Russian figure skating news & updates in 2022

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Lilia A

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3,641
Apparently Kostornaya's surgery was postponed because she was sick and had to be hospitalized in the infectious disease ward. Surgery is rescheduled and someone online is doing a fundraiser.
About the fundraiser and before people panic any further, this is just Alena's fan club's fundraiser for her birthday. They do this every year and were already in the process of collecting funds to buy birthday gifts. But it seems she might have the surgery on or around her birthday so they just want to make it extra special.
 

hanca

Values her privacy
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12,547
Name someone actually competing this season and get back to me. ;)
It is not my fault that I don’t like much anyone who is going to compete this coming season. From men both Hanyu and Chen retired. I can’t make myself like someone that I just don’t like. Perhaps Uno, but I like Chen more, even though you clearly don’t count him because he retired. From ladies I did like the Russian ladies. From pairs, if you take away Russian and Chinese pairs, there is hardly anyone left who can skate. Perhaps Miura/Kihara were not bad, but they still have some journey to improvement, despite having now world medal. I can see being a fan in the future, but not quite yet. They are still lacking finishing touches. The same Safina/Berulava, two Russians who are able to compete because they switched country. But everyone is happy for Safina/Berulava to compete…

This is an argument against any sanctions on Russia at all. What makes athletes so special that they should be exempt from sanctions that ordinary Russians face?
I would prefer to punish those who actually did something wrong, not those whose only crime is that they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. But clearly you can’t see the difference.

Maybe instead of answering your stupid questions, we should go back to discussing Russian skaters?
 

alice73

Well-Known Member
Messages
71
It is not my fault that I don’t like much anyone who is going to compete this coming season. From men both Hanyu and Chen retired. I can’t make myself like someone that I just don’t like. Perhaps Uno, but I like Chen more, even though you clearly don’t count him because he retired. From ladies I did like the Russian ladies. From pairs, if you take away Russian and Chinese pairs, there is hardly anyone left who can skate. Perhaps Miura/Kihara were not bad, but they still have some journey to improvement, despite having now world medal. I can see being a fan in the future, but not quite yet. They are still lacking finishing touches. The same Safina/Berulava, two Russians who are able to compete because they switched country. But everyone is happy for Safina/Berulava to compete…


I would prefer to punish those who actually did something wrong, not those whose only crime is that they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. But clearly you can’t see the difference.

Maybe instead of answering your stupid questions, we should go back to discussing Russian skaters?
I can’t believe this is your thinking after Russia occupied your country for 20 years. Good for you I guess, that you can be so “fair and unbiased.” I couldn’t do that. To clarify, I was born and raised in USSR but left the country over 30 years ago. I’m not Russian ethnically though. If I were a Russian, I’d hang my head in shame right now. Their mentality that they should be allowed to go on with their lives as usual, under the circumstances is an abomination IMO. They tend to be protective of themselves, even when clearly in the wrong, and lack sufficient empathy. This type of mentality contributed to the system that came to power in Russia and therefore contributed to the war. It’s a shame that you don’t see it.
By the way, before the war I supported Russian pairs and enjoyed their skating. I never had a problem with them winning medals. Not any more.
 
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soogar

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3,125
Viktor Petrenko situation made the NYT:

We don't even know the amount of this monthly stipend that Viktor lost, or how long he has been receiving it. He won his Olympic medals for the Soviet Union and Unified team so he may still have stipends coming from Russia. I think that the situation is really petty and the truth might be that the Ukraine may not even have the money to pay out this stipend since it has to rebuild its country after this war. So they publicize this to make it seem as if it relates to the ice show and not lack of funds.

Viktor has been skating in these shows for years and he has known Navka for 20 years. I don't see how a person has to forego his livelihood when it seems that Ukraine did not have its own ice shows.
 

babayaga

Well-Known Member
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1,335
We don't even know the amount of this monthly stipend that Viktor lost, or how long he has been receiving it. He won his Olympic medals for the Soviet Union and Unified team so he may still have stipends coming from Russia. I think that the situation is really petty and the truth might be that the Ukraine may not even have the money to pay out this stipend since it has to rebuild its country after this war. So they publicize this to make it seem as if it relates to the ice show and not lack of funds.

