The part I can't get over is in the midst of her meltdown (I feel for her, she's a teenager, but that's what it was), when Eteri tried to hug her, she pushed her away and yelled "You knew about everything!" Why aren't more people talking about those specific words??
@@joanneolsen5635 exactly! Why aren't there tons of articles written about this? Why hasn't Christine Brennan tweeted/written about the fact that Trusova said something likely very damming?
@@isabellao18 because they are all worried abt exploitation for this girl and saying she is showing bad sportsmanship when it seemed like she was clearly more frustrated abt something a lot more than just getting second place.
And rather than focus on the negative, I'll focus on the good things. Seeing Kaori win bronze & her reaction to finding out she medaled was PURE JOY and left me misty eyed.
Yeah it was literally one of the only redeeming features of this very surreal (and often quite disturbing) women’s event. We’ve had our fair share of emotional drama during the conclusion of the women’s event at each Olympics, from the 2018 heartbreak of Evgenia watching her younger teammate take the gold, to 2014’s controversial conclusion with Sotnikova winning (and the cameras following her as she ran to hug the Russian judge) to the 2002 results with images of an elatedly crying and screaming Sarah Hughes & her coach in a state of stunned celebration interposed with the images of the devastated favorites Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya, but the conclusion of this years event was just more surreal and emotionally draining then any i can recall seeing before.
And at her second Olympics too. Wakaba was an empress, and Liu looked like she was really enjoying herself and embracing her youth. Loved Young You’s passion - clearly inspired by her compatriot Kim Yu Na, and even though she fell, Bell just absolutely having the time of her life. These women are inspiring because of their persistence, personality, and absolute love for what they do, despite the knowledge that they wouldn’t win.
Me too. She was the only one geniunely enjoying the flower ceremony. The gold medallist was feeling empty while the silver was mad as fuck. Kaori was just happy to be there holding up her flag 🇯🇵
0:17 Feelings after the event 1:12 Anna Shcherbakova 2:58 Doping 13:47 What this means for teenage athletes 16:10 Tutberidze technique 18:40 Sasha Trusova 19:30 Polina's favorite jumpers 21:00 back to Trusova, judging system, Olga Mikutina 26:11 Emotional abuse at Rambo 70, Tutberidze after Valieva's free skate 30:20 Narrative in russian media 34:18 Julia Lipnitskaya 36:28 Scaring the fandom off 39:56 American ladies 45:05 Wakaba Higuchi 47:40 World entries 50:44 Team event, aftereffects of the scandal 56:53 Moment of the event
@@lasylphide-s5j no, I think eteri had told her if she lands 5 quads she would win, and Sasha was injured but eteri said you have to come back and do 5 quads if you want to win, and she did 5 quads but she didn’t win, so she probably said that because she meant you knees I wouldn’t win if I did 5 quads. Just what I’m thinking, if you watch the rest of the video you will know it has nothing to do with kamila
She meant that she was led to expect she would win if she landed five quads. But it actually was not going to be enough. I know people want to create the narrative that it’s about doping but I’ve talked about this with 4 different native Russian speakers including my dad who isn’t a figure skating person and therefore didn’t have any sort of bias and started the conversation in nonleading ways and this is my conclusion.
Even more bizarre but not surprising was Eteri's cold and unmoving response to Kamila. After she collapsed before the entire the world. In what should have been a monumental event for her in her first Olympic competition. She had the nerve to ask the young teenage girl whose career she literally destroyed, why did she give up?
@@TheReneex I would have told her to piss off and walked away. I had a similar thing happen to me. My mom was dying and i was on my phone with my aunt and she was criticizing me I yelled at her some expletives and hanged up. I was so loud with my crying that a security guard at the hospital came by to tell me to be quite. Luckily a case worker and my other aunt were there to help.
@@TheReneex I cannot get over it. She was literally scolding her. Demanding to know why she gave up?! Like that’s not a real question what the heck can she say? She’s 15 she’s had the whole world pressure on her shoulders. She needed a hug or at least a shoulder to cry on and they were so awful to her. The whole thing was just awful and I thought I knew being treated harsh as a kid…
That was definitely the weirdest and saddest Olympic skating event ever. Only Kaori Sakamoto's joy (as well as Alysa's) put a smile on my face. Thank you, Polina, for sharing your insight.
NOT TRUE!!! Nathan Chen skates 10% faster than Trusova! Nathan Chen his jumps Are 17% longer than Trusova's jumps!! STILL WITHOUT POWER OF NATHAN CHEN! ALEKSANDRA TRUSOVA KICK SOME ASS!!! ALEKSANDRA TRUSOVA 5 QUADS JUMPS!! NATHAN CHEN 5 QUADS JUMPS TOO!! ALEKSANDRA TRUSOVA THE REAL RUSSIAN ROCKET!!!!!!!!
Seeing Trusova breakdown after years of abuse and never winning gold's honestly heart breaking and it doesn't help that literal grown ass adults are calling her a brat for it, I truly hope all these girls pack up and leave eteri and seek therapy. I also cannot fathom why certain people would think Trusova and Valieva 'stole' Anna's 'time to shine' these girls are literally breaking down right in front of our eyes and you expect them to get their shit together after everything? some of you lack sympathy and empathy.
Trusova always had a smile on her face, even when she was being yelled at. She has never broken at all - not even after an average performance in the kiss and cry. For her to break like this, this must have been BAD.
I agree I thought it was completely out of character. Also.. it’s the biggest moment of her life.. she was exhausted and it breaks my heart to see people call her out on her reaction. Give her a break..
and kamila never stole anna’s moment. she was sad and crying and that’s totally fine but trusova on the other hand was yelling and blaming everrrhing but herself, that’s what we call attention seeker and poor sportsmanship
I loved Kaori's performances. She skated her SP last, and her performance made me feel that everything will be ok. Then, she had to skate her FP after Trusova, knowing that she doesn't stand a chance against the Russians with their quads. And she nailed it, showing how powerful she is. I am so happy for her!
@@redfloverd112 “Sasha and Anna was just lucky to land those quads too”. Lol. Stop trying to discredit other skaters. Kaori was SO MUCH MORE CONSISTENT than almost every other skater.
It feels like a palate cleanser to have Polina outline all the wrong edges, pre-rotations, etc, AND highlight undervalued skating skills in other skaters in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Anna Shcherbakova absolutely deserves her gold medal. Many had written her off ( including DAVE AND JONATHAN ) but she came back to win a third Russian National, Worlds and now Olympic gold - and they still don’t give her any credit. The mental game is what makes a champion - especially at the Olympics. Anna knew she needed two quads in the Free and she delivered when it mattered most. Afterwards, she had the grace and maturity to refrain from celebrating while her teammates were in pain. What more do you want from her?
No, Kaoti deserves the gold medal. Anna and Sasha have almost certainly been doping too. They were just lucky that the drugs got out of their systems in time.
For her not to have doped. In her case, she never tested positive but it’s quite obvious something is going on. Too many miracle recoveries in short time frames. And the “smelling salts”… all the signs point to her body being quite done at the age of 17.
Yeah, a lady that hasn’t landed a proper Lutz in her entire career, that has HUGE prerotation and under rotation, that jumps with her upper body strength and a swinging arm motion cause otherwise she couldn’t get a quad, that invented the flootz, that has an awful hammer technique for “flips” DESERVES gold. Yeah, she is very artistical and ethereal and good at interpretation but that’s not enough for being an Olympic champion.
I need therapy after this. But, I am so proud of Alysa and Mariah, especially Alysa. Contentment, joy and an unbreakable spirit are more valuable than any medal. I hope her dad is so proud of her. She made me proud. Kaori made me proud. My heart went out to poor Anna. No one to celebrate with when it should have been the happiest moment of her life.
Did you see Alysa's Instagram where she said there was something Sasha was upset about but she ( Alysa) couldn't say. Thoughts on what she was hinting at?
Totally agree with Polina abt how the unfair and flawed judging system has cause so much unnecessary heartbreaks for hardworking skaters and gave those with wrong jump techniques skaters a wrong sense of entitlement. All in all, super happy for Kaori. A bronze medal that felt like GOLD to her.
@@mamasam5180 Good for anna. But honestly please don't hate? Kamilla has been centered around this entire olympics. The pressure of competing. Maybe she gave up because there is no point, she would ruin the podium for every other skater because she knew something was wrong with her being allowed to compete, or the amount of hate. And don't tell me you wouldn't cry when you worked day and night 12 hours, for something for 12 years just for it to miss you by 4 points. Do not put the word tantrum on this situation. Such a level of disrespect for Trusova and Kamilia. Anna did beautiful and I wish she got to celebrate but don't downplay the pain of the other two.
Yes, yes and yes! I was waiting for Russian girls to be marked with wrong or at least uneven edge on their jumps, but "strict" panel didn't notice it somehow 😇
@@hoang-yennguyen5637 it’s not Kamila that I’m feeling upset over. She had every right to her emotions and I can’t say I would have handled it any better. However, Trusova’s tantrum was totally uncalled for. She didn’t win so she blew up. Poor sportsmanship and it took away from her teammates well deserved gold.
I feel so bad for Tuktamysheva, imagine if the judges scored everyone fairly, she is technically one of the best, her 3A is actually 3A when she hits it and her 3L is usually huge and correctly jumped.
My heart broke for Liza, they really did dirty to her so Anna could go. Liza is great to watch, plus real lady among the kids. I also feel so sorry for Mariah Bell, she deserved to be in a team event, don't understand why she wasn't. And, at the end, Trusova... first, they didn't put her in team event, they took her the opportunity to be the first lady to land quad in Olympic. Than after making history once again with 5 quads she was cheated to not win gold. And, lets not forget that Kamila was doped when she won RusNat in front of Sasha. So much injustice. So sad for these 3 ladies. And, I'm even more sad that no1 cares enough to even talk about this. "I hate figure skating!" I don't think I will watch it again.
I feel like so many are forgetting that after months of many saying Anna couldn’t come back or complete quads again she just slammed down two clean programs. She had great musicality, really performed and gave it 110%. She fought for every single element and spin. I wish there had been a few moments to discuss how well she did and her mental fortitude to get through that. Watching her alone after with no one to congratulate her was heart breaking.
Anna is truly the one who breaths soul and emotion even in the lackluster programs of Team Tutberidze, and one who not only fights tooth and nail with what she's given, but (at least on emotional level) elevates the material she's got to work with, in spite what she's denied. There's gonna be an ugly cloud of doping suspicion/assurance where teamT athletes are involved from now on, but despite everything, despite imperfections and raided up scores (and assuming she's clean after all), she's the one deserving the top spot right now overall.
I'm so sad to see how little attention she was given by her coaches, NBC, general media, etc. She is NOT a one-hit wonder. In fact, she accomplished what Med couldn't - clawing back after two years on top to win Olympic Gold. She won Russian Nats three times in the most competitive era EVER in that country. She's a total-package skater who performs and seems to be a real sweetheart. She deserved total glory in this moment she hung on for, not this debacle. I hope she gets as far away from Eteri as possible after this.
