Why were so many skaters having emotional breakdowns at US Nationals? | Golden Skate

Why were so many skaters having emotional breakdowns at US Nationals?

wootie

Match Penalty
Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Look, I know it's great that you skate a clean program, but da%n!!!! By the way all these skaters were acting after their performances, you'd think the cure for cancer had just been discovered and all their terminally ill moms were going to be saved. Seriously, Doug Razzano, Jeremy Abbott, etc. Come on!!! It just looked to absurd and overblown (not to mention, it took FOREVER for them to get off the ice). Should skaters be penalized for acting like Lifetime network actors after their programs are over? I think so.
 

GF2445

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
For a multitude of reasons. If you think about it, you can probably find a number of reasons why.

1. An Olympic year is usually the time when there are comings and goings in the skating world. Whenever you finish something that was part of your life for so long and you put your energy and emotion into it, it's going to be emotional. The sport in its nature demands emotional engagement, it's tiring!

2. Also, If you have dedicated your whole life to a sport and then you become one of the best in your nation, there is alot of pressure and expectation. When it's over it is always a relief.

3. Also, if you succumbed to pressure and you choke, it's also going to be emotional- especially if your were expected to make the Olympics.

4. Despite being wonderful skaters, they are all human and there is so much expectation and pressure a human can take before it can take it's toll.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
In Jeremy Abbott's case (and Rachael Flatt as well), I think the fact it was their last Nationals provoked a lot of the emotion as well.

I don't find it that bothersome in the arena. I think a lot of skaters (and athletes, for that matter) react in different ways when the adrenaline rush is super high. GF is right: skaters are human and will react accordingly.
 

AlexaD

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Why would a skater be penalized for being emotional after a skate? They're human. Everyone has different reactions to emotional triggers and situations. I don't see anything wrong with it.
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Some of it looks forced and fake to me, as if they think the audience expects them to break down.
 

Matilda

Medalist
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
Why would a skater be penalized for being emotional after a skate? They're human. Everyone has different reactions to emotional triggers and situations. I don't see anything wrong with it.

I personally don't think there's anything wrong with showing your emotions when you've had a great skate (although Jeremy stayed on the ice so long I was telling the TV screen he should go to K&C alreacdy...). However, a coach told me last season that judges generally don't like it when a skater collapses on their knees from exhaustion or stays on the ice for a long time overwhelmed by emotions. They want you to get up (if you didn't end standing), bow to the audience, and leave the ice in a timely fashion. The coach in question is Russian, but has coached in the US for a long time, so cultural differences may or may not play a role here. I'd be interested to know if others can confirm or counter this.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Well figure skaters tend to be more emotive/emotional and this is an Olympic year and to be blunt it is now or never so the pressure after all the time and money spent is immense. I do agree it looks a bit much but everyone is different and I guess we shouldn't judge. Yes, I found Jeremy over the top and it does perpetuate certain myths or stereotypes about skaters but what can one do. How many sports do you have men in spandex and sequins trying to be swans, Romeos, butterflies, solidersor whatever. These skaters give their heart and soul and then it is over in like a total of 6.5 minutes or so it is olympics or not.
 

KKonas

Medalist
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Forced histrionics is one thing, BUT trying to make the Olympic Team is a big deal, ending your skating career is a big deal, skating a solid program at the most important national competition is a big deal. So, no, I don't think being emotional when you achieve a life-long goal is a big deal.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
For skaters like Gao and Agnes they had a real shot at making the Olympic team and all it took was a couple mistakes and 4 years of hard work all down the drain. Of course they would get emotional. Same with skaters like Jason who started the season looking to 2018 and not this year to make the Olympic team. And for skaters like Mira and Razzano it was a personal triumph more then anything else.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
In Jeremy's case, after his LP he knew that he had won and after not making the the world team for a few years this was a huge accomplishment.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Really? Penalize someone for showing emotion? When you train for years and years and go through countless competitions with the Olympics as the golden ring (so-to-speak) and you can blow it all in a 4 minute time frame or you can achieve it in a 4 minute time frame - wow, that's a pretty heavy thing for anyone to deal with. I got emotional just watching them!!!
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I guess people aren't used to see such emotion -usually it is more quick reactions to winning the scoring a goal but in skating it is more well histronics like solving cancer or winning the Academy award
 

