@Sam-Skwantch - Some "low-informed fans" don't even question "news media" like the NYTimes, NBC, etc. Le gasp!
^^It's not that I think you are wrong here. I just feel that particular opinion piece is begging for criticism. You have to at least admit to the viciousness of his words. It's very offensive to see a great talent publicly degraded and called not legitimate. Can you understand that at least. What purpose does it serve and how does it benefit figure skating as a whole? The arrival suggests that is his intent does it not?
Who is he anyway? A journalist?jessie helms is over the top.. that's why i don't take his/her seriously.. this is not the first time...
Yuri Balkov is actually Ukrainian.
A clean Gracie Gold and Polina are just as good as any of the Russians. We haven't seen them compete head to head that much yet. A lot of Yulia's success in the past season was without steep American competition. I think the problem has been letting skaters like Wagner and Mirai hang on to the top of the field based on seniority.This guy is just the typical Russophobe that is having a pity party I guess because the Russian girls are set to be strong in the upcoming years.
But really the young girls haven't been exactly dominating these recent competitions. Mao, Kostner, Yuna etc are all older. The USA's older girls just aren't as good as them. And Edmunds being the cream of a thin crop of young girls compared to Russia's stable is pretty shaky.
So it really amounts to being a hit piece on Yulia. And I guess girls like Radionova and Proklova. That are able to combine youth, jumping, flexibility.
A clean Gracie Gold and Polina are just as good as any of the Russians. We haven't seen them compete head to head that much yet. A lot of Yulia's success in the past season was without steep American competition. I think the problem has been letting skaters like Wagner and Mirai hang on to the top of the field based on seniority.
I just don't understand why you see saying Gold and Edmunds are just as good or talented as any of the Russians as such a huge insult against Yulia or any other Russian ladies, not to mention taking extreme offense to this statement.This isn't a thread that should go in depth into Yulia vs the world. Go to the Artistry and Scoring amongst youngsters thread for that. In short Yulia beat all three Americans in every competition she faced them in except Olympic individuals where Gracie eeked by with a generous score herself.
Look , I'm not trying to overhype her or rub anyone's nose in her success here. I just take extreme offense to her being called a non legitimate talent. All of Russian skating was thrown in there too. That is just wrong and something should be done about this type of writing.
"As a result, the modern figure skating that had started with Janet Lynn ended in 2013 Worlds.
Since, the ISU created a new figure skating characterized by Julia Lipnitzskaia and culminated in Adelina Sotnikova in Sochi.
But we cannot recognize it as a legitimate figure skating, because it is not. It may be Cinquanta's figure skating, or Russian figure skating if you will.
:agree: Their shallowness has no end, I have to say.Actually, no, they are very famous for their shallowness.
Maybe Gracie will win her first international gold medal this year. Maybe I will also hit the lottery.
Woop de doo! Yuri Balkov is a Ukrainian. Anyone with half of a brain knows he cheats for Russia because he hails from a former Soviet country.
As far as Ice Dancing goes, no one is denying that there are many ice dancing legends from Russia, but Russian Ice dancing results (ie the number of gold medals) are still fantastical if they weren't rigged. Don't ever forget that the old ISU system was changed to combat Russian corruption.[/URL]
Take a world wide poll (amongst countries where figure skating is popular) and everyone except for the Russians (and former Soviet countries) will agree that the Russian have cheated more than anyone other country by a landslide.
The Yahoo article is really quite absurd. The author equates "ladies figure skating" with American princesses Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn, and Dorothy Hamill (with a half-nod to latter day countesses Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, and Michelle Kwan). Somehow the USFSA was asleep at the switch and allowed youthful Russian athletes to sneak in there and, wielding the CoP, to take over. Lamentations and woe.