U.S. Men 2024-25 news & updates

[caseyedwards]

You can literally see who he follows on x and instagram! Nothing was as disturbing as seeing Evan lysacek

 

[Debbie S]

I follow some of the skaters mentioned in the Reddit thread and I haven't seen any evidence that they are Trump supporters. I question whether the claim is based on the fact that they are of Russian descent or that they may have traditional religious views, neither of which guarantees any certain political view.

I don't recall any sinophobic behavior toward Chinese skaters at Worlds or any other comps in the U.S.

Fans can like or dislike a skater for any reason. If they choose not to cheer for a skater b/c they don't agree with a skater's views or actions (which are hard to ignore if a skater is posting about them on their social media), that's their right. Not cheering does not equal online bullying. I don't see anyone here advocating that.

Re Torg's skate at Worlds....I doubt that even if he saw the social media pile-on, it had any affect on his performance. Skaters who reach the elite level learned how to shut out fan noise a long time ago.

 

[On My Own]

I don't recall any sinophobic behavior toward Chinese skaters at Worlds or any other comps in the U.S.

OK, well I've been told it's happened, and I tend to believe them more.

And I stand by the overall point, that I don't exactly wish to see competitions in a country where you don't know if you'll be deported or shot for looking different right now.

 

[flyingsit]

Hey, you want to engage in cancel culture, that's your prerogative.

There’s a huge difference in quietly choosing to support or not support an athlete vs. actively trying to cancel them. And a huge difference in the appropriateness of those choices.

 

[jlai]

Let's just turn this completely around. Say that the figure skating fandom was predominantly conservative-leaning politically and this was happening to skaters who were progressives/socialists. Would what is happening be okay? For me, it wouldn't be okay. A skater's politics have a minimal to non-existent impact on my appreciation of their actual skating.

Taking the politics out of it - this same sort of "I can't support/cheer for Skater XYZ because of..." for non-skating choices happens all the time. How many people here have point blank said they can't/won't support or their opinion of a skater has changed because they've remained friends with Nik Soerensen?

The figure skating fandom has become rife with people who believe they need to make some MORAL statement in the choices of who they cheer for based upon things that don't have anything to do with what the skater is actually putting out there on the ice - ie, their political views or their personal friendships.

I can see some middle ground there in not wanting to support a skater who chooses to remain with a coach who is behaving the way Dalilah Sappenfield did with the KC hats, and I can understand why some people refuse to cheer for Grassl because of the timing of his Eteri stint.

But I really can't abide with the fans who wish ill upon a skater or decide they can no longer cheer for someone they previously enjoyed just because they may disagree politically.

What's worse is that there are a lot of assumptions being made in most of these instances. I've been amused for most of the past month at some random FSTWidiot who was posting screenshots right after Worlds about Benoit Richaud having some social media likes/follows that imply he is also a Trump supporter. I asked that poster why it mattered. Would it change their opinion of his choreography? Does it suddenly make his "not-a-Handmaid's Tale-program" program for Nina Pinzarrone that everyone was convinced was really a Handmaid's Tale political commentary any less of a good program?

Too many fans are too busy trying to find some deeper meaning or hidden messaging in skating programs when none exists. Skaters have never been shy about telling us when a program has some overtly political message. If the program is good, we're going to get behind it. And if it's not - well, we'll mock it the way we did the Taschlers ridiculous climate change FD.

I fail to see there being any good that comes from "just putting this out there" when it comes to a skater's political views. The intent of that action is exactly what happened to Torgashev during Worlds - online attacks & bullying. And to what end? To try and rattle him? To see him fail? These are the sort of mind games that shouldn't be supported. If the "just putting this out there" information came from a direct competitor, how would we view it? The fact that it came from a "fan" doesn't make it less wrong.

All this stuff is really off topic. Generally speaking we all should be tolerant of different views. I can speak of many instances where the right is bashing the left too, andbut I won’t elaborate because people seem to hold the same views regardless of facts.

Hope for a better world where there is less hate and common sense reigns

 

[attyfan]

There’s a huge difference in quietly choosing to support or not support an athlete vs. actively trying to cancel them. And a huge difference in the appropriateness of those choices.

The reasons why fans like one skater and not another are as varied as the fans themselves ... and is not always a question of jumps or spin or performance ability.

 

[PRlady]

The reasons why fans like one skater and not another are as varied as the fans themselves ... and is not always a question of jumps or spin or performance ability.

Yup. I liked Michelle Kwan even more for getting an advanced degree in international relations and going to work for a Dem administration. I like Liza Tukt more for keeping her distance from Putin and war propaganda. OTOH I liked Yags as a skater and now he’s

But everyone can pick and choose. I still liked Travis Tritt’s music when he was doing ads for the NRA and I was working professionally for gun control.

