NYT takes on Russian ladies skating - it’s ruining lives and the sport

[Willin]

@quiqie Idk if you're from the US or not, but if you are engaged in US youth sports you'd know this isn't concern trolling or US media being whiny. This is about an identity crisis the US is going through with youth/high school/college sports right now. Basically, we're worried that kids are being pushed too hard,spending too much time, and getting life-altering injuries to play their sport without getting anything meaningful in return. It's a major concern. What's happening in Russia (or China for that matter) would never fly here, and with the debate over youth sports growing more and more, this article was bound to come up. Perhaps the author of this article doesn't know that more of a career can be made out of skating in Russia and that Russian skaters can get connections that can lead to wealth, fame, and a stable job. Even then, that sacrifice may not be something we can culturally identify with in a country where kids are expected to spend time having fun and acting like kids - not training for hours and hours away from home at young ages.

 

[lala]

What I see in everything. The American media wants to diminish the Russian greatness, all of Russian succeses. You can see it when they wrote about Sochi buildings, infrastructure or in this case the succesful sport , athletes. I know a Russian athlete wich was treated fairly that was Yagudin solely.

 

[quiqie]

I lived in America long enough to notice that Americans love to shift the responsibility for their issues on others, especially on Russians. And as for “more of a career can be made out of skating in Russia” - I think you are right. That’s probably why retired American skaters rarely choose skating-related careers. I mean, Lipinski, Weir, Belbin, White, Agosto, Gold - to name a few whose jobs have nothing to do with skating at all.

 

[Vash01]

What I see in everything. The American media wants to diminish the Russian greatness, all of Russian succeses. You can see it when they wrote about Sochi buildings, infrastructure or in this case the succesful sport , athletes. I know a Russian athlete wich was treated fairly that was Yagudin solely.

ITA. Instead of admitting how talented, hard working and successful the Russian ladies are, the article trashes them. It is like if they (Russian ladies in this case) are successful something must be wrong.
Early in his career Yagudin had made some pro-America statements, which many here loved. That's not unusual, but he was also negative toward Russia those days. He was young (around 19-20) so it is understandable. He matured later.

 

[skatingguy]

What I see in everything. The American media wants to diminish the Russian greatness, all of Russian succeses. You can see it when they wrote about Sochi buildings, infrastructure or in this case the succesful sport , athletes. I know a Russian athlete wich was treated fairly that was Yagudin solely.

There is a tendency in the lead up to the games before the competition gives the media something to right about to, for the media to focus on everything that is going wrong. To be fair there were problems in the lead up to the Sochi Olympics, particularly with the housing for the media (which wouldn't help the situation), but they pulled everything to together and the games were held successfully. If you look at the media stories in the lead up to Rio you'll find similar stories, as well for Vancouver, London, & Athens. Some games avoid these stories by being extremely well organized, like Lillehammer or Sydney, but even there you can still find negative stories because bad news fills more space, and attracts attention than more headlines like 'Everything is Good.'

 

[skatingguy]

ITA. Instead of admitting how talented, hard working and successful the Russian ladies are, the article trashes them. It is like if they (Russian ladies in this case) are successful something must be wrong.

I don't see anything in the article that is saying there is something wrong with the athletes. It raises questions about the training methods being used to produce these results, and whether there should be changes to the sport to prevent these young athletes from being burned out too quickly. The sport would benefit from these athletes having long successful careers, and if the current system prevents that then changes should be made.

 

[lala]

There is a tendency in the lead up to the games before the competition gives the media something to right about to, for the media to focus on everything that is going wrong. To be fair there were problems in the lead up to the Sochi Olympics, particularly with the housing for the media (which wouldn't help the situation), but they pulled everything to together and the games were held successfully. If you look at the media stories in the lead up to Rio you'll find similar stories, as well for Vancouver, London, & Athens. Some games avoid these stories by being extremely well organized, like Lillehammer or Sydney, but even there you can still find negative stories because bad news fills more space, and attracts attention than more headlines like 'Everything is Good.'

