The reason would be so the other two Russians could get on the podium. The IOC would not have had a medal ceremony of Kamila was in the top three. Russia wants the recognition. |
At points she was also sobbing and I don't think they were entirely tears of joy. I'm sure she was thrilled to medal but it's not like she is immune to the what is going on around her. Plus Sakamoto knows that if Valiyeva had skated as everyone knows she is capable, Sakamoto would have finished off the podium. It probably creates conflicted feelings because while Valiyeva should never have been allowed to skate, she did and there's a reason she was favored to win. It's just an awful situation all around and the thing I kept thinking about is how these girls and women all sacrifice a lot of their childhood to this sport, and to have it represented this way at the Olympics must feel like a loss even if you were nowhere near the podium. Watching it reminded me of when I was a child, watching figure skating and it making me want to learn to skate and to learn to jump and dance the way they did. But if I were a young person watching this, I'd want nothing at all to do with it. What would be the point? |
Her first couple of falls looked fake for someone who performed the same routine flawlessly in the team competition. Maybe it was pressure, maybe she was told, or maybe she didn't want the continued controversy. |
| Eileen Gu is so annoying!!! |
| I caught Trusova’s program….did the Russians skip her when it came time to assign a choreographer?? Zero artistry, just jumps and arms flailing. She’s delusional to think that was a gold medal winning performance. To be honest I enjoyed the performances from both Japanese skaters (even the one who fell) over both Russian medalists. |
So how come their tests came back clean? I find it hard to imagine it was only KV. There is no way Anna has the raw muscular strength to land those jumps on her frame--they're def pumping her full of something. |
She's had good media training - she deflected the questions about competing for China pretty deftly. And she said she had this big audience for her "message" but then didn't actually say what the message is. |
Nah, Eteri's students have a shelf life of 17 before they either break down or fall into disfavor. We won't see any of these girls again, I don't think. The next crop of junior victims is already on the way to the stage. They'll throw Valieva away now that she hasn't won anything and thus isn't worth defending. |
Yeah that part really rubbed me the wrong way -- what she got was a big audience for her social media and endorsements. This has been all about money for her. She's greedy. |
Maybe that's why she was yelling, "you all knew everything." |
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Well, I just finished watching all the ladies figures skating and drama…
I sobbed along with them! There was so much emotion! Those poor Russian girls. |
Except she did not. She said to Eteri, “Please don’t. you knew everything, knew everything.” She’s not talking about everyone. It was incorrectly translated. |
| 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. |
I can’t imagine they’ve had a trusted adult in their lives, to be given comfort or hugs or emotional support, in many years. |
She is the worst. I find it really odd that she shared her SAT score. She is such a braggart and was painful to listen to go about omg, look at me, look at me. She sounds less articulate than most of the athletes and that she is going to Stanford. Well, Elizabeth Holmes also went to Stanford. So two assholes. |