Zhulin - Platov Speak out Against Judging, Media

[Zanzibar]

Here's some fun and controversial comments from two of ice dancings greastest coaches, Alexander Zhulin and Evgeni Platov.

Link:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060219/SPORTS/602190358/1002

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

A quick scan of the newspaper account gave me this:

Platov (and I) hope all fans see that cheating in Cop is quite easy.

Zhulin can not understand why fans are getting bored with Russian dominance.

Check it out, and see what you come up with because I just scanned it.

Joe

 

[STL_Blues_fan]

great job! what a fun read!!!

thanks for posting!

 

[Jasper]

I go to school in Montclair, NJ. It's about time I check out Floyd Hall for myself.

 

[Dee4707]

'Sasha-Masha-Pasha' Caper.

Dee

 

[Piel]

Platov says the three-time U.S. National champions and reigning world silver medalists Belbin and Agosto are, "Very pleasurable to watch, lots of energy, but they are not as polished as the other top teams. Of course I understand that other countries need medals too, and they are a nice team and they will fight, but they are not ready to be Olympic champions."

I wouldn't call the FD that won the 94 Olys polished.

As she sat in the Kiss-n-Cry awaiting her scores, her face turned white as her hand went crimson. Due to the severity of the cut - which required nine stitches - papers were signed by officials essentially granting her a pass to skip the standard post-competition doping test and proceed to the hospital. Critics railed that the Russian were granted special consideration, and that Navka - short of being unconscious - should not have been allowed to skip the test.

Did U.S.TV edit out this massive hemmorhage? Nine stitches for cosmetic reasons ......though I will say that because of the location of the cut and the need for quick healing I would go with the sutures. I still think she should have taken the drug test.

 

[bloozywoozy]

Very intersting! Thankyou for the article! (Always like Kathleen's articles!)

I am sorry she cut herself. One cannot make themselves turn white, and 9 stitches is alot.

Just a question...since they were going to the hospital anyway, could they not conduct the drug test there? (Or was it a big deal that they needed to?)

And by the way,I have no idea what goes into doing the drug test. Is it just a urine sample? Does it get sent somewhere for analyzing, or a like a "litmus strip" test?

 

[Linny]

not a simple thing

The drug tests are not a simple thing. David Peltier explained it in greater detail on Olympic Ice. The skater has to be escorted, they have to pretty much completely disrobe and show themselves, front and back, to prove that they aren't hiding a prepared sample. Then they have to fill the cup to a certain level while being observed by a stranger. If they can't fill the cup to the line (and this seems like it could quite easily happen due to the amount of perspiration they expend during their perfomances), then the skater has to sit there and wait - up to 6 hours. And they can't just drink a bunch of water because that will dilute the urine.

Being as Navka clearly could not spend up to 6 hours hanging out waiting for her bladder to fill and be emptied, it seems perfectly plausible that she would be excused from the drug test that time. Also, they can't just do the drug test at the hospital since there would be too much opportunity for a someone to slip a vial of prepared urine to them to use instead of making fresh stuff of their own.

My husband is a truck driver and is subject to random drug tests. They aren't quite as strict with him as they are with the athletes (for example, he doesn't have to completely disrobe) but he has complained about having to hang around for quite some time until he can make enough to fill the cup to the line.

I guess that those of you who think Navka should have taken the test would be perfectly willing to do so yourself if the situation had arisen. This must mean you have nice active healthy bladders and deft fingers so that you can undo complicated snaps with a bloodied hand. Count your blessings!

Linny

 

[Mafke]

I still think she should have taken the drug test.
/QUOTE]

The decision not to was made/accepted by the officials responsible and she bears no responsibility for that decision. Your beef is with the officials, not her.

 

[Piel]

No my beef is with her. Because I think that if I were as close to an OGM as she is I would have stripped down and demanded they do the drug test so there would be no doubt that I was willing to comply. Like I said before this gal can turn herself into a pretzel while skating so peeing in a cup even with only one hand was totally within her abilities. As for being pale TV must have doctored her color up some too? I have seen so many extremely sick and injured children behave so bravely under circumstances 1000 times worse than Navka's so I don't understand why everyone thinks her injury was so severe. Bleeding was under control and stopped, the wound would have healed without sutures though like I said I think they were a wise move. NOT an emergency situation. At a busy ER she would have been given a bowl with antiseptic soap to soak and a magazine until the docs had no emergent patients to take care of or a PA had time to suture or steristrip her.

 

[Piel]

guess that those of you who think Navka should have taken the test would be perfectly willing to do so yourself if the situation had arisen. This must mean you have nice active healthy bladders and deft fingers so that you can undo complicated snaps with a bloodied hand. Count your blessings!

Have had to do harder tasks with much more physical disability and continue to do so everyday without whining about it and using injury to get out of doing something.. The sicker I get the more determined I am to refuse to give in to illness. Maybe that's why I have so little patience for perfectly healthy people who freak out over a little booboo.

 

[Mafke]

No my beef is with her.

Because she followed the judgment of the official in charge of making such decisions? She should have overruled the relevant officials? You are certainly hard to please.