@@thesupremediva I wouldn't say that Anna did what Evgenia couldn't. Evgenia lost in a clean duel, while Anna won because Kamila messed up, I'm not saying that she didn't deserve it, but it's clearly not the same thing. It's not like Anna managed to outscore a clear 15 year old in her 3rd year, you know what I mean...
She certainly put more effort in her performance than Sasha, thats true. But she's criminially overscored. They never call her edges. Her skating skills needs refinement. Anyone with eyes wouldnt put her in top 5 PCs specially with how skilled some of the other girls were. I like her, but I just really wish she was judged fairly.
Timestamps in progress: 0:00 Introduction (guest as well, Polina Edmunds, two time national silver medalist) 0:21 Dave asks Polina what the heck we make of the womens competition. Felt dystopian as Dave said. I haven’t personally watched it yet but I saw EVERYTHING on twitter, Instagram, youtube literally my phone was blowing up at work lol. I don’t know how I got anything done lol at work. Edit: I just finished watching the ladies free program. 0:36 Polina’s reaction and response to Dave’s question. Lots of tears (Kaori, Sasha, Kamila, all for different reasons of course). 1:14 Anna Shcherbakova winning and it took 5-7 minutes for someone (other than Kaori) to congratulate her. She looked lost 2:03 Polina responding to Jonathan’s question. She was speaking about her 2015 4CC win 2:28 Eteri finally congratulating Anna, her initial question was why didn’t you do the quad lutz 😂😂😂 wow 3:01 Polina making headlines about something she spoke about the JGPF, it was in her podcast and she mentioned something that had happened in the locker room. Some sort of bottle with liquid in it, that’s highly suspicious. In retrospect I am glad that Polina is bringing awareness to this. Mentioned the warmup and how odd it was. She said in the last year something fishy has been going on, I couldn’t agree more Polina. 5:48 Jonathan asking to clarify whether these program enhancers are more for long term or short term effects. More likely or not they are used for training to do all of these insane jumps. 6:19-8:41 Polina responding to Jonathan’s question. A skater doesn’t need drugs. Polina goes more into skating doping, it’s highly interesting in what she has to say. Skating doping is endurance doping. Mentioned meldonium. Insane run-throughs at Sambo70. Long term drug use effects. Dave continues with his points after Polina starting at 8:42, mentioned various methods used (lack of eating, dehydration, etc) Polina continues with this topic again picking up from what Dave had mentioned at 9:10 (Polina mentioned her drug tests and what goes on during these tests and the oddity of how long it takes and how odd it is that Russian skaters said they don’t drink water, which is alarming in it of itself). 10:22 Scandal bringing things to light, most amount of coverage at the Olympics 10:39 Dave reading about something on Xenon gas 11:19 Dave brings up the Anna Shcherbakova 2021 Russian Nationals “smelling salts” 11:37 3 substances found in Valieva (Trimetazidine, and two other heart drugs, All three drugs were heart medications of which only TMZ is banned). 11:49 Polina mentioned that it should be fair to investigate the rest of Eteri’s camp and legitimacy as well.
So glad you covered the pre-jump rotations and posture, landings, etc. I’ve been complaining about this for a few years now. I really think that dropping compulsories was a great disservice to our beloved sport. The classic edges and beauty of our sport is now living in a bygone era. Very sad.
Aren’t ALL of you forgetting Tara Lipinski that wrecked her body at FIFTEEN doing triple/triples just to beat Michelle Kwan, and NEVER SKATED AGAIN due to injury??? I know no doping was involved, but she, with that small frame and pushing herself at every practice to do these multiple jumps that were unheard of then…..it’s kind of the same. A tiny fifteen yr old wrecks her body for one moment of glory? It’s the SAME with Eteri - she wrecks their bodies, then discards them. From what I understand, Tara has problems to this day. In Tara’s case it was her MOTHER! Do you not recall the media strife Tara’s mother created? I do. She was a monster, pushing her daughter, and Tara never skated again, due to injury and repetition triple combos.
That's right....mainly due to her famous 3Lo/3Lo combos. Also Tara made 3/3 almost mandatory to win in 1997.....similar to Sasha pioneering the eimens quads. In 1996 u cud get away with a nice 3/2 and 5-6 other triples
Exactly like Tara is shaming the Russian teenagers but she doesn’t realize the exact same thing happened to her like the Russians still competed but Tara right after the Olympics was done with skating like she needs to think about what she did
@Nathaniel Walker you are right about the anatomical predisposition....I've known athletes with cam or pincer deformities that result in labral tears after just skating or running 10 hrs/week. That's not enough skating to get one to Nationals.
For the record, fans have been pissed about the 180-270 degrees pre-rotation on the jumps for YEARS yet the ISU refuses to do anything about it. They put a rule in that mentions pre-rotation but it's never been enforced otherwise half of the skaters in the field would be in trouble as most can't do a jump without 90 degrees pre-rotation or less. For some reason pre-rotation is completely ignored while under-rotation is heavily penalized. It's basically the same thing: one is cheating the jump on the landing, the other is cheating on the takeoff. It all amounts to the same thing: rotation not completed in the air.
Worst part of that is that the rule in question is exclusive to Toe Loops to prevent toe axels which are much easier to spot with the naked eye than the current pre-rotation trend going on. It's also incredibly stupid they can only review landings in slow-motion and not the take off. Which is utter bullshit if you ask me. Like you said, whether it's a cheated take-off or landing or even both, the rotation is not done in the air. Allowing to review take-off would also help in spotting wrong entry edges. And even if it's a glaring obvious edge violation Eteri students do not get punished. See Medvedeva who has gotten world records that wouldn't be records if she had been judged correctly.
Up until now skating’s drama has had a TMZ humor. But that was abusive and nauseating to watch this week. I don’t think Kamila or anyone would fully recover from that trauma. Difficult to support the sport at this point.
Agreed. Stuck with this sport through Harding/Kerrigan, 2002, drama, more drama and more again. But this another thing. Utterly heartbreaking & scarring for the girls and nothing short of criminal abuse by the adults (ie Eteri basically). It makes me almost ill to think about it. Part of me wants to say but it’s a beautiful sport, but if there is no punishment for this crime and if they get away with it then I will just entirely stop supporting the sport at a competitive level. But I will continue to support SOI (and similars) because that’s something else entirely, for a great cause & great people involved.
All the gossip and things are entertaining when it comes to stuff like Harding because fully grown women are in control of their own decisions. They have agency that allows us to criticize them when they're wrong, empathize with them when they make a mistake and support them when they're right. Invest in them. Right now there's hardly any of that because you have a bunch of scared and unsupported children competing at the Olympics and being forced to grow up before they're meant to. Drugs and feeling like you're replaceable before you're even an adult. Immense pressure and all eyes on you. Yikes. I really hope they follow through on increasing the age limit. I agree with Polina that it won't solve everything but I believe that adults and older teenagers are able to handle the pressure better and are less impressionable. And beyond that, it would help prevent improper technique since adult skaters wouldn't be able to skate well like that anyway. And that in turn would make it so that skaters have longer careers and train for the long term, not just one and done.
It's relieving to hear other Olympic athletes call out the atrocious technique, off coaching style, and the evidence of doping among Eteri's athletes. Thank you.
Help us make sense of it all Dave. What on earth did we witness today? When Sarah Hughes won the Olympics, images of JOY. When Tara won the Olympics, images of ELATION. What we saw today were images fit for A FUNERAL.
@@bobababy6089 She's feeling empty because her "friends," that is her "teammates" who she skates with day in and day out are not supporting her. I just felt like Trusova was a combination of a bully/spoiled brat/sore loser - can you imagine being Anna trying to process all that. I hope someone is there to support Anna as well.
Polina is dead on - it should be noted ALL of this happened alongside the Sochi doping scandal, in which the skaters had less scrutiny placed on them than other athletes. Then this explosion of technical content happens like it's never been seen before, completely localized in one location. This week, we went from celebrating the first ever quad in ladies Olympic history to 5 in one program all in the same competition.
Excellent discussion guys, and I really enjoy hearing Polina speak. She’s honest, straight forward and explains the technical side of things. I thought it was very important what she was saying about young athletes’ health and the risks for clean athletes trying to keep up with this quad revolution. I think all of us are only beginning to understand this. There’s a reason only one country and one skating club has achieved this. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Righttt ppl r so focused on the fact the she “showed bad sportsmanship” than the fact that this girl just did something never done or even attempted in ladies figure skating. She has worked so hard. It hasn’t been working so hard for her but she kept trying. (Sad the 3A didn’t work out again) but I rlly fail to see how one can actually this Sasha was also being dopped she is the only who seems to rlly know what she wants in this sport rather than looking like a puppet for a coach.
Kamila's childhood, reputation, and dreams were totally shattered and she looked absolutely decimated herself, with her coach laying it on thick without giving her space to breathe. Sasha was shouting backstage and flipping the bird on the podium. Anna won Olympic gold and felt empty, with no support. Meanwhile, Daria is skating on a broken hip, and Aliona has fractured her other arm. Maya has all but disappeared. At the same time, ISU officials did everything they could to deprive (mainly Asian) skaters of their rightful scores, and an incompetent CAS fed us all a lie and created a platform for a skater to suffer truly irreparable harm on a global scale. What a total shit-show, and such an injustice to all the skaters. Cancel the bitch, Eteri should be behind bars, as should all her cronies. Also can't wait to hear this episode!
I'm so proud of Wakaba, Kaori, Alysa, Mariah, You (just to name a few) for skating out there and exemplifying the joy of skating (which I think we all NEED to see right now)! So glad I watched them. I couldn't watch the entire event as I'm appalled by the authorities' decisions, but I did analyze the score sheet, compared it with the scoring rules, consulted skatingscores, and concluded that it's the typical bs scoring of boosting certain skaters while burying others, as per usual (am glad Scott's show honed in on this judging issue). Edit P.S. I saw some people sharing that Wakaba isn't invited to the gala. I am in denial and I'm hoping that this is just a mistake.
I was watching Olga Mikutina's SP and thought "wow that girl has some skating skills and interesting choreo, and oh my she is performing the heck out of it" and she didn't even get 30. I was so happy Polina mentioned her!
She had a unique Short program that surprised me. If she weren't so underscored...well. Hopefully, with the Russians out of competition at the moment, she can be scored correctly and maybe even make top 10 at Europeans!
The bronze medalist was ecstatic and proud of their accomplishment (and rightfully so) and was moved to tears. The Silver Medalist was angry that she wasn't awarded the winner and was full of tears. Valieva could not handle the immense amount of pressure that was on her and she struggled and was full of tears of heartbreak. The winner was alone and had NOBODY to be there for her or to celebrate her accomplishment. She looked hesitant and unsure of what emotion she was allowed to exhibit. Thankfully after 6 minutes Sergei Dudakov swung by and gave her a hug. Such a bizarre day.
@@dannyfromthebay2940 Yes she did say that, among other things, such as “It’s impossible!” etc etc. At the interview she said she thought what she delivered was enough to win gold, but it wasn’t.
It indeed looked like it took a while before anyone congratulated Anna. Eteri and Danny G were in the KnC with Kamila and Dudakov was dealing with Trusova. What a terrible situation for literally everyone involved.
