Russian Figure Skater tests positive for drugs - delays ceremony for team medals

[coppertop1]

Everyone just loved how emotional the Japanese girls were. What’s going on here?

They weren't having an emotional breakdown. At first they thought they lost the fit then they realized they win and were crying tears of joy. Sasha was distraught and even seemed like she felt deceive. Don't be obtuse

 

[On My Own]

They weren't having an emotional breakdown.

Well I think they were under a lot of pressure for sure and it did seem to come out there at the end with Miura and Sakamoto. I don't think anyone "loved" it though.

 

[Jammers]

A 17-year-old having an emotional breakdown on the biggest moment of her sporting career is not exclusive to Tutberidze nor is it something Eteri should be responsible for avoiding having it happen. We saw grown-up Slutskaya do the same thing at both 2001 Worlds and the 2002 Olympics. We saw Stephane Lambiel throw a tantrum and semi-hide behind the curtains after a bad skate at World Juniors, and so on..

There's plenty to point out with Eteri, this one is way too far of a generalization.

Yeah but for the 3 skaters of the same coach to behave as they did just shows you how poisonous the atmosphere is with this coach and how when things didn't go as planned the rot was seen for all the world to see. And it was ugly.

 

[tony]

Yeah but for the 3 skaters of the same coach to behave as they did just shows you how poisonous the atmosphere is with this coach and how when things didn't go as planned the rot was seen for all the world to see. And it was ugly.

Shcherbakova didn't behave in any kind of way, first of all. She sat backstage not sure how to react and was more interested in consoling Sakamoto, who also was in hysterics over her bronze medal win. And Kaori is an adult, too.

Second, there was a huge difference between Valieva's distraught reaction over her skate and Trusova's fit over landing all those quads and still losing. Michelle Kwan was upset in 1998 and 2002, but had the comfort of getting away from cameras before she could show a bunch of emotion. Slutskaya skated last in 2002, just as Trusova did, and there wasn't much place to hide when she ended 2nd. Jamie Sale was distraught after their marks came up and put them second- I'm sure she (and American TV, and Canadian TV.....) felt the same as Trusova did.

Which three skaters are you talking about, exactly?

 

[coppertop1]

Well I think they were under a lot of pressure for sure and it did seem to come out there at the end with Miura and Sakamoto. I don't think anyone "loved" it though.

Casey constantly exaggerates

 

[Aussie Willy]

Everyone just loved how emotional the Japanese girls were. What’s going on here?

We can read by body language and non-verbal gestures when the coach is behaving horribly towards a skaters who is upset. And also when a skater is having a hissy fit because they were p*ssed off when they didn't win.

Look at Kevin Amyoz who cries whether is happy or sad. Do we think he is being abused? No we don't. That is who he is.

 

[Jammers]

Shcherbakova didn't behave in any kind of way, first of all. She sat backstage not sure how to react and was more interested in consoling Sakamoto, who also was in hysterics over her bronze medal win. And Kaori is an adult, too.

Second, there was a huge difference between Valieva's distraught reaction over her skate and Trusova's fit over landing all those quads and still losing. Michelle Kwan was upset in 1998 and 2002, but had the comfort of getting away from cameras before she could show a bunch of emotion. Slutskaya skated last in 2002, just as Trusova did, and there wasn't much place to hide when she ended 2nd.

Which three skaters are you talking about, exactly?

Well two out of three of her skaters one was throwing a tantrum like a 2 year old and the other should never have even been allowed to skate with her being a doper which also is the fault of her hag of a coach who no doubt knew. When you foster this kind of win at all cost behavior then this is the result.

 

[tony]

Well two out of three of her skaters one was throwing a tantrum like a 2 year old and the other should never have even been allowed to skate with her being a doper which also is the fault of her hag of a coach who no doubt knew. When you foster this kind of win at all cost behavior then this is the result.

Okay, but what you originally said is just far from accurate anyways. Valieva's upset reaction is something we've seen plenty of times before from other skaters, and there's no amount of coaching that can prepare people for disappointment on the biggest night of their lives. I've provided quite a few Olympic examples of deflated emotions when skaters didn't win, or didn't medal, or simply didn't skate as well as they had hoped. Kamila not being allowed to skate (in your or anyone else's opinion) is a different story.

Trusova had a tantrum, and I don't think it had to do with win at all costs, either. I think it had to do with her obliterating the field on quad jumps and thinking she had it in the bag if she skated like she did.

