Reactions and criticism of judging by Network commentators - NBC, CBC, BBC, etc

[Hamil]

Katarina Witt is very upset with this controversy.

Here is a video showing how much she is upset.
http://gall.dcinside.com/board/view/?id=figureskating&no=2086633&page=1&exception_mode=recommend

 

[Matilda]

I wanted to investigate this, and the only thing I found is a brand-new Facebook fan page created today for Adelina Sotnikova which is getting the backlash. It's not Adelina's personal Facebook page. Obviously the comments are wrong, but it's not being sent directly to Adelina.

I'm glad it's not her page and I hope she never sees the comments.

 

[Hamil]

Joseph Inman, a top U.S. international judge who was on the women's panel at the 2002 Olympics,

"I was surprised with the result. That's not fair to see Carolina and Yuna, who have great skating skills and had great skating tonight -- good jumps, nice presence on the ice, maturity, expression -- could be six points behind somebody who has tremendous skill but is just coming out of juniors"

 

[yogacat]

Italian commentators of RAI (Fabrizio Pedrazzini ? and sorry, don't remember the womans name) said that they don't agree with Adelinas second mark.

 

[whatif]

.[
BBC (Robin Cousins):

I watched BBC coverage and Robin Cousins immediately after Kim finished stated that "she's done enough" for a win. Later when the replays started he retratced that saying that now that I see those landings I am not so sure. The scores came up and while he was surprised, it was not because he disagreed with the result but more of a shock that judges dared to put her in the second place. Though he left the Adelina gashing to Sue Barker, who was the main cheerleader of the night. No controversy screams from British.

 

[snowflakebeautiful]

Johnny said after the SP that Adelina was scored "generously" and today something to the same effect after her FS, but no direct criticism. Both Tara and Johnny did indiacte that they enjoyed Mao's and Carolina's performances the most.

Tara and Johnny may be reluctant to offer any direct criticism becuse they seem to be on a mission to gain new fans for the sport, and suggesting that the scoring was unjustified would certainly not help their cause.

Plus, I feel like they're working towards hosting the Primetime coverage next Olympics. They can't be too controversial yet.
I will be interested to see what is said on Primetime coverage. However, if I had to guess, they'll keep it predictably kosher...

 

[cptnhastings]

I watched BBC coverage and Robin Cousins immediately after Kim finished stated that "she's done enough" for a win. Later when the replays started he retratced that saying that now that I see those landings I am not so sure. The scores came up and while he was surprised, it was not because he disagreed with the result but more of a shock that judges dared to put her in the second place. Though he left the Adelina gashing to Sue Barker, who was the main cheerleader of the night. No controversy screams from British.

I bet he started backtracking when he saw the TES scores. Tara was definitely on top of that at least 30 seconds before the final score came out.

 

[whatif]

The worst thing in the sport is to lose the respect of your peers. That is where Sotnikova now is. No past champion or fellow skater respects her victory, or perhaps ever her period at this point.

That's uncalled for.

 

[whatif]

I bet he started backtracking when he saw the TES scores. Tara was definitely on top of that at least 30 seconds before the final score came out.

LOL, I am sure that's what happened.

 

[moviechick]

Oh she will see them. Nobody never looks at their own fan page. I am glad she will too. The last thing she deserves is to fully enjoy a cheated win. I hope as much of the backlash that will come in the next few weeks hits her in the face as possible including some of the greatest champions of all time openly mocking her multi million dollar Putin payed off victory.

That's honestly repulsive to wish that on a 17 year old girl who did not cause any of this. If the judges are to blame, then fix the system. Taking it out on someone who didn't knee cap her rivals is insane.

 

[moviechick]

So she should be allowed the same level of pleasure as real gold medalists who actually won a gold medal through their skating, something she was unable to do. No thanks.

Who the f--k cares if she gets to enjoy her win. The system is the problem. Stop being a huge douche to skaters who have done nothing wrong here.

 

[snowflakebeautiful]

The worst thing in the sport is to lose the respect of your peers. That is where Sotnikova now is. No past champion or fellow skater respects her victory, or perhaps ever her period at this point.

That's taking it a bit far. Whether they agree with her scores or medal placement, it's hardly her fault that the judges gave her the scores they did.

I feel like if anyone does feel that way about her, then it's more telling of their character and flaws than her's....

 

[chloepoco]

I wish the skaters, journalists, and TV commentators would stop fueling the idea of controversy--there are more than enough nasty p[people out there who use it as an excuse to attack the athlete rather than the judging system. Ryan Bradley (who is also guilty of tweeting about his disapproval of the results--he must know there a rabid fans out there likely to verbally attack whoever they think has unfairly beated their favorite) tweeted that Adelina's Facebook page is getting littered by nasty comments. I checked, and that is incdeed the case.

I wish I was suprised that some people think it's ok to attack verbally a teenage athlete who just performed the two most brilliant skates of her life, but I'm not. And this is why I think it is irresposible of commentators, other skaters, as well as skating fans to be urging others to sign petitions and keep talking about the controversy. Let the federations take action if they feel there was foul play.

:thumbsup:

 

[rollerblade]

She had stepped up to the podium to receive only flowers so far.

She didn't bribe the judges, her parents didn't set up snipers at the rink to threaten the judges, why are you taking your anger out on her anyway? Who in the history of Olympics voluntarily request their gold to be bronze anyway?

 

[usethis2]

Adelina is not at fault here. She could have easily been a victim as well had Yulia performed a little better. Both of them are equally disposable to Russian Federation's eyes. What mattered was that a Russian gets a gold. Didn't matter her name is Yulia, Adelina, Putina, or Stalina. That's what people are upset about.

 

[auser]

A petition at change.org about investigating the judging contains additional comments from various sports journalists and skaters https://www.change.org/en-CA/petiti...emand-rejudgement-at-the-sochi-olympics#share.

 

[age20]

CCTV(Chinese) live commentator tweeted her thoughts after free skating saying "How could the president came to watch ending up with hands empty".

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

The worst thing in the sport is to lose the respect of your peers. That is where Sotnikova now is. No past champion or fellow skater respects her victory, or perhaps ever her period at this point.

Why? She skated great. She didn't judge her own program.

 

[vegarin]

Leave Adelina alone. If judging is unclear, it's not her fault.

 

[age20]

Maybe because the other skaters are judges of their own.

Why? She skated great. She didn't judge her own program.