ISU Statement on Bell and Lim

[Bcash]

Her management is really awful. This is not a big deal and got blown out of the water. I do think ATS has an ulterior motive. And add other stuff of "bullying" when there is NO evidence at all.

At this point, I think Eunsoo will be fired/let go from Team Raf after this.

Although it might not be her fault, she caused this through her management.

I think Eunsoo will be looking for another coach next year.

I think you have a clear bias.

 

[rikaquegira]

If she didn't even know that she nicked Eunsoo, how is she going to apologize? She didn't even know. It was clearly something very minor if Eunsoo was able to skate so well with only a small bandage. Plus, it is on Eunsoo to get out of the way if it's Mariah's run through.

I don't know why ATS made such a media ruckus when Eunsoo could have approached Mariah directly. It reeks of an ulterior motive.

Uh... something minor? Small bandage?? What did you want to see? Blood flowing out of her leg??? She was visibly in pain. From the pictures we have I don't know how Mariah didn't realize she had hit someone. Just because a skater managed to skate even after an injury doesn't mean the injury was minor. Skaters are tough cookies, we've seen multiple examples of that. In the article I read it was stated that Mariah didn't apologize because her music had already started. So, I don't think she didn't apologize because she didn't know Eunsoo was hurt but because she was in the middle of her runthrough and couldn't bother to check on Eunsoo, which leads me to believe that either she didn't think it was serious and didn't see Eunsoo's reaction or she saw it and ignored it because she was focused on her program.
This reminds me of Tessa getting hit by another skater's blade during warmup, she was clearly hurt(she still had a scar weeks later) but the skater didn't even look back, didn't apologize at all. These things happen. To me it always look like poor sportsmanship to hit someone and completely ignore it. But I understand Mariah was focusing on herself.
But again, I think there is something going on between them two and that is the reason for all this, not some "ulterior motive". There's a lot of people implying ATS/Eunsoo has something to gain from this. I fail to see what.

 

[century2009]

Maybe they want out of the contract with Rafael without paying anything? It's a thought.

That is not how that works. Raf has already been paid.

And what we see so far, Raf has improved Eunsoo. Raf as he has done a great job with her. It is more fo Eunsoo needing him for help.

 

[chuckm]

All I can say at this point is that the final Ladies Freeskate warmup group should be interesting to watch, as Mariah and Eunsoo are the first and second skaters in the lineup.

 

[DSQ]

ISU's official statement on the matter (https://isu.org/isu-news/news/145-n...ll-usa-and-eun-soo-lim-kor?templateParam=15):

"The ISU has been made aware of a statement published on March 20 by All-That Sports, and subsequently by the Korea Skating Union on March 21 about an incident which happened between Ms. Mariah Bell and Ms. Eun Soo Lim, during their practice on March 20 at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

The incident was verbally reported to the ISU by the Korean Team Leader however no formal complaint has been received.

Based on the evidence at hand at this point in time, which includes a video, there is no evidence that Ms. Bell intended any harm to Ms. Lim.

The ISU met with delegates from both USA and Korea and urged both parties to find an amicable solution. The ISU maintains that this remains the appropriate approach."

So KSU hasn’t yet made an official complaint? This is still all based on what ATS has said to the press?

Like I said we’d do best not to speculate any more until tomorrow when the KSU and USFSA meet.

 

[gravy]

Rafael is living in America now. I think he has a strong connection toward US fed. Rafael never shows his preference for Eunsoo. He even hadn’t visited Korea as a coach of Eunsoo when she has a competition in Korea.

Raf went to Japan with Marin for Nationals when Eunsoo had 1 of her 10,000 ranking competitions in South Korea. So there goes your theory that he's sabotaging Eunsoo because he prefers Americans. :sarcasm:

Oh and just seeing how he reacts to Eunsoo vs Mariah or even Nathan this season in the kiss and cry, it's very clear that he adores Eunsoo. Even to the press he's always talking about how much of a hard worker she is.

 

[believed]

I really dislike everyone reading into the ulterior motives of ATS without any basis, especially as once again, it is being portrayed as if the Koreans are unreasonably opportunistic.

