2014 Cup of China Ladies Free Skate 11/08

[dorispulaski]

Just saying:

I am not sure why these medal ceremonies so often lead to food fights among fans. I almost always avoid watching them, both in the arena, and on TV. They are not my business, IMO. They are between the skater and the ISU and the other competitors.

I seem to remember skaters who have been criticized for getting on the podium first when they should have got on second, for not warmly enough greeting their competitors,for getting on the top step too quick, for not inviting the other skaters onto the top step, for having an unpleasant expression, and of course, the biggest flap:

Surya Bonaly once publicly refused to accept a silver medal. She wouldn't get on the podium at all, AFAIR. She was massively vilified.

Couldn't ISU just mail the kids the medals? They could save on venue rental time and florists bills and flag raising rigs. And a lot of fan angst.

Save the flags for Worlds.

 

[Mathman]

Julia owes an apology to her fellow competitors, to the ISU and to the fans who come out in support of these competitions. That's what you owe someone when you have been inconsiderate. What she does not owe anyone is an explanation or excuse.

 

[el henry]

Her last two ceremonies were at Worlds (right after the free skate) and Sochi (next day ceremony). I can see how there might have been a mistake, especially if she was upset after her free skate.

So yes, I'm going to trust Tatjana Flade on this one rather than posters on GS. Either what she wrote is what happened, or there's a more serious issue and she's protecting Lipnitskaya's privacy. Both scenarios strike me as more likely than some of what has been suggested in this thread.

This is such a stupid controversy. The more important issue out of this event is that the ISU needs a policy regarding possible concussions.

On this I totally agree. But I still do care about the awards ceremonies. I don't know why, maybe that makes me a small minded person, but there it is. And maybe they should mail out the medals to avoid the angst.

 

[gotoschool]

True, the ISU does. The ISU rules do not, however, mandate that we pile on.

I already expressed my opinion in an earlier post. I just wanted to know what the rule was for not attending the medal ceremony for anyone, not Yulia specifically, because I didn't know there was one. Would you mind telling me? I agree the issue of how to prevent collisions is much more important, but I was just curious.

 

[flutzy13]

On this I totally agree. But I still do care about the awards ceremonies. I don't know why, maybe that makes me a small minded person, but there it is. And maybe they should mail out the medals to avoid the angst.

The concussion thing is undoubtedly a separate and serious issue. But the medal ceremonies are part of the event. Not attending without a known medical excuse is unprecedented at least in my 20 years as a fan. (Surya attended in 1994 and congratulated Yuka and the bronze medalist (before pulling off her silver medal) because her federation basically pushed her out there, likely realizing how bad it would look if she skipped altogether). And I think that makes discussing this completely fair game. Those who don't see it as a big deal don't need to partake in the conversation if they don't wish to.

 

[MK's Winter]

I think they only explanation she owes is to the host federation that invited her to compete. I can certainly understand why she was upset but I also feel, despite her being 16 that she is a role model for other young girls. I also feel that she should acknowledge her team mate as well as Kanko. It sets a good example. Which all of the these girls sign up for at this level wether they like it or not. I'm not calling for her head but I hope she learns from this.

 

[Mathman]

Those who don't see it as a big deal don't need to partake in the conversation if they don't wish to.

OK, but can I toss in one more aphorism before I go?

We can expect teenagers to act like adults. But we cannot pretend to be shocked when they don't.

 

[silverlake22]

Yulia got punished so are we all happy? What she did was not good sportsmanship but it's not that big of a deal. There were repercussions to her action which she is taking and I assume it won't happen again.

Why does it really matter what her reason for not going was anyways? I can tell you though there's no way she thought she should have won with the way she skated. More likely she was embarrassed and ashamed and not in the mood to celebrate. Further, aren't ceremonies sometimes held right after the individual event and other times not until after all the disciplines have finished competing? There's a chance she was out of it and actually forgot. It's not that likely, but it's really not a huge deal.

Bottom Line. She skated badly, she was upset, she skipped the ceremony, and now the consequences are showing her that such behavior is not acceptable. I doubt it will happen again and am sure Yulia learned her lesson. Everyone should just get over it. Entitled because she didn't win? More likely she thought that she should have been off the podium with the way she skated. I don't think I've ever heard Yulia complain that her scores or placements were too low, sometimes she's mad when she makes mistakes, but that's different than thinking she wuzrobbed of a higher placement. Sheesh.

 

[Amei]

Yulia got punished so are we all happy?

How'd she get punished?

 

[Buttercup]

The concussion thing is undoubtedly a separate and serious issue. But the medal ceremonies are part of the event. Not attending without a known medical excuse is unprecedented at least in my 20 years as a fan. (Surya attended in 1994 and congratulated Yuka and the bronze medalist (before pulling off her silver medal) because her federation basically pushed her out there, likely realizing how bad it would look if she skipped altogether). And I think that makes discussing this completely fair game. Those who don't see it as a big deal don't need to partake in the conversation if they don't wish to.

Or those who don't see it as a big deal will share their opinion, because this is a discussion and different viewpoints can be represented in it.

Brian Joubert once almost missed the medal ceremony at the French Masters because he had no idea when it was or lost track of time or whatever. If he'd been away from the venue like Lipnitskaya, he wouldn't have gotten there in time. I'm sure there have been other examples.

How'd she get punished?

People said mean things about her on the internet.

 

[karne]

Lipniskaia experienced what was likely one of the most traumatic experiences of her young life with that LP.

Liza's father died when she was about the same age that Lipnitskaya is now.

