The Dance Hall 6: We're All Off Our Rockers 2018-2019

[Bigbird]

^^ I like H/K much more than S/D but they do lack spark imo. The fd they had this year certainly didn't help. I'd love to see what they'd do with one of Pedro Almodovar's movie soundtracks. Could have great potential.

Let's hope so because she in particular is so engaging. A style must fit a couple like a glove and not fit like a straight jacket.

 

[Dobre]

- Elena Ilinykh has officially retired
She is now focusing on their Academy and new projects

I'm glad she ixnayed the chatter. There are many what-might-have-beens, but also some sparkling & memorable performances. She seems to be happy in her new endeavors.

 

[Dobre]

The Transition: Post 2
(Continuing my series of posts on the teams that have been transitioning up to seniors. I started this three years ago so--along with my previous post about this year's transitioning first-year teams--it also seems worth taking a look at how the teams that have stuck together since moving up over the past couple years have faired during this post-Olympic season. Season's best scores are in bold).

Sophomore Class:
180.95 The Parsons-Nebelhorn
180.57 McNamara & Carpenter-Skate America
178.64 McNamara & Carpenter-Ondrej Nepela
178.64 The Parsons-NHK
176.66 McNamara & Carpenter-Helsinki GP
174.35 McNamara & Carpenter-Inge Solar
171.17 The Parsons-Internationaux de France
170.68 The Parsons-Lombardia
157.13 The Parsons-Asian Open
154.42 Popova & Byelikov-Tallinn
152.01 Popova & Byelikov-Europeans

Second-Year Senior Statistics:
-Teams that medaled on the GP: 2 (The Parsons, McNamara & Carpenter)
-Teams that medaled on the CS: 2 (The Parsons, McNamara & Carpenter)
-Teams that finished top 24 on the SB list: 2 (The Parsons, McNamara & Carpenter)
-Teams predicted to finish top 24 on this season’s World Standings list: 2 (The Parsons, McNamara & Carpenter)
-Teams that qualified for the post season via Europeans or 4CCs: 1 (Popova & Byelikov)
-Teams that qualified for Worlds: 0
-Teams that split since my last update on this group of teams: 4 (The Parsons, Loboda & Drozd, Fukase & Tateno, Damuleviciute & Kizala)

Second-Year Senior Nationals results:
-Popova & Byelikov finished first at Ukrainian Nationals.
-McNamara & Carpenter finished fourth at U.S. Nationals.
-The Parsons finished sixth at U.S. Nationals.


Junior Class:
180.32 Lauriault & Le Gac-Skate Canada
179.26 Lauriault & Le Gac-Worlds
176.46 Lauriault & Le Gac-Finlandia
175.62 Evdokimova & Bazin-Europeans
172.33 Lauriualt & Le Gac-Europeans
171.46 Lauriault & Le Gac-Inge Solar
170.64 Lauriault & Le Gac-Internationaux de France
168.31 Evdokimova & Bazin-Tallinn
164.66 Evdokimova & Bazin-Rostelecom
159.67 Evdokimova & Bazin-Finlandia
150.23 Sales & Wamsteeker-Skate Canada
142.48 Sales & Wamsteeker-U.S. Classic
118.39 Friend & Badaoui-Inge Solar
118.22 Friend & Badaoui-Four Continents

Third-Year Senior Statistics:
-Teams that medaled on the GP: 0
-Teams that medaled on the CS: 1 (Lauriault & Le Gac)
-Teams that finished top 24 on the SB list: 2 (Lauriault & Le Gac, Evdokimova & Bazin)
-Teams predicted to finish top 24 on this season’s World Standings list: 1 (Lauriault & Le Gac)
-Teams that qualified for the post season via Europeans or 4CCs: 3 (Lauriault & Le Gac, Evdokimova & Bazin, Friend & Badaoui)
-Teams that qualified for Worlds: 1 (Lauriault & Le Gac)
-Teams that split since my last update on this group of teams: 2 (Biechler & Dodge, Kuzmichova & Sinicyn)

Third-Year Senior Nationals results:
-Lauriault & Le Gac finished second at French Nationals.
-Friend & Badaoui finished second at Australian Nationals.
-Evdokimova & Bazin finished third at Russian Nationals.
-Sales & Wamsteeker finished fourth at Canadian Nationals.


