Woman Figure Skater Wears Pants on Ice

Stefanya wrote:

<quoted text>

What do the tears have to do with it. At the worlds the year befoe 2001, the canadians won by making a mistake and the russians were put second even though they were perfect.

Her tears are not a good reason that she should have won.
I totally and completly disagree. Even with a small mistake, the Russians performed a more difficult and artistic dance and they deserved their win, irregardless of what the judges were up to.

Stefanya, I meant her tears what a joke on her part, Jamie and David DID NOT NEED TO "STAND" On THE PODIUM aT ALL. I AGREE WITH YOU. The Russians was the winner. Jamie and David NEEDS TO GIVE THOSE GOLD MEDAL BACK. PERIOD.

To Stefanya: I feel I have to clarify something. Apart from your discussion with Eddie, as I can read from your later posts, you slightly misunderstood what I wanted to say. I actually meant, that Saraha Meier was looking good in her long black-red free skate-pantsuit (but not in her yellow short programm-skirt, I agree with you on that). What I wanted to say is, that although women are allowed to wear pants, most do still choose a skirt. And I find it somehow courageous of these ladies (namely Slutskaya and Meier) to wear a pantsuit. And it has been showed that it can suit a skater and its program very well.

p.s. I am a she :)

To Minusch:

Thanks for the clarification. I do think that Sara Meier looked great. I do think both Slutzkaya and Sarah looked great in their catsuits. Because Sarah's catsuit was far more skimpy I am glad that Slutskaya didn't wear one like Sarah did because people are often using her name, or rather the way her name is mispronounced to call her names.

I saw one blogging site, where nearly everybody called her slut because of the way her name is spelled and they wanted to put her down for her skating success. Slutskaya in Russian has no connotation of Slut as some people like to say about her.

Sarah's skating costume, while it looked great on her, if it had been worn by Slutskaya because it was skimpy would have just been a reason for people who don't like her (Slutskaya) to just use it as an excuse to call her slut.

It's nice to know that you are a lady and not a man, because the identification Moniker was hard to tell. Thanks, I did misunderstand it a bit.

Well, that "slutty"-problem only have english speaking people, I'm glad. And as Irina is Russian that thing shouldn't bother her at all.

In my country the name minusch is often used for a cats name (male or female).

Margarita wrote:

What is wrong with you, woman? Russia was always the best in figure skating, that's a fact. All Americans, if they win, have Russian coaches.

YOU ARE BRAVE TO MAKE THIS STATEMENT.
I have already been though a big long argument over several blogs. No matter how many ways you explain it, or qualify it, there are those who will insist on nit-picking your statement to death.
The first thing is to bring out a string of skaters who never had a Russian coach, which doesn't affect what has been going on over the past 16 years.
Sure not everyone who wins has a Russian coach, but I don't know of any Russian skaters who won who had an American coach. Russians while isolated as the big bad communists, had not won since 1896 when they won the gold, but some fifty years later they developed their own skating coaches and winners and did their own thing. No American or other country helped them win. Check the coaches of the winners over the past 16 years. One of the reasons, Kurt Browning never won an Olympic gold medal is thanks to a Russian student of Russian coach Alexi Mishin.
And I really love the absolute argument. "NO, not everybody has to have a Russian coach to win, but look at the number of winners over the past 16 years who did have Russian coaches, who either won, or moved way up." It stands to reason that there are no absolutes, I suppose you would have to be god to win EVERY TIME, BUT WHEN HUMAN BEINGS ARE INVOLVED, NOBODY WINS ALL OF THE TIME. It just seems some have a much higher percentage of winning.
Even before that, American Pairs skaters,Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner immediately pounced on the Protopopovs, Two-time gold medal winners from Russia, when they defected because they didn't think they got enough ice time as they were pushing forty. Obviously they understood the quality of the Russian figure skaters. And even Hamill and Trenary and Kadavy had an Italian ( not American coach) or British coaches, and that was before 1989. Yes there were lots of coaches in the US who helped American Men and Women win, before 1989.
The biggest impact of the Russian coaches has been since 1989 for the past 16 years or so, when everyone in the world has had access to these coaches and have used them to get success.
Many people seem to be unaware that since 1989, 95 percent of Russia's best coaches have been based mainly in the US and Canada, and have therefore been available to everyone, in the world including the Chinese. Before that Russians won in pairs and ice dance and had started making inroads into the men's and ladies skating. Russian Coach Sergei Mishin was already poised for his first male student to win, and even Irina Slutskaya was starting to peck away at Michelle Kwan, for the podium, along with Maria Buterskaya.
Over the past 16 years, many of the world's students have either moved way up or won medals of some color or other, such as the French Pairs team who were in the top 3 thank's to GORDEEVA AND Grinkov's coach. The skaters who have benefitted are far to numerous to name, including the American/Japanese pair who actually got up to fourth place this year at the worlds, who have a Russian coach. So What if some American's have Russian coaches? SO WHY are these coaches so busy that they are innundated with students? So Why did even Kwan go to a Russian coach to get an Edge?

