2022 Olympics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s in it for the Russian skaters post Olympics? I assume in the Communist era, it meant securing your family’s future. Now, what does it mean? It’s not like Russia is a booming market where they could have a future in endorsements (like Eileen Gu)? Or do they? What are the prior Olympic medalists doing now?

It's the same as the future of champions here. The few on top go on to top skating shows, endorsements and TV appearances. Some go into coaching. Some go to school.

Alina Zagitova, the 2018 Olympic gold medalist, has multiple endorsements, tours the world with skating shows and dabbles in TV. She's only 19.

Evgenia Medvedeva, the silver medalist, has some endorsements.

Yulia Lipnitskaya started her own skating school.

It helps that Russia has an absolutely insanely thriving market for multiple skating shows. It feeds into the popularity of the sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where can I find a replay of the skating performances? I found Sherbakova's but basically every YouTube video of the whole program has been removed.

I found it all on NBC. They give you 28 minutes of free viewing so I skipped to the skaters I wanted to see, like Mariah Bell.

Or if you have a cable provider or Hulu (might have to have Hulu live) there isn't a limit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Russians’ technique is leading to injuries and early retirement from the sport.

LOL yes Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes fled the sport at 16 because of the Russians' technique.

Wake up. Early retirement is a reality of this sport. Katarina Witt was the last champion with breasts.

again - not a good thing

burning out your body in your teens is NOT something we should be encouraging

Michelle Kwan, Yuna Chen, Irina Slutskaya - all had careers spanning multiple Olympics. And Irina definitely had some meat on her bones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s in it for the Russian skaters post Olympics? I assume in the Communist era, it meant securing your family’s future. Now, what does it mean? It’s not like Russia is a booming market where they could have a future in endorsements (like Eileen Gu)? Or do they? What are the prior Olympic medalists doing now?

Same as here- become a spokesperson, commentator, sponsor for products, sought-after coach.

Stars on Ice type things are also still popular over there.

I also think Russia now is not as different from the Soviet era as you'd like to hope. The level of corruption and cronyism is still astronomically high, so winning a high profile Olympic medal still has enormous benefit to a skater and her family, who may be set up within that system. Or maybe not. The system is abusive and discards people who are not deemed useful. But the pressure to "be useful" is almost as intense now as it was in the 80s, and a talented young child and her family could be persuaded to participate in an abusive training program to win gold "for love of country" more easily than they might be in the US. Also, unlike in the US, there is still far more state sponsorship of young athletes in Russia, with many scholarships and public sponsorships available to those who have a demonstrated ability. It is also true for young dancers through the Bolshoi and other artistic programs. Russia may no longer be a communist country, but they have not dropped many of their ideals about making Russian arts and culture dominant. That still extends to athletes, as evidenced by the Sochi Olympics, the doping scandal, and now this debacle.

Russia has changed very little in the last 30 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The skater from Georgia wore flesh colored gloves, and Gracie Gold had flesh colored gloves too. It seems very common with Russian skaters, or skaters with Russian training.

She is not "from" Georgia. That she represents Georgia is just a way for her to compete internationally, and for Georgia to have a skater that clears the qualifying round. Country shopping. She neither lives nor trains there, and neither is she an ethnic Georgian.

Yes, when I said "common with Russian skaters" I was referring to her. This was the first year she even competed for Georgia. There is a lot of country shopping for American and Russian skaters looking for slots to compete.

Well, I loved her program, the rest of it aside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they should invest a little more in the tailoring than in performance enhancing drugs. Some of the Russian skating outfits were ill-fitting. Anna's loose crossovers on the back of hers were driving me crazy. Trusova had some strange gaps in her outfit that just seemed off. I thought the Lion King outfit was gorgeous as was the outfit for the bronze medalist.

Well tbh Russia has never exceled in costuming. It is always on the side of garish even for figure skating. That's why G&G black and white monastic outfits were so striking in 1994.

THere's also Nathan Chen's approach, which is, "I'm so good I can win this in athleisure."

LOL. So true. That loose t-shirt in the final still irritates me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is Trusova’s complaint?

That five landed quads were not enough to win a gold medal.

She reminds me a lot of Aliya Mustafina the gymnast. Moody, emotional. PITA for all.

Or Khorkina

I'm not sure I can agree that anyone can hold a candle to Khorkina.

I'm still salty about that vault in 2000. She was robbed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is Trusova’s complaint?

That five landed quads were not enough to win a gold medal.

She reminds me a lot of Aliya Mustafina the gymnast. Moody, emotional. PITA for all.

Or Khorkina

OMG, Khorkina. She was a TOTAL diva. Like, you can just tell she is crazy.

Have you read this interview? http://eng.gymnovosti.com/khorkina-on-gymnasts-speaking-out-against-abuse-the-just-want-fame/

Amazing.

Completely on brand for her and I think a really good example of the cultural differences between America and russia.

She sounds brainwashed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they should invest a little more in the tailoring than in performance enhancing drugs. Some of the Russian skating outfits were ill-fitting. Anna's loose crossovers on the back of hers were driving me crazy. Trusova had some strange gaps in her outfit that just seemed off. I thought the Lion King outfit was gorgeous as was the outfit for the bronze medalist.

Well tbh Russia has never exceled in costuming. It is always on the side of garish even for figure skating. That's why G&G black and white monastic outfits were so striking in 1994.

THere's also Nathan Chen's approach, which is, "I'm so good I can win this in athleisure."

LOL. So true. That loose t-shirt in the final still irritates me.

I do like his blazer in the short program, at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I also think Russia now is not as different from the Soviet era as you'd like to hope. The level of corruption and cronyism is still astronomically high, so winning a high profile Olympic medal still has enormous benefit to a skater and her family, who may be set up within that system. Or maybe not. The system is abusive and discards people who are not deemed useful. But the pressure to "be useful" is almost as intense now as it was in the 80s, and a talented young child and her family could be persuaded to participate in an abusive training program to win gold "for love of country" more easily than they might be in the US. Also, unlike in the US, there is still far more state sponsorship of young athletes in Russia, with many scholarships and public sponsorships available to those who have a demonstrated ability. It is also true for young dancers through the Bolshoi and other artistic programs. Russia may no longer be a communist country, but they have not dropped many of their ideals about making Russian arts and culture dominant. That still extends to athletes, as evidenced by the Sochi Olympics, the doping scandal, and now this debacle.

Russia has changed very little in the last 30 years.

You've got it quite wrong. Olympic medalists now have access to opportunities that were simply not there in the USSR times - endorsement contracts and TV shows come to mind. In my view, it is quite fair that an athlete who invested a tremendous amount of energy and time into getting a medal gets a reward from the state. You are also wrong that children are pressured to enter these programs. Skating is tremendously popular and whatever you think of Eteri and her training methods, the line to her facility is around the block and she does not force anyone to stay as she has enough skaters to keep her busy. If Kamila wanted to leave skating tomorrow, no one would keep her in. Children stay in skating because they are driven from within; and it also helps when they look at champions like Zagitova, Pluschenko, Slutskaya or Yagudin, and see prosperity and popularity at the end of the line.

State sponsorship of athletes and artists is a good thing. Accessibility of high arts and culture is a good thing. These things cannot pay for themselves, and it is not fair that they should only be available to the rich, or to families with a stay at home parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they should invest a little more in the tailoring than in performance enhancing drugs. Some of the Russian skating outfits were ill-fitting. Anna's loose crossovers on the back of hers were driving me crazy. Trusova had some strange gaps in her outfit that just seemed off. I thought the Lion King outfit was gorgeous as was the outfit for the bronze medalist.

Well tbh Russia has never exceled in costuming. It is always on the side of garish even for figure skating. That's why G&G black and white monastic outfits were so striking in 1994.

THere's also Nathan Chen's approach, which is, "I'm so good I can win this in athleisure."

LOL. So true. That loose t-shirt in the final still irritates me.

I think Nathan Chen's attire won him some non-typical fans. I couldn't believe that several of our neighbors were talking about Chen's performance in a positive way. These are men who wouldn't usually be watching figure skating, and one of the things they said they especially liked was his outfit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kamila is back in Russia and i'm so glad that she was welcomed with cheers and flowers. I am one of the many that believed that she should not have been allowed to skate, but I never blamed the poor girl for the debacle. Her coaches and team really failed her. I feel bad for the girl and hope she can somehow overcome this and come out stronger. Bonus point if she can leave Eteri & Co.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTx-4NAzt_w

??

It’s Russia. Maybe she was welcomed back. Maybe it was faked. We will never know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Russians’ technique is leading to injuries and early retirement from the sport.

LOL yes Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes fled the sport at 16 because of the Russians' technique.

Wake up. Early retirement is a reality of this sport. Katarina Witt was the last champion with breasts.

again - not a good thing

burning out your body in your teens is NOT something we should be encouraging

Michelle Kwan, Yuna Chen, Irina Slutskaya - all had careers spanning multiple Olympics. And Irina definitely had some meat on her bones.

And immediately preceding this era of Russian teen phenoms was the era of Yuna Kim/Mao Asada/Carolina Kostner. All of who had success at a young age but relatively long careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
And immediately preceding this era of Russian teen phenoms was the era of Yuna Kim/Mao Asada/Carolina Kostner. All of who had success at a young age but relatively long careers.

Yu Na Kim and Carolina Kostner benefited tremendously from having no domestic competition in that they could always be assured of a berth to worlds or Olympics. Mao Asada had to fight the wave of excellent Japanese lady skaters and she did not always come out on top. Notably, Asada was coached for a time by Tatiana Tarasova, a famed Russian coach who is tough but described as maternal by her skaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That image of Shcherbakova sitting totally alone, with a wooden, vacant expression, clutching her stuffed animal, right after supposedly achieving her life's dream, is going to stick with me. Like Elian Gonzalez in the closet. Two kids failed by the adults around them and being stuck in a media firestorm they should never have been a part of. Ugh. What a nightmare for the sport. I hope ROC, RUSADA, and CAS are happy with the travesty of sport they've wrought.

This made me so sad. She should have been jumping up and down with joy, but there was literally no one there for her. I am happy the Japanese skater gave her a hug, though.