@@sapphire22011 she behaved like someone who was really frustrated after years of always coming second and third in major competitions in her senior years still came second in the Olympics even after doing something never done in ladies figure skating. And the camera man continuing following her when she clearly wanted to be alone and was moving more and more to a corner….the exploitation. And non of them seem to care enough to cover some of her words. Her towards Eteri “you knew everything” it was so clear she was frustrated as well with something more than just getting second place
at least zagitova shed tears of joy after she found out she won. shcherbakova just looked completely out of it. yet again, kaori was the happiest skater of the night
Anna (TO ME) looked like she said to her self “ all of this for this ? “ “This” being = not eating for weeks not drinking , abuse and abuse for this ? have you ever worked so hard for something and got it and realized it wasn’t what you thought it would be…. Just my take.
@@keelykova She was shell-shocked because Trusova was bitching about how she should have won. It was impossible for Anna to be happy in that moment. Put yourself in your shoes and your teammate is saying she should have won (meaning that you didn't deserve to win). How would you have felt? This demonization of Shcherbakova is ridiculous.
Kaori, Wakaba, You. They made me cry with their performances. When I realized that Kaori had made it, I even screamed. They were the Olympic moment I wanted and needed. Thanks for another great recap!
Polina should do the commentary for TV broadcasts during championships. She has a very clear, straightforward way of explaining things without any 'fluff'. Easy to understand for enthusiasts and laymen, alike.
THAT is why I was SO happy for Anna. Because in some way it was really truly an f you moment to Eteri and Sambo. They had distanced themselves, absolutely, but this girl is the reigning world champ. She couldn’t land as many quads as she did two years ago so she was no longer the Eteri it girl. She is reaching the Eteri expiration. And then she wins. It artistry won over their technical. And it was suchhhhh a slap in the face for Eteri and I was HERE FOR IT.
how is it a slap in the face for eteri that her skater won gold??? 😭 the same skater who is also probably on the same drug cocktail as kamila (smelling salts lmao) and who she payed the judges to ignore literally all her issues.
Around 37:00 Omg when Jonathan was talking about loving the sport but when Eteri's students came, he sort of had to convince himself that he should appreciate them... YES. When I was 8 years old, I saw figure skating for the 1st time on TV and I immediately fell in love. When I see Yelim Kim, Wakaba Higuchi and Kaori Sakamoto skate, those are the moments I recognize the same sport I fell in love with all those years ago.
I just don’t know how we get everyone on the page of stressing good technique and not chasing early/young success. As a whole sport - the governing bodies, the rules, the whole emphasis has been on chasing the Russians. We have turned every level of the sport on its head to focus on risk taking at younger ages. I have tried to argue this over the last several years and gotten nowhere. And. here. We. Are.
It's a shame that a sport that is in my blood that I've been called cultivating my entire life is turned into a shit show. They have to change the age rule it's called senior ladies not senior children.
I won't have time to watch right now, but I wanted to share some thoughts on the free skate. My little highlights were Ekaterina moving up through half the ranks to finish twelfth with a clean free. Mariah fighting for her jumps and delivering a heartfelt Hallelujah. Yelim creating a beautiful moment with her Turandot program. Alysa, Wakaba, and Young landing their 3as and delivering (mostly) clean and enjoyable performances. Sasha achieving her goal of landing five quads. Kaori having the skates of her life in both the short and the free and becoming an olympic medalist. Apart from that, it was quite troubling. I'm sad for Kamila, because whether the doping test and/or her crumbling under pressure were orchestrated or not, she was forced to let go of her Olympic dream and the chance to deliver her best. I'm sad for Sasha who must have worked so hard to land all her quads only to realise it still wasn't enough to win. I'm sad for Anna because she may well feel unable to properly celebrate her win because her teammates are utterly devastated, not to mention all the talk that's been going on about whether she even deserved to go and how she's overscored.
Me too. Feeling the same as you do, I'm really sorry for the Russian sportsmen, who literally mark the history of female figure skating. Their well-being should be taken seriously and I sincerely hope that they can still maintain their friendships, for Sasha and Anna. Thank you, Kamila, Anna and Sasha, and a great thanks to all the other athletes, bringing us unforgettable performances and showing the spirits of Olympics. (especially Mariah...I was so touched)
@@angy.litvin No, I've actually never even been in Russia, although I would like to visit someday. I have lived most of my life right next door in Finland though :)
@@nctandtheirjollyenglishuncles you're welcome. Russia is defferent. Somewhere is hot and sometimes is cold in the north. And I live on the Black sea coast )))
As a former athlete, I'm sick to my stomach. You work most of your life for the most important competition of your life...to have your life's work tarnished in a week of scandals and dreams dashed in 5 minutes...at 15 years old. It's crushing...
I agree! And how she admitted that some of the american ladies may have been over or underscored. It shouldnt matter about the country. Just the skating
Yeah I really like her. Some people might find her too blunt or something but even if I might sometimes differ in my opinion from her I’ve always found her to justify her viewpoint logically and therefore respect her perspective.
In defense of the viewers, the reason people are calling for an age raise is because the CAS has set a precedence that underage athletes can be excused from doping rules. The general population doesn't want unfairness due to doping. We don't understand about pre-rotation or edges. But, we want skating and the Olympics to be a level playing field and we want fair judging.
It bothers me how people don’t understand how eteri failed so many of her Athletes. Trusova deserves better choreography- compared to last season under plushenko- this season bland choreography shows how they underestimate her. Plushenko challenged her- for her- with beautiful combination of quads and choreography. She has the potential- but turberzie just wants to ‘play it safe’ for the sake of her own reputation. Under plushenko her landings were smoother and less strained. Trusova has had it, and the only reason she went back to turebeize is becuase she knows she’ll be extremely underscored in Russia like she was last season. She had a whole mental break down, not a rant, but something that has been building up for a while, bottling up her emotions go the point where she couldn’t mentally take it. She didn’t have her mental support of her mom and dogs and it shows even more how her coaches then failed to even make up for that mental support. Trusova should’ve stayed with plushenko- her technique was better and her choreography was better. Her coaches give her nothing to allow her to show artistry- don’t blame the athlete- blame the coach who has lost respect for the sport and her own athlete as she’s not focused on letting trusova succeed like she wants to, but to keep her own reputation in the federation. Also I fucking hate how people pass the obvious red flag of how trusova pushed away from her coaches every time they tried to touch/hug her. The only coach she looked in the eyes while she was crying was the blond haired one- Dudakov- she has had it with eteri and it breaks my heart about how the coaches have failed these athletes and keep on getting away with it because all people do it put the blame on the athletes.
Danny G has an ego and thinks he can choreograph and teach artistry and that’s not the case. Sasha deserved a dance coach or ballerina teacher or consultant to bring more out of her. She’s a powerhouse but we know a skater must be both technical and artistic. TT always put her last and even tell her to hold back so I’m glad she said FU ima do 5 quads! They never believe in her. To me that silver is highly earned she’s amazing jumper. The meltdown was good and she needed to put TT in their place. I really hope she leaves them for good and maybe takes a season break.
@@sk83rEmo I don't think that's necessarily true. She made the World Team and won bronze with inflated PCS under Plushchenko. It would have been a gag if Trusova did multiple quads at Nationals under AOP and was left off the team for say, Khromykh. While I agree you're right that her chances were much better under Eteri, I don't think she would have had no shot at all under Plushchenko. JMO.
All three of the girls had breakdowns in different ways. What is supposed to be the pinnacle of figure skating seemed like their worst nightmare. It was truly the worst ladies event i think in the history of the sport. Hopefully this will be the wakeup call that the ISU needed to make changes.
Dave I've been watching for a long time and I think this was one of your best, most informative episodes. Polina was excellent and I'll have to start following her podcast, assuming I still want to hear anything about this sport ever again after this event! Love to all 3 of you.
Agree, Polina was articulate and enlightening on all the technicalities and in her experience as a competitor. Excellent. Much as I adore Sandra, she said herself she hasn't watched anything for years, so added little. The Dance edition was disappointing.
I had to remind myself when I was watching all these skaters melting down, that I was watching a real sporting event and not a television dramatization or a "reality" show. It was wild.
As someone who works with teens it was giving me normalcy and regular teen drama. If these were 30 year old women it would have been a perfect episode of reality television, but in knowing their age it was understandable. Hate to say it but drug use was actually safer than what some teens are doing.
What a treat to have Polina, with her forthrightness, her experience skating in the context of the Eteri skaters, her poise..... All of it, the whole package. Thanks, guys!
I find this interview one-sided and confusing. Polina is criticizing techniques of Russian skaters and at the same time many specialists are praising them. Who is correct? It would be interesting to have several experts with different opinions. 2. Polina talked about injuries and that Eteri's skaters end up their careers early due to injuries as a result of incorrect techniques. At the same time, Polina retired very early due to injury herself and according to her, her technique was perfect. Lastly, nothing was said about the winner of olympic games, Anna, and her performance. Why?
@@curtisdalrymple42 she was just being bitter because she never won even 5% of what those 3 girls did. So if she wanted to express her professional opinion, she should have started with some recognition of their skills, stamina and hard work. But the only thing she did was criticizing. She herself under-rotated good 50% of her triple jumps. Too bad her PERFECT technique and her mother lessons didn’t help her with that.
When I saw the report from volunteers tonight that Sasha didn’t leave with her team, had to stay alone in the arena and be dragged back later, I lost the little stability and hope I didn’t even know I still had. I hope someone has Anna and Kamila. Someone who isn’t Eteri or Gleikhengauz. Anyone.
On a “lighter” note, that led to the discovery that the chinese refer to Eteri as “noodle hair”. I think David Spletnikov should adhere to the pet name. (Mother Gothel still my favorite though)
@@TTran-ti3uy The volunteers didn’t specify, they only said she did not want to leave with her team. I guess her mind was still reeling from everything that happened or maybe she just couldn’t stand being around those people. Probably both?
Thank you Dave and Jonathan for having Polina, it was wonderful!!! I was totally captivated for the whole 59 minutes...wow...problem is I'm on the West coast and couldn't stay that late (3-5am) and I didn't see any of the performances, but I'm so glad I could hear your takes. Hope that NBC or the Olympic channel will post them, as I wanted to watch all the skaters. Very good job, and thank you so much to all of you! 🌻🌺🌼
I saw Kurakova's performance, wonderful , You Young's very nice, Kaori, very nice and Anna's very nice, too. I saw Kamila's and i still think it would've been great if she was withdrawn after the testing cam positive, rhather than crashing her in front of the world, no 15yo, can whistand such a pressure and scrutiny...how sad, and I'm so sorry they did this to a 15yo kid...
I saw Kurakova's performance, wonderful , You Young's very nice, Kaori, very nice and Anna's very nice, too. I saw Kamila's and i still think it would've been great if she was withdrawn after the testing came positive, rather than crushing her in front of the world; no 15yo, can whistand such a pressure and scrutiny...how sad, and I'm so sorry they did this to a 15yo kid...so sorry for Kamila :-(
Very true, Alysa will never have M.K.s. power, consistency and out of this world physical presence, let's face it, nobody ever will, but everything else was there for all to see. The joy, the beauty and the happiness and joyfulness she projected inside the arena and all skating fans watching was all inherently Kwan in its beauty and magic. I dare say she made me drop a tear or two watching her. Definately the highlight skates for me alongside Anna, Wakabe and You.
I think there is a lack of African-American Ladies in figure skating. Now this sport is pure racism. We need to kick out all these russians and replace them with African Americans Ladies!
I’m so proud of Anna. She’s always written off in conversations and ALWAYS comes out skating her best at the right time. I’m glad I picked her as my child just like Dave 😂😂
LMAO not he did not picked her. He was saying she was done after her second Nationals win and after Worlds said that it was her consolation prize for her to disappear quietly? Her win is biggest FUCK OFF to Dave.
@@SamKreinberg Yeah it is funny how they want to prove so badly they chose Anna lol. Everyone wrote her off in the past 1 year. One thing is for sure, never underestimate Anya. Although it is true she would not have won without the doping scandal, because Kamila was much more the favorite for the gold.
Thank you, TSL and Polina, for drilling down to the real issue--the elevated scoring of bad & potentially injurious technique. Inconsistent and flat-out WRONG judging continues as the core issue underlying all of this mess.
I gradually stopped watching the ladies events over the last 4 years. It always feels the same- Russian skaters are shamefully over scored for imbalanced and uninteresting programs, bad technique and little artistic merit. And lately this is happening in ice dance and pairs. If this trend continues, I will not have any skating to enjoy
@Kirsten Kelly l know--I have been disheartened by the ongoing imbalance in scoring and I agree with you that it it has crossed over to all the disciplines.
My favorite moment was Young You's LP performance and her emotional reaction when she finished. Besides being one of my favorite skaters and having my favorite jumps in the competition with such aesthetic air position and beautiful flow, I was really happy to see her go clean to my mind after her mistakes at the 4CC's whie being the tallest woman I know of to land the triple axel. It was a great comeback and really heartwarming.
Yes! Glad she mentioned Gubanova! She is a notch above even Valieva in some ways. Her cross-overs are so much more effortless than any of Eteri's girls.
@Nathaniel Walker Components is a pretty vague term.. All i know is that her skating quality is beautiful to watch. I know i'm supposed to be gaga over Valieva's extensions and her jump rotations, but her cross-overs are jerky and just the way she moves across the ice doesn't do anything for me. It's all kind of rickety looking. With all the 'wow' it doesn't wow.
Nearly 12 hours after watching the free skate, I still can't get over what I saw. So emotionally disturbing. That poor girl. They completely threw her to the wolves. I sure hope someone / her family in Russia, is waiting for her and will take loving care of her when she arrives home. ISU better take some action. If they don't, they are promoting & approving child abuse. Just disgusting & disturbing. The way Eteri was admonishing her....😳😳😳. What was that?!?!!
Believe me. All normal figure skating fans in Russia hate Eteri. For everything she did to the girls we rooted for. Broke, destroyed, crushed. And we hope that her coaching end is very soon. I'm from Russia, but I was madly rooting for Nathan and Kaori. I'm glad they did their best.
@@laynaribeiro3248 , I watched it at 4am CST this morning on the Peacock network live feed. The ending coverage, after the skating was over, was the saddest thing I have ever seen😢😢😢
@@tassietagarelli8905 I was more upset about it then what happened in pairs 20 years ago. What was the big deal then a overrated pair didn't get gold. I never seen anything like it after a skating competition and I've been a fan since 94.
I feel like I only see the Russian skating I also grew up loving in Pairs. Like Tarasova, her foot never leaves the ice in ANY move without a perfect point and a beautiful straight, extended leg!
As a viewer, I have never experienced anxiety watching a competition like this. When I was a kid, I would get nervous for my favourites but this was just pure discomfort as an adult. 8 watched to see Wakaba's Lion King. Even with the fall on the triple 3t, she was so pure and light
Alysa is at 7th, Mariah is at 10th, Karen is at 16th at Olympics. Polina, do you know Math? Alysa beats Karen for almost 30 points at Olympics. Alysa, Mariah and Karen are at the same level? Based on your logic. Kaori, Sasha and Karen Chen are also at the same level then.
Also, maybe you go bring Dorothy Hamil into this discussion. At one of the world championships, she was booed, and Dorothy was under the impression that they were booing HER. It was unprecedented at the time, but Carlo Fassi was able to pull Dorothy together after a quick second off the ice. The referee allowed her time to pull herself together and she went out and skating brilliantly. I do think Valieva could have still pulled it out a win, but she would have needed the MIND of a Shcherbakova. THIS is why I said Shcherbakova was going to win ANYWAY. Even if Valieva was not here, and it was Elizabeta or even Kosternia, niether one of them have the same mental iron will as Shcherbakova. I have said this over and over, to win against ALL of these girls THREE TIMES (at Russian Nationals where the pressure is of an Olympic nature) - that means you are made a steel. If Eteri was smart she would have Anna share with everyone how to deals with pressure. I'll leave it there. But with the right handling, Valieva could have won. (As things stand now, maybe that was a blessing in disguise she didn't win, because now there may only be one medal that will be stripped [team event] vs. two had she competed she medal in the individual event.)
I teard up for all of them and for sasha too. They told her to jump 5 quads. So she jumped 5 quads. sacrificing her body doing something impossible because they told her you’d win. She didn’t win after breaking her body
I'm sure she might've heard, as a skater, that there are some components called PCS that count, too...she has none, and as Polina mentioned, she did a lot of technical mistakes, too, which were overseen by the technical panel...I hope the ISU will introduce a limit on quads for women, like 1-2 and only in the free, and real emphasis on artistic, otherwise we're going to be forced to see lots of Trusovas, to say the least...
@@Q_from_Star_Trek I’m not saying she should’ve won. I’m saying that what she has been told. She went to plush and became a better well rounded skater but there was no chance for her to go to the olympics, so she went back to eteri who put her on a 5 quad program and apparently told her that what she needs. Which is regarded as an impressive feat and near impossible on a broken foot by every skater who’s relevant (not polina) I wonder if she net picks at US skaters or her own jumps like that. Even if trusova got called out on edges and pre rotations (which isn’t accounted for in scoring) she’d still get an insane tes. US ladies don’t get called out on under rotated triples. I’m not saying trusova’s program is good. I’m talking about the technical elements she preformed, that she was told to do to win regardless of her broken foot, and their extreme difficulty. Only to lose. Anyone would be devastated by that.
I have been stalking TSL ever since the event concluded this morning - which I watched live in utter horror before dawn on the West Coast. So much blame to go around I hardly know who should be at the top of the shortlist, although Eteri’s finger wagging lecture gives her front runner status. Thank you Dave, Jonathan, and Polina!
Eteri and her crew are very much the Karolyis of figure skating. They run that outfit the same way the Karolyis ran their gym in the 80s and 90s, and the way Marta ran the National Team: pitting all of the girls against each other, hounding them about their weight to the point they end up with eating disorders, working them so hard they’re suffering chronic injuries and are driven out of the sport by their late teens. They need to overhaul figure skating. I’d raise the ages for Juniors and Seniors, and they need to get back to figure skating’s roots, emphasizing strong, precise technique and genuine artistry over multiple quads. And they need to really send a message to Russia about the doping, because allowing them to compete under the title ROC - they are making a mockery of the sport, the Olympic Games and making fools out of everyone. But it’s the girls under Eteri who are suffering the most. What are they going to do? Wait until one of her starving, thirsty and possibly doped up skaters collapses and dies because 2 shrimp wasn’t enough to sustain her forever?
Both Karolyis and Eteri are horrible human being. But Karolyis are actually great coach that taught great technique and their athletes lasted beyond puberty and are actually great (not because of political scoring). Both deserve jail time, but I’m not gonna praise Eteri as if her shitty skating technique is comparable to Karolyis gymnastics technique.
I hope this interview gets very broad coverage. It was fascinating (and shocking) to hear Polina Edmunds so carefully describe the technical aberrations of the Russian team--this is something the layperson would never know, and it gives important insight into the strange bias of the judging protocol (or simply the specific judges). Not the first time this kind of thing has been seen--corruption at the Olympics!!--but given how much money and corporate greed are involved in the entire enterprise, none of this is a surprise.
Also, I can't blame Sasha for her meltdown. Yes, it was alarming, no doubt. But this girl has had a lot bottled up. Can you just imagine losing Russian Nationals to your teammate who doped? It is so unfair. Granted, they might all be doping. Still, I would be pissed. Eteri deserved all the chaos she got today. I hope Sasha spills the tea. I would not put it past her dad to defect to the US and train with Raf and then spill the beans.
@@angy.litvin would it be that shocking? They have done it before. If one girl is doing it, there is no reason to believe they all haven't at some point. Considering girls like Aliona are basically old ladies with osteoporosis, I have no doubt they have all been abused with drugs.
As someone who competed in elite-level sport as a child, and as a career asthmatic with shabby natural lung capacity, I can say that even taking a single puff of Ventolin was a no-no. For an asthmatic, the difference between competing with or without Ventolin can be enormous. The only way around this is to build aerobic fitness day in, day out. Not anaerobic fitness like bursts of jumping or spinning, but aerobic fitness through endurance activity like interval running. I'm no medical expert, but Kamila's long program looked like a) an athlete trying to execute beyond their current cardio-pulmonary capacity, or b) an athlete who has been told to go out and throw a routine deliberately. Which doesn't account for the being totally puffed out afterwards - thus making a) the more likely situation.
17:00 I can't agree more with Polina's every comment. The major fault of figure skating basically lies with the judges. It's a tragedy young ROC girls are trying so blindly to make imperfect quadruples.
Great job Dave! Your in-depth analysis of the Kamila Valieva saga/scandel was very informative and insightful. This whole affair I hope brings about major changes in and for Figure Skating, If it doesn't I'm afraid the sport will die or be relegated to an obscure olympic sporting event like Curling.
This is all so sad and repetitive behavior. This happened in Pyeonchang when Evgenia was supposed to win but Alina won and Eteri was too busy consoling Evgenia. Poor Alina was treated like she stole someone’s bike initially by her own coaching team. While they used up Evgenia and Alina and getting the others ready to take their places, the three newcomers, Anna, Alonna and Sacha were pushing the others out. I recall One particular event when Evgenia withdrew from a competition because of injury, Sacha and Alonna laughed and joked about her withdrawal in mean girl fashion. Anna scooted away from them. I always said Sacha was a problem. She thought she was going to win with tech and no artistry and no choreography. Someone told her that and when it didn’t happen, she lost it.