Viktor has been skating in these shows for years and he has known Navka for 20 years. I don't see how a person has to forego his livelihood when it seems that Ukraine did not have its own ice shows.
Because these are extraordinary circumstances and many people in Ukraine go through insane suffering, and even more Ukrainians lost their income. Not a single Ukrainian can now make money in russia and not be considered a traitor. Petrenko is no exception.

He has free will, he made his choice, these are the consequences.
 

nlloyd

Well-Known Member
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1,372
I would prefer to punish those who actually did something wrong, not those whose only crime is that they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. But clearly you can’t see the difference.
Unfortunately, these skaters are citizens of a country that has invaded a sovereign nation, is killing innocent people, and is systematically destroying the country's infrastructure. Sports sanctions are an effective means of international protest.

Yes, the skaters are "innocent" to some extent (some are fully aware and supportive of the invasion). However, their innocence pales in comparison to the Ukrainian victims of the Russian regime. Unfortunately, in life we have sometimes to balance the lesser evil against the worse.

Also, as has been noted many times, sport -- and figure skating in particular -- is central to Russian nationalism. To refuse the skaters the opportunity to participate, is to strike a blow to that nationalism, to undermine it on the international stage upon which it relies on for its legitimacy. With sports sanctions, Russian "superiority" cannot be asserted in the sporting arena. Sporting success cannot lend credence to a larger picture of Russia's putative "greatness" as a nation.

Sports sanctions were in place against apartheid South Africa also and were extremely effective. Some feel they were more effective than economic sanctions because white South Africans were so sport-obsessed. Success in sport was part of the apartheid nation's self image. The sanctions made South Africa a pariah and citizens felt the international rejection.

I am curious: would you apply your same reasoning to Nazi Germany? Would you have advocated for athletes to continue to participate in international sports. Putin's actions are growing closer and closer to those of Hitler, particularly in territorial aggression, and in future years I think we will see Russia's actions in a very similar light. Not all of us may recognize this in the present moment, but to me it is highly likely.
 
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Dobre

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16,960
I also feel like we can recognize that the Russian skating thread is in a very weird place right now.

It's OK to give each other a little grace. There are few skating fans on this board who don't love or appreciate the skating of at least some of the Russian athletes.

I know it doesn't feel that way right now.

Some of those fans are probably not reading or posting in here right now because their government is censoring their access to the media. Some of those fans have the ability to post, but are probably avoiding politics as a means of protecting their mental health. Some of those fans are not reading or posting in here right now because it's emotionally painful. (We have, most of us, ubered a skater at some time. We know how much more difficult it is to hear negativity when you are nervous or worried about an athlete you're super emotionally dialed into). It's hard to come in and read only the negative political stuff, and there's some very negative & very awful political stuff impacting the whole of Ukrainian skating and the whole of Russian skating and the whole of skating in general right now. So, yep, it's being discussed.

The outcome of this is that the thread is right now, very unbalanced.

In fact, I'm dreading even the Russian fluff right now lest one of the skaters I like says something dismissive or supportive of the war. The atrocities right now are so awful. I'm pretty good at isolating my fandom toward an athlete's actual skating and not allowing personal flaws, much less mere rumors of personal flaws, to impede my ability to appreciate the art created by individuals. Right now, though, we're talking about a very great evil--the murder of children & civilians, the torture, rape, and murder of civilians & POWs. It's so awful. If an athlete I love watching skate says something in defense of that, I think my fandom will be toast.

So seriously, this is a weird place right now. How do we know this?

Stolbova is pregnant, one assumes with Morozov's child. And not only did this news not derail the thread. It only got one response!

A weird place, indeed.
 
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Bigbird

Well-Known Member
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3,027
I also feel like we can recognize that the Russian skating thread is in a very weird place right now.

It's OK to give each other a little grace. There are few skating fans on this board who don't love or appreciate the skating of at least some of the Russian athletes.

I know it doesn't feel that way right now.

Some of those fans are probably not reading or posting in here right now because their government is censoring their access to the media. Some of those fans have the ability to post, but are probably avoiding politics as a means of protecting their mental health. Some of those fans are not reading or posting in here right now because it's emotionally painful. (We have, most of us, ubered a skater at some time. We know how much more difficult it is to hear negativity when you are nervous or worried about an athlete you're super emotionally dialed into). It's hard to come in and read only the negative political stuff, and there's some very negative & very awful political stuff impacting the whole of Ukrainian skating and the whole of Russian skating and the whole of skating in general right now. So, yep, it's being discussed.