Just a few days ago I read how Even Plushenko's coach, Alexi Mishin, is invited to the US to teach American coaches and students. Mishin is one coach who has resisted running to America to coach in America exclusively. The article stated that while here for two weeks, he coaches 70 coaches and students from as far away as Alaska. I guess, that's 70 deluded Americans, who don't really need Mishin. They invited him to come to Minneapolis and he coaches 11 hours a day, to help out these Americans who are eager to get him him here to learn from him. I know he doesn't come for American cooking, because he brings his own food.
Mishin said, "that for years, the Americans couldn't be beaten in the men's skating, but now they are looking to see what the crazy Russians are doing."
All of the US ice dancers, many from most other countries are coached by Russians.
Shizuka Arakawa, had at least two Russian coaches to hone her skills, Her most successful season was after training with Tatiana Tarasova, and then Nikolai Morozov. Thanks to Tatiana Tarasova, and Nikolai Morozov. Italian's Fusar Poli and Margalio won, and so did Canadian Shae Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, who had been coached by Russians for over a decade.. Belbin and Agosto have trained with Russian Coaches for many years. How many American ice dancers have won more than a bronze in the past 20 years? One bronze way back in 1976.
The list goes on and on. Sasha Cohen's best year came after training with Tatiana Tarasova, and her Hernandoz Hideway and The Russian Dark Eyes program everybody is ga-ga over came out of her time with Tarasova. You cannot name all the skaters in the world who have had a Russian coach, have one now, or will be running to one to get the edge to win. It also helped that Russians weren't getting those services so they couldn't compete.
Today it is easier for the world's skaters to win because while the Russian coaches are giving their expertise to the world, at the same time they are depriving Russia's figure skaters in a double whammy.
There are those who are thrilled that Americans win no matter what. There are those who will tell you that once a coach gets here to the US they are no longer Russian as if they got there training and expertise here. But that is not true, no more than any product that comes from Russia and is sold here is American. Even if the company is bought by an American company and is sold here, it is no more an American product, than Auschwitz was a Polish death camp. It is just a geographical location. The Polish death camps, Auschwitz, Maidanek, Treblinka, etc. were called such because of their location, but they were German death camps.
That is why I admire skaters like Irina Slutskaya who bravely got their own style instead of copying another's style and just went out and competed even under dire circumstances. And I think that the Russians who have continuously throughout history overcome many obstacles to have a high cultural standard applied not only to figure skating and ballet, but also to folk dance, and circus will find a way to overcome their shortage of obstacles and even give the coaches who came to America a challenge. What American coaches have helped Russians win?
I say if these coaches are so inconsequential, they should all leave and see if the skaters miss them.

To Minusch,

I appreciate your attitude towards Slutskaya's name. I am glad that you are not one of the people who would do this to Slutskaya.

It does seem that only English speaking persons have the habit of using Slutskaya's name in a derogatory way. That is a low blow, and a really rotten way to personally attack a person unjustly.

to Minusch,

With what little I know about German I was not sure if Minusch was male or female. Thank you for explaining to me that your name in your country can be used for Male or Female. It's interesting.

Stefanya wrote:

<quoted text>
YOU ARE BRAVE TO MAKE THIS STATEMENT.
I have already been though a big long argument over several blogs. No matter how many ways you explain it, or qualify it, there are those who will insist on nit-picking your statement to death.
The first thing is to bring out a string of skaters who never had a Russian coach, which doesn't affect what has been going on over the past 16 years.
Sure not everyone who wins has a Russian coach, but I don't know of any Russian skaters who won who had an American coach. Russians while isolated as the big bad communists, had not won since 1896 when they won the gold, but some fifty years later they developed their own skating coaches and winners and did their own thing. No American or other country helped them win. Check the coaches of the winners over the past 16 years. One of the reasons, Kurt Browning never won an Olympic gold medal is thanks to a Russian student of Russian coach Alexi Mishin.
And I really love the absolute argument. "NO, not everybody has to have a Russian coach to win, but look at the number of winners over the past 16 years who did have Russian coaches, who either won, or moved way up." It stands to reason that there are no absolutes, I suppose you would have to be god to win EVERY TIME, BUT WHEN HUMAN BEINGS ARE INVOLVED, NOBODY WINS ALL OF THE TIME. It just seems some have a much higher percentage of winning.
Even before that, American Pairs skaters,Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner immediately pounced on the Protopopovs, Two-time gold medal winners from Russia, when they defected because they didn't think they got enough ice time as they were pushing forty. Obviously they understood the quality of the Russian figure skaters. And even Hamill and Trenary and Kadavy had an Italian ( not American coach) or British coaches, and that was before 1989. Yes there were lots of coaches in the US who helped American Men and Women win, before 1989.
The biggest impact of the Russian coaches has been since 1989 for the past 16 years or so, when everyone in the world has had access to these coaches and have used them to get success.
Many people seem to be unaware that since 1989, 95 percent of Russia's best coaches have been based mainly in the US and Canada, and have therefore been available to everyone, in the world including the Chinese. Before that Russians won in pairs and ice dance and had started making inroads into the men's and ladies skating. Russian Coach Sergei Mishin was already poised for his first male student to win, and even Irina Slutskaya was starting to peck away at Michelle Kwan, for the podium, along with Maria Buterskaya.
Over the past 16 years, many of the world's students have either moved way up or won medals of some color or other, such as the French Pairs team who were in the top 3 thank's to GORDEEVA AND Grinkov's coach. The skaters who have benefitted are far to numerous to name, including the American/Japanese pair who actually got up to fourth place this year at the worlds, who have a Russian coach. So What if some American's have Russian coaches? SO WHY are these coaches so busy that they are innundated with students? So Why did even Kwan go to a Russian coach to get an Edge?

I do apologize for the overkill. I just realized this is too much.