Thoughts: The post-Olympic season has been full of opportunities for the 2nd and 3rd year teams. GP medals for McNamara & Carpenter and the Parsons. Challenger medals for them and Lauriault & Le Gac. A medal at Russian Nationals and a first-time berth at Europeans for Evdokimova & Bazin. A GP berth and a surprise top 4 finish for Sales & Wamsteeker at Canadian Nationals. A surprise national title, a first trip to the FD at Euros, and also a first JGP medal for Popova & Byelikov, who competed both junior & seniors for the second year in a row.

The flip side of this reality is that in only three seasons, we've lost 7 of 11 teams that moved up in 2016-17 and in only two seasons, 5 of the 7 teams that transitioned to seniors in 2017-18. The teams that have split have done so from both ends of the spectrum. The teams with the lowest scores of their respective debut classes and also the teams with the highest scores of their respective debut classes. Of the 12 teams lost at this point (24 athletes), I count 7 athletes still competing as far as we know at this point: Drozd, Loboda, Thauron, Biechler, Razgulajevs, Kizala, and likely Michael Parsons.

 

[Sylvia]

Newly listed on IPS: Simon Dazé of Canada (skated 2 seasons with Teodora Markova for Bulgaria in the Gadbois group, including 2018 Worlds and 2018 & 2019 Euros): http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00103522.htm

As posted in several other threads last week, USA's Karina Manta and Joe Johnson announced their plans via their social media platforms.
Karina's blog post: https://circusrunaway.blog/2019/04/19/saying-goodbye/

It’s hard for me to say “retiring” because who knows if this is goodbye forever? We sure don’t. We do know that we feel like we need a change of scenery, and we were recently offered a really incredible opportunity to work with Cirque Du Soleil, so, in June, we’re packing our bags and heading to Montreal to begin working on an exciting project with them—I guess all ice dancers really do end up in Montreal one way or another.

Joe Johnson's IG post: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwav4hGFstA/

In June, we will be moving to Montreal to start working with @cirquedusoleil on a project. To hear our names after “representing the United States” was a deep honor, and it’s something we’ll always carry with us. Our hearts are full, and we firmly look at this not as the end, but as a continuation of something that we’re blessed every single day to be able to do. We’ll still be out there performing, and we hope to see you from the stage

 

[VGThuy]

I don't know if this has already been posted but here's a very honest interview with Guillaume and Gabriella:

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/...ngchang-tessa-virtue-scott-moir-medaille-robe

It's in French but Google Chrome can translate the article. I really appreciate the candor and honesty they spoke with here. I know some may have a problem with their talk of conspiracy theories or even wishing for a mistake in the FD for Tessa/Scott, but I don't think it was out of malice or anything. I think it is simple basic human emotion in the moment where you are behind and you know you need the team ahead of you to give away points for you to have a chance to win. That's how much you want it.

I like how honest they were about working with Scott/Tessa in Montreal and how they REALLY felt about training with their rivals.

 

[Enchanted]

I think it’s important to speak about the negative feelings as well. When you’re a high level athlete, those feelings are often part of the highly competitive environment.

I remember seeing a recording of an old ice show with mostly retired skaters and at least one of them talked briefly of the somewhat similar feelings as Gabriella in this interview. I don’t remember who the skaters were or what show it was but I remember finding it equally refreshing as this interview with P/C.

 

[Dobre]

It's a good interview. It's also a good takeaway. (That having the experience can be a real advantage in the long run. It was the experience that was Virtue & Moir's greatest advantage in Korea. To be the only team that already has a gold medal. From the beginning of the season, I thought it would be the advantage for them. That quite possibly, they might feel more nerves in the team event because they had already won the individual gold).