IMO, like I said before, there's plenty to go after in regards to Eteri. But all of this is a real stretch, especially when you initially tried to clump Anna in strengthen to your example when she's never been anything but gracious and polite as far as I know.

ETA- these are teenagers, emotions are at a high as it is. We've seen shouting matches in the kiss and cry from Sara Hurtado and Vanessa James, we've seen Don Baldwin losing his shit in the kiss and cry after a bad skate. They were all adults at the time. I mentioned Lambiel getting all upset and hiding behind the curtain during World Juniors- he was still a teen. You can't practice your emotions for big moments, or even little moments like some of the above examples I've given.

 

[caseyedwards]

They weren't having an emotional breakdown. At first they thought they lost the fit then they realized they win and were crying tears of joy. Sasha was distraught and even seemed like she felt deceive. Don't be obtuse

That’s debatable. Sobbing is sobbing! You’re not talking about tear down a cheek here

We can read by body language and non-verbal gestures when the coach is behaving horribly towards a skaters who is upset. And also when a skater is having a hissy fit because they were p*ssed off when they didn't win.

Look at Kevin Amyoz who cries whether is happy or sad. Do we think he is being abused? No we don't. That is who he is.

You are talking about a hyper emotional skater which is nothing new. What about oksana bauil and Nancy Kerrigan making fun of her. “Why does she bother putting makeup on she’s just going to cry it off”

Hatred of Russians and Russian skaters is causing some strange reads of common behaviors when it’s from them

 

[Aussie Willy]

That’s debatable. Sobbing is sobbing! You’re not talking about tear down a cheek here

You are talking about a hyper emotional skater which is nothing new. What about oksana bauil and Nancy Kerrigan making fun of her. “Why does she bother putting makeup on she’s just going to cry it off”

Hatred of Russians and Russian skaters is causing some strange reads of common behaviors when it’s from them

Are you accusing some of us of being racist? Be careful how you answer that.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Just to be precise, prejudice towards all citizens of a country which may contain many ethnic populations does not necessarily equate to racism, in my understanding of the generally accepted meaning of that word.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Just to be precise, prejudice towards all citizens of a country which may contain many ethnic populations does not necessarily equate to racism, in my understanding of the generally accepted meaning of that word.

I don't think anyone here is being prejudiced. People responding are calling out what we see as poor sportsmanship and also what appears to be a disturbing culture that seems to be present at a particular skating school. That it is Russian is more to do with geography and nationality.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

I don't think anyone here is being prejudiced. People responding are calling out what we see as poor sportsmanship and also what appears to be a disturbing culture that seems to be present at a particular skating school. That it is Russian is more to do with geography and nationality.

My post was made in response to the use of the word "racist" found in a post in this thread. I agree with your final sentence.

 

[Rainbow]

That’s debatable. Sobbing is sobbing! You’re not talking about tear down a cheek here

You are talking about a hyper emotional skater which is nothing new. What about oksana bauil and Nancy Kerrigan making fun of her. “Why does she bother putting makeup on she’s just going to cry it off”

Hatred of Russians and Russian skaters is causing some strange reads of common behaviors when it’s from them

Bajul is not Russian.

 

[tony]

@Aussie Willy - I think you meant xenophobic specifically against Russia, perhaps? I'm also not sure where 'racist' comes from in the post.

Bajul is not Russian.

And that wasn't the example trying to be equated.

 

[Aussie Willy]

@Aussie Willy - I think you meant xenophobic specifically against Russia, perhaps? I'm also not sure where 'racist' comes from in the post.

And that wasn't the example trying to be equated.

Xenophobic is more a fear of people from other countries.

The person I was responding was accusing some of us of hating Russians and Russian skaters.

 

[aussieSKATES]

Japan leads six qualifiers for the ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating - International Skating Union

Japan leads the six countries that qualified for the ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating (April 13-16) in Tokyo (JPN). The host country that has their new World Champions Kaori Sakamoto, Shoma Uno and Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara on the roster will be joined by the teams from the USA, Canada...

isu.org

 

[caseyedwards]

Bajul is not Russian.

She called herself Russian on Oprah

 

[BittyBug]

Xenophobic is more a fear of people from other countries.

The person I was responding was accusing some of us of hating Russians and Russian skaters.

Russian is a nationality, not a race.

