2022 Winter Olympics (Beijing) 2/4/2022

[Torn Mind]

Trusova was having a Vegeta moment.

Damnit, I landed 5 quads and still can't get gold was probably the gist of though process.

No podium controversy but Valieva might be dropped out of standings and then Higuchi, who completed a triple axel would get 4th.

 

[13Gigatons]

Trusova was having a Vegeta moment.

Damnit, I landed 5 quads and still can't get gold was probably the gist of though process.

No podium controversy but Valieva might be dropped out of standings and then Higuchi, who completed a triple axel would get 4th.

I will admit the drama of it all gave me a tinge of interest....then it passed and I wanted to see ski jumping !!!!!!!

 

[manly]

honestly the drama was off the charts, it was crazy stuff

the silver medalist throwing a fit because she's never won first place in her life. per a translator, she insisted that she hates skating, hates her coaches, hates everyone, and will never go on the ice again.

then there was everyone completely ignoring the gold medalist.

and the bronze medalist from japan breaking down because she probably never expected to win anything.

and valiyeva losing it with cameras in her face while her coach yells at her for not trying hard enough!

Trusova was raging so hard the entire Russian team completely forgot they had a gold medalist to congratulate. That was mad embarrassing, and NBC exploited the heck out of it.

As for Valiyeva, the weight of the doping scandal was too much. We saw a hint of this after she finished her short program cleanly. Instead of expressing any joy, her face was already anguished despite a first place skate. What's funny is that Lipinski/Weir pivoted from outright disdain towards Valiyeva during the short program to empathy and "heartbreak" at her crushing failure. But now they're blaming all the adults for letting this happen.

Everyone on Twitter was speculating that Trusova must have some good stories to tell.

 

[Torn Mind]

Trusova was raging so hard the entire Russian team completely forgot they had a gold medalist to congratulate. That was mad embarrassing, and NBC exploited the heck out of it.

As for Valiyeva, the weight of the doping scandal was too much. We saw a hint of this after she finished her short program cleanly. Instead of expressing any joy, her face was already anguished despite a first place skate. What's funny is that Lipinski/Weir pivoted from outright disdain towards Valiyeva during the short program to empathy and "heartbreak" at her crushing failure. But now they're blaming all the adults for letting this happen.

Everyone on Twitter was speculating that Trusova must have some good stories to tell.

Pretty sure mixed feelings has been their mental state since the start.

Methinks it's your own biases clouding your judgment of their words.

 

[JEDI]

honestly the drama was off the charts, it was crazy stuff

the silver medalist throwing a fit because she's never won first place in her life. per a translator, she insisted that she hates skating, hates her coaches, hates everyone, and will never go on the ice again.

then there was everyone completely ignoring the gold medalist.

and the bronze medalist from japan breaking down because she probably never expected to win anything.

and valiyeva losing it with cameras in her face while her coach yells at her for not trying hard enough!

wow.. life is stranger than fiction.
never thought i'd see this drama from someone who won silver!

and i feel sorry for the 15yr old kid.
dealing with all that controversy.
then being yelled at by her coach for not medaling.. WTF?!
i can see her taking her ice skates and cutting herself...

yeah, i can see how the silver medalist hating her sport and her coaches came about

 

[JEDI]

Trusova was having a Vegeta moment.

Damnit, I landed 5 quads and still can't get gold was probably the gist of though process.

No podium controversy but Valieva might be dropped out of standings and then Higuchi, who completed a triple axel would get 4th.

15yr old dropped from what standings? her only medal was gold in the team event, i thought?
which event are you talking about?

 

[Torn Mind]

15yr old dropped from what standings? her only medal was gold in the team event, i thought?
which event are you talking about?

She got no medal, thus avoiding a podium controversy, but she still finished fourth. So if the investigation and appeal of the Court for Arbitration of Sport's decision goes through and a final determination is made later, her result may not count at all and thus Higuchi becomes the fourth place finisher.

 

[dullard]

What's funny is that Lipinski/Weir pivoted from outright disdain towards Valiyeva during the short program to empathy and "heartbreak" at her crushing failure. But now they're blaming all the adults for letting this happen.

I don't think you were watching closely enough. Yes Lipinski/Weir expressed distain towards the doping but were blaming the adults all along. That isn't a pivot.

 

[manly]

I don't think you were watching closely enough. Yes Lipinski/Weir expressed distain towards the doping but were blaming the adults all along. That isn't a pivot.
View attachment 57607

A lot of different athletes came out strongly against the doping, and I agree with most of them. I've watched most of the primetime broadcasts so I remember what went down. Before the short skate, Johnny Weir specifically said he'd been drug tested since age 13 and he essentially pinned the doping on Valiyeva. I don't recall at that point him saying a word about the adults (remember a week earlier, he was effusive about having visited the Russian training center and how great they were). To me, they made it sound very personal towards Valiyeva, and that's what I meant about disdain. If you want me to re-watch commentary from earlier this week, I'll need some timestamps.