 

[Piel]

Mafke, I am But seriously do you not get my point regarding not wanting to have any suspicion of impropriety hanging over her? As I understand it she could have chosen to stay and take the test but asked that Roman be tested instead. I'm saying that if I had been in her situation that's what I would have done to avoid anyone coming back and accusing me of whatever. I would not have wanted to take any chance of something keeping me from that OGM. She has more trust in the system than I.

 

[Mafke]

Mafke, I am But seriously do you not get my point regarding not wanting to have any suspicion of impropriety hanging over her? As I understand it she could have chosen to stay and take the test but asked that Roman be tested instead. I'm saying that if I had been in her situation that's what I would have done to avoid anyone coming back and accusing me of whatever. I would not have wanted to take any chance of something keeping me from that OGM. She has more trust in the system than I.

A. I don't much care about doping, I don't see that much difference between most of the drugs and computerized training aids etc. The athletes are all adults and if they want to play russian roulette with steroids that's their problem, I don't really care (But then I don't care about most of the results in sports where it's a problem). This may be a moral failing of mine, but there it is.

B. Even if I did, is there any important history of doping in figure skating? The only two cases I've ever heard of were long ago (Klimova in a case that just sort of went away, she must not have been found guilty of anything because she was in the olympics soon after), Bereznaya (again, more of a mix up about over the counter remedies than anything else, they weren't sanctioned in any meaningful way past one competition).

D. Even if I thought doping was a problem with figure skating I don't like the urine sampling brigade. They seem to have gotten a taste of power and enjoy using it far too much. See the case of Kyoko Ina, you might think strangers showing up at your house at 10.00 at night in the off season to collect your urine is appropriate, I don't.

C. Unlike the ISU I hold the officials to higher standards of conduct than the athletes. Once the relevant official made a decision I'm not going to blame the athlete for following it.

 

[Piel]

Mafke I agree. But I would be so afaid they would come back and say I refused even after they OK'd it ..I would not put my faith in the ISU officials at all.

 

[Mafke]

..I would not put my faith in the ISU officials at all.

You do have an excellentpoint there.

 

[Vash01]

The drug tests are not a simple thing. David Peltier explained it in greater detail on Olympic Ice. The skater has to be escorted, they have to pretty much completely disrobe and show themselves, front and back, to prove that they aren't hiding a prepared sample. Then they have to fill the cup to a certain level while being observed by a stranger. If they can't fill the cup to the line (and this seems like it could quite easily happen due to the amount of perspiration they expend during their perfomances), then the skater has to sit there and wait - up to 6 hours. And they can't just drink a bunch of water because that will dilute the urine.

Being as Navka clearly could not spend up to 6 hours hanging out waiting for her bladder to fill and be emptied, it seems perfectly plausible that she would be excused from the drug test that time. Also, they can't just do the drug test at the hospital since there would be too much opportunity for a someone to slip a vial of prepared urine to them to use instead of making fresh stuff of their own.

My husband is a truck driver and is subject to random drug tests. They aren't quite as strict with him as they are with the athletes (for example, he doesn't have to completely disrobe) but he has complained about having to hang around for quite some time until he can make enough to fill the cup to the line.

I guess that those of you who think Navka should have taken the test would be perfectly willing to do so yourself if the situation had arisen. This must mean you have nice active healthy bladders and deft fingers so that you can undo complicated snaps with a bloodied hand. Count your blessings!

Linny

Thank you for explaining this in detail.

Vash

 

[RubyNV]

Just a thought...

It's so interesting to see Platov and Zhulin together in the Kiss and Cry!!
If they can get along, with their history, then Barbara and Maurizio should be the very best of friends!!!

 

[Dibs]

Ouch. Maybe I am misunderstanding all of his comments and blowing some out of proportion, but Platov sounds like he is really patronizing B&A. He did have nice things to say about them in his defense and I don't disagree with his statement that B&A need more polish, but that part where he says they're a nice couple I can imagine him patting B&A on the head, pinching their cheeks, and sending them off to spin some pretty little circles. And the part where other countries need medals too, sounds like medals for non-Russian teams are merely gifts so the Russians can have some competitors. Seriously, has he forgotten the general consensus is that the great ice dancing pair ever, Torvill & Dean, were British.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

A. I don't much care about doping, I don't see that much difference between most of the drugs and computerized training aids etc. The athletes are all adults and if they want to play russian roulette with steroids that's their problem, I don't really care (But then I don't care about most of the results in sports where it's a problem). This may be a moral failing of mine, but there it is.

B. Even if I did, is there any important history of doping in figure skating? The only two cases I've ever heard of were long ago (Klimova in a case that just sort of went away, she must not have been found guilty of anything because she was in the olympics soon after), Bereznaya (again, more of a mix up about over the counter remedies than anything else, they weren't sanctioned in any meaningful way past one competition).

D. Even if I thought doping was a problem with figure skating I don't like the urine sampling brigade. They seem to have gotten a taste of power and enjoy using it far too much. See the case of Kyoko Ina, you might think strangers showing up at your house at 10.00 at night in the off season to collect your urine is appropriate, I don't.

C. Unlike the ISU I hold the officials to higher standards of conduct than the athletes. Once the relevant official made a decision I'm not going to blame the athlete for following it.

:banging: