Russian Audiences | Page 8 | Golden Skate

Russian Audiences

tommyk75

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
It's hard to tell by only watching television, but my impression of the audience is very, very positive. I was in Vancouver in 2010 and I think the crowd was much more indifferent to the guest athletes and other non-Canadian fans than the Russians are to non-Russians. Russia is a very open culture where hospitality and natural curiosity to others is part of their very soul. It's North Americans who claim to be hospitable and open, but in reality are rather ignorant and indifferent.

If you look for hostility and disrespect I heard that the soccer World Cup in Korea was by far the worst. So just wait for four more years and we will see....

You heard wrong about the World Cup. I was in Korea st the time, and as passionate and excited as the crowd was, they were extremely welcoming and gracious. Sports Illustrated even featured an article on how warm the Korean public was to foreign visitors. Also, the Korean crowd at the Grand Prix event a few years back were wildly pro-Yuna but never booed anyone or cheered for anyone's mistakes. In the end, they gave a warm ovation to the winner, Mao Asada.
 

spikydurian

Medalist
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
I don't know, I weren't there. But I think the best audience for figure skating, IMO, are the Japanese. Mostly polite lot. I like.:)
 

PftJump

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Olympic crowd always has twisted nationalism. I get it.

But, They really make a football stadium of a FS rink. :) My first experience.
 

Artistry

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Nonsense - there is absolutely nothing wrong with the home crowd shouting 'Russia'. You obviously have never watched a football (soccer) world cup when the home side are playing. The most prominent examples are Argentina 1978 and Mexico 1986. A relative of mine was in the crowd when Mexico played Belgium in 1986. The chants of Me-xi-co were absolutely deafening - his ears were ringing for hours after the match. Was he (a neutral) or the Belgian fans offended? Of course not! On the contrary - it all made for an absolutely marvelous atmosphere. In fact - fans from every country joined in the Mexican waves that the home fans created.

The most raucous crowds I have ever seen are at Ryder Cup matches. Now, those crowds really are fierce and partisan. But do the opposing away fans get upset and feel intimidated? Of course not - its that kind of fierce fan partisanship that is one of the main attractions of the event (creating an amazing atmosphere). And as an away supporter you always know that you are going to have to deal with it. If you feel upset about the Russian fans chanting for the home skaters, then you are somebody who simply would not be able to cope as a travelling away supporter at a Ryder Cup or football match

ummm... what? We’re talking about this figure skating audience as relative to figure skating audiences. Apples to apples, please.
 

ginal

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 15, 2014
What I thought was rude was the Russian audience clapping when other skaters messed up, ie when the German pair skaters messed up in their LP, they clapped because they knew now the Russians were going to win, or when Mao messed up in her SP, they clapped again, because they knew she could not then challenge the russian girls. Have other audiences done that? Tasteless and tacky. If I were russian, I would be embarrassed.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
As I said, I watched pretty much all the skating on TV and didn't have a problem with the crowd. There was no booing, no hissing, no whistling, which I have heard watching skating competitions from other countries...

Crowds will always be partisan. ALWAYS. In EVERY COUNTRY.
 

glam

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Do we have any Russian poster here who could explain why the audience behaved this way?
I have watched tons of figure skating competitions and never saw such a patriotic and douche audience.
 

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Do we have any Russian poster here who could explain why the audience behaved this way?
I have watched tons of figure skating competitions and never saw such a patriotic and douche audience.

most are average russian citizens, 70-92% tickets sold to locals
the same people who also watch the Hockey Games bought tickets
 

Mafke

Medalist
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
I didn't see that much of the competitions but the crowd seemed really quiet (bored?) by most non-Russian performances (and happy when threats to Russian skaters faltered).

I think it's mostly a function of fewer true skating fans in the audience whch is probably a function of fewer people travelling to the competition from abroad which is probably a function of bad organization and/or security worries which is a function of bad publicity ahead of the games.
 

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
I didn't see that much of the competitions but the crowd seemed really quiet (bored?) by most non-Russian performances (and happy when threats to Russian skaters faltered).