The outcome of this is that the thread is right now, very unbalanced.

In fact, I'm dreading even the Russian fluff right now lest one of the skaters I like says something dismissive or supportive of the war. The atrocities right now are so awful. I'm pretty good at isolating my fandom toward an athlete's actual skating and not allowing personal flaws, much less mere rumors of personal flaws, impede my ability to appreciate the art created by individuals. Right now, though, we're talking about a very great evil--the murder of children & civilians, the torture, rape, and murder of civilians & POWs. It's so awful. If an athlete I love watching skate says something in defense of that, I think my fandom will be toast.

So seriously, this is a weird place right now. How do we know this?

Stolbova is pregnant, one assumes with Morozov's child. And not only did this news not derail the thread. It only got one response!

A weird place, indeed.
Really? Who cares who that sexual predator has knocked up in 2022? She is or was a mature enough adult to know who she was dealing with. There was just nothing more to say. Please.
 

Frau Muller

From Puerto Rico…With Love! Not LatinX!
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22,097
The egomaniacal Russian skaters don’t need to be coddled through Go Fund Me. International Sanctions are meant to stop funding. Period - end of story.
 

Jayar

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We don't even know the amount of this monthly stipend that Viktor lost, or how long he has been receiving it. He won his Olympic medals for the Soviet Union and Unified team so he may still have stipends coming from Russia. I think that the situation is really petty and the truth might be that the Ukraine may not even have the money to pay out this stipend since it has to rebuild its country after this war. So they publicize this to make it seem as if it relates to the ice show and not lack of funds.

Viktor has been skating in these shows for years and he has known Navka for 20 years. I don't see how a person has to forego his livelihood when it seems that Ukraine did not have its own ice shows.
People lose access to their livelihoods all the time for varying reasons. We have all had to puck ourselves up by the bootstraps. Viktor has options-- coaching, choreography, his agent could have worked to get him into another show somewhere else (Japan?), or-- the horror-- he could get a 9-5 job. He chose to betray his nation.
 

VGThuy

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Messages
41,020
People lose access to their livelihoods all the time for varying reasons. We have all had to puck ourselves up by the bootstraps. Viktor has options-- coaching, choreography, his agent could have worked to get him into another show somewhere else (Japan?), or-- the horror-- he could get a 9-5 job. He chose to betray his nation.
Right. Let's not get it twisted here. Viktor Petrenko has more connections and access to opportunities than most of his fellow countrymen (or most people in the world). He just decided where his loyalties laid. No need to justify it or excuse him. He's a grown ass man. The world needs to need to see what's in front of them and stop trying to wish it away.
 

Gris

不做奴才做公民
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1,705
The presidency told BNS on Monday that it will decide on the awards given to the ice dancers if they participate in the performance in the Russian city of Sochi.



Drobiazko & Vanagas' Lithuanian state awards have been revoked.
 

soogar

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3,125
People lose access to their livelihoods all the time for varying reasons. We have all had to puck ourselves up by the bootstraps. Viktor has options-- coaching, choreography, his agent could have worked to get him into another show somewhere else (Japan?), or-- the horror-- he could get a 9-5 job. He chose to betray his nation.
What show opportunities does he have? It's not like there are North American shows for him to skate in like the past and you assume that Japan would even be interested in having him. There aren't that many old skaters in those shows and Viktor doesn't have the same Japanese student connection that Stephane Lambiel has, and Viktor is in his 50's as well.

So you are saying that every Ukrainian that is living in Russia and earning money is betraying their nation? Navka is Ukrainian, as is Volosozhar. There are probably millions of Ukrainian people living and working in Russia since there was so much migration between the two places. Everyone is supposed to stop working to support Ukraine?
 

barbarafan

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5,303
I also feel like we can recognize that the Russian skating thread is in a very weird place right now.

It's OK to give each other a little grace. There are few skating fans on this board who don't love or appreciate the skating of at least some of the Russian athletes.

I know it doesn't feel that way right now.