Arianne

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Really? I think it's the emotions that make figure skating such a great sport! You should have seen how emotional I was when Jeremy skated. I hope I don't get penalized!!! It's been an emotional journey for all of these skaters and I think they have every right to "take it all in" and enjoy the moment with the audience.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Is it only in figure skating, though? It may not be in the same circumstances, but look at any football (soccer) team after they're out in a tournament - especially if it's after penalties... and especially the guy who missed... scenes of despair.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
a coach told me last season that judges generally don't like it when a skater collapses on their knees from exhaustion or stays on the ice for a long time overwhelmed by emotions. They want you to get up (if you didn't end standing), bow to the audience, and leave the ice in a timely fashion. The coach in question is Russian, but has coached in the US for a long time, so cultural differences may or may not play a role here. I'd be interested to know if others can confirm or counter this.

I have no idea how national judges would feel about a skater doing this at Nationals.

At a local level, I imagine officials -- especially the referee, and the competition chair, who is often a club official but not necessary a USFS official, and especially if the competition is already running behind schedule -- would get impatient with skaters gratuitously staying on the ice longer than necessary because they've contracted for a certain amount of ice time and may not have the luxury of running past the scheduled end time.

But that would apply to delays for any reason, and annoyance at a skater if the skater causes the delay for any reason, not only indulging in emotional displays.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
In my experience.....when a skater is showing alot of emotion after a good skate there are also people throwing a bunch of stuff on the ice which delays the next skater..... Those stupid annoying Smucker's strawberries, for example, should have been outlawed. In any case, Rachel and Jeremy both were well off the ice before the "sweepers" could pick up all the crap that was thrown!!!!

Not even sure why this is grounds for discussion. People react to winning or losing in different ways. Personally I like to see emotion - it means that person put their heart and soul into what they were doing!
 

lmarie086

Medalist
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Why would an athlete showing emotion bother anyone? I mean, that's like being offended just because you want to feel offended. These are athletes who train very hard, year in and year out, to progress and do well in competition. And for many it comes down to this one competition; it is make it or break it. If a skater has the skate of their life, or of their worst nightmare, an emotional reaction is more something that I would not be surprised to see.

I rowed and was in marching band in high school. Marching band you say is not a sport (though our instructors certainly treated it like it was!), but when we won championships (in both), I can say there were a lot of happy tears. When we lost, there were sad tears. It's a human reaction.
 

Matilda

Medalist
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
I have no idea how national judges would feel about a skater doing this at Nationals.

At a local level, I imagine officials -- especially the referee, and the competition chair, who is often a club official but not necessary a USFS official, and especially if the competition is already running behind schedule -- would get impatient with skaters gratuitously staying on the ice longer than necessary because they've contracted for a certain amount of ice time and may not have the luxury of running past the scheduled end time.

But that would apply to delays for any reason, and annoyance at a skater if the skater causes the delay for any reason, not only indulging in emotional displays.

True, local competitions run on a very tight schedule and everyone from officials to ice monitors are working long days anyway, so all delays are a nuisance. Since the topic came up in relation to Yuzuru being exhausted and slumping on the ice after his skate, the coach (who coaches on National level and used to compete internationally) was clearly referring to elite level competitions. Even if the coach is right in general, I would imagine that the judges must know if a top level competitor has asthma, like Yuzu and Charlie, and would not hold the exhaustion against them? Or against any skater when the competition is on high altitude...

Personally, I'm all for showing emotion after the skate (and emoting during the skate, pretty please!) :)
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
That is a horrible original post--that last sentence is just--wow.

After listening to some candid interviews featuring former and current competitive skater, I've gotten the sense that Nationals is a big deal.

I remember some skaters had mentioned that Nationals was their most nerve-wracking and pressure-packed competition every year. Just stop and think for a second--even in a non-Olympic year, the National championships pretty much determine the latter half of the current season as well as the beginning of the next season. Just one competition might just determine what competitions a skater will prepare for in the long run. The stakes are even higher when it is an Olympic year. If a skater bombs badly at Nationals, there is no guarantee that their Federations would give them a second chance in the following season's GP assignments. So yeah, this one competition is incredibly tense and I don't see why anyone should stupidly penalize skaters for letting out their emotions.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
I'm not fond of excessive carrying on. A first pump, a dazzling smile... yeah, that's part of the deal, and I like it.

What I really like is someone who has an awesome skate, and has the "cat ate the canary" grin on their face. "Yeah, I knew I could do that." and politely bows and acknowledges the crowd, and skates off like it was no big deal.

When they go on a crying jag or something, I think, "They must not skate well very often."
 
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