Thanks for the article. I hope more skaters will speak up for Flatt.
U.S. Figure Skating reprimands, fines Rachael Flatt
- Thread starter reynycpr
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Thanks for the article. I hope more skaters will speak up for Flatt.
- Joined
- May 15, 2009
An interesting take on this and it might possibly work at a girl scouts summer camp competition.
As to representing your country/federation at major Inl sporting events I think not.
You are always so big on the rules and Team Flatt broke the rules.
Reading comments from Baldwin I believe he implied this is not the first time US Skating has either reprimanded or fined a skater/coach.
It might have been the first time a skater came right out and admitted they were seriously injured and in too much pain to compete properly at the WC.
"Loose lips sink ships" and the comments Rachael made after she skated were always going to lead to an investigation regardless of Carroll's comments.
Get over blaming Frank as TeamFlatt are responsible for what happened and any resulting consequences.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2003
Hmm, John Baldwin gets in some more cheap shots at a federation that supported his skating for many, MANY long years and helped him make a name for himself and even have a brief pro skating career--despite his often embarrassing and self-serving behavior while supposedly representing his country. He makes it quite plain where his priorities were--with himself and his own advancement. Why do his remarks not surprise me, and who would take them seriously as representative of most skaters' opinions?
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- Jan 23, 2004
That's because Hersh only added the link (and excerpt from USFS' 2010-11 Competition Readiness Agreement) to his article yesterday after he likely found it posted on FSU.
Thank you for the explanation Sylvia. I thought I was cracking up (lol) because I did not see the excerpt in Phil's original blog.
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- May 19, 2011
^^All of this :thumbsup:
I get the sympathy for Rachael, being that this is a rather big embarrassment piled on top of an already huge embarrassment, but that's life. In life, we make decisions and those decisions have consequences. She made the decision to compete injured and she made the decision to cite the injury as the reason for her bad performance...thus, she deals with the fall out.
You can't expect her to blatantly break the rules and then walk away without any kind of punishment. That's not how things work in the world. She's an adult now and needs to understand that her actions have consequences. Rachael's a smart girl...she knew what she was doing was wrong. To be honest, she got off light with her punishment; a small fine and a slap on the wrist. Hopefully, she's learned her lesson.
But I totally disagree with the idea that she assumes no responsibility in this matter and is above reprimand b/c she's only 18...
Bingo.
Still, I wonder, even if she hadn't said anything, would suspicion have been raised enough to look into it anyway? I suppose we'll never know, but some people were saying she LOOKED like she was in quite a bit of pain during her skate, so...
As for Baldwin's comments, well...why am I not surprised? He's always been the vocal type. As for hiding injury, well...it would be harder to do so with better and more stringent monitoring of World team members. If USFS simply slaps a fine/reprimand on Flatt and/or her coach and then walks away, then they have failed and not learned from this IMHO. At the very least they should re-visit their own policies to prevent this from happening in the future.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
That's because Hersh only added the link (and excerpt from USFS' 2010-11 Competition Readiness Agreement) to his article yesterday after he likely found it posted on FSU.
Thank you!
Thanks for the link. Another black eye -- oh, excuse me, another pink sequined eye -- for the "sissy sport."demariniis5 said:
Robeye said:
I agree. If we compare it to the Plushenko case, Plushenko broke an ISU rule. He served a short suspension. Rachael broke the terms of her contract with the USFSA. She received a fine and a reprimand.
If people think the punishment is too lax they can petition the USFSA demanding that they double the fine.
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It is always hard for me to fully love and enjoy sports (and dance) knowing just how much damage and pain athletes/dancers live with, and I do worry that far too many young people push through levels of pain that leave them with life long problems and I guess I wish they wouldn't do that. That said, I think I understand (sort of per Baldwin's words) why they push through pain or injuries at key competitions. It is hard for me to believe that Rachel was acting differently from many, many others in this regard. And, reading the newly published "rule" - I think one could interpret this as: Rachel had a plan, she executed the plan, it wasn't as great a result as hoped, but she followed her season plan. If (given the need for ongoing medical attention) the USFS felt it should have been notified of the fracture, I honestly do not see why the reprimand and/or fine was made public in the way it was. I think a) it could have been made public after any decision about the coach was finalized; and b) in a short blurb by the USFS (not via Hersch) that also contained the explanatory note about the rules within in it.
It's the manner of the disclosure that bothers me for Rachel - I admire her very much, and do hope this does not negatively impact any future skating plans/hopes she has/had. I also hope she is healing well and looking forward to Stanford!
It's the manner of the disclosure that bothers me for Rachel - I admire her very much, and do hope this does not negatively impact any future skating plans/hopes she has/had. I also hope she is healing well and looking forward to Stanford!
This may not be the first time the USFS has taken such action. However, it seems to be the first time they've went PUBLIC with such a response. I think you can lay this one directly on the way it has been covered (Hersh covering the story and pretty much making a public announcement of any disciplinary action necessary).
Flatt and her team made a mistake, so they deal with the consequences, and then they move on. No sleep lost (in the long run). As another poster said, it could have been worse- a stricter fed might have dealt a suspension.
Flatt and her team made a mistake, so they deal with the consequences, and then they move on. No sleep lost (in the long run). As another poster said, it could have been worse- a stricter fed might have dealt a suspension.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
By the athlete's point of view I mean this sort of thing.
The athlete says to herself: “You’re not hurt! Suck it up! Shake it off! Stop being a whiny cry-baby! Tape it up and get out there and kick butt. It’s now or never, you’ve got the whole off-season to recuperate. There’s no tomorrow, do or die!”
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- Apr 17, 2011
I'm confused. Doesn't USFSA monitor the skaters' practice sessions? If she was that injured, why didn't they notice or intervene?
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
he's still upset they didn't send him to Vancouver...
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- Oct 27, 2006
How come when a skater bombs they always bring up that they had an injury after the fact? Why don't they just admit that they bombed? It's like they want sympathy for the fact that they skated with an injury. It's so annoying!
My question is this....why is everyone leaving Tom Z? Who is he left coaching?
My question is this....why is everyone leaving Tom Z? Who is he left coaching?
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
Mroz is his highest ranking skater left. Why is everyone leaving? Various reasons. He's not that strong technically, has issues with the PCS side of things and struggles to develop the skating skills of his skaters (Mroz, Flatt, Zawadski, Bradley all have issues here). I also wonder about the environment.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2004
Hey I just linked the article for folks to read. I thought his support for Racheal was nice.
Reminds me of the ubers that chew out posters that disagree with them in order to make their favorite look good. But at what cost? Who's truly looking good (or bad) in this situation?
Sorry but i don't feel sorry for Rachael. She tried to skate through pain twice this year and bombed both times. Maybe next time she will be smarter then that. Let's just hope Mirai, Agnes and the other girls leave Rachael in the dust next year and we won't have to deal with her anymore.
Actually Rachael skated quite well in the long program at Skate America even though she was injured. I am not sure what injury she had there. A stress fracture is PAINFUL. I can't believe no one noticed during practices at Worlds that she was injured. I do believe, knowing the extent of her injury, she should have withdrawn
If there's anyone who does, consider this quote that she made in a pre-Worlds interview:
(Link: http://worldskating.blogspot.com/2011/04/rachael-flatt-i-am-in-great-spot.html)
Obviously she was downplaying this serious injury that she had and was misleading fans and officials alike into believing that she could perform at her best.
Considering how serious the injury was, and also that she has been dealing with injury throughout the season, this is not something that just "showed up" during worlds...
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