Adelina Sotnikova Withdraws From 2014 Rostelecom Cup

[Sandpiper]

He said something like how his performance wasn't worthy and that he hopes he can improve to be the type of skater that is worthy of the gold, blah, blah, blah.

But Adelina's performance was worthy. She would've blown away the competition at Torino or SLC. The problem is, in the eyes of many people (myself included, btw), Yuna's performance was more worthy.

The people who hate Adelina and can't separate her from the judges will not do a 180 just because she makes a "humble comment." In fact, they'll probably twist her words to become "Oh, look, even she thinks she doesn't deserve it!" When you're being bashed, you don't lie down and take it.

Imo, Patrick Chan has become a symbol of the "COP & falls" problem. More humbleness might endear him to 10% of his current haters, but the other 90% won't care either way. They're just unhappy about his poor winning performances and constant falls.

 

[Ophelia]

You have to broaden your view and put yourself in her shoes. In her mind, she skated her best and deserved to win. There are many who will agree with her just like there are many who disagree. The fact of the matter is that Adelina did have a case for gold. She had one of the strongest performances of the night. Should she have won? Personally I don't think so...but you can't expect her to say, "I had the performance of my life and fulfilled my life long dream of winning the Olympics, but I totally shouldn't have won." She acknowledged that others skated well but the judges thought she was the best. Does someone honestly expect her to disagree with that? Look at it from her perspective... I think it would be incredibly odd if she sided with all of the people who are against her win. Has that ever happened? Has an athlete ever walked away from/denounced the ultimate prize in their sport that they trained their entire life for all because popular opinion dictated it?

People only look at situations from one side; sometimes you have to think about the other side of it. If in your mind you thought you were the best and deserved to win then of course you'll be defiant when people question you. Honestly, I feel sorry for her. The vitriol she has to deal with from random people who hate her for something she had no control over is really shocking to me. I do think that if she goes to Pyeongchang she'll be on the receiving end of some boos if not worse. Lots of figure skating fans are pissed she won but I'd say a good majority of the Koreans are livid .

Again, there's no need for Sotnikova to publicly apologize or disagree with the result. A diplomatic response does not equal to her kow-towing to the whims of the masses. There's a way for her to gracefully ascertain the Gold without being defiant and stating "I"m not giving back my Gold". Of course she'll always have haters, but the proportion would be slightly less if she took another approach. This is the way PR works.

Whilst Chan has become a "symbol of COP & falls", Sotnikova is becoming a symbol of suspicious judging & PCS unreliability.

"Worthy of the gold" means you blow away your competitiors. Not blow away competitiors from a previous weak field.

 

[R.D.]

Here's how I see it: I don't agree with her win (or, at the very least, her margin of victory), nor am I a fan of hers, but I don't think she needs to say anything or make any statement. It's not like it's going to reverse the situation or anything. It is what it is and what's happened has happened. I do think she needs to be aware of how the mass skating fanbase outside of Russia sees the situation - and keep that in mind when competing/performing on foreign soil, if she ever does - but other than that, she can just enjoy her star status locally. She's basically set.

I think of an American example that's very similar - Ashley Wagner winning US Nationals in 2013. Now, how she won was a little different - but the outcry was very similar. Wagner (like Sotnikova) took the "defiant" route and has said on the record she feels she deserved that win. But whichever way she handled it, she was lambasted on Twitter for it - maybe not to the degree experienced by Sotnikova with death threats and all, but it still got very nasty. Fans WILL take their frustration on scoring out on the skater - unfair, maybe, but that's the reality.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

But Adelina's performance was worthy. She would've blown away the competition at Torino or SLC. The problem is, in the eyes of many people (myself included, btw), Yuna's performance was more worthy.

The people who hate Adelina and can't separate her from the judges will not do a 180 just because she makes a "humble comment." In fact, they'll probably twist her words to become "Oh, look, even she thinks she doesn't deserve it!" When you're being bashed, you don't lie down and take it.

Imo, Patrick Chan has become a symbol of the "COP & falls" problem. More humbleness might endear him to 10% of his current haters, but the other 90% won't care either way. They're just unhappy about his poor winning performances and constant falls.

Patrick has won a lot of performances without falls - unfortunately since he has a lot of haters who find him unartistic and cold who are ready to pick select performances where he won with falls, regardless of errors the rest of the field made. In fact last season he didn't fall at all. He is certainly an example of skaters who get held up by PCS in wake of errors although Hanyu, Kostner, Lip, S/S and maybe a few others are also examples of that. If anyone is a poster child for COP rotated falls its Hanyu this and last season.

I feel like Sotnikova might join that group. She's probably kicking herself for being unable to compete at Rostelecom as it would have possibly been a cake walk, with 30+ PCS even if she made errors.

Although that's the problem with CoP... If skaters who haven't developed artistry or aren't popular fall (even fully rotated), they don't end up high in the standings. But when skaters who have develope artistry fall and are held up, people go after them. The reality is all skaters fall, and we see that this season too where Hanyu is the new Chan and Lip is the new Kostner.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Adelina doesn't need to apologize for something she has no control over. And for those who bash her, her apology is likely to do nothing but fuel the flames.

If she does indeed think she's overscored, she would earn my respect if she says it. But if in her heart of hearts she doesn't believe so, then I'd hate it if she said that to appease people.

I don't think she thinks she was overscored. Her strategy was to pack her program with transitions and difficult elements, not to skate more beautifully than Yuna or Caro. The scoring reflected a successful strategy. The expert opinions internationally were truly mixed. When you have every Russian, the American commentators, Michelle Kwan, Elvis Stojko and many other validating the result, of course you are going to focus on those who support you rather than those who disagreed with the win. Six or seven judges validated her win, few of whom had Russian connections. The SP was scored similarly (Adelina would have beaten Yuna with a more difficult 3/3) on a panel with an even less Russian tilt. Whether or not you agree with the win, there is enough support there for her to genuinely believe she deserved it.

 

[Kelly]

:agree::agree::agree:

 

[cooper]

adding more fuel to the fire when tarasova opened her mouth and trashed yuna.. you know you can say adelina is great blah blah blah.. but just to bash other skaters who did great as well made me more iffy..