 

[skaterr]

Raf went to Japan with Marin for Nationals when Eunsoo had 1 of her 10,000 ranking competitions in South Korea. So there goes your theory that he's sabotaging Eunsoo because he prefers Americans. :sarcasm:

we have only two ranking competitions thank you. Yeah~~Honda from Japan I knew it

 

[oleada]

Uh... something minor? Small bandage?? What did you want to see? Blood flowing out of her leg??? She was visibly in pain. From the pictures we have I don't know how Mariah didn't realized she had hit someone. Just because a skater managed to skate even after an injury doesn't mean the injury was minor. Skaters are tough cookies, we've seen multiple examples of that. In the article I read it was stated that Mariah didn't apologize because her music had already started. So, I don't think she didn't apologize because she didn't know Eunsoo was hurt but because she was in the middle of her runthrough and couldn't bother to check on Eunsoo, which leads me to believe that either she didn't think it was serious and didn't see Eunsoo's reaction or she saw it and ignored it because she was focused on her program.

If you have someone saying that they were deliberately stabbed and assaulted, yeah. Which is what is being reported in the media.

To me, it sounds like Mariah had absolutely no idea that her blade even touched Eunsoo, which people have reported here can happen quite easily. Why would she be looking at Eunsoo while she is rehearsing her program?

 

[Mishaminion]

Her agency did everything to protect their skater. How could we know there’s something going on in Lakewood without their revealing? If they didn’t take a action like this, poor eunsoo would been go through this hardship on her own. Why do you think Eunsoo mother videotaped her practices and give it to her agency person? Her mother knew she ’s been bullied that’s why she taped her practice and gave it to her agency person.

Do you have any evidence of this or are you simply repeating the same rumours?

Neither the ISU or KSU seem to have heard anything of any bullying complaint.

 

[skaterr]

Do you have any evidence of this or are you simply repeating the same rumours?

Neither the ISU or KSU seem to have heard anything of any bullying complaint.

KSU clearly said they checked the video. I heard the video comes from Eunsoo mother.

 

[Charlotte 71]

If she didn't even know that she nicked Eunsoo, how is she going to apologize? She didn't even know. It was clearly something very minor if Eunsoo was able to skate so well with only a small bandage. Plus, it is on Eunsoo to get out of the way if it's Mariah's run through.

I don't know why ATS made such a media ruckus when Eunsoo could have approached Mariah directly. It reeks of an ulterior motive.

If it happened during Mariah's program run-through, she was going to be completely concentrating on that program and notice nothing else, for the most part. If they had actually collided, or if the roof had caved in, or if a unicorn had suddenly appeared on the ice, she probably would have stopped, but if her blade nicked Eunsoo in passing, it is very possible she was so focused that she was not aware of it. If nobody mentioned it to her afterwards, she might have been completely unaware until later. Tension is very high for everyone, and when something goes wrong or not as planned, people are really on edge (so to speak) and can react badly. I remember seeing a certain skater in practice once at Nationals where there was a glitch with his music in the middle of a run-through, and his coach was... surprisingly agitated...even though the skater himself was calm and kept reassuring the coach that he wasn't upset while they fixed the music. But that was a situation where there was nobody to blame except maybe technology - imagine if some person had been responsible for throwing your skater off their game or even injuring them. So for Eunsoo and Mariah and their management, fans, etc... maybe everyone needs to cool down and then come together for mediation.

 

[Mrs. P]

I hope Eunsoo is okay. The ISU statement doesn’t change that she is injured and in pain. And also it doesn’t absolve anyone just that they haven’t found anything.

I feel like for me that is the biggest question. Eunsoo is a minor who was training in a foreign country. If legitimate issues have arisen that have affected her, I hope it’s resolved.

I don’t think it’s right to spam Mariah’s IG with insults and hope she isn’t looking at her phone or turned off her notificationsZ

 

[surimi]

I wonder if Eunsoo will stay in Lakewood after this. I think she won't feel very welcomed, given that other skaters from Lakewood immediately dismissed ATS's allegations and Mariah's boyfriend even called Eunsoo a liar and said she was doing this to affect Mariah in the competition.