I think it's mostly a function of fewer true skating fans in the audience whch is probably a function of fewer people travelling to the competition from abroad which is probably a function of bad organization and/or security worries which is a function of bad publicity ahead of the games.

average local citizens not necessarily skating fans
also russian Hockey fans went to watch FS, nothing wrong with high turn out of locals
that means people are interested
 

Rashela

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
As other people here said this wasn´t a typical audince for figure skating competition. The audince didn´t come to see skating in general, people came to see how Russia was going to get more medals. It is like soccer or ice hockey - you don´t applaud when the opposite team scores.
 

Mafke

Medalist
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
As other people here said this wasn´t a typical audince for figure skating competition. The audince didn´t come to see skating in general, people came to see how Russia was going to get more medals. It is like soccer or ice hockey - you don´t applaud when the opposite team scores.

Except that the traditional sporting culture of figure skating is that you do. Their behavior wasn't bad for most kinds of sporting events but it's not how figure skating usually works.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Except that the traditional sporting culture of figure skating is that you do. Their behavior wasn't bad for most kinds of sporting events but it's not how figure skating usually works.

But as has been pointed out, an Olympic crowd is almost always made up primarily of non-figure skating fans. They don't know the figure skating culture. They just react normally.

As I said, I have heard boos and hisses and whistles watching broadcasts from every other country. I never heard a single disrespectful noise while watching the Olympics from Russia.
 

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
As other people here said this wasn´t a typical audince for figure skating competition. The audince didn´t come to see skating in general, people came to see how Russia was going to get more medals. It is like soccer or ice hockey - you don´t applaud when the opposite team scores.

this people dont understand
the audience was made up of 73-92% russians
most were average local citizens and hockey fans not figure skating fans
you could it was casual fans
 

mermaid

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Country
Belarus
Here are some things I'd like to clarify about the Russian audience in Sochi:
1) I agree that most of the crowd were not real figure skating fans, people have arrived from all over the country to cheer for their skaters holding Russian flags with the names of their cities - this is a typical football or hockey crowd and they were behaving as football fans: shouting, supporting Russian skaters whenever it was appropriate or not
2) Some of them might not even know the names of figure skaters or the elements so they couldn't appreciate some really good skates. Out of Non-Russian skaters the biggest support was given to Carolina, Brian (as the veterans) and probably to some Japanese skaters.
3) American or Canadian skaters are always met carefully, as well as Russian skaters are met in North America (I can still remember 2013 World Championship, there was awkward silence when any Russian skater was about to take the ice). Btw Julia stated that during Skate Canada 2013 warm-up the audience cheered Gracie, Akiko but when her name was pronounced there was complete silence:disapp:
4) If you want to see the most knowledgable Russian audience you'd better come to Moscow, Cup of Russia (I'm not talking about the scores here). These people are not as the crowd in Sochi. They are really interested and supportive, at least I have noticed that.
5) The fact that the crowd cheered when smb was falling or making mistakes is wrong. People are cheering not because they are happy! It's a way to support the skater. I don't know about other audiences but in Russia they always do that! And if a skater has a heavy fall it's almost obligatory to clap right until the end of the routine.
6) Finally it's the Olympic Games! I guess the people are under pressure to cheer for Russia, because it's not only figure skating rivalry but also medal rivalry overall. The more medals - the better. Russia has its emperor ambitions, it never can be enough + the revenge for other Olympic losses like Slutskaya for ex. (many people are still angry)
And please don't write anything about Putin buying medals or whatever! He has nothing to do with figure skating (he came to see team event because he thought he had to as the President, probably to show the world that figure skating is the vital sport for Russia). Apart from the Olympics Putin doesn't care about FS. It's all again his ambitions and trying to show the world that he's knowledgable in the sport which looks really funny as he doesn't really enjoy it and doesn't care much.
 

Pippuripihvi

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Do we have any Russian poster here who could explain why the audience behaved this way?
I have watched tons of figure skating competitions and never saw such a patriotic and douche audience.

Don't forget that in different cultures different gestures mean opposite things! In Russia there's a tradition of clapping when a figure skater falls or really messes up. It's not celebratory! It's a way to cheer an athlete up and help him recover and get some energy again. The harder the fall - more claps he gets. There's nothing disrespectful and I really don't get why people thought it was a way to humiliate athletes. On the contrary, it's a great way to show support regardless the country that the athlete represents.
 
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