips not quite touching.
Knowing what we now know, it seems 100% calculated and deliberate on their parts to:
1. Build up a SM following of people who ship them
2. Cover up their actual relationship (being married legally)
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adding:-
3. Cash in through paid subscriptions - teasing a romantic connection
4. Fundraise 25k for his release, without disclosing their 'marriage'

I believe this is likely to have long-term reputational consequences for Flores.
 
ice crystal said:
adding:-
3. Cash in through paid subscriptions - teasing a romantic connection
4. Fundraise 25k for his release, without disclosing their 'marriage'

I believe this is likely to have long-term reputational consequences for Flores.
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It's also a really good reminder to never believe social media completely. Most social media is a carefully crafted, curated view of peoples' lives.
 
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