I read these comments and it just blows my mind how all of you people can be so critical of figure skaters. Why don't you people just sit back and enjoy the show. These skaters have been practicing all their lives for the National & World titles & especially the Olympics. Irina Slutskaya is an outstanding skater and obviously she was disappointed that she didnt get the gold..you could see it in her face on the podium. But silver at Salt Lake City and a bronze at Torino are still an achievement. I am absolutely blown away at the comments about Sasha Cohen...some comments sound so hateful that they seem personal. I don't know Sasha Cohen but if you go on the website and see what she's done you may change your opinion of her...she does charity work, she's very close with her famiy she does a lot with her family when she's not skating (it says that in her revised book). So I dont understand how she comes off rubbing people the wrong way. She is very pretty, and I think women resent that and assume she is full of herself. Some guys who wish they could have a girl that looks like Cohen and can't may make negative comments about her just to make themselves feel better. There's no reason for such negative comments...get over yourselves. I think Sasha Cohen handled herself, the fans, and the media very well. She says its all about her because she is only concerned about her own performance and doing her best. She fell 2x early in the program & instead of giving up she skated the remaining 85% of her program brilliantly...after all her artisty is unmatched. I know there was a lot of money in endorsements promoting her...however she wanted the gold because it meant millions for her & she went for it...who wouldnt...she was disappointed that she didnt win gold...but she went out & WON the silver...she fought for it and won it. Cohen was off a lot of a little while Slutskaya was off a little on many of her elements. Slutskaya still deserved to win a medal, she outstanding, it just didnt come together for her. Getting back to Cohen though,if you go on her website and see how many events she was in you'll notice that she was in the top 3 in most of them. It's a shame that the media shows her falling all the time and reminding her of her failures. Its a shame that people like you have to constantly put a young girl like Sasha Cohen down. The media and the fans should be ENCOURAGING Sasha to keep trying by easing up on her falls and placing more of an emphasis on her skating/artisty/spirals. I respect everyones opinion and we all have a right to our opinion..but I think Sasha Cohen matters because she is a quality skater who wants to be remembered in a positive way. So skating fans...please let up on her and give her a second chance...she's an excellent skater and she's worth watching.

Stefanya wrote:

<quoted text>
I do apologize for the overkill. I just realized this is too much.

Apologize for telling the truth? Ridiculous. Apologies only soothe the feelings of people who don't like the truth.

Jon wrote:

I read these comments and it just blows my mind how all of you people can be so critical of figure skaters. Why don't you people just sit back and enjoy the show. These skaters have been practicing all their lives for the National & World titles & especially the Olympics. Irina Slutskaya is an outstanding skater and obviously she was disappointed that she didnt get the gold..you could see it in her face on the podium. But silver at Salt Lake City and a bronze at Torino are still an achievement. I am absolutely blown away at the comments about Sasha Cohen...some comments sound so hateful that they seem personal. I don't know Sasha Cohen but if you go on the website and see what she's done you may change your opinion of her...she does charity work, she's very close with her famiy she does a lot with her family when she's not skating (it says that in her revised book). So I dont understand how she comes off rubbing people the wrong way. She is very pretty, and I think women resent that and assume she is full of herself. Some guys who wish they could have a girl that looks like Cohen and can't may make negative comments about her just to make themselves feel better. There's no reason for such negative comments...get over yourselves. I think Sasha Cohen handled herself, the fans, and the media very well. She says its all about her because she is only concerned about her own performance and doing her best. She fell 2x early in the program & instead of giving up she skated the remaining 85% of her program brilliantly...after all her artisty is unmatched. I know there was a lot of money in endorsements promoting her...however she wanted the gold because it meant millions for her & she went for it...who wouldnt...she was disappointed that she didnt win gold...but she went out & WON the silver...she fought for it and won it. Cohen was off a lot of a little while Slutskaya was off a little on many of her elements. Slutskaya still deserved to win a medal, she outstanding, it just didnt come together for her. Getting back to Cohen though,if you go on her website and see how many events she was in you'll notice that she was in the top 3 in most of them. It's a shame that the media shows her falling all the time and reminding her of her failures. Its a shame that people like you have to constantly put a young girl like Sasha Cohen down. The media and the fans should be ENCOURAGING Sasha to keep trying by easing up on her falls and placing more of an emphasis on her skating/artisty/spirals. I respect everyones opinion and we all have a right to our opinion..but I think Sasha Cohen matters because she is a quality skater who wants to be remembered in a positive way. So skating fans...please let up on her and give her a second chance...she's an excellent skater and she's worth watching.