 

[caseyedwards]

There is actually no difference between the way Russians are treated here from 2009 to now. It’s all the same. Probably further back if I was here before 2009!

 

[On My Own]

Russian can refer to an ethnic group, however CE is accusing people of being Russophobic.

 

[On My Own]

There is actually no difference between the way Russians are treated here from 2009 to now. It’s all the same. Probably further back if I was here before 2009!

You should give yourself a platinum medal for your comments.

She called herself Russian on Oprah

She must have been referring to her ancestry, not what you're saying. But, yes, I won't be shocked if there was some anti-Slavic component to that...

 

[Ananas Astra]

As a "Russian" myself, I think it's very difficult to pin down something like an "ethnic Russian" because the country is so huge that there are a ton of different ethnicities and an "ethnic Russian" remains a sort of "mutt" DNA-wise.

My family did a myheritage.com DNA test and even my dad whom we considered a "true" ethnic Russian, considering he hails from Russian nobility, turned out to be a bit Finnish, quite a bit Baltic, Eastern European in general (Poland, Ukraine, etc.) and even some Asian as well as Irish/Scottish/Welsh (no idea how the Celts made it into our DNA, but here we are).

If you look closely at the Russian athletes, no one is a "pure" Russian. Even Alexander Ovechkin has Mordovian (Finno-Ugrian) blood from his mother's side. Tuktamysheva is Udmurt, another Finno-Ugrian tribe, Grishuk and Platov were born in Ukraine, Valieva, Kabaeva and Zagitova are Tatars, Sikharulidze is part-Georgian, Dalaloyan is part-Armenian, Averbukh is (obviously) of Jewish heritage, Kolyada has once said in an interview when asked about his last name that one of his ancestors was Ukrainian and wanted to marry a girl but since he had no last name he just chose "Kolyada" because he liked singing Christmas carols etc. Even the anti-Ukrainian moron Plushenko has a Ukrainian father, and is not "purely" Russian by any means.

Regarding Baiul: I remember she referred to herself as Russian at some point, but I think that was before she found out that her maternal grandmother (who was from Romania, I think) was Jewish.
IIRC, Baiul identifies as Ukrainian and Jewish these days.

 

[canbelto]

I believe Irina Slutskaya is Jewish as well.

 

[Ananas Astra]

I believe Irina Slutskaya is Jewish as well.

IIRC, Yagudin's father is (was?) Jewish as well.
There are quite a few Russian Jewish skaters like Staviski or Rodnina in addition to all those who decided to represent Israel at some point AND got the passport.

 

[MacMadame]

Xenophobic is more a fear of people from other countries.

The person I was responding was accusing some of us of hating Russians and Russian skaters.

A xenophobic person is someone who has a dislike or prejudice against people from other countries. That's the dictionary definition.

 

[Aussie Willy]

A xenophobic person is someone who has a dislike or prejudice against people from other countries. That's the dictionary definition.

Hmmm Xenophobia is a fear. That word is also included in a definition of the word. I suppose it depends what dictionary you use.

 

[tony]

Hmmm Xenophobia is a fear. That word is also included in a definition of the word. I suppose it depends what dictionary you use.

I have to admit, I’m really confused how you came up with racist in this situation anyways. It’s just so far off-base, either way, and xenophobia’s (not -phobic) literal definition is what was posted above.

No one was claiming anyone to be racist

 

[Aussie Willy]

I have to admit, I’m really confused how you came up with racist in this situation anyways. It’s just so far off-base, either way, and xenophobia’s (not -phobic) literal definition is what was posted above.

No one was claiming anyone to be racist

I actually just asked the question of the poster if they were accusing us of being racist (towards Russians). If that is not what they meant then they can say it wasn't.

 

[tony]

I actually just asked the question of the poster if they were accusing us of being racist (towards Russians). If that is not what they meant then they can say it wasn't.

Okay, I'm really just baffled now. What is your concept of the race of Russian people?

It's like if someone said they hated Florida (that's common) and then I suddenly asked if they were racist because of it. It doesn't make sense. If someone hates the US for this or that, what race is it that they would be hating on by hating all of the USA? All races?

It's clear to me that said poster and a few other posters here think some members of the board find issue with most things happening in Russia yet they don't see the equivalencies elsewhere. Even if that poster hasn't replied, I still don't get why you'd come to or keep going with this suggestion-- that's all.