I thought there were so many amazing performances - My favourite was Kurakova! I think she did really well to jump up so many places after the short. She just seems so sweet and bubbly so I can't help but root for her! As to who I think did the *best*... idk, there were so many great performances - I really enjoyed Young's free a lot too, but I think I'm a little biased as Les Mis is my favourite musical :)
With all the drama and scandal, I found myself rooting for and invested in Kurakova (the Polish skater) who was 24th after the short program and managed to rocket all the way up to 12th place after the free skate. I knew there was no shot at a medal whatsoever, but her performance, the way she really just left it all on the ice...for me, that was the shining moment of the free skate, which feels sooo weird! Anyway, that's my 2 cents
In Sasha's case, it was years of built-up emotions (probably from knowing that Anna was more favored, both by the judges and her coaches). There was no right time nor place for that emotion; she needed to let that out for the sake of sanity. She was overscored in her pcs, but hell Anna was overly -overly scored as well. Also, Kaori's pure joy was ❤️❤️❤️
How quick people are to forget that Sasha Trusova won two Junior World titles back to back. All this blathering about her "always being the bridesmaid" is painting such a false narrative with revisionist history that it's almost funny.
I can’t blame trusova for reacting like that after all she is a child also, plus I don’t think we would have seen so many girls trying to jump a quad if it was not for her that show that it was possible, plus not winning even once in 3 years even when her teammates didn’t have the best performance must been very hurtful, always the bridesmaid never the bride, poor child
but that is because she never cared to improve her PCS...she had this belief that the more quads you jump, the better chances to get the gold...i think Polina was right, this was a clear case of mental and emotional abuse...
I fell asleep with the ladies free skate playing in the background (I live in Pacific Time). When I suddenly awoke around 6:30am, I looked at the screen and heard crying from Kaori and saw a sad faced Alexandra and Anna. My first confused thought was... oh did they skate poorly and Kamila is up next? Then kept watching and realized it was the end of the competition... wait where's Kamila?! Then soon realized what had happened and was stunned with the result and how apocalyptic this all felt.
Thanks for being THE journalistic North Star throughout this fiasco, Dave. It's horrifying to think that Eteri's lesson learned from this ordeal is probably: let's focus all of our doping on girls under 16 years old. CAS has basically incentivized unscrupulous coaches to dope their under-16 girls...
I like how Polina is always straight to the point, i don’t really see any prejudice from her, that’s obviously circulating in the Russian media, where the headlines state „they broke her“, “they achieved their goal breaking her”, like maybe we should looking at WHO actually is responsible for that mess? Why a child should withstand all the pressure, while she most definitely not a villain of the story, but a victim. Maybe we should take a look at the wrong narrative that these kids are experiencing, the argument that this is SPORT so you have to compete at any cost and be the best is super weak, the cost of these medals really ruins the initial purpose of the Olympics, there’s only a dirty game left, just scoring for the medals, it gets more and more difficult to pretend that you like this sport that turned into pure corruption.
People really need to consider that different cultures have different mentalities. Two things: 1) i can see why the western world is outraged about Eteri’s words after Kamila’s skate, but it’s really not that bad. Like, her tone saying those words wasn’t in an accusatory manner, it’s basically something a person who cares would say. When it’s translated to English I see how it sounds aggressive. Somehow ppl expect them just to hug for the camera the way maybe Americans would, ignoring the fact that they’re not? 2) Anna looking lost after winning - same thing. In western culture skaters are more independent, paving their way through individually; here - she’s a part of a camp, her teammate just utterly failed, another one, a friend, is having a complete meltdown - she’s not heartless to be celebrating like crazy, she’ll have her whole life to celebrate that. There was not the time! Hope it makes sense I’m not excusing anyone just trying to bring a bit more context, like it’s not as wild as people seem to make of it
Look, as someone who is Russian herself and absolutely understands what you're trying to say, because I grew up within an environment who had this "different" mentality: It's just abuse. There's not so much a difference of mentalities as much as there's generational abuse that has been normalized. I promise you that Valieva wasn't fine when she just got off the ice and Tutberidze had nothing of comfort to say to her. She wasn't any different from a kid from a "western" culture, she was just a child at her most vulnerable moment who immediately needed some reassurance and she didn't get it. At least not from the adults who were responsible for her.
The woman who was talking to Kamila after the game, the one in the OBS patagonia, she was amazing. I could hear her trying to offer comfort to Valieva and it made me cry. I feel like Trusova has been in a pressure cooker and it exploded. As much as it was ugly, also good for her. She let herself have those emotions that she's clearly been keeping in. Anna just standing there looking lost and that broke my heart. She just won the Olympics and is just alone. Kaori, who is precious and must be protected, seem to want to offer more congratulations to Anna than Eteri did! (Also, Kaori just showed the real joy of skating and winning a medal and ugh, that made me cry the happy tears.) I do suspect all of Sambo 70 of doping. That doesn't make them less of teenage girls with real emotions.
I do appreciate your post but completely disagree with Trusova's outburst. NOT good for her. Completely understand the emotions and the release but she behaved inappropriately and showed poor sportsmanship. She is not a 7-year-old.
I thought the same thing. The hero and only support for Kamila at the end was the media liasson who told her it was ok to keep walking and just walk away.
We have a gold medalist who can't even be happy for herself, a silver medalist who is crying and a 15 y.o. child who is absolutely crushed. Is this normal? Who and what is this for? I couldn't even watch it. Tutberidze ruined everything.
What's exactly she ruined for Anna? That she is a Olympic champ? In her interview Anna said sje was happy and felt joy. What's her fault if Sasha was not good enough and not even listen to coaches who told her not to jump 3A? Should Tutberidze give two gold meadals to make everybody happy?
i was crying for kamila before she finished, but when eteri didn't comfort her i started next level rage crying, and when she was in the k&c i had to turn it off.
She did comfort kamila after the event but trying to comfort her right after she got off the ice would make her even more upset. Like when you’re about to cry and someone asks if you’re ok then you start balling. At that time she needed some professionalism and a bit of coldness so she wouldn’t break down in tears in front of the whole world
@@toxic-low-key-ghost7934 Apparently when Kamila just came out of the ice, Eteri was yelling at her saying why did you give up, why didn’t you keep fighting, why did you give up after your triple axel? Which is not the greatest thing to say to a girl who was just absolutely humiliated…
"We will allow Kamila to compete to prevent irreparable damage" - this did not age well
Agreed
She should have pulled out and reminded mentally healthy.
This was a mental health disaster for this young lady. Shame on the adults involved in this. She appears destroyed.
@@tracymetherell8744 ok! do you think it was disaster? thanks for your answer
Yep. The irreparable damage was done today to this poor girl. Shame nobody did the right thing, they failed her.
The part I can't get over is in the midst of her meltdown (I feel for her, she's a teenager, but that's what it was), when Eteri tried to hug her, she pushed her away and yelled "You knew about everything!" Why aren't more people talking about those specific words??
Very alarming!
I like her words, she isn’t lying
@@joanneolsen5635 exactly! Why aren't there tons of articles written about this? Why hasn't Christine Brennan tweeted/written about the fact that Trusova said something likely very damming?
@@isabellao18 because they are all worried abt exploitation for this girl and saying she is showing bad sportsmanship when it seemed like she was clearly more frustrated abt something a lot more than just getting second place.
@@isabellao18 Vox has written about this (the whole article itself was about the conclusion of the women's event, but Trusova's words were there)
And rather than focus on the negative, I'll focus on the good things. Seeing Kaori win bronze & her reaction to finding out she medaled was PURE JOY and left me misty eyed.
She’s the real winner cause she skated clean and deserved her Bronze...
She won the gold, Waksba the silver, young you the bronze. Anything else is delusional
Yeah it was literally one of the only redeeming features of this very surreal (and often quite disturbing) women’s event. We’ve had our fair share of emotional drama during the conclusion of the women’s event at each Olympics, from the 2018 heartbreak of Evgenia watching her younger teammate take the gold, to 2014’s controversial conclusion with Sotnikova winning (and the cameras following her as she ran to hug the Russian judge) to the 2002 results with images of an elatedly crying and screaming Sarah Hughes & her coach in a state of stunned celebration interposed with the images of the devastated favorites Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya, but the conclusion of this years event was just more surreal and emotionally draining then any i can recall seeing before.
And at her second Olympics too. Wakaba was an empress, and Liu looked like she was really enjoying herself and embracing her youth. Loved Young You’s passion - clearly inspired by her compatriot Kim Yu Na, and even though she fell, Bell just absolutely having the time of her life. These women are inspiring because of their persistence, personality, and absolute love for what they do, despite the knowledge that they wouldn’t win.
Me too. She was the only one geniunely enjoying the flower ceremony. The gold medallist was feeling empty while the silver was mad as fuck. Kaori was just happy to be there holding up her flag 🇯🇵
0:17 Feelings after the event
1:12 Anna Shcherbakova
2:58 Doping
13:47 What this means for teenage athletes
16:10 Tutberidze technique
18:40 Sasha Trusova
19:30 Polina's favorite jumpers
21:00 back to Trusova, judging system, Olga Mikutina
26:11 Emotional abuse at Rambo 70, Tutberidze after Valieva's free skate
30:20 Narrative in russian media
34:18 Julia Lipnitskaya
36:28 Scaring the fandom off
39:56 American ladies
45:05 Wakaba Higuchi
47:40 World entries
50:44 Team event, aftereffects of the scandal
56:53 Moment of the event
Thank you!!!!
Thank you
When Trusova said the words “you knew everything”, i got chills in my bones
What did she mean.?
it was an epic fucking tantrum
She meant Tutbarize knew what she had done to kamila and maybe all other girls, giving them drugs and more.
@@lasylphide-s5j no, I think eteri had told her if she lands 5 quads she would win, and Sasha was injured but eteri said you have to come back and do 5 quads if you want to win, and she did 5 quads but she didn’t win, so she probably said that because she meant you knees I wouldn’t win if I did 5 quads. Just what I’m thinking, if you watch the rest of the video you will know it has nothing to do with kamila
She meant that she was led to expect she would win if she landed five quads. But it actually was not going to be enough.
I know people want to create the narrative that it’s about doping but I’ve talked about this with 4 different native Russian speakers including my dad who isn’t a figure skating person and therefore didn’t have any sort of bias and started the conversation in nonleading ways and this is my conclusion.
This event was catastrophic on SO many levels. Heads should roll.
Even more bizarre but not surprising was Eteri's cold and unmoving response to Kamila. After she collapsed before the entire the world. In what should have been a monumental event for her in her first Olympic competition. She had the nerve to ask the young teenage girl whose career she literally destroyed, why did she give up?
Yep total $hit show.
@@TheReneex right?? She was so horrible, I couldn't believe
@@TheReneex I would have told her to piss off and walked away. I had a similar thing happen to me. My mom was dying and i was on my phone with my aunt and she was criticizing me I yelled at her some expletives and hanged up. I was so loud with my crying that a security guard at the hospital came by to tell me to be quite. Luckily a case worker and my other aunt were there to help.
@@TheReneex I cannot get over it. She was literally scolding her. Demanding to know why she gave up?! Like that’s not a real question what the heck can she say? She’s 15 she’s had the whole world pressure on her shoulders. She needed a hug or at least a shoulder to cry on and they were so awful to her. The whole thing was just awful and I thought I knew being treated harsh as a kid…
That was definitely the weirdest and saddest Olympic skating event ever. Only Kaori Sakamoto's joy (as well as Alysa's) put a smile on my face. Thank you, Polina, for sharing your insight.
