2022 Olympics

[Anonymous]

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PP here and I agree- but I guess that goes along with what I was saying that I have doubts whether the responsible adults will face any consequences. If Kamila gets banned but Russia carries on with their antics, then the other skaters aren't getting protected either and we're back for waiting for a screwup/positive test. Would WADA, the IOC, etc. be able to investigate the club further, or would that only come from Russia (which we know would never happen). Like someone should really be taking hair samples from the other skaters.

Right now only the RUSADA is investigating her coaching staff, which is meaningless. The IOC press briefing mentioned that they would be looking at her entourage, but I also get the sense that they rather stay out of it. Maybe the US will prosecute her coaching staff, but they may drop it if they get their gold team medal.

I don't suppose anyone is interested in why the lab took from Dec 25 to Feb 8 to report the results of the test? Like, right after the skate but before the medal ceremony? That's hell of a coincidence. And it really doesn't take THAT long to test a pee jar.

There was a backlog due to a COVID outbreak, and figure skaters aren't high priority for testing. I think the only reason they ran it when they did was because she had just medaled, and needed to be cleared.

Sorry, no, doesn't hold water.

+1 - that's bull. The result was very clearly withheld to put her/Russia in the exact situation it is in now.

I'm more interesting in the child abuse and cheating angles than painting Russia as a victim.

PP you are responding to. Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I do not think Russia is a victim. I think the test results were deliberately withheld so that Valieva could start Olympic competition and forcing the IOC to make a hasty decision while playing up that she's only 15, etc.

I absolutely believe this is grossly abusive on the part of her coach/Russia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PP here and I agree- but I guess that goes along with what I was saying that I have doubts whether the responsible adults will face any consequences. If Kamila gets banned but Russia carries on with their antics, then the other skaters aren't getting protected either and we're back for waiting for a screwup/positive test. Would WADA, the IOC, etc. be able to investigate the club further, or would that only come from Russia (which we know would never happen). Like someone should really be taking hair samples from the other skaters.

Right now only the RUSADA is investigating her coaching staff, which is meaningless. The IOC press briefing mentioned that they would be looking at her entourage, but I also get the sense that they rather stay out of it. Maybe the US will prosecute her coaching staff, but they may drop it if they get their gold team medal.

I don't suppose anyone is interested in why the lab took from Dec 25 to Feb 8 to report the results of the test? Like, right after the skate but before the medal ceremony? That's hell of a coincidence. And it really doesn't take THAT long to test a pee jar.

There was a backlog due to a COVID outbreak, and figure skaters aren't high priority for testing. I think the only reason they ran it when they did was because she had just medaled, and needed to be cleared.

Sorry, no, doesn't hold water.

+1 - that's bull. The result was very clearly withheld to put her/Russia in the exact situation it is in now.

I'm more interesting in the child abuse and cheating angles than painting Russia as a victim.

PP you are responding to. Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I do not think Russia is a victim. I think the test results were deliberately withheld so that Valieva could start Olympic competition and forcing the IOC to make a hasty decision while playing up that she's only 15, etc.

I absolutely believe this is grossly abusive on the part of her coach/Russia.

Withheld by Sweden? Why on earth?

[Anonymous]

I'm more interested in the child abuse and cheating angles than painting Russia as a victim.

PP you are responding to. Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I do not think Russia is a victim. I think the test results were deliberately withheld so that Valieva could start Olympic competition and forcing the IOC to make a hasty decision while playing up that she's only 15, etc.

I absolutely believe this is grossly abusive on the part of her coach/Russia.

PP here. Sorry I misunderstood. We are on the same page. Still, Russia will probably get away with this . . . again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PP here and I agree- but I guess that goes along with what I was saying that I have doubts whether the responsible adults will face any consequences. If Kamila gets banned but Russia carries on with their antics, then the other skaters aren't getting protected either and we're back for waiting for a screwup/positive test. Would WADA, the IOC, etc. be able to investigate the club further, or would that only come from Russia (which we know would never happen). Like someone should really be taking hair samples from the other skaters.

Right now only the RUSADA is investigating her coaching staff, which is meaningless. The IOC press briefing mentioned that they would be looking at her entourage, but I also get the sense that they rather stay out of it. Maybe the US will prosecute her coaching staff, but they may drop it if they get their gold team medal.

I don't suppose anyone is interested in why the lab took from Dec 25 to Feb 8 to report the results of the test? Like, right after the skate but before the medal ceremony? That's hell of a coincidence. And it really doesn't take THAT long to test a pee jar.

There was a backlog due to a COVID outbreak, and figure skaters aren't high priority for testing. I think the only reason they ran it when they did was because she had just medaled, and needed to be cleared.

Supposedly the backlog was due to covid and the fact taht figure skaters aren’t much thought to be at risk of doping. They were bumped to the front of the line after winning the team gold.
Sorry, no, doesn't hold water.

+1 - that's bull. The result was very clearly withheld to put her/Russia in the exact situation it is in now.

Do you mean they withheld the results so that the entire world would be aware tha the Russian athletes continue to cheat? Maybe.

Do you have a theory as to why it took a Swedish lab until Feb 8 to process a sample submitted on Dec 25? You have to agree the timing stinks. To get the results AFTER she skates but BEFORE the medal ceremony?

You could name a few countries that have something at stake here, but Sweden isn’t one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You could name a few countries that have something at stake here, but Sweden isn’t one of them.

I await your theory on why it took a Swedish lab six weeks to deliver test results of an Olympic favorite in an Olympic season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You could name a few countries that have something at stake here, but Sweden isn’t one of them.

I await your theory on why it took a Swedish lab six weeks to deliver test results of an Olympic favorite in an Olympic season.

If she didn’t dope this would have been a mere formality.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Figure skater Jason Brown is a beautiful skater. Stick to triples. I’d rather watch a well executed, perfect routine with no wobbles, falls, etc. Tired of all the Quadruple stuff that rarely come off smoothly.

That’s what Stars on Ice is for, but the Olympics is meant to push the limits of what is possible. Faster, higher, stronger. Jason is a great skater but he is not the most artistic. I feel his scores reflect fondness for him, but I would have much rather seen Ilia compete at the Olympics.

+1,000

If anything Jason is underscored. As a former skater I have to say that aside from the jumps what Jason does is harder then what everyone else is doing. No one else has his edge quality or his mastery of the blade. We are just in a world now where jumps are so heavily valued and the sport is off balance.

"Aside from the hardest thing to do in his discipline, which he doesn't do, he does very hard things."

This very much has the feel of, "So, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

This. Whether you like them or not and agree with them or not, the technical standards for being an internationally competitive figure skater exist and are very unlikely to change.

Brown skated well (though I do feel like I’ve seen him do that program better and with more emotion, including at Nationals), but he skated a 2005 program in 2022. He’s very lucky to be even in the top 10, thanks to other skaters’ falls.

When other skaters do a quad lutz, which Brown can’t do (although he has completed a quad sal in competition and has stood up on many quad toes), the other skaters earn more points on that element than Brown. When Brown completes the elements he does with superior technique, and moves along the ice doing artistic elements that are so hard no one else can do them, while other skaters bobble on their landings and set up their jumps for 10 seconds and flail their arms around pretending to be artistic, Brown earns more points. He is rightly rewarded for the difficult skating he does, as he should be, because the scoring system gives points for those things, not just jumps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You could name a few countries that have something at stake here, but Sweden isn’t one of them.

I await your theory on why it took a Swedish lab six weeks to deliver test results of an Olympic favorite in an Olympic season.

If she didn’t dope this would have been a mere formality.

Is it your theory that analyzing a doped sample takes six weeks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn't care less. I'm disgusted it's in China.

Same. I won’t watch it. It’s just not what it used to be anyway.

I can’t wait for it to be in northern Italy I think I read it’s there next? Not sure of the details but Piemonte would be incredible!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You could name a few countries that have something at stake here, but Sweden isn’t one of them.

I await your theory on why it took a Swedish lab six weeks to deliver test results of an Olympic favorite in an Olympic season.

If she didn’t dope this would have been a mere formality.

Is it your theory that analyzing a doped sample takes six weeks?

I don’t care how long it takes. If she was clean there wouldn’t be anything to worry about. Russia knew and thought they could get away with it. They still might.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You could name a few countries that have something at stake here, but Sweden isn’t one of them.

I await your theory on why it took a Swedish lab six weeks to deliver test results of an Olympic favorite in an Olympic season.

If she didn’t dope this would have been a mere formality.

Is it your theory that analyzing a doped sample takes six weeks?

I don’t care how long it takes. If she was clean there wouldn’t be anything to worry about. Russia knew and thought they could get away with it. They still might.

+1

[Anonymous]

I really don't think we should have children, yes 15 is a child, competing at this level. It isnt just the abuse and work that the olympic kid is subjected to but all the others angling for that place. It is crazy that if your kid is an actor they can only work a certain number of hours a day but if your kid is an athlete you can grind them into the ground as much as you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You could name a few countries that have something at stake here, but Sweden isn’t one of them.

I await your theory on why it took a Swedish lab six weeks to deliver test results of an Olympic favorite in an Olympic season.

What makes you think that the Swedish lab was behind the holdup? The sample was collected on Dec 25 in Russia, but sent to the Swedish lab with no request for a rush turnaround, which is the norm before high stakes athletic competitions. Strange that Russian officials didn’t seem to care to hear the results of the testing when other delegations put highest priority on a rapid 48-72 hour turnaround and harass the labs until they have those reports. When asked why it took so long, Russian officials wave the question away with excuses about shipping and lab delays due to the pandemic.

My theory is that the delay wasn’t the doing of the Swedish lab, and the only other country involved in the debacle of the slow return of results is Russia. Shocker.

[Anonymous]

I could have sworn the timeline was that they knew the result, she was suspended but then given a reprieve by the Russians but only now the IOC is finding out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think we should have children, yes 15 is a child, competing at this level. It isnt just the abuse and work that the olympic kid is subjected to but all the others angling for that place. It is crazy that if your kid is an actor they can only work a certain number of hours a day but if your kid is an athlete you can grind them into the ground as much as you like.

This is the root of the issue. She’s 15, so while she’s allowed to compete at a senior level, she follows different rules. If this were revealed 6 weeks ago, Russia could have stripped her of her Russian title (the event she was tested for) and then sent her right off to the Olympics, because at 15, there’s no minimum requirement for suspension. If she were 17, she’d be automatically suspended by WADA and the IOC for 2-4 years.

Instead, the test surfaces in the middle of the Olympics, and Russia can’t hand wave it. The “suspended” her the day the story broke, and then immediately lifted it the next day so she could use the practice rink. The problem with all of this is that athletes under 16 can’t be held accountable for their actions, then they shouldn’t be competing. Expect the age requirements to change.