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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
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.[/quote]

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.  [/quote]

You misread my statement. We are in agreement but with slightly different perspectives.

Of course there is tremendous demand for training programs like Eteri, because people see the benefit in being a top ranked skater and winning Olympic medals. That doesn't mean Eteris training system, and the system in general, is not abusive -- it creates the opportunity for abuse because families that don't comply with Eteri's methods can be booted for the next willing skater any time. So while children enter these programs willingly, that does not mean they are not abused and exploited once in them. And while Valieva could leave tomorrow and be replaced, look at what it would cost her -- years of her life and energy, on mastery of a sport she may never be able to compete in at a high level again.

I agree state sponsorship of arts and culture is a good thing and wish the US did more of it, I was just explaining to the PP how the economics are very different in Russia. In the US, Olympic-level skating really is only available to wealthy families -- it is not only self-funded by families with very few scholarships available, but the competition circuit itself is a for-profit business and will milk ambitious children and their parents for every possible dime. Given this, it might be hard for Americans to understand why a Russian family would "put up with" a coach like Eteri, becaue they may be assuming that these families are paying through the nose for Eteri's services. But I have to assume most of Eteri's funding comes from the state or from private interests. She will choose the most promising skaters based purely on talent and drive and not on their family's ability to pay. And this is likely to feel like a great deal to most Russian families, who will have most of their child's training paid for by others, as well as tutors and other resources to support her training.

I was simply explaining the difference between the US and Russian approaches to a PP who was confused by the motivations of these families in a system where the economics are so different than in the US.[/quote]

Russia's approach to coaching young athletes is brutal compared to what most people are familiar with in the U.S.  You are absolutely correct: there is always another skater waiting to take the place of someone who doesn't want to deal with the pressure and abuse of the training "system".  The coaches clearly don't see anything problematic with their behavior.

I would recommend the 2017 documentary "Over The Limit" (not sure if anyone has in previous posts).  It follows the eventual 2016 gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics, Margarita Mamun.  Her individual coach would set most parents here on edge, but she has nothing on Irina Viner who is the Head Coach of Russia's rhythmic gymnastics.  She is absolutely atrocious!  Really, one of the most awful displays of human behavior I've ever seen.  But she's married to one of Russia's richest men.  No poor young talent selected to train at the highest level is going to do anything other than exactly what they're told to do.  It really is tragic. [/quote]

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