Some of those fans are probably not reading or posting in here right now because their government is censoring their access to the media. Some of those fans have the ability to post, but are probably avoiding politics as a means of protecting their mental health. Some of those fans are not reading or posting in here right now because it's emotionally painful. (We have, most of us, ubered a skater at some time. We know how much more difficult it is to hear negativity when you are nervous or worried about an athlete you're super emotionally dialed into). It's hard to come in and read only the negative political stuff, and there's some very negative & very awful political stuff impacting the whole of Ukrainian skating and the whole of Russian skating and the whole of skating in general right now. So, yep, it's being discussed.

The outcome of this is that the thread is right now, very unbalanced.

In fact, I'm dreading even the Russian fluff right now lest one of the skaters I like says something dismissive or supportive of the war. The atrocities right now are so awful. I'm pretty good at isolating my fandom toward an athlete's actual skating and not allowing personal flaws, much less mere rumors of personal flaws, to impede my ability to appreciate the art created by individuals. Right now, though, we're talking about a very great evil--the murder of children & civilians, the torture, rape, and murder of civilians & POWs. It's so awful. If an athlete I love watching skate says something in defense of that, I think my fandom will be toast.

So seriously, this is a weird place right now. How do we know this?

Stolbova is pregnant, one assumes with Morozov's child. And not only did this news not derail the thread. It only got one response!

A weird place, indeed.
I so agree with this. I have Russian skaters that I love but I do not speak or read Russian so unless they do a post in both languages so I know they are not discussing anything about the war (in proud terms) I never like anything. Obviously with what is going on it is a little insignificant thing but I definitely feel that until the war is over with Ukraine as the victor and appropriate restitution is established and being activated on I do not feel the Russians should be recognized in sport and when they are they should be on a sort of parole whereby any inappropriate behavior by an individual should result in instant suspension of that individual.
 

MsZem

I see the sea
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18,460
So you are saying that every Ukrainian that is living in Russia and earning money is betraying their nation? Navka is Ukrainian, as is Volosozhar. There are probably millions of Ukrainian people living and working in Russia since there was so much migration between the two places. Everyone is supposed to stop working to support Ukraine?
I think Navka specifically is problematic, and associating with her is a bad idea for any non-Russian skater at this point.
 

Trillian

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962
Right. Let's not get it twisted here. Viktor Petrenko has more connections and access to opportunities than most of his fellow countrymen (or most people in the world). He just decided where his loyalties laid. No need to justify it or excuse him. He's a grown ass man. The world needs to need to see what's in front of them and stop trying to wish it away.

Not only that, but he’s been living in the U.S. for decades, so he isn’t in the same bubble of propaganda as most Russians who consume only Russian media. He has easy access to real information. If he was in Ukraine when the war started as was reported, he also presumably saw some of it firsthand. I have less sympathy for him than I do for people currently in Russia who are being fed nothing but lies and might have to fear for their well-being. He’s safe and comfortable, he knows what’s going on, and he made his choice.

What show opportunities does he have? It's not like there are North American shows for him to skate in like the past and you assume that Japan would even be interested in having him. There aren't that many old skaters in those shows and Viktor doesn't have the same Japanese student connection that Stephane Lambiel has, and Viktor is in his 50's as well.

So you are saying that every Ukrainian that is living in Russia and earning money is betraying their nation? Navka is Ukrainian, as is Volosozhar. There are probably millions of Ukrainian people living and working in Russia since there was so much migration between the two places. Everyone is supposed to stop working to support Ukraine?

Where exactly do you think Viktor has been making his regular income for the last couple of decades? Nobody is hiring a 50-year-old who wasn’t even the most successful show skater of his generation to perform in ice shows on a regular basis anymore. He and several members of his immediate family have been living and coaching in the U.S. for decades. Nobody’s asking him to give up his livelihood. His side projects are his choice, but he shouldn’t be surprised when his choices have very predictable consequences.
 

