Messy, Brutal, and Dispiriting

[minoanmiss]

I was going to write about watching the Olympic Women's Free Skate last night but I think I'll just agree with the article.

https://slate.com/culture/2022/02/olympics-figure-skating-free-skate-valieva-trusova-shcherbakova-sakamoto.html

Comments

[rmc28]

My skating teacher was sharing her opinions on the Russian coach with me on Wednesday, and that article gives me nothing to disagree with. What a nasty piece of work.

[cjsmith]

Yes. I follow Courtney Milan on Twitter, so I've been getting ongoing commentary on it all, and... ugh. Yeah.

[xenacryst]

Ouch. Skating and gymnastics used to be my favorite Olympic events, but I can not watch them anymore without a certain heaviness of heart, and this will only make that worse. I am so, so glad that the Fanlet has gone into circus rather than one of these, not that they'd be Olympic bound by any stretch, but the wholly supportive community of circus is so very different from the cultures of these.

[amaebi]

Yup. A multi-dimensional tragedy/travesty. Including this apt comparison that's being underplayed in the media: She'Carri Richardson. (People blowing off the comparison base the blowoff on Richardson being of legal age and the previous fail on prohibited substance that was *not* a PED being well before the Olympics-- but the failure of Valieva's test results to reach the committee in a timely fashion is fishy in itself.

[baranduin]

Thanks for posting this. I've only seen Valieva's skate. I've been too downhearted to watch the others. I just wish the coach would face some consequences of her abusive treatment of her skaters.

[hitchhiker]

thanks, that was very interesting! i definitely agree about raising the minimum age to compete (and for gymnastics too!), but it was also interesting to see the writer's musings on technical feats versus artistry - makes me wonder yet again whether subjectively judged qualities like artistry belong in the olympics at all.

[minoanmiss]

Hmm. I would like to keep the artistry -- I really enjoy seeing athletes rewarded for not just doing a thing but doing it well. For instance, I've been watching halfpipe in snowboarding and skiing, and it's really cool to watch the different skill levels that any trick can be performed to and seeing that reflected in the scores. I think artistry can be fairly judged. Whether it will be, is of course a different question.

[kshandra]

I am so grateful that Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir refused to let their positions as the NBC commentators stop them from speaking from their hearts on this debacle.

[sovay]

I was going to write about watching the Olympic Women's Free Skate last night but I think I'll just agree with the article.

I saw the women's short program, but not the free skate, and I don't think I have anything to contribute beyond the fact that it is tremendously upsetting and neither inevitable nor immutable; I wish the people with the power to do so would make the necessary protective changes; if you need a utilitarian argument rather than an argument from no no no hell no, it would obviously be better for the sport. I don't watch for the teenagers who can jump. I watch for the people who can dance.

[mekare]

Agreed.

[anna_wing]

Since when is fifteen years old a woman? Juveniles should not be permitted in any Olympic competition. That is what the Youth Olympics are for.

[mekare]

I haven‘t watched it yet though I did watch the short programme and followed the commentary on Valieva. Agree with everyone here that steps need to be taken dammit!