U.S. Men 2024-25 news & updates

[Karen-W]

Seems crazy that Torgy would be on X or Reddit during Worlds competition. And what were the political views he was being hammered for??

Does it matter? Fans who behave like that are no fans at all. They're pathetically immature bullies who have gotten away with this type of behavior for far too long. There is no justification for treating other people that way. And if you think that disagreeing with someone else's political views IS a justification for online bullying then you need to reexamine your own value structure because it's not.

 

[jlai]

First of all torgy should not be on social media when competing. That is a lesson learned I hope.

Second we do hammer or judge people we don’t know for various reasons hastily , from our neighbors to athletes and other figures.
Hopefully we all can do better

 

[Wyliefan]

First of all torgy should not be on social media when competing.

We don't know that he was. All we know was that others were posting about him. We don't know if he saw it.

 

[Willin]

I was going to say...

People were posting about his political views (I didn't see it and had no idea it happened), but we have no idea if he saw it.

 

[sk9tingfan]

If I remember correctly, he was also getting hammered on twitter and Reddit the entire day regarding political opinions. People were celebrating his nightmare skate afterwards. I don’t agree with the political stuff, but no one deserves to have that happen. I don’t know him, clearly, so I don’t know if he had seen it or not, but I did see that he was being repeatedly tagged for hours before his skate. It’s not an excuse, but he was very consistent all year before worlds and I’m not ready to write him off as quickly as others are.

What is Torgashev pushing politically? Not in the loop.

 

[tony]

Does it matter? Fans who behave like that are no fans at all. They're pathetically immature bullies who have gotten away with this type of behavior for far too long. There is no justification for treating other people that way. And if you think that disagreeing with someone else's political views IS a justification for online bullying then you need to reexamine your own value structure because it's not.

They shouldn't be bullying anyone-- the end of sentence. Not just because of political stances. And yes, this includes instances of skaters who don't unfollow someone fast enough or put out a press release about their opinion of every last thing.

I will keep repeating until the end of time that it's always the pathetic subsegment of online fandom that goes above and beyond in their miserable lives to troll everyone else, all while using the comfort of having some stupid user name and inanimate objects as their entire profile. And for many of them, they will be posting in the next breath about how everyone needs to jump on some cause for anti-bullying or anxiety or some other SJW topic.

 

[Rukia]

They shouldn't be bullying anyone-- the end of sentence. Not just because of political stances. And yes, this includes instances of skaters who don't unfollow someone fast enough or put out a press release about their opinion of every last thing.

I will keep repeating until the end of time that it's always the pathetic subsegment of online fandom that goes above and beyond in their miserable lives to troll everyone else, all while using the comfort of having some stupid user name and inanimate objects as their entire profile. And for many of them, they will be posting in the next breath about how everyone needs to jump on some cause for anti-bullying or anxiety or some other SJW topic.

it's the off-season so i'm going to go further afield here lol but I find in fandom these days people seem to think you aren't really involved unless you are criticizing everything to the point that I just want to tell people to go find something else to do lol like if you aren't having fun then just stop engaging! no one is making you partake in whatever this is. And this seems to apply to real people too like if you aren't being critical you aren't being real which is disingenious.

And to be clear I'm not talking about like complaining about the judging being bonkers during a competition (because it is) or that ice dance is becoming a shell of it's former self (it is), but just like nitpicky stuff or stuff that has no relation. Like if you think every part of your fandom is so terrible then just move on pals.

lol sorry this has been bugging me for a while. I just wish people would start having more fun and stop thinking they need to be critical of every single thing that happens to prove they are a real fan or whatever.

never enough is still a terrible song for terrible programs though

 

[BaileyCatts]

So anyway .... I really really hope that Torgy keeps his SP for Olympic season. I love this program!

 

[Rukia]

So anyway .... I really really hope that Torgy keeps his SP for Olympic season. I love this program!

he's kept it for 2 seasons so I doubt he will keep it again but i suppose strnager things have happened

 

[BaileyCatts]

eh, that's okay by me. This is one of my top favorite programs of all skaters ever.

 

[Tinycities]

We don't know that he was. All we know was that others were posting about him. We don't know if he saw it.

It was going on the previous day as well, and he was getting tagged in it. We don’t know if he saw it or anything, but if he has his notifications on, he might have seen some of it. It was a lot. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is while I might not agree with the views people were claiming he has ( there was no confirmation, it was something like he following a specific account somewhere) I don’t really believe that’s justification to bully someone, which people shouldn’t be doing anyway.

And if that did or did not play any part in that nightmare skate, I also think it’s a choice to be giving up on him that quickly when he had overall a consistent season.

 

[Willin]

I think people assume skaters like Ilia and Andrew have these conservative views because they have Russian parents and they're skaters. A lot of skating families are conservative - though many of the skaters themselves seem somewhat liberal - at least socially. So it's really hard to know what their political views are.

IME many Russians in the US left Russia for a reason, and while they aren't the most liberal people they're also not huge Putin fans.

 

[Vagabond]

Maturing Andrew Torgashev Embraces Colorado Springs - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Andrew Torgashev spent much of Feb. 14 working with Evgeni Platov at a rink in Southern Florida, finishing up a new short program. Then just 16, Torgashev was choreographing

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

"I'm never really into politics, I try to stay away from it because there's so much controversy in it," Torgashev, now 17, said. "But with something like this right close to home, I can't just sit there and do nothing. So I spoke at the March for Our Lives, I led it with some of my other friends. A lot of my (Florida) friends went to the school and I felt very connected with it."

This is old, so his feelings may have changed. Still, I would lend more credence to what he said in an old interview than what anonymous posters say about him on social media.