It is so refreshing to read a blog by a person who respects other people's opinions. I basically agree with what you say. Everyone has his own opinions and is preference of skaters, but I hate the nasty rhetoric that some bloggers use.

It is so nice to read a voice a reason. I didn't know Sasha Cohan does charity work. In my opinion, Sasha Cohan stood out because she can contort her body in ways that eveybody can't, and I'm still trying to decide if I think she is artistic for those moves or not and whether, the falls mar her beautiful programs, so it takes away from her artistry. It will be interesting to see if she can get her nerves under control and not fall on her jumps. I am really impressed with her "Dark Eyes" program that came out of her time with Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova.

Although I still think she relies on her gymnastics type tricks for artistry more than actually feeling the music. But she is still pretty young. Personally I like Irina Slutskaya, but I still admire and respect Sasha Cohan. If she gets it together and chances are she will, I won't mind if she wins.

Lola wrote:

Maybe it's my love of ballet, but I don't understand the fascination with Irina Slutskaya. She lacks elegance, line, musicality, and choreography. She is about speed and triple jumps, neither of which was evident in her long programs in Salt Lake or Torino. When athleticism is your strength, and you don't deliver, you don't win the gold medal. I don't feel that the silver medal was a gift to Cohen, because even with the falls, she was the most exquisite female figure skater at the Games.
Also, I think some of you are quite naive when it comes to the purity of Slutskaya and the other Russian skaters. Make no mistake--Slutskaya was packaged and promoted excessively. How many times did we hear about her mother and her illness and the fact that she thinks she deserved gold in Salt Lake? She is a diva and was the annointed one in these Games. No one was even talking about Cohen until after the short program. Slutskaya gave the impression that she thought she should win the gold medal--whether she skated or not!

Lola, you are dead on the impressions of Stutskaya. I was trash talking and overlooked this. Your comments are simply great. Yes, I agree with you, Stutskaya was not cheated of the gold medal at Salt Lake , neither at Turin. that is simply ridiculous. I look forward a reading other nice comments from you on the subject. Your comment sare classy unlike some, and that is an understatement.

Stefanya wrote:

To Minusch,
I appreciate your attitude towards Slutskaya's name. I am glad that you are not one of the people who would do this to Slutskaya.
It does seem that only English speaking persons have the habit of using Slutskaya's name in a derogatory way. That is a low blow, and a really rotten way to personally attack a person unjustly.

Agreed. The way a person's name is spelled (or even *correctly* pronounced in another language, as was not done by many of the Slutskaya-bashers) has absolutely nothing to do with their merit as a skater. However, the reason "only English speaking persons" who despise Slutskaya seem to use her name in a derogatory manner is that the term "slut" is only an English word. If it had exectly the same spelling and meaning in another tongue, I think you'd probably see the same thing in other countries, because every country has some citizens who are coarse, crass, and disrespectful.

I have to agree with you there. As a person who has studied several languages in the course of my education, I sometimes run accross a word that certainly has an unsavory meaning to it in a different language, but having a love of languages I just ignore it, because it is wrong to be disrespectful.

sasha was the best skater but she had to fight for the height of those jumpd and she was having a hard time with a grone injury that didn't mean that she shouldn't have gotten the gold medal. sasha cohen is the best skater just like michelle kwan who was out with a groin injury in this olympics. Michelle and sasha are both alike in there skating .
Great job sasha and people should not put you down.

I think that its very extreemely sad that michelle could not participate in this years olympic games........ she would have definitely gotten a medal! and I think that it was only pure luck that japan was at the top of the podium!
and sasha cohen should have gotten either bronze or nothing because she just wasnt that spectacular..... irina deserved it way more than sasha!

I hate Sasha Cohen

I hate Sasha Cohen too. I think she's a spoiled brat.

Metria J wrote:

I hate Sasha Cohen too. I think she's a spoiled brat.

Don't say that about Kwan in this forum, though -- you'll get your head taken off by the legions of Kwan-worshippers and apologists.