Honestly I don't have a problem with Lipinski and Weir having mixed feelings, but their focus did change sharply from "it's the athlete's damn fault" to "why did the adults allow this shit to go down." It's revisionism. I'm actually glad the two had empathy for Valiyeva, because she's just a 15 year old who broke down.

During the broadcast of the long skate, Terry Gannon twice pointed out the entire Russian camp is being investigated for the doping. In effect, he was suggesting that we can't trust Scherbakova or Trusova either. Guilt by association. That's what I meant by jingoism. Even Zorba, who I agree with on 95% of things, made the same suggestion earlier. But I understand Zorba's perspective, as the Russians are known cheats and theoretically are already under probation. I myself said in this thread that Valiyeva should have been removed from the competition, but we had to accept the CAS ruling for what it is.

I do think Valiyeva is at this point a confirmed cheater. But the legal process that plays out may not impose a meaningful sanction, due to the BS age rule. Even at age 15, she is responsible for what's put into her body. Having said that, USADA chief Travis Tygart said he doesn't think a teenager would be the person in charge of doping. In other words, there has to be an adult who enabled or masterminded giving Valiyeva 3 heart medications.

Finally, who the hell cares who finished 4th in the competition?

 

[Torn Mind]

There's also the team gold the Russians Russian Olympic Committee won.
Top 10 would matter to Georgia(the country's skater)

As an aside, ROC always makes me first think of the Republic of China.

 

[JEDI]

who thinks the 15yr old fell on purpose to avoid controversy?

 

[ultimatebob]

who thinks the 15yr old fell on purpose to avoid controversy?

I'm struggling to care either way.

 

[dullard]

I don't recall at that point him saying a word about the adults (remember a week earlier, he was effusive about having visited the Russian training center and how great they were). To me, they made it sound very personal towards Valiyeva, and that's what I meant about disdain. If you want me to re-watch commentary from earlier this week, I'll need some timestamps.
...
Honestly I don't have a problem with Lipinski and Weir having mixed feelings, but their focus did change sharply from "it's the athlete's damn fault" to "why did the adults allow this shit to go down." It's revisionism.
...
I do think Valiyeva is at this point a confirmed cheater. But the legal process that plays out may not impose a meaningful sanction, due to the BS age rule. Even at age 15, she is responsible for what's put into her body.

Finally, who the hell cares who finished 4th in the competition?

During the skate Lipinski and Weir barely said a thing. Afterwards:

Weir and Lipinski noted the scandal is a "heartbreaking" place for a 15-year-old to be in.
"You just hope that there's adults around her that will finally step in and help her and guide her," Lipinski said.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/spo...mentary-during-kamila-valievas-skate/2759981/

Here are Lipinski and Weir blaming adults on the day between the long and the short program:
https://youtu. be/w3ATuTXv0A8?t=128

I linked to the start of the question (remove the space in the link), the answer blaming adults is points ~2:50 to ~3:10.

 

[manly]

During the skate Lipinski and Weir barely said a thing. Afterwards: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/spo...mentary-during-kamila-valievas-skate/2759981/

Here are Lipinski and Weir blaming adults on the day between the long and the short program:
https://youtu. be/w3ATuTXv0A8?t=128

I linked to the start of the question (remove the space in the link), the answer blaming adults is points ~2:50 to ~3:10.

The fact that commentators who happily spoke during every other skate were silent through Valiyeva's first place short skate only shows how upset they were at her presence in the competition. The article you linked only reaffirms this, as they go into great depth expressing their disappointment. The title of the article itself even states this. Now you can say that's directed at the doping rather than the skater. I don't see a direct quote in the article saying they were mad at her team.

That was a good video and it does support your contention. Both Lipinski and Weir said they had a good team around them who helped protect them; they also said they don't know what Valiyeva's support team is like. Weir emphasized he'd been drug tested since age 13 (IIRC he said this on Monday before the short skate), and even young athletes are mindful of the random drug testing they're required to comply with. I don't disagree with what Lipinski said, and I find both to provide good commentary during the figure skating events.

Having said that, it's the height of irony to reconcile these before-and-after statements:
1. I hope the adults [on her team] can help "guide her."
2. The adults on her team are the ones who are most responsible for the shit show.

Although we don't know for sure which adults are being spoken about, her coaches are the ones with the most control over her life and esp. while in Beijing. I don't think her grandfather is there with his medication.