Entirely possible. As is the version that all the allegations are true. Just because one is sweet-faced and doesn't look the type, doesn't mean the individual isn't capable of malice, lying, bullying... I am keeping my mind absolutely blank on this issue at this point.
It really is most unfortunate that this was made known to the public after the SP. Both skaters deserve a mental break to focus on their free, not this ugly mess. Couldn't the complaint have been lodged privately, without making it known to the skaters and the wide public? Fans can turn very nasty when they feel their favorites are being treated ill. I can't imagine what the two girls are going through.

One last remark, to all the folk here who are doubting there can be a cultural misunderstanding at play here - don't underestimate it where two very different cultures are involved. I have seen a user leave a forum because they were feeling threatened, offended and bullied by something as normal to many here as slang language and stuck-out tongue smileys, which were by them interpreted in the opposite way than they were intended (as mockery rather than friendliness). It was a cultural misunderstanding, and the 'offender' wasn't even aware how the upset user was feeling. And that's just one entirely insignificant example. To me, it's not out of the realm of impossibility that there were misunderstandings involved in this big issue.

 

[sk8ath]

Raf has said before that he doesn't have his skaters sign contracts, so I don't think that would be motivation for any accusations in this case.

And like others have said, he doesn't really travel that much to his skaters' competitions. He travels to US Nationals, Worlds, GPF, and some Grand Prix with usually multiple skaters there - like IdF had Nathan, Romain, Marin. Sometimes his wife Vera will travel instead.

It seems he really does like Eunsoo a lot, and sees much potential in her.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Japan Nationals ... I thought maybe he traveled there because it is such a high profile event.

There are two Japanese skaters coached by him...Marin and Taichi Honda

 

[rikaquegira]

So KSU hasn’t yet made an official complaint? This is still all based on what ATS has said to the press?

Like I said we’d do best not to speculate any more until tomorrow when the KSU and USFSA meet.

KSU has made a stament already. This is not all based on ATS reports. Check my previous post, it's... somewhere here.

 

[clippers8200]

I don't think Mariah intentionally hit Eunsoo with her blade - that would be foolish in front of so many people at such a high profile competition. And based on recent backtracking in the news, I think that makes it even less likely.

But the other reports of bullying are very concerning and would logically flow into why this escalated so much after the practice incident. Both Eunsoo and Mariah are starting to thrive under Raf, so I really hope they can sort this out and put it behind them. But the bullying charges should be treated seriously and given the attention they deserve.

Those claiming racism toward the Koreans should also take a deep breath - considering how this has been reported by non-reputable outlets (e.g. All KPop had a very misleading headline that went viral for example, although this is for an international audience, not a Korean audience), it's natural that some are making easy conclusions and throwing daggers. With that said, the impression has been set and Mariah will receive some level of hate from fans regardless of fault.

 

[Mishaminion]

KSU clearly said they checked the video. I heard the video comes from Eunsoo mother.

The video from practice where the blade incident happened is the only video an official source has mentioned.

Please stop trying to stir up drama.

 

[oleada]

Those claiming racism toward the Koreans should also take a deep breath - considering how this has been reported by non-reputable outlets (e.g. All KPop had a very misleading headline that went viral for example, although this is for an international audience, not a Korean audience), it's natural that some are making easy conclusions and throwing daggers. With that said, the impression has been set and Mariah will receive some level of hate from fans regardless of fault.

Some level of hate?! There are people posting death threats against her and her family; calling her grandfather all sorts of names, accusing her and her family of all sorts of nasty things on instagram. It's completely out of control and similar to what Sotnikova went through. It's what gives the Korean fans a bad reputation and it does no favors to Eunsoo.

 

[Mishaminion]

Some level of hate?! There are people posting death threats against her and her family; calling her grandfather all sorts of names, accusing her and her family of all sorts of nasty things on instagram. It's completely out of control and similar to what Sotnikova went through. It's what gives the Korean fans a bad reputation and it does no favors to Eunsoo.

Exactly.

Anyone who actually thinks the hate Mariah is getting is justifiable in any way has something very wrong with them.

What happened with Sotnikova is exactly why I believe the ATS/Korean sources of all this know exactly what they are likely to be stirring up, there's no way they couldn't have. It is being handled terribly.

Bell and Lim are both suffering from the actions of these so-called fans.