Also, I think it shows why 1. you can't just make assumptions about results and/or the fairness of a competition based on individual athletes quotes and how 2. a culture of "conspiracy or victimization" is so easy for athletes to fall into. They don't watch the full competition. Mentally and emotionally, it's not the best way to prepare. And then afterward, athletes are reeling from the experience--which is of course when all the interviewers pounce. But it's so easy to see that you can't have a clear view of the competition if you don't watch it. The team event--it was called & scored so differently than the individual one. (At both Olympics thus far, I think, though I haven't seen the Sochi team event in years). It's one thing to call an event or score it tight when it only has the top athletes in it. It's another to call and score it when you've seen ten to twenty lower level teams go up first. I remember Tanith & Ben talking about how they didn't watch Davis & White's performance until some point after Vancouver. And once they had that they could totally see why D&W were ahead. But athletes preparing for a competition and immediately after a competition--they haven't watched the whole picture. To expect them to have a clear view of how the event played out or the quality of the judging overall--they can't. They can just give you a view of how the competition played out from their individual and/or personal perspective.

Anyway, a good interview. Thanks for sharing.

 

[angi]

I don't know if this has already been posted but here's a very honest interview with Guillaume and Gabriella:

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/...ngchang-tessa-virtue-scott-moir-medaille-robe

It's in French but Google Chrome can translate the article. I really appreciate the candor and honesty they spoke with here. I know some may have a problem with their talk of conspiracy theories or even wishing for a mistake in the FD for Tessa/Scott, but I don't think it was out of malice or anything. I think it is simple basic human emotion in the moment where you are behind and you know you need the team ahead of you to give away points for you to have a chance to win. That's how much you want it.

I like how honest they were about working with Scott/Tessa in Montreal and how they REALLY felt about training with their rivals.

You call it honesty, and in some ways it is honesty, but it's also a bad display of sportsmanship. As someone said on Twitter, You wouldn't hear Shoma or Nathan saying how they wish Yuzu will make mistakes so they could win. It's not easy being in their shoes for sure, and the article shows how much they were (and maybe still are) lacking in the way they handled facing hard competition, but I prefer the "beat the best at their best" mentality over "watch and hope your biggest competition make mistakes" mentality.

 

[Peepsquick]

You call it honesty, and in some ways it is honesty, but it's also a bad display of sportsmanship. As someone said on Twitter, You wouldn't hear Shoma or Nathan saying how they wish Yuzu will make mistakes so they could win. It's not easy being in their shoes for sure, and the article shows how much they were (and maybe still are) lacking in the way they handled facing hard competition, but I prefer the "beat the best at their best" mentality over "watch and hope your biggest competition make mistakes" mentality.

Which is why it is honest ... a display of sportsmanship can be just lip service, that's not honesty ... it is fulfilling expectations of what people want to hear. This interview IS honest and a raw description of what it takes to put yourself in competition mode: a real roller-coaster.

 

[VGThuy]

You call it honesty, and in some ways it is honesty, but it's also a bad display of sportsmanship. As someone said on Twitter, You wouldn't hear Shoma or Nathan saying how they wish Yuzu will make mistakes so they could win. It's not easy being in their shoes for sure, and the article shows how much they were (and maybe still are) lacking in the way they handled facing hard competition, but I prefer the "beat the best at their best" mentality over "watch and hope your biggest competition make mistakes" mentality.

I don't always appreciate honesty when it's insulting or demeaning or malicious to another party. However, I don't think that was the case at all. I think Gabriella was just being relatable and human. It'd be one thing if Gabriella would have celebrated Tessa/Scott falling or injuring themselves or said they didn't deserve to win after-the-fact, but Gabriella just knew that in order to beat Tessa/Scott, it was an uphill battle and beating them outright was not as possible after that SD so they were watching the performance to see if Tessa/Scott opened the door. With every element performed, their hope that some door would be open for them to win gold was diminishing as V/M were hitting their routine one element after another. I think it's very understandable and fans do this all the time, whether they want to admit it or not. It's easier to say you want to beat the best at their best when the level is equal (or if your fave at their best will win based on numbers and you feel secure about it), but when things are no longer on an equal playing field and one team has an advantage going into the FD...well I think it happens to everyone. These athletes should be held to a high standard as I think all people should when they become adults, but I also don't think we should expect these athletes not to feel understandable emotions either.

 

[Viscaro]

As someone said on Twitter, You wouldn't hear Shoma or Nathan saying how they wish Yuzu will make mistakes so they could win. It's not easy being in their shoes for sure, and the article shows how much they were (and maybe still are) lacking in the way they handled facing hard competition, but I prefer the "beat the best at their best" mentality over "watch and hope your biggest competition make mistakes" mentality.

Yeah this is not the best mentality. Yeah they show saltiness. They are human. You mistake holiness with perfection, empathy with hypocrisy.
Let's be very clear : both teams (if not more) wanted Olympic Gold. If P/C kept pretending they were fine not getting it while it was their single goal for four years well that would have been frankly, disrespectful because you're thinking everyone is stupid and don't see right through you. I mean, I understand you do not like them at all, but do you really not understand why they needed to write this ?? Not at all ???

To move on from something (anything in life really), you have to face it first. You have to recognize it, and yeah you look at every negative thing you are thinking. I am pretty sure you had low moments sometimes, when you felt jealous and angry (those people on twitter still attacking them certainly have those kind of moments). You do not bury something that was traumatic for you it pretending it's fine. Trust me it's the fastest road to depression. It's pretty clear that it's cathartic for them to write that. Then you can analyze it, see what's justified and what is not, and to me in this text their recognize that their feelings are valid (as most feelings are), but that it was nobody's fault, and they put the conspiracy theories definitively to rest. I believe this is a very honest text from two mature people that know they aren't perfect but are ready to be vulnerable about it. It is very respectful to both V/M and the Gadbois coaches.

 

[starrynight]

I enjoyed that interview. Found it interesting and I'm always glad to hear skaters speak honestly rather than just receive canned answers. I'm just appreciative that P/C actually acknowledged that training with their direct rivals was challenging, rather than all that kumbaya 'there were zero issues' line that everyone has been saying to this point.

P/C are fortunate in that they can direct a lot of their frustrations into a broken dress. If they had skated clean and still lost, they'd be in a situation like Tessa and Scott after Sochi where they ended up having to just blame their coaches and the judges.

Of course losing the gold was difficult. And I'm calling a lie on any skater who claim they have never sat there hoping their rival makes a mistake. Those thoughts were probably going through Savchenko/Massot's heads as they watched Sui/Han make mistakes which gave them the gold at the Olympics.

Experience can make a difference at the Olympics in that managing nerves is often the thing that puts skaters on podiums. But really this ice dance (not singles or pairs), so whatever to what you actually do on the ice. (Just look how everyone's levels magically corrected themselves at this year's worlds). What gave V/M the boost was the huge amount of unchallenged momentum from the team event.

What's more interesting and what really wasn't touched on as much is how P/C view the present and the immediate future. Do you think they get much pleasure out of these current victories that are just runaways with zero competition?

 

[angi]

Yeah this is not the best mentality. Yeah they show saltiness. They are human. You mistake holiness with perfection, empathy with hypocrisy.
Let's be very clear : both teams (if not more) wanted Olympic Gold. If P/C kept pretending they were fine not getting it while it was their single goal for four years well that would have been frankly, disrespectful because you're thinking everyone is stupid and don't see right through you. I mean, I understand you do not like them at all, but do you really not understand why they needed to write this ?? Not at all ???

To move on from something (anything in life really), you have to face it first. You have to recognize it, and yeah you look at every negative thing you are thinking. I am pretty sure you had low moments sometimes, when you felt jealous, angry (those people on twitter still attacking them certainly have those kind of moments). You do not bury something that what traumatic for you it pretending it's fine. Trust me it's the fastest road to depression. It's pretty clear that it's cathartic for them to write that. Then you can analyze it, see what's justified and what is not, and to me in this text their recognize that their feelings are both valid (as most feelings are), but that it was nobody's fault, and they put the conspiracy theories definitively to rest. I believe this is a very honest text from two mature people that know they aren't perfect but are ready to be vulnerable about it. It is very respectful to both V/M and the Gadbois coaches.

I understand perfectly fine, as I said I acknowledge that they are being honest about their feelings, and I don't expect anyone to be holier than god. As a top team, of course they were heading into the Olympic games with the sole purpose of winning gold and there's no denying it or underplaying it. That being said, the honesty they share in the article also indicates several issues with how they view competing and even their own competition. I get that everyone wants to give them points for being honest, but that's not a reason to ignore the problems in some of the things they said.

 

[starrynight]

Just want to point out that if this is going to be a Virtue Moir vs Papadakis Cizeron thing, that Tessa and Scott certainly had a lot to say about their coaches, the judges and Davis/White after their loss in Sochi. So let's just not pretend that P/C are breaking new territory here.

 

[angi]

Just want to point out that if this is going to be a Virtue Moir vs Papadakis Cizeron thing, that Tessa and Scott certainly had a lot to say about their coaches, the judges and Davis/White after their loss in Sochi. So let's just not pretend that P/C are breaking new territory here.

You are the one making it a VM vs. PC issue, no one else mentioned them so far and this is your second attempt to bring them up (while not being accurate, but that's not a surprise).

 

[Peepsquick]

I enjoyed that interview. Found it interesting and I'm always glad to hear skaters speak honestly rather than just receive canned answers. I'm just appreciative that P/C actually acknowledged that training with their direct rivals was challenging, rather than all that kumbaya 'there were zero issues' line that everyone has been saying to this point.

P/C are fortunate in that they can direct a lot of their frustrations into a broken dress. If they had skated clean and still lost, they'd be in a situation like Tessa and Scott after Sochi where they ended up having to just blame their coaches and the judges.

Of course losing the gold was difficult. And I'm calling a lie on any skater who claim they have never sat there hoping their rival makes a mistake. Those thoughts were probably going through Savchenko/Massot's heads as they watched Sui/Han make mistakes which gave them the gold at the Olympics.

Experience can make a difference at the Olympics in that managing nerves is often the thing that puts skaters on podiums. But really this ice dance (not singles or pairs), so whatever to what you actually do on the ice. (Just look how everyone's levels magically corrected themselves at this year's worlds). What gave V/M the boost was the huge amount of unchallenged momentum from the team event.

What's more interesting and what really wasn't touched on as much is how P/C view the present and the immediate future. Do you think they get much pleasure out of these current victories that are just runaways with zero competition?

I do think they enjoy their momentum but you can read at the end of the interview that they don't expect to go unchallenged or even undefeated the whole cycle leading to the OG. They are very aware of the fact that neither the judges nor many fans of other teams want the competition to look uneven.
I am just content to enjoy what they give us for as long as they are able to, winners or not. They bring something very special to skating.

 

[VGThuy]

I'm more than convinced something similar was going on in Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot's heads when all of the teams ahead of them in the SP (by some way) were skating and when it came down to the final team, the gold was so close to being theirs that it would be unnatural for them not to feel similar feelings as that team was skating their LP in Pyeongchang. S/M needed help to win Olympic gold by many teams and they got it. It does not make them bad people, but aware what is needed for them to get the top spot.

 

[elisa_p]

I can't say I'm a fan of that interview. I think it's really unfair to say that any athlete at the games who genuinely wants to "beat the best at their best" are being dishonest. Sure everyone there wants to win....but some are more disappointed in their own performances than sitting here wishing the competition would fall and would give up a medal if they feel like they didn't perform their best that day. That sort of thinking takes away from the whole point of the Olympics...it's about sportsmanship not about winning where others fall. And I would be disappointed in any skater who comes out here and puts that out in an interview.

 

[elisa_p]

Just want to point out that if this is going to be a Virtue Moir vs Papadakis Cizeron thing, that Tessa and Scott certainly had a lot to say about their coaches, the judges and Davis/White after their loss in Sochi. So let's just not pretend that P/C are breaking new territory here.

I don't think V&M ever said anything negative about D&W in any of their post Sochi interviews. Sure they expressed regret and disappointment and went on to talk about that and as I recall not a lot of people found that "brutally honest". Either way, both are widely different situations and different teams and I don't see anyone here making this V&M vs P&C thing here except maybe you.