Agreed
NOT TRUE!!! Nathan Chen skates 10% faster than Trusova! Nathan Chen his jumps Are 17% longer than Trusova's jumps!! STILL WITHOUT POWER OF NATHAN CHEN! ALEKSANDRA TRUSOVA KICK SOME ASS!!! ALEKSANDRA TRUSOVA 5 QUADS JUMPS!! NATHAN CHEN 5 QUADS JUMPS TOO!! ALEKSANDRA TRUSOVA THE REAL RUSSIAN ROCKET!!!!!!!!
Wakaba too.
@@RaineriHakkarainen what
Seeing Trusova breakdown after years of abuse and never winning gold's honestly heart breaking and it doesn't help that literal grown ass adults are calling her a brat for it, I truly hope all these girls pack up and leave eteri and seek therapy. I also cannot fathom why certain people would think Trusova and Valieva 'stole' Anna's 'time to shine' these girls are literally breaking down right in front of our eyes and you expect them to get their shit together after everything? some of you lack sympathy and empathy.
Trusova always had a smile on her face, even when she was being yelled at. She has never broken at all - not even after an average performance in the kiss and cry. For her to break like this, this must have been BAD.
I agree I thought it was completely out of character. Also.. it’s the biggest moment of her life.. she was exhausted and it breaks my heart to see people call her out on her reaction. Give her a break..
@@chelsh8316 not true, by that age you know right from wrong. You know grace thru all that competition for years. You show it HERE at the olympics
@@chelsh8316 just because she “always had a smile on her face” on other comp does NOT give her the right to act ridiculous this time
and kamila never stole anna’s moment. she was sad and crying and that’s totally fine but trusova on the other hand was yelling and blaming everrrhing but herself, that’s what we call attention seeker and poor sportsmanship
I loved Kaori's performances. She skated her SP last, and her performance made me feel that everything will be ok. Then, she had to skate her FP after Trusova, knowing that she doesn't stand a chance against the Russians with their quads. And she nailed it, showing how powerful she is. I am so happy for her!
Kaori was just lucky.
@@redfloverd112 “Sasha and Anna was just lucky to land those quads too”. Lol. Stop trying to discredit other skaters. Kaori was SO MUCH MORE CONSISTENT than almost every other skater.
@@redfloverd112 Kaori was consistent while Trusova & Valieva weren't. And let's not even talk about artistry.
Sasha and Anna technique was horrible compared to Kaori wonderful technique
It feels like a palate cleanser to have Polina outline all the wrong edges, pre-rotations, etc, AND highlight undervalued skating skills in other skaters in such a matter-of-fact manner.
I agree
@spbusei10 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@spbusei10 Well this comment aged poorly. We now have every reason to believe Polina’s account. You’re kind of cringe tbh 🤷♂️
Anna Shcherbakova absolutely deserves her gold medal. Many had written her off ( including DAVE AND JONATHAN ) but she came back to win a third Russian National, Worlds and now Olympic gold - and they still don’t give her any credit.
The mental game is what makes a champion - especially at the Olympics. Anna knew she needed two quads in the Free and she delivered when it mattered most.
Afterwards, she had the grace and maturity to refrain from celebrating while her teammates were in pain. What more do you want from her?
No, Kaoti deserves the gold medal. Anna and Sasha have almost certainly been doping too. They were just lucky that the drugs got out of their systems in time.
For her not to have doped. In her case, she never tested positive but it’s quite obvious something is going on. Too many miracle recoveries in short time frames. And the “smelling salts”… all the signs point to her body being quite done at the age of 17.
@@amethyst5512 if that's the case, it's done with an Olympic gold around her neck and the adulation of her countrymen for the rest of her life 🤷♂️.
Yeah, a lady that hasn’t landed a proper Lutz in her entire career, that has HUGE prerotation and under rotation, that jumps with her upper body strength and a swinging arm motion cause otherwise she couldn’t get a quad, that invented the flootz, that has an awful hammer technique for “flips” DESERVES gold.
Yeah, she is very artistical and ethereal and good at interpretation but that’s not enough for being an Olympic champion.
There was little if any beauty or artistry to this performance. It was entirely cold. 🥶❄️
Thanks for all the content you've put out these past 2 weeks Dave! What we witnessed today was just.....whew chile!
More to come!
I second that - best coverage out there!!
I agree. Dave keeps up this stamina, we may need to request a urine test. Just joking, please! Trying to lighten the darkness of this sadness.
I need therapy after this. But, I am so proud of Alysa and Mariah, especially Alysa. Contentment, joy and an unbreakable spirit are more valuable than any medal. I hope her dad is so proud of her. She made me proud. Kaori made me proud. My heart went out to poor Anna. No one to celebrate with when it should have been the happiest moment of her life.
I love Alyssa! Her smile was so refreshing in such a contentious Olympics and
That was heartbreaking.
Did you see Alysa's Instagram where she said there was something Sasha was upset about but she ( Alysa) couldn't say. Thoughts on what she was hinting at?
@@elizabethburrell4756 hmmmmm…
Is Alysa the one who competed for China in the team competition?
Totally agree with Polina abt how the unfair and flawed judging system has cause so much unnecessary heartbreaks for hardworking skaters and gave those with wrong jump techniques skaters a wrong sense of entitlement.
All in all, super happy for Kaori. A bronze medal that felt like GOLD to her.
I was soo happy for her. And Anna. It’s a shame the other two girls threw such tantrums that they couldn’t even enjoy it.
@@mamasam5180 Good for anna. But honestly please don't hate? Kamilla has been centered around this entire olympics. The pressure of competing. Maybe she gave up because there is no point, she would ruin the podium for every other skater because she knew something was wrong with her being allowed to compete, or the amount of hate. And don't tell me you wouldn't cry when you worked day and night 12 hours, for something for 12 years just for it to miss you by 4 points. Do not put the word tantrum on this situation. Such a level of disrespect for Trusova and Kamilia. Anna did beautiful and I wish she got to celebrate but don't downplay the pain of the other two.
Yes, yes and yes!
I was waiting for Russian girls to be marked with wrong or at least uneven edge on their jumps, but "strict" panel didn't notice it somehow 😇
Kaori - my favorite skater won a medal!! Yay!!!
@@hoang-yennguyen5637 it’s not Kamila that I’m feeling upset over. She had every right to her emotions and I can’t say I would have handled it any better. However, Trusova’s tantrum was totally uncalled for. She didn’t win so she blew up. Poor sportsmanship and it took away from her teammates well deserved gold.
I feel so bad for Tuktamysheva, imagine if the judges scored everyone fairly, she is technically one of the best, her 3A is actually 3A when she hits it and her 3L is usually huge and correctly jumped.
And it's so nice to see someone jump with the strength of their legs, too, not with their upper body.
@@Kareragirl yes!!! Her relaxed upper body 3A position is so amazing
My heart broke for Liza, they really did dirty to her so Anna could go. Liza is great to watch, plus real lady among the kids. I also feel so sorry for Mariah Bell, she deserved to be in a team event, don't understand why she wasn't. And, at the end, Trusova... first, they didn't put her in team event, they took her the opportunity to be the first lady to land quad in Olympic. Than after making history once again with 5 quads she was cheated to not win gold. And, lets not forget that Kamila was doped when she won RusNat in front of Sasha. So much injustice. So sad for these 3 ladies. And, I'm even more sad that no1 cares enough to even talk about this. "I hate figure skating!" I don't think I will watch it again.
If she had any skating skills then maybe but she is just as bad as trusova
@@dorisluka2184 I would suspect that not only Kamilla was doped in Rus Nationals...
I feel like so many are forgetting that after months of many saying Anna couldn’t come back or complete quads again she just slammed down two clean programs. She had great musicality, really performed and gave it 110%. She fought for every single element and spin. I wish there had been a few moments to discuss how well she did and her mental fortitude to get through that. Watching her alone after with no one to congratulate her was heart breaking.
Anna is truly the one who breaths soul and emotion even in the lackluster programs of Team Tutberidze, and one who not only fights tooth and nail with what she's given, but (at least on emotional level) elevates the material she's got to work with, in spite what she's denied.
There's gonna be an ugly cloud of doping suspicion/assurance where teamT athletes are involved from now on, but despite everything, despite imperfections and raided up scores (and assuming she's clean after all), she's the one deserving the top spot right now overall.
I'm so sad to see how little attention she was given by her coaches, NBC, general media, etc. She is NOT a one-hit wonder. In fact, she accomplished what Med couldn't - clawing back after two years on top to win Olympic Gold. She won Russian Nats three times in the most competitive era EVER in that country. She's a total-package skater who performs and seems to be a real sweetheart. She deserved total glory in this moment she hung on for, not this debacle. I hope she gets as far away from Eteri as possible after this.
@@thesupremediva Никогда. Анна предана Этери как никто. Тем более теперь, когда она сделала ее олимпийской чемпионкой.
@@thesupremediva I wouldn't say that Anna did what Evgenia couldn't. Evgenia lost in a clean duel, while Anna won because Kamila messed up, I'm not saying that she didn't deserve it, but it's clearly not the same thing. It's not like Anna managed to outscore a clear 15 year old in her 3rd year, you know what I mean...
She certainly put more effort in her performance than Sasha, thats true. But she's criminially overscored. They never call her edges. Her skating skills needs refinement. Anyone with eyes wouldnt put her in top 5 PCs specially with how skilled some of the other girls were. I like her, but I just really wish she was judged fairly.
Timestamps in progress:
0:00 Introduction (guest as well, Polina Edmunds, two time national silver medalist)
0:21 Dave asks Polina what the heck we make of the womens competition. Felt dystopian as Dave said. I haven’t personally watched it yet but I saw EVERYTHING on twitter, Instagram, youtube literally my phone was blowing up at work lol. I don’t know how I got anything done lol at work. Edit: I just finished watching the ladies free program.
0:36 Polina’s reaction and response to Dave’s question. Lots of tears (Kaori, Sasha, Kamila, all for different reasons of course).
1:14 Anna Shcherbakova winning and it took 5-7 minutes for someone (other than Kaori) to congratulate her. She looked lost
2:03 Polina responding to Jonathan’s question. She was speaking about her 2015 4CC win
2:28 Eteri finally congratulating Anna, her initial question was why didn’t you do the quad lutz 😂😂😂 wow
3:01 Polina making headlines about something she spoke about the JGPF, it was in her podcast and she mentioned something that had happened in the locker room. Some sort of bottle with liquid in it, that’s highly suspicious. In retrospect I am glad that Polina is bringing awareness to this. Mentioned the warmup and how odd it was. She said in the last year something fishy has been going on, I couldn’t agree more Polina.
5:48 Jonathan asking to clarify whether these program enhancers are more for long term or short term effects. More likely or not they are used for training to do all of these insane jumps.
6:19-8:41 Polina responding to Jonathan’s question. A skater doesn’t need drugs. Polina goes more into skating doping, it’s highly interesting in what she has to say. Skating doping is endurance doping. Mentioned meldonium. Insane run-throughs at Sambo70. Long term drug use effects. Dave continues with his points after Polina starting at 8:42, mentioned various methods used (lack of eating, dehydration, etc) Polina continues with this topic again picking up from what Dave had mentioned at 9:10 (Polina mentioned her drug tests and what goes on during these tests and the oddity of how long it takes and how odd it is that Russian skaters said they don’t drink water, which is alarming in it of itself).
10:22 Scandal bringing things to light, most amount of coverage at the Olympics
10:39 Dave reading about something on Xenon gas
11:19 Dave brings up the Anna Shcherbakova 2021 Russian Nationals “smelling salts”
11:37 3 substances found in Valieva (Trimetazidine, and two other heart drugs, All three drugs were heart medications of which only TMZ is banned).
11:49 Polina mentioned that it should be fair to investigate the rest of Eteri’s camp and legitimacy as well.
So glad you covered the pre-jump rotations and posture, landings, etc. I’ve been complaining about this for a few years now. I really think that dropping compulsories was a great disservice to our beloved sport. The classic edges and beauty of our sport is now living in a bygone era. Very sad.
Aren’t ALL of you forgetting Tara Lipinski that wrecked her body at FIFTEEN doing triple/triples just to beat Michelle Kwan, and NEVER SKATED AGAIN due to injury??? I know no doping was involved, but she, with that small frame and pushing herself at every practice to do these multiple jumps that were unheard of then…..it’s kind of the same.
A tiny fifteen yr old wrecks her body for one moment of glory? It’s the SAME with Eteri - she wrecks their bodies, then discards them. From what I understand, Tara has problems to this day. In Tara’s case it was her MOTHER! Do you not recall the media strife Tara’s mother created? I do. She was a monster, pushing her daughter, and Tara never skated again, due to injury and repetition triple combos.
That's right....mainly due to her famous 3Lo/3Lo combos. Also Tara made 3/3 almost mandatory to win in 1997.....similar to Sasha pioneering the eimens quads. In 1996 u cud get away with a nice 3/2 and 5-6 other triples
Tara was talking about beautiful skating and mentioned Peggy and Dorothy. I was thinking she would add Kwan- then I remembered who was speaking.
@@elizabethburrell4756 Was thinking the same thing I wonder if she told Terry and Johnny to never mention Kwan over the air.
Exactly like Tara is shaming the Russian teenagers but she doesn’t realize the exact same thing happened to her like the Russians still competed but Tara right after the Olympics was done with skating like she needs to think about what she did
@Nathaniel Walker you are right about the anatomical predisposition....I've known athletes with cam or pincer deformities that result in labral tears after just skating or running 10 hrs/week. That's not enough skating to get one to Nationals.
Watching the Women's FS today was emotionally exhausting, and I wasn't even there...
It made me depressed after. On many different levels.
I for some reason woked up at 2:30 and decided to put it on. I thought why not I have today off it would be better to watch live.
Did not want to watch after it was clear some countries are allowed to dope and break their skaters 😒😒
@@trisanatandler do you have proof of doping?
@@user12ek5 do you have prove of the opposite? She had medication in her body she is not supposed to have 👀.
For the record, fans have been pissed about the 180-270 degrees pre-rotation on the jumps for YEARS yet the ISU refuses to do anything about it. They put a rule in that mentions pre-rotation but it's never been enforced otherwise half of the skaters in the field would be in trouble as most can't do a jump without 90 degrees pre-rotation or less. For some reason pre-rotation is completely ignored while under-rotation is heavily penalized. It's basically the same thing: one is cheating the jump on the landing, the other is cheating on the takeoff. It all amounts to the same thing: rotation not completed in the air.
Worst part of that is that the rule in question is exclusive to Toe Loops to prevent toe axels which are much easier to spot with the naked eye than the current pre-rotation trend going on. It's also incredibly stupid they can only review landings in slow-motion and not the take off. Which is utter bullshit if you ask me. Like you said, whether it's a cheated take-off or landing or even both, the rotation is not done in the air. Allowing to review take-off would also help in spotting wrong entry edges. And even if it's a glaring obvious edge violation Eteri students do not get punished. See Medvedeva who has gotten world records that wouldn't be records if she had been judged correctly.
Up until now skating’s drama has had a TMZ humor. But that was abusive and nauseating to watch this week. I don’t think Kamila or anyone would fully recover from that trauma. Difficult to support the sport at this point.
Agreed. Stuck with this sport through Harding/Kerrigan, 2002, drama, more drama and more again. But this another thing. Utterly heartbreaking & scarring for the girls and nothing short of criminal abuse by the adults (ie Eteri basically). It makes me almost ill to think about it. Part of me wants to say but it’s a beautiful sport, but if there is no punishment for this crime and if they get away with it then I will just entirely stop supporting the sport at a competitive level. But I will continue to support SOI (and similars) because that’s something else entirely, for a great cause & great people involved.
All the gossip and things are entertaining when it comes to stuff like Harding because fully grown women are in control of their own decisions. They have agency that allows us to criticize them when they're wrong, empathize with them when they make a mistake and support them when they're right. Invest in them.
Right now there's hardly any of that because you have a bunch of scared and unsupported children competing at the Olympics and being forced to grow up before they're meant to. Drugs and feeling like you're replaceable before you're even an adult. Immense pressure and all eyes on you. Yikes.
I really hope they follow through on increasing the age limit. I agree with Polina that it won't solve everything but I believe that adults and older teenagers are able to handle the pressure better and are less impressionable. And beyond that, it would help prevent improper technique since adult skaters wouldn't be able to skate well like that anyway. And that in turn would make it so that skaters have longer careers and train for the long term, not just one and done.
@@tksi3843 this! Everything you said +1👍🏻
It's relieving to hear other Olympic athletes call out the atrocious technique, off coaching style, and the evidence of doping among Eteri's athletes. Thank you.
Help us make sense of it all Dave. What on earth did we witness today? When Sarah Hughes won the Olympics, images of JOY. When Tara won the Olympics, images of ELATION. What we saw today were images fit for A FUNERAL.
Imagine being the gold medalist and feeling EMPTYYY. Why she feeling empty tho she deserves that gold
Fit for a Gulag...
@@orlihimmelweit2105 You could say that again.
@@bobababy6089 She's feeling empty because her "friends," that is her "teammates" who she skates with day in and day out are not supporting her. I just felt like Trusova was a combination of a bully/spoiled brat/sore loser - can you imagine being Anna trying to process all that. I hope someone is there to support Anna as well.
@@dmp7252 i bet she will be out next season to take a break just like alina did. This sport is brutal mentally physically emotionally
Polina is dead on - it should be noted ALL of this happened alongside the Sochi doping scandal, in which the skaters had less scrutiny placed on them than other athletes. Then this explosion of technical content happens like it's never been seen before, completely localized in one location. This week, we went from celebrating the first ever quad in ladies Olympic history to 5 in one program all in the same competition.
Excellent discussion guys, and I really enjoy hearing Polina speak. She’s honest, straight forward and explains the technical side of things. I thought it was very important what she was saying about young athletes’ health and the risks for clean athletes trying to keep up with this quad revolution. I think all of us are only beginning to understand this. There’s a reason only one country and one skating club has achieved this. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
appearance of honesty
For the second consecutive Olympics, the bronze medalist was the real star for me.
100%
I agree although I love Anna’s mental strength
So true
Righttt ppl r so focused on the fact the she “showed bad sportsmanship” than the fact that this girl just did something never done or even attempted in ladies figure skating. She has worked so hard. It hasn’t been working so hard for her but she kept trying. (Sad the 3A didn’t work out again) but I rlly fail to see how one can actually this Sasha was also being dopped she is the only who seems to rlly know what she wants in this sport rather than looking like a puppet for a coach.
@@oyinolubayo7079 think OP is talking about Kaori!
Kamila's childhood, reputation, and dreams were totally shattered and she looked absolutely decimated herself, with her coach laying it on thick without giving her space to breathe. Sasha was shouting backstage and flipping the bird on the podium. Anna won Olympic gold and felt empty, with no support. Meanwhile, Daria is skating on a broken hip, and Aliona has fractured her other arm. Maya has all but disappeared. At the same time, ISU officials did everything they could to deprive (mainly Asian) skaters of their rightful scores, and an incompetent CAS fed us all a lie and created a platform for a skater to suffer truly irreparable harm on a global scale.
What a total shit-show, and such an injustice to all the skaters. Cancel the bitch, Eteri should be behind bars, as should all her cronies.
Also can't wait to hear this episode!
Yes yes yes yes.
Documentaries will be made about it that camp in 10 years or so. So much abuse
Brilliantly summed up. I missed Sasha flipping the bird ON THE PODIUM - wow.
Yeah when it wrapped up, it took me time to process it - and it felt like I had just witnessed a train wreck.
The Terri bonus has robbed all the other skaters
@@elye0987 Hopefully they end in the Grand High Bitch in prison
I'm so proud of Wakaba, Kaori, Alysa, Mariah, You (just to name a few) for skating out there and exemplifying the joy of skating (which I think we all NEED to see right now)! So glad I watched them.
I couldn't watch the entire event as I'm appalled by the authorities' decisions, but I did analyze the score sheet, compared it with the scoring rules, consulted skatingscores, and concluded that it's the typical bs scoring of boosting certain skaters while burying others, as per usual (am glad Scott's show honed in on this judging issue).
Edit P.S. I saw some people sharing that Wakaba isn't invited to the gala. I am in denial and I'm hoping that this is just a mistake.
I was watching Olga Mikutina's SP and thought "wow that girl has some skating skills and interesting choreo, and oh my she is performing the heck out of it" and she didn't even get 30. I was so happy Polina mentioned her!
She had a unique Short program that surprised me. If she weren't so underscored...well. Hopefully, with the Russians out of competition at the moment, she can be scored correctly and maybe even make top 10 at Europeans!
The bronze medalist was ecstatic and proud of their accomplishment (and rightfully so) and was moved to tears. The Silver Medalist was angry that she wasn't awarded the winner and was full of tears. Valieva could not handle the immense amount of pressure that was on her and she struggled and was full of tears of heartbreak.
The winner was alone and had NOBODY to be there for her or to celebrate her accomplishment. She looked hesitant and unsure of what emotion she was allowed to exhibit. Thankfully after 6 minutes Sergei Dudakov swung by and gave her a hug. Such a bizarre day.
@EE DR rightttt she seemed like she was angry also abt something else. She said to Eteri “YOU KNEW EVERYTHING” like what does that mean
@EE DR Didn't she say (while crying) something to the effect that everyone else has won golds and I haven't won anything.
@@dannyfromthebay2940 Yes she did say that, among other things, such as “It’s impossible!” etc etc. At the interview she said she thought what she delivered was enough to win gold, but it wasn’t.
It indeed looked like it took a while before anyone congratulated Anna. Eteri and Danny G were in the KnC with Kamila and Dudakov was dealing with Trusova. What a terrible situation for literally everyone involved.
It was surreal. And depressing. Sakamoto's pure joy made me happy though.
Yeah it was like the parents were dealing with the two problem children and the good one is ignored.
Trusova behaved disgracefully
@@sapphire22011 she behaved like someone who was really frustrated after years of always coming second and third in major competitions in her senior years still came second in the Olympics even after doing something never done in ladies figure skating. And the camera man continuing following her when she clearly wanted to be alone and was moving more and more to a corner….the exploitation. And non of them seem to care enough to cover some of her words. Her towards Eteri “you knew everything” it was so clear she was frustrated as well with something more than just getting second place
@@oyinolubayo7079 yes!!!
I mean you can’t say Anna doesn’t have choreography. Her programs are beautiful.
My favorite has to be Kim Yelim, she was so elegant and beautiful on her performance, her technique looked so goooood. Can't wait to see more of her.
at least zagitova shed tears of joy after she found out she won. shcherbakova just looked completely out of it. yet again, kaori was the happiest skater of the night
Anna (TO ME) looked like she said to her self
“ all of this for this ? “
“This” being = not eating for weeks not drinking , abuse and abuse for this ?
have you ever worked so hard for something and got it and realized it wasn’t what you thought it would be…. Just my take.
It was a different situation. There was less drama going on.
@@keelykova She was shell-shocked because Trusova was bitching about how she should have won. It was impossible for Anna to be happy in that moment. Put yourself in your shoes and your teammate is saying she should have won (meaning that you didn't deserve to win). How would you have felt? This demonization of Shcherbakova is ridiculous.
Zagitova new she was going to get the Gold, Anna was resigned to Silver before Valieva’s debacle
Kaori, Wakaba, You. They made me cry with their performances. When I realized that Kaori had made it, I even screamed. They were the Olympic moment I wanted and needed. Thanks for another great recap!
I kept saying to never count Anna out! She was spectacular and deserves to win!
She deserved as much as Zagitova and Sotnikova… 😂😂😂😂
Polina should do the commentary for TV broadcasts during championships. She has a very clear, straightforward way of explaining things without any 'fluff'. Easy to understand for enthusiasts and laymen, alike.
Really good idea
THAT is why I was SO happy for Anna. Because in some way it was really truly an f you moment to Eteri and Sambo. They had distanced themselves, absolutely, but this girl is the reigning world champ. She couldn’t land as many quads as she did two years ago so she was no longer the Eteri it girl. She is reaching the Eteri expiration. And then she wins. It artistry won over their technical. And it was suchhhhh a slap in the face for Eteri and I was HERE FOR IT.
how is it a slap in the face for eteri that her skater won gold??? 😭 the same skater who is also probably on the same drug cocktail as kamila (smelling salts lmao) and who she payed the judges to ignore literally all her issues.
Around 37:00 Omg when Jonathan was talking about loving the sport but when Eteri's students came, he sort of had to convince himself that he should appreciate them... YES. When I was 8 years old, I saw figure skating for the 1st time on TV and I immediately fell in love. When I see Yelim Kim, Wakaba Higuchi and Kaori Sakamoto skate, those are the moments I recognize the same sport I fell in love with all those years ago.
I just don’t know how we get everyone on the page of stressing good technique and not chasing early/young success. As a whole sport - the governing bodies, the rules, the whole emphasis has been on chasing the Russians. We have turned every level of the sport on its head to focus on risk taking at younger ages. I have tried to argue this over the last several years and gotten nowhere. And. here. We. Are.
W.T.F. Is "good" technics?
Prerotation was ALWAYS unlimited.
Edges were called yesterday.
It seems like sore losers simply like conspiracy theories.
@@feyanormorfol2457 They were clearly more meticulous for certain skaters than for others.
@@jutjubow you mean Trusova's Flipz or Kaori's flutz?
Almost 90% of skaters have edge issues.
It's a shame that a sport that is in my blood that I've been called cultivating my entire life is turned into a shit show. They have to change the age rule it's called senior ladies not senior children.
I won't have time to watch right now, but I wanted to share some thoughts on the free skate.
My little highlights were
Ekaterina moving up through half the ranks to finish twelfth with a clean free.
Mariah fighting for her jumps and delivering a heartfelt Hallelujah.
Yelim creating a beautiful moment with her Turandot program.
Alysa, Wakaba, and Young landing their 3as and delivering (mostly) clean and enjoyable performances.
Sasha achieving her goal of landing five quads.
Kaori having the skates of her life in both the short and the free and becoming an olympic medalist.
Apart from that, it was quite troubling.
I'm sad for Kamila, because whether the doping test and/or her crumbling under pressure were orchestrated or not, she was forced to let go of her Olympic dream and the chance to deliver her best. I'm sad for Sasha who must have worked so hard to land all her quads only to realise it still wasn't enough to win. I'm sad for Anna because she may well feel unable to properly celebrate her win because her teammates are utterly devastated, not to mention all the talk that's been going on about whether she even deserved to go and how she's overscored.
I'm sorry for Anna, that she couldn't celebrate her Olympic win, because of her teammates and also because she shares the room with Trusova :-)
Did you live in Russia? thank you
Me too. Feeling the same as you do, I'm really sorry for the Russian sportsmen, who literally mark the history of female figure skating. Their well-being should be taken seriously and I sincerely hope that they can still maintain their friendships, for Sasha and Anna. Thank you, Kamila, Anna and Sasha, and a great thanks to all the other athletes, bringing us unforgettable performances and showing the spirits of Olympics. (especially Mariah...I was so touched)
@@angy.litvin No, I've actually never even been in Russia, although I would like to visit someday. I have lived most of my life right next door in Finland though :)
@@nctandtheirjollyenglishuncles you're welcome. Russia is defferent. Somewhere is hot and sometimes is cold in the north. And I live on the Black sea coast )))
As a former athlete, I'm sick to my stomach. You work most of your life for the most important competition of your life...to have your life's work tarnished in a week of scandals and dreams dashed in 5 minutes...at 15 years old. It's crushing...
Love love love Polina. Doesn't mess around with bs or sugarcoating; just honest, knowledgeable coverage.
I agree! And how she admitted that some of the american ladies may have been over or underscored. It shouldnt matter about the country. Just the skating
Yeah I really like her. Some people might find her too blunt or something but even if I might sometimes differ in my opinion from her I’ve always found her to justify her viewpoint logically and therefore respect her perspective.
Totally agree. Very articulate and spot on!
@@1chienandalou Tough but honest -- 100% integrity. If I were an athlete, I would love to have her as a coach or a trainer.
In defense of the viewers, the reason people are calling for an age raise is because the CAS has set a precedence that underage athletes can be excused from doping rules. The general population doesn't want unfairness due to doping. We don't understand about pre-rotation or edges. But, we want skating and the Olympics to be a level playing field and we want fair judging.
Then change the doping rules for minors, not the age rules. That's backwards.
It bothers me how people don’t understand how eteri failed so many of her Athletes. Trusova deserves better choreography- compared to last season under plushenko- this season bland choreography shows how they underestimate her. Plushenko challenged her- for her- with beautiful combination of quads and choreography. She has the potential- but turberzie just wants to ‘play it safe’ for the sake of her own reputation. Under plushenko her landings were smoother and less strained. Trusova has had it, and the only reason she went back to turebeize is becuase she knows she’ll be extremely underscored in Russia like she was last season. She had a whole mental break down, not a rant, but something that has been building up for a while, bottling up her emotions go the point where she couldn’t mentally take it. She didn’t have her mental support of her mom and dogs and it shows even more how her coaches then failed to even make up for that mental support. Trusova should’ve stayed with plushenko- her technique was better and her choreography was better. Her coaches give her nothing to allow her to show artistry- don’t blame the athlete- blame the coach who has lost respect for the sport and her own athlete as she’s not focused on letting trusova succeed like she wants to, but to keep her own reputation in the federation.
Also I fucking hate how people pass the obvious red flag of how trusova pushed away from her coaches every time they tried to touch/hug her. The only coach she looked in the eyes while she was crying was the blond haired one- Dudakov- she has had it with eteri and it breaks my heart about how the coaches have failed these athletes and keep on getting away with it because all people do it put the blame on the athletes.
Трусова очень эмоциональная девочка! Очень! Этим всё сказано.
Danny G has an ego and thinks he can choreograph and teach artistry and that’s not the case. Sasha deserved a dance coach or ballerina teacher or consultant to bring more out of her. She’s a powerhouse but we know a skater must be both technical and artistic. TT always put her last and even tell her to hold back so I’m glad she said FU ima do 5 quads! They never believe in her. To me that silver is highly earned she’s amazing jumper. The meltdown was good and she needed to put TT in their place. I really hope she leaves them for good and maybe takes a season break.
Clearly Sasha didn't want to work on her components and that's why she went back to Eteri. And it backfired.
@@thesovgc I don’t think that’s it, If she wanted to go to the Olympics that was her only shot
@@sk83rEmo I don't think that's necessarily true. She made the World Team and won bronze with inflated PCS under Plushchenko. It would have been a gag if Trusova did multiple quads at Nationals under AOP and was left off the team for say, Khromykh. While I agree you're right that her chances were much better under Eteri, I don't think she would have had no shot at all under Plushchenko. JMO.
All three of the girls had breakdowns in different ways. What is supposed to be the pinnacle of figure skating seemed like their worst nightmare. It was truly the worst ladies event i think in the history of the sport. Hopefully this will be the wakeup call that the ISU needed to make changes.
i didn't see it live, but it seemed more like a funeral that a skating event at the Olympics:-)
@@Q_from_Star_Trek truly, sasha seemed like the family member in denial, anna in total shock, and kami sad and crying.
Dave I've been watching for a long time and I think this was one of your best, most informative episodes. Polina was excellent and I'll have to start following her podcast, assuming I still want to hear anything about this sport ever again after this event! Love to all 3 of you.
Agree!! Really, really good!
Every episode is brilliant from TSL.
Agree, Polina was articulate and enlightening on all the technicalities and in her experience as a competitor. Excellent. Much as I adore Sandra, she said herself she hasn't watched anything for years, so added little. The Dance edition was disappointing.
Kaori had me crying happy tears at my tv this morning
Me too. Loved both her routines.
I went from depressed tears to happy tears to depressed tears again. It was all so much. I don't know how to feel.
Yes, she was the highlight of the event!
I'm so happy for Kaori!
I had to remind myself when I was watching all these skaters melting down, that I was watching a real sporting event and not a television dramatization or a "reality" show. It was wild.
As someone who works with teens it was giving me normalcy and regular teen drama. If these were 30 year old women it would have been a perfect episode of reality television, but in knowing their age it was understandable. Hate to say it but drug use was actually safer than what some teens are doing.
What a treat to have Polina, with her forthrightness, her experience skating in the context of the Eteri skaters, her poise..... All of it, the whole package. Thanks, guys!
I find this interview one-sided and confusing. Polina is criticizing techniques of Russian skaters and at the same time many specialists are praising them. Who is correct? It would be interesting to have several experts with different opinions.
2. Polina talked about injuries and that Eteri's skaters end up their careers early due to injuries as a result of incorrect techniques. At the same time, Polina retired very early due to injury herself and according to her, her technique was perfect.
Lastly, nothing was said about the winner of olympic games, Anna, and her performance. Why?
Really good questions for those who don't jump on the bandwagon but think for themselves
Polina is so honest about everything. Respect!
Polina was just being a b*tch as usual. No accomplishments under her belt, but still she is criticizing Trusova’s quads. WTF
