Vaitsehovskaya on Piseev

[Mathman]

In seeking the summit, Natalya walked over corpses just as did many of her great predecessors. They were just more tactfull. Possibly, they were also smarter. They also tried to follow an unspoken rules - athletes should never guess of the behind-the-scenes machinations.

You can always explain away any loss. There is, though, no chance to convince a skater to sacrifice anything for the result if they know that the outcome has already been paid for.

Indeed.

I can see where a hard-working skater would not be pleased if his coach reported to him, "well, I just got off phone with Piseev and here's the deal I got for you: You get buried in 8th place off the podium and in exchange our top pairs team wins the gold medal. How does that sound?"

You do have to give the Russian Federation points for honesty, though. They come right out and say that there are only two kinds of people in figure skating, cheaters and fools.

Other federations at least make an effort, howerver cynical, to give lip service to the concept of a fair contest and are embarrassed, not proud, when they get caught cheating.

[Joesitz]

I think Piseev is part and parcel of The Russian Way of Competing. My interest in what he has to say is the same as my interest in what the head of the Federation of Norway has to say.

I can't help but think about that Russian Dancer, I think it was Platov, who said,Americans do not know how to play the game. What did he mean?

[Fashionista]

I think Piseev is part and parcel of The Russian Way of Competing.

It is so naive to think that it's only Russian way of competing. Wake up, it's just how things are going in figure skating!

I agree with Mathman, russian fed is just more cynically honest on this point.

[Ptichka]

I can see where a hard-working skater would not be pleased if his coach reported to him, "well, I just got off phone with Piseev and here's the deal I got for you: You get buried in 8th place off the podium and in exchange our top pairs team wins the gold medal. How does that sound?"

Well, way back when, that's a kind of deal that made the Protopopovs retire. They planned to compete at the '72 Olympics; they believed that would have virtually guaranteed USSR a pairs sweep - Rodnina & Ulanov, Smirnova & Suraikin, the Protopopovs themselves. However you shuffle it, they're way above the rest. However, before the Games, they started getting intense pressure to retire. They couldn't understand it - even if R&U and S&S are better, why not guarantee a sweep? Then they found out that the deal was that USSR would support Gross and Kagelman for bronze, and in return GDR would support Chetvertukhin for a medal in man skating (they also underscore that they don't blame Chetvertukhin who knew nothing of the deal and who is was wonderful athlete but who couldn't actually win without some help). However, you just can't bury the Protopopovs without anyone noticing, and the federation had its own reasons to want both R&U and S&S to succeed.