I agree with you, but you don't forget the politic goals. You know there was a short time when I admired Putin cca in 2011-2013. I didn't believe to any medias I just saw the undoubtedly development in the Russian cities, live, etc. He seemed a strong and great leader. And I read many comments about him in YT, and even the opinions under the American articles were mostly positive. They wrote they want such strong leader. And the American media started to diminsh him strongly....But after probably many people's eyes were opened by the happenings as mine.

 

[lala]

ITA. Instead of admitting how talented, hard working and successful the Russian ladies are, the article trashes them. It is like if they (Russian ladies in this case) are successful something must be wrong.
Early in his career Yagudin had made some pro-America statements, which many here loved. That's not unusual, but he was also negative toward Russia those days. He was young (around 19-20) so it is understandable. He matured later.

Yes, and they found another Russian who became a insensitive commie (as the Russians were shown in the American movies) who was very loyal to Russia and they couldd make their rival more exciting.

Yes, he matured and he said the Americans have no culture, no emotions like the robots....He is happy because he moved back to Russia thus he can see pretty and elegant women.

 

[skatepixie]

Thanks for the link. The NYT has this one right IMO.

These are young growing bodies
And Vash....yes sport has injury. By you do not see 15 year old boys on football teams. Not only are their bodies immature but so is their judgment and maturity. Carolina will skip a day if she wakes up and doesn't feel well. She knows where she can push and where she shouldn't. Young skaters don't have that long view yet.

My cousin did football at 15. Plenty of boys do. He was doing varsity tackle football, got multiple concussions. Actually, high school football is often MORE dangerous than professional, both for the reason you state and because some high schools don't have the professional quality safety equipment. American Football is insanely dangerous, especially when it comes to brain injury -- I'd never let a son play it.

With FS, safety equipment is often more of a hindrance, and injuries are often from repeated landings and torque rather than from impact. The reality is, it's dangerous, but usually not going to cause you brain damage.

That said, the article is horridly biased, and keeps bringing up eating disorders almost to imply that Med and Zags have this issue. It's absurd, and seems to be wanting to drag down these girls for their success or to imply that they are training too hard and that's why they win, which is why it's okay that the US girls are no good by comparison. As if the US girls don't get injured...

Young girls excelling in this sport is nothing new -- it's as old as the Winter Olympics itself. Anyone remember Sonja Henie?

And, of course, some of them, like Tara, have gotten injured. Some of the guys have, too, like Tim Goebel and Alexei Yagudin.

 

[skatepixie]

I don't see anything in the article that is saying there is something wrong with the athletes. It raises questions about the training methods being used to produce these results, and whether there should be changes to the sport to prevent these young athletes from being burned out too quickly. The sport would benefit from these athletes having long successful careers, and if the current system prevents that then changes should be made.

And yet there are more skaters competing in their 30s than there were 20 years ago. Yes, some burn out quickly, but that has always been the case. Back in the day, you never would have seen someone like Yuna continue to compete after winning, because she wouldn't have been allowed to do shows/make money and compete. Winning and then leaving was expected before the professional/amateur divide was removed.

The American media always has to have something to be negative about, and that's the long and the short of it, really.

 

[skatingguy]

The American media always has to have something to be negative about, and that's the long and the short of it, really.

Well I can't disagree entirely, I would say that it's not just the American media - Canadian & British media do this to, and I'm sure other countries as well. Negative headlines sell more.

 

[skatepixie]

Well I can't disagree entirely, I would say that it's not just the American media - Canadian & British media do this to, and I'm sure other countries as well. Negative headlines sell more.

Of course.

I should have added that the American media likes to say negative things about Russia, even when there isn't much to say.

 

[aliceanne]

Lipnitskaya's situation reminds me of Kimmie Meissner. Kimmie went from an extremely thin and lanky 16 year-old with a triple axel and World title, to an average-sized 18 year-old who was no longer competitive. Meissner broke with her coach and injured herself over-training trying to compensate for the changes in her physique. She struggled for a couple of years before she finally accepted that her body had irrevocably changed.