 

[peibeck]

Re Torg's skate at Worlds....I doubt that even if he saw the social media pile-on, it had any affect on his performance. Skaters who reach the elite level learned how to shut out fan noise a long time ago.

I didn't know anything about the social media pile on, but having been in Boston and seen Torgy's practices, he wasn't skating particularly well in those. So obviously I was thrilled with his SP performance (even if the 4t was suspect).

They apparently were playing with his jump layout after nationals to add a second 4t then went back to the original layout. Perhaps psychologically and with muscle memory that made more of more of an impact?

He apparently posted to his fans on IG fairly quickly after the free, and "kids" today are on social ALL. THE. TIME. Should they be avoiding it during competition? Yes. Do they always avoid it? Doubtful. But everyone compartmentalizes differently; what bothers one skater may not bother another.

 

[misskarne]

I mean...the thing is, Torgashev's FS at Worlds wasn't exactly unprecedented. He's done that before, Twitter pile-on or no.

 

[jlai]

The reasons why fans like one skater and not another are as varied as the fans themselves ... and is not always a question of jumps or spin or performance ability.

Skaters get criticized for all sorts of things not related to skating from the way they treat their partner to speaking up for others (or not) to ties to Russian politics. To be fair what Torgy gets criticized for will not be different than those.

Not that we should quickly judge these skaters mind you. But we do pick and choose as to what we think is ok or not (myself included)

 

[panda42]

I didn't know anything about the social media pile on, but having been in Boston and seen Torgy's practices, he wasn't skating particularly well in those. So obviously I was thrilled with his SP performance (even if the 4t was suspect).

They apparently were playing with his jump layout after nationals to add a second 4t then went back to the original layout. Perhaps psychologically and with muscle memory that made more of more of an impact?

He apparently posted to his fans on IG fairly quickly after the free, and "kids" today are on social ALL. THE. TIME. Should they be avoiding it during competition? Yes. Do they always avoid it? Doubtful. But everyone compartmentalizes differently; what bothers one skater may not bother another.

I wasn't in Boston, but his skating was up and down in the practices I saw (similar to the other men). Some commentators noted that his jump technique was different than usual in the LP, both his toe pick and rotating position. It's also possible that Raf being there was a factor because the energy is very different than when he is just with Brandon.

I hope that skaters don't read too much of what is posted about them because it must be very demoralizing, although they are public figures and therefore have to expect it. They must have developed thick skin if they are around for a long time.

 

[DreamSkates]

What happened to the advice, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." IMO social media makes it too easy to post without thinking not only about what you feel at the moment but also about the effect on others which always comes after the fact and then the poster gets defensive, arguments ensue, etc.

The world needs more kindness, less criticism. My opinion doesn't rock the world. This doesn't mean that criticism isn't appropriate or useful. Just don't be mean about it. Note to self, of course.

 

[TAHbKA]

Wait, so now these 17y.o not only have to be able to skate, jump and spin but also have brains???? Most of these skaters will finish their careers before they even grow that organ. Who cares what is on their social media and what are their political views? They can win the worlds before they can even vote.

 

[kwanfan1818]

No one is demanding that anyone else care about what 17-year-olds, 21-year-olds, 24-year-olds, or 27-year-olds with Master's degrees support or post. (18 is voting age in the US.) It's called choice for a reason.

 

[On My Own]

Wait, so now these 17y.o not only have to be able to skate, jump and spin but also have brains???? Most of these skaters will finish their careers before they even grow that organ. Who cares what is on their social media and what are their political views? They can win the worlds before they can even vote.

I see your point. Once you spend $100k on skating, there is no $100k left for education.

 

[Aceon6]

I abhor cancel culture unless I know the full context of what was allegedly said and know the motives of those amplifying it.

 

[Wyliefan]

Cross-posted from Ilia's fan thread: Here's his new interview with People magazine.

Ilia Malinin Opens Up About His Olympic Dreams and the Quad-Quad Combo Ahead of Stars of Ice U.S. Tour (Exclusive)

Newly crowned world figure skating men's champion Ilia Malinin spoke exclusively with PEOPLE about his 2026 Winter Olympic dreams ahead of the 2025 Stars on Ice U.S. tour.

people.com

Malinin is aware of what his competitors are trying, but says the Olympic season is not the time to try new elements like a quad-quad combo.

"I already have that layout in mind," Malinin says of his planned program with seven quads. "I definitely think that post-Olympics is where I can play around and try to go for, for example, the quad as the second jump in the combination, or kind of just play around with those things. So that's something that I'll be looking for after the Olympics. For the Olympics, I really want it to just be kind of set in stone, just really get a solid foundation and not have to worry about possible risks."