Anyone thinking about leaving FS fandom?

[Mafke]

you might be the toxic one

Maybe but I'm allergic to almost everything going on now in skating and don't like watching young girls destroying their health and being thrown away to make room for the next 3-minute wonnder....
Slutskaya's career is more important to me than every female Russian skater since.... put together.

 

[ladyjane]

Slutskaya's career is more important to me than every female Russian skater since.... put together.

Thank you for the reminder! I'm going to watch Slutskaya's wonderful Wonderland free skate at 2005 Worlds.

 

[Mafke]

Slutskaya's wonderful Wonderland free skate

She had some great performances but.... I remember one Europeans where she seemed to forget her LP halfway through and just kind of... improvised the rest.... and still won....

It's that kind of performance that really wins me over.

 

[skatedreamer]

Too late for me, I was gone years ago (2014 was the final straw)... ugly skating ugly jumps ugly spins ugly judging.... too much ugliness for me....

2014 was seriously ugly. That was the year I joined GS and whoa, did I ever vent a lot! And I still feel sad for Yuna...

 

[friedbanana]

I left for a season or two but came back in the end...lol. I've become pretty good at ignoring people in the fandom!

 

[natsulian]

Figure skating brings me a lot of joy. No other sport combines gravity defying athleticism with tear-jerking and spine-tingling artistry like figure skating: it truly is a sport unlike any other. However, it is through that same joy that I find so much sadness. The system constructed by the International Skating Union and perpetuated by coaches, bystanders, and various actors continues to fail athletes time and time again. How can I be jubilant about "record breaking performances" when these athletes are routinely abused and exploited? There can be no joy in watching victims with nothing but dreams pushing them to sacrifice their mental and physical well being in order that their name may be engraved in the history books. I, however, believe that with the enormity of vocal supporters ardent about changes to the system alongside outspoken athletes and coaches, good days are indebted to us: they will come. And so, I push on and watch this sport I love so dearly with a hope that it may soon change for the better—especially for the athletes whom we know would move sun and moon for their dreams.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Slutskaya's career is more important to me than every female Russian skater since.... put together.

Loved Irina, her unitard at the 2006 Olympics was iconic to me.

What a boss.

 

[Mafke]

I still feel sad for Yuna..

To be clear, it wasn't the final order that bothered me but the marks did not reflect the performances relative to each other - Sotnikova deserved to be on the podium, maybe even deserved to win, but if she did then it should have been a squeaker and not the runaway victory implied by the marks (so that Kim had no realistic chance of winning by the time she took the ice).
That was ugly...

 

[zanadude]

Well, I just decided to leave figure skating fandom five minutes ago.

This will be my last post. Goodbye, and be well everyone.

 

[bluemonday]

At this moment. Figure Skating is Dead.

 

[pearly]

I usually just skip the top (Eteri's) Russians. I don't like their skating or choreography, nor the certainty of the final result. For example, if they are in the top 3 after the short, I will just watch until the 4th place skater and be done. I check the result later.

You all remember when I posted this a few days ago and some people laughed?

 

[viennaskater]

You all remember when I posted this a few days ago and some people laughed?

I usually just skip the top (Eteri's) Russians. I don't like their skating or choreography, nor the certainty of the final result. For example, if they are in the top 3 after the short, I will just watch until the 4th place skater and be done. I check the result later.

Because of today (Monday 14th's) developments, I shall be doing exactly that. I don't think I can bear to watch.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Today's news is a huge blow to skating...I'm scared to look on Twitter or Instagram because I know it'll be bad. And I don't know if I can even blame the people who are mad.

I do still want to watch, but at the same time not...

 

[4everchan]

tonight was a big blow.....it will take me a while to process this

 

[Alchamei]

I already left the fandom for two years after the last Olympics because I simply didn't care about jumping girls at the age of 15 with unrefined skating and a big possibilty of retirement before 18. Also, with inflated scores.

Today, I think I will take another long break, mabye even longer.

 

[cheerknithanson]

I’m staying. Figure skating has brought me great joy and was there for me in dark times. It has brought out some creativity in my to create programs in my head and other stuff.

 

[decafjava]

This happens in all fandoms I'm afraid. I'm a big fan of a certain TV-series that has existed for the longest time (since 1963), and the sourness, negativeness, cruelty towards certain actors, storywriters, etc. among so-called fans is just as harsh. Granted, it's not along National lines but there've been some really bad vibes among the fandom. I pick my forums and social media (definitely not twitter) very carefully.

I was surprised at first to see the exact same thing in FS but then I realised this is probably the nature of the beast, in this case fandom. And the only thing I could advise any skater is either not to be too active on Social Media because the experience can be harrowing or to just ignore the hater posts (which isn't easy especially when you're young) and enjoy the positive and compassionate ones.

Which is it? Or rather "Who" is playing in it - if it is what I think I am also a huge fan and also the toxicity since 2017 have been disheartneing. I am also really sickened by the latest scandal as skaters from Russia (many other countries too) are the biggest group I follow. This is coinciding with a difficult period in my personal life and I can't see any good whatever the results this week. I hope this is temporary because the toxicity around Star Wars, as well as my personal dislike for the last main film really soured me on that franchise - even the Mandalorian didn't make up for it.

 

[Piett]

It seems that by now the only appeal that figure skating has to the mainstream are the scandals. And what happened today will hurt the credibility of the sport at its core (if there is still any credibility left).

 

[TontoK]

I'm not leaving the fandom.

I'm also not watching the Olympic Ladies Event.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I still love the sport itself, and I always will. So I will watch the skating and ignore the judging and outside stuff. Meaning, I will read and post about topics I find joy in, and not read/post about other stuff. This is what I've done for quite a while, actually. GS Fan Fests are wonderful safe havens. It's quite simple, for me at least. The ACTUAL SKATING keeps me interested, and within that, I have only a few favorite skaters per discipline that I follow. I try to focus on that and let all else go.

I know everyone has their own thought process and ways of dealing with things. I want to give everyone a hug.