 

[ice coverage]

I think people assume skaters like Ilia and Andrew have these conservative views because they have Russian parents and they're skaters. A lot of skating families are conservative - though many of the skaters themselves seem somewhat liberal - at least socially. So it's really hard to know what their political views are.

IME many Russians in the US left Russia for a reason, and while they aren't the most liberal people they're also not huge Putin fans.

Don't want to get into a political discussion, but Torgashev is of Russian and Ukrainian descent (as he said in 2017).
Excerpt from his Instagram recap of personal highlights from Aug 2024:

"Skate for Ukraine - I was invited because of my Ukrainian Heritage. My mother born in Odessa , My grandfather (still in Odessa) gave a lot of his life to developing figure skating in Odessa and Ukraine. Thank you @lola_onice for the opportunity to support Ukraine and to partake in an event that supports the people of Ukraine. I’m honored to have a small part in this mission."​

 

[Impromptu]

Possibly should go in next season's U.S. mens thread, but we don't have one yet. Looks like Rohene Ward is choreographing at least one of Jacob Sanchez's programs.

Instagram

www.instagram.com

 

[mtnskater]

I totally quit any social media several years ago. So much happier to not waste as much of my time with a screen in my face, and all the polarization. Sure glad I did not grow up with this stuff. I kind of feel for skaters because they probably feel like it is a prerequisite in today’s world for them. Didn’t Alysa drop social media for the most part?

 

[panda42]

Hi, I just joined the forum. I don't know Andrew's political beliefs since he hasn't said anything publicly, but it seems that he may have followed accounts and "liked" posts that are right-leaning. As a result, some people have been critical to the extent of sending screen shots about it to Reddit and YT skating channels as "proof". The result has been a backlash of sorts that does seem unfair and bullying, especially coming from supposed skating fans.

 

[barbk]

Welcome, @panda42!

 

[Karen-W]

Hi, I just joined the forum. I don't know Andrew's political beliefs since he hasn't said anything publicly, but it seems that he may have followed accounts and "liked" posts that are right-leaning. As a result, some people have been critical to the extent of sending screen shots about it to Reddit and YT skating channels as "proof". The result has been a backlash of sorts that does seem unfair and bullying, especially coming from supposed skating fans.

Again, it doesn't matter what his political views may be. These people are trying to punish someone else for their political views. It's the furthest thing from the open-minded, tolerant, inclusivity they self-righteously claim to possess themselves.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Likes and follows on public social media are as explicit as posts to social media. Sometimes they are in error, like when someone likes a photo or video in a post in another language that suggests one thing, but the “liker” hasn’t translated the post, which seems incongruent with the photo or video.

I don’t have an issue with this being raised in either direction. I can take Torgashev’s statement on Ukraine as something I could get behind, and he can be no longer worth be worth an iota of energy, support, or comment on his skating if he supports an ideology, position, influencer, etc. that I find heinous. (I don’t know who or what he’s supporting, so I’m cautious rather than convinced.) I’m sure he’s not losing sleep over this, and it doesn’t make his skating any different.

Ganging up on a civilian who has not put themselves in a position of spokesperson, politician, or expert is what I find wrong. Putting the info out there, if it is not a smear job or presented out of context, I don’t.

 

[On My Own]

I didn't know Torgy was interesting enough to hold political views.

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

https://www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkating/s/88Kl20lsUB

This is an example of one of the posts mentioned from Reddit suggesting that Torgashev is a Trump supporter and lists other skaters suggested to be Trump supporters as well.

 

[kwanfan1818]

suggesting that Torgashev is a Trump supporter and lists other skaters suggested to be Trump supporters as well.

Not suggesting: claiming that all are openly Trump supporters.

 

[Karen-W]

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.

 

[kwanfan1818]

The skaters themselves have been the ones "putting it out there" with their actions.

I'm not a Federation, ISU, OC, etc. official. I'm not on CAS. I'm not a judge or member of the tech panel. I can choose to support a skater or not.

I have no obligation as a fan/spectator/audience to support anyone. I can choose to support and then later choose not to or vice versa for any reason I want. I can take fridge breaks, bathroom breaks, do my laundry, skip their performances during playbacks, start reading email, etc. I can choose to ignore everything outside their skating, or I can choose to take it into consideration.

There are plenty of wonderful skaters to support if I choose not to support specific skaters, like I can decide the same for any kind of performer for any reason I choose.

 

[Karen-W]

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

 

[panda42]

This is a sensitive topic with many different views. I may not be pleased about Andrew being pro-Trump (if true), but I still like his skating and wish him well. I would guess that it may be the Russian background and influence for many of them, as well as young men in particular being targeted.

Others may feel differently and not want to watch or support him, but it is the mean-spirited posts that I dislike. You can criticize someone's views without resorting to personal attacks or deliberately trying to sabotage their fan following.

 

[On My Own]

How dare someone take offense to a Trump supporter from a democracy, after skating twitter canceled literally every Russian out there in 2022, and even went after North Koreans in 2024 - because you know, they certainly have a choice.

It's a huge privilege to have someone who's possibly anti-immigration, anti-black, anti-brown, anti-Asian, anti-LGBT, white supremacist in your country, unlike those wretched Russians and Asians.

If you disagree, you're too stupid to comprehend America's greatness, since it's been made so again.

 

[On My Own]

While I'm at it, it'd be great if competitions in the United States were canceled altogether. I'm sure the response to my stating it will be the usual 'if you don't like it, **** off', but unfortunately, I do remember at least a couple of people attending competitions there to see team china, and pointed out the crowds were sinophobic. It's bound to be far worse now.

 

[Vagabond]

Andrew Torgashev - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Torgashev, who is half-Ukrainian with family still living in the country, has vocalized his support for Ukraine following the Russian invasion and has partaken in ice shows to raise money in support.

So there!