 

[Zazy]

I'm all for honesty but laughing about your hope that your rivals will mess up is a bit much. It's possible to acknowledge the feeling without turning it into a big joke (and in the original French she's definitely joking about it). It's understandable that they would be upset, even bitter, but surely they could show a minimum of respect for their rivals. And that's been my issue with their comments over the years, the lack of respect, either for their current competitors or the ones who came before them. Maybe it's a function of dominating so much at a young age, in a way it's a shame for them that they haven't faced more competition.

None of this makes them terrible people but I can't help but notice that P/C tend to get the 'they're only human' or 'they're being refreshingly honest' reaction when someone like Scott was made out to be the devil incarnate. Can you imagine if he'd said something like this? There's a clear double standard here when really nobody's a monster, they're all competitive imperfect people who are putting everything they have into a sport where the scores are only vaguely linked to what they do on the ice. And are then expected to look happy when their dream slips away.

I don't think V&M ever said anything negative about D&W in any of their post Sochi interviews.

They talked about not feeling that Marina was in their corner but they actually praised D/W. And they didn't really comment on the judging either. It was in poor taste to complain about Marina in a press conference like that but it was blown completely out of proportion.

 

[Peepsquick]

I can't say I'm a fan of that interview. I think it's really unfair to say that any athlete at the games who genuinely wants to "beat the best at their best" are being dishonest. Sure everyone there wants to win....but some are more disappointed in their own performances than sitting here wishing the competition would fall and would give up a medal if they feel like they didn't perform their best that day. That sort of thinking takes away from the whole point of the Olympics...it's about sportsmanship not about winning where others fall. And I would be disappointed in any skater who comes out here and puts that out in an interview.

Honestly (while we are at it), I think that the OG don't live up to their reputation of sportsmanship. It his highly bent towards national bias. I have read the nastiest comments ever on that occasion and it very often was along the line of cheering for one's athletes. Don't get me wrong, nothing against rooting for your own athletes but it should not be at somebody else's expense.

 

[Dobre]

There was a lovely quote from an interview with Barbara earlier about how thankful she & Maurizio were that Bourne & Kraatz went down in the FD at Salt Lake City. It's just honesty. Athletes would obviously rather win while skating their best, but it's a sport and they want to win or medal, period. It's not necessarily enough. A lot of athletes who win with a less than high-quality performance still feel they have unfinished business. (Pretty sure Hanyu did after Sochi). But the Olympics are a once in a 4 year opportunity. Athletes can hope & strive for a better Olympic competition in the future, but they also know they may not ever get it.

When you think about it, we were fortunate to come out with two happy teams on the podium in Korea. Pretty much no one in Helsinki the year before looked happy. (As in, I think maybe two dance teams out of the whole event).

 

[Peepsquick]

I'm all for honesty but laughing about your hope that your rivals will mess up is a bit much. It's possible to acknowledge the feeling without turning it into a big joke (and in the original French she's definitely joking about it). It's understandable that they would be upset, even bitter, but surely they could show a minimum of respect for their rivals. And that's been my issue with their comments over the years, the lack of respect, either for their current competitors or the ones who came before them. Maybe it's a function of dominating so much at a young age, in a way it's a shame for them that they haven't faced more competition.

None of this makes them terrible people but I can't help but notice that P/C tend to get the 'they're only human' or 'they're being refreshingly honest' reaction when someone like Scott was made out to be the devil incarnate. Can you imagine if he'd said something like this? There's a clear double standard here when really nobody's a monster, they're all competitive imperfect people who are putting everything they have into a sport where the scores are only vaguely linked to what they do on the ice. And are then expected to look happy when their dream slips away.

Give us the quote please, because I really don't know what you are talking about @ Zazi! Honestly!

 

[Viscaro]

I'm all for honesty but laughing about your hope that your rivals will mess up is a bit much. It's possible to acknowledge the feeling without turning it into a big joke (and in the original French she's definitely joking about it).

Well I do not think that laughing at your hope that your rival fail would be wrong per se, because you are criticizing yourself, not your rivals. But that not what they are doing at all... The text is quite grave :

ELLE: I remember that I looked at their items one by one. And each element, we wanted them to plant, and they never planted themselves. It was: "Shit, they did not get stuck on that one, shit. Shit. Shit.They never planted themselves, eventually. It was good war to hope. We did not want them wrong, but we thought about us.

He: And there we waited for the score. This is not the best memory. Rarely, in my life, have there been moments too, how to say ... It appears in one second. There is no process. You wait for the banner with the score, then the little 1 or 2 in the corner, which determines whether you win, or not. And I'm bad at maths. So, I still have to wait to see that little number before I know. And there are all these cameras pointed at you.

I think you find it funny because the verb "to plant" is a bad translation of French "se planter", which means to fail. It's not a funny word, and I do not think she's being funny about it on the French version at all, on the contrary.

 

[VGThuy]

@Zazy I've been defending Scott for years so no double standard. Also, V/M has dedicated fans here who defend everything they say or do, so what double standards? Fans will support their own. The only thing I tend to push back on is the conspiracy theory that Marina purposefully sabotaged them. IMO, I think she was just clueless.

I sort of hate how this became a V/M v. P/C thing. Not everything has to be put in that sort of frame.

 

[Gris]

Let's face it - what we're talking about is a competitive sport, where everyone works hard yet in the end there is only one winner. I don't blame the skaters for thinking in this way at all. Plus it's quite refreshing to hear a non-diplomatic interview, especially in off season.

I think it's very understandable and fans do this all the time, whether they want to admit it or not.

I found the reaction of the fandom on Twitter quite hypocrite, and that's why. Quite a few of them have publicly wished skaters they dislike (for example, Nikita and H/D) to fail in competitions and I recall them acted cheerfully when the twizzle disaster & StaLiB happened. This interview shall be relatable to them actually...

 

[elisa_p]

Honestly (while we are at it), I think that the OG don't live up to their reputation of sportsmanship. It his highly bent towards national bias. I have read the nastiest comments ever on that occasion and it very often was along the line of cheering for one's athletes. Don't get me wrong, nothing against rooting for your own athletes but it should not be at somebody else's expense.

Sure the OG itself has it's own problems and I never said it doesn't but none of that takes away from the point of the olympics. And to be honest, for the most part the spectators and at home viewers take it in pretty good sport regardless if their country wins or loses. There will always be people who take national bias to the extreme but that's a given with pretty much anything.

 

[Zazy]

I think you find it funny because the verb "to plant" is a bad translation of French "se planter", which means to fail. It's not a funny word, and I do not think she's being funny about it on the French version at all, on the contrary.

French is my first language. I don't know if it's yours but Gabriella is very clearly joking/making light of it when she's quoting herself. 'Se planter' doesn't just mean to fail, it's failing spectacularly, completely blowing it.

In the end skaters will misspeak sometimes, it's not the end of the world. I hope P/C are eventually able to let go of the bitterness. I'm sure it was tough to have an essentially guaranteed gold medal and then to have V/M show up out of the blue. And the judging at the GPF basically told them they had it in the bag only to have a freak costume incident take it away from them. They had a really tough Olympics.

 

[Viscaro]

Well we can go into a linguistic debate but in metropolitan French is definitively not funny... I live in France and I speak it the language like a native. Just a bit familiar. Dunno about Canadian French ?

Are you French ? Se planter in itself just means fail, or make a mistake... You have to add an adverb to give it the sense of failing spectacularly. Like the English word to fail actually. "Se planter complètement"="failing spectacularly". "Se planter":"to fail".

 

[starrynight]

I found the reaction of the fandom on Twitter quite hypocrite, and that's why. Quite a few of them have publicly wished skaters they dislike (for example, Nikita and H/D) to fail in competitions and I recall them acted cheerfully when the twizzle disaster & StaLiB happened. This interview shall be relatable to them actually...

Well Twitter has become basically unusable due to the online bullying campaigns conducted against skaters by a couple of the more powerful online fandoms. As a side note, I wonder what skaters think when online trolls use their faces as their twitter avatars?