If one bad skate is the "most traumatic experience of her young life", then she should be GRATEFUL!

I get the feeling that if they come out and say she was receiving medical treatment or maybe she got herself worked up enough where she got physically ill (I've done that before - self-induced stress is awful) all the majority people on this board will say is they are lying and made up something to erase bad press.

Then all they had to say was, "Yulia was ill and vomiting in her hotel room", and everyone would have said, "Oh, okay, that sucks, feel better soon" and got on with it. They didn't even have to say why, just that she was. But they didn't. They made up some totally bunk excuse about not knowing when it was, which was as transparent as a pane of glass.

But coming out with "she was ill" NOW, after all the backlash has already started, WILL make it look like they're scrambling for a cover-up. There's no way to avoid that now.

 

[bekalc]

Any skater who skipped a medal ceremony without an excuse would be criticized. I am not comparing Yulia to adults. I am comparing her to other kids her age and younger who have to stand on podiums even when they had bad skates. Look at Adelina last year really bad skate and took silver to. Anna. A loss that could spell coming disaster to her making the Russian Olympic team. But Adelina showed up at the ceremony and performed better next time. When Kwan had the worse skate of her life at 1997 Nationals at 16. Michelle still showed for the ceremony.

Nobody is saying she is a horrible person. But it IS bad behavior. She is old enough to know better. I am tired of excuses because folks are young. Sixteen year olds are old enough to take responsibility for their actions and have responsibility. How many parents tell their 16 year olds they can skip school because they are upset. Many 16 year olds have jobs, if they don't perform their duties they get fired. She has been on the scene for years and knows what has expected. If 13 year old JGP medalists can stand on podiums so can Yulia.

Now of course she made a mistake and I am not writing her off forever.

 

[Amei]

Liza's father died when she was about the same age that Lipnitskaya is now.

If one bad skate is the "most traumatic experience of her young life", then she should be GRATEFUL!

And Lipnitskaia's father ran off when her mother was pregnant

 

[Buttercup]

Liza's father died when she was about the same age that Lipnitskaya is now.

If one bad skate is the "most traumatic experience of her young life", then she should beGRATEFUL!

I'm sure if it were one of your favorites you'd have been singing a different tune.

FWIW, I believe that Lipnitskaya grew up with just her mother, as her father walked away before she was even born. I am sure she has dealt with her share of hardship, but a public failure like this probably hurt, especially for someone with very high expectations of herself.

But coming out with "she was ill" NOW, after all the backlash has already started, WILL make it look like they're scrambling for a cover-up. There's no way to avoid that now.

Nobody knows what happened, and other than a few dozen people, nobody cares.

 

[Mathman]

But it IS bad behavior. She is old enough to know better.

And it is up to you and me to tell her so, by gum!

 

[el henry]

And it is up to you and me to tell her so, by gum!

And it's up to Julia and her team to "deal" if folks want to keep talking about it, gosh darn.

 

[Sandpiper]

I would defend any skater in Yulia's situation. I don't defend her because she's a sixteen-year-old girl; I defend her because everyone has the right to be a little rebellious and crazy at times. Yulia is not causing harm to anyone with her actions, except a little embarrassment for the organizers (who have every right to dock her prize money in retaliation).

Seriously, it's a blasted awards ceremony at a GP. It's not like she crashed a van into her competitors' homes.

There are certainly people who defend Yulia but would turn on other skaters for doing the same thing. But not all. And there are people who'd do the opposite--criticize Yulia, but completely change tune had it been someone else.

 

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

So, the woman defeated the child, so the child throws a spectacularly child-like reaction and refuses to attend the medal ceremony.

What disgraceful behaviour. I hope someone on Team Russia gives her a clip across the ears for that.

Oh, by the way, Yulia, your pathetic "I didn't know when it was" excuse would fly a lot better if you hadn't medalled at TWO Grands Prix last year, oh, and Russian Nationals, and Euros, and Worlds, and the Olympics...

Well, we can't be quite sure this is what really happened... The excuse sounds fishy, but I'm willing to give Yulia the benefit of doubt, and accept the explanation as true. But I sure hope to see classy conduct on her part the next time she loses. We're watching you, Julia.

Right, so the medal ceremonies she attended at COC 2012(silver), TEB 2012(bronze), Junior Worlds 2013(silver), GPF 2013(silver), Worlds 2014(silver)? Every Junior and Senior Russian Nationals for the last five years? None of these count for anything? Is it really that difficult to believe or accept that in this one case where she completely fell apart that making sure Yulia was alright and able to accept this was the most important thing? She's only 16 years old. And obviously Eteri and whoever else was there were able to help her because she made it to the press conference and skated wonderfully at the gala. (And as someone else already pointed out; if it was just a case of being a brat or whatever other term people want to use to try and tear her down, why would she have attended the press conference?) That would be much more difficult to get through than a medal ceremony. The ISU will decide what, if any, consequences there should be. And that should be the end of it.

 

[ice coverage]

... Yulia is not causing harm to anyone with her actions, except a little embarrassment for the organizers (who have every right to dock her prize money in retaliation).

I would think that the Russian federation also must be embarrassed by her absence from the medal ceremony and by her explanation that she did not know when it would be held.

Tuktamysheva knew when the Ladies ceremony would be. Kovtun knew when the Men's ceremony would be. So it is clear the the federation knew the schedule for the ceremonies.

 

[MiRé]

Why are people keep bringing up Yulia's age to defend her? "She's only 16" is not an excuse