Rob

Beach Bum
Messages
15,218
Things I want:

Ukraine war to end.
Skaters who test positive for a banned substance to be treated the same - cannot ban many from competition and allow 1 to compete.
Skaters who prerotate, underrotate, or slap their whole blades on the ice to be subjected to the same deductions.
Countries/coaches/sporting federations who persist in systematic doping to be suspended because it has been shown they don't seem to stop without punishment.
 

airgelaal

Well-Known Member
Messages
5,495
We don't even know the amount of this monthly stipend that Viktor lost, or how long he has been receiving it. He won his Olympic medals for the Soviet Union and Unified team so he may still have stipends coming from Russia. I think that the situation is really petty and the truth might be that the Ukraine may not even have the money to pay out this stipend since it has to rebuild its country after this war. So they publicize this to make it seem as if it relates to the ice show and not lack of funds.

Viktor has been skating in these shows for years and he has known Navka for 20 years. I don't see how a person has to forego his livelihood when it seems that Ukraine did not have its own ice shows.
It's great that Victor has so many defenders from all over the world. And everyone is ok that he does not have the courage to explain his act.
Silence seems to be a very contagious disease in russia...
 

Yehudi

AITA
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4,935
What show opportunities does he have? It's not like there are North American shows for him to skate in like the past and you assume that Japan would even be interested in having him. There aren't that many old skaters in those shows and Viktor doesn't have the same Japanese student connection that Stephane Lambiel has, and Viktor is in his 50's as well.

Petrenko could easily charge $100/hour for lessons on his rep alone. If he doesn’t want to coach, that’s fine, but let’s not pretend skating in minor roles in Russian ice shows is the only thing a 50 year old ex-figure skater can do.
 

soogar

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3,125
It's great that Victor has so many defenders from all over the world. And everyone is ok that he does not have the courage to explain his act.
Silence seems to be a very contagious disease in russia...
Maybe he doesn't feel like he has to explain. And yes, to another post, I am a huge Viktor Petrenko fan. We have no clue his real feelings on Ukraine. He is probably used to it being part of the Soviet Union because that was how he was raised and he was part of the Soviet sport system.
 

airgelaal

Well-Known Member
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5,495
Maybe he doesn't feel like he has to explain. And yes, to another post, I am a huge Viktor Petrenko fan. We have no clue his real feelings on Ukraine. He is probably used to it being part of the Soviet Union because that was how he was raised and he was part of the Soviet sport system.
It is strange that he hid such an attitude towards Ukraine. In hundreds of his interviews, he did not say that he wanted to see Ukraine as part of russia.
Oh yeah, no one has to explain anything to anyone. So I have the right to think that all russian skaters support the genocide of the Ukrainian people. Just like Victor, it seems.
 

Jayar

Well-Known Member
Messages
9,515
What show opportunities does he have? It's not like there are North American shows for him to skate in like the past and you assume that Japan would even be interested in having him. There aren't that many old skaters in those shows and Viktor doesn't have the same Japanese student connection that Stephane Lambiel has, and Viktor is in his 50's as well.

So you are saying that every Ukrainian that is living in Russia and earning money is betraying their nation? Navka is Ukrainian, as is Volosozhar. There are probably millions of Ukrainian people living and working in Russia since there was so much migration between the two places. Everyone is supposed to stop working to support Ukraine?
I am saying that you don't skate in a show that is created by a person who supports the active murdering of your people.
 

Ena Grins

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196
Petrenko could easily charge $100/hour for lessons on his rep alone. If he doesn’t want to coach, that’s fine, but let’s not pretend skating in minor roles in Russian ice shows is the only thing a 50 year old ex-figure skater can do.
And FWIW I'm pretty sure Petrenko has been doing some coaching in the US. I was rewatching the women's free skate from Junior Worlds (...it's the off season) and he was listed as one of Lindsay Thorngren's coaches. I have no idea how much he has earned from coaching but it's not like that one ice show in Russia was his only means of earning money.

And, you know, there's the whole ethical part of it too - not participating in an event that supports genocide. Decisions have consequences.
 

allezfred

In A Fake Snowball Fight
Messages
65,407
Maybe he doesn't feel like he has to explain. And yes, to another post, I am a huge Viktor Petrenko fan. We have no clue his real feelings on Ukraine. He is probably used to it being part of the Soviet Union because that was how he was raised and he was part of the Soviet sport system.
He is performing in a skating show sponsored by the regime that is invading his homeland. I think we can surmise at the very least he doesn’t care. :confused:
 
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