If we disagree on how the duo presented their opinions the last five days, so be it. But I appreciate you linking to sources!

Here’s the original segment from Monday, and I didn’t misremember what was said. Weir in particular is very focused on the skater herself, and never once suggested a team member is responsible for the doping of the skater. Although they did mention several times she’s just 15, they aren’t shy about letting on who they’re angry with.

https://youtu.be/qU9KpsLYsSg

 

[Zorba]

Did anyone hear if there is a story behind the Olympic ski course starting gate? I keep seeing these two tufts (one on each side of the gate) that were added in the last few days. They look like the top of a wool hat. Is it just someone's sense of humor? It just seems out of place for the Olympics. Sorry that these images are bad, I couldn't find a good screen shot.
View attachment 57544

I've assumed those were microphones, I think they've been there since the beginning of the games.

 

[Zorba]

Figure skating jumps used to involve a lot of power: jump as high as you can with strong legs and hope that will buy you enough time to get in some spins. But now that the scoring system highly values quad jumps and gives very little penalty to falls, the winning skaters need to be able to focus heavily on quad jumps. While powerful legs might be able to do it, relying on power is inconsistent. The consistent quad jumpers tend to be tall and gangly. This shape lets you spin much faster (just like pulling your arms in while spinning makes you turn faster). Putting your arms above your head, while difficult, makes you spin even faster making quads more achievable and you get bonus points for putting your arms up. So, even a moderate jump height from a gangly person lets you get triples and quads.

TLDR: get used to gangly legs in ice skating from now on.

Is it just me, or does she have large knees and feet for her body? Also when she is just skating, like when they've shown her in warm ups, she looks odd, like a relatively inexperienced skater. It's weird.

 

[Zorba]

Speak for yourself.... I'm so disgusted by the doping BS and the obviously biased judging that I've 99% skipped these Olympics.

Real shame .... some of the best sports-moments I've witnessed were in past Olympics.

If I want to see "fake" competition I'll watch pro-wrestling.

This wasn't conscious, and definitely not a boycott. But since CSA said she could stay in the games I completely stopped watching.

 

[MrSquished]

I went on a date with a lawyer a few years ago who lived in Manhattan. She kept her TV in storage, it came out only during the Olympics and grand slams.

I wonder if it came out during these Olympics

 

[Zorba]

who thinks the 15yr old fell on purpose to avoid controversy?

That is immediately what I said when I read about (haven't actually watch it, though), she was told to throw it. Reading more about it now, I don't know that I still think that, but who knows with that country of cheaters.

 

[Torn Mind]

That is immediately what I said when I read about (haven't actually watch it, though), she was told to throw it. Reading more about it now, I don't know that I still think that, but who knows with that country of cheaters.

Tough to say. Maybe Valieva just felt guilty and then it got in her head. The coach sure didn’t like the result though. The actual Russian spoken would have been the finest acting job in the world if the coach told her to throw it.

 

[manly]

Is it just me, or does she have large knees and feet for her body? Also when she is just skating, like when they've shown her in warm ups, she looks odd, like a relatively inexperienced skater. It's weird.

Yeah I mentioned previously her legs seem out of proportion to her body, but you nailed it. The other two Russians have the same skinny build, but Valiyeva’s knobby knees jut out.

There was an odd finish in last night’s 1000m speed skating. The Dutch skater who was in contention for the podium had to pull up because the outside skater had the right of way. Very unfortunate because if he’s ahead or behind, it wouldn‘t have spoiled his race. The Canadian went on to win silver. It’s a quirk of the 1000m distance.

https://youtu.be/qEngy4vtLIk?t=240

Explainer:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/speedskating-champ-chooses-sportsmanship-over-115335384.html

 

[13Gigatons]

Didn't realize Figure skating was so popular with you guys...

 

[ultimatebob]

Didn't realize Figure skating was so popular with you guys...

Yeah, I don't get it, either. Olympic figure skating is always filled with pointless drama, yet we always seem to get sucked into it every four years.

 

[brianmanahan]

figure skating has been my biggest draw to the winter olympics since i was a kid. i think it's a great balance between technical challenge and artistry.

skiing/snowboarding have been big too - i like the tricks more than the time-based competitions.

this year i also watched a bunch of curling and really enjoyed that.

 

[JEDI]

People would watch curling more if the curler sat on the round thingy as it went towards the bullseye:

This won the internet yesterday! Hope this makes you laugh! ~Toff & Melissa | By KX947 | Facebook

This won the internet yesterday! Hope this makes you laugh! ~Toff & Melissa

fb.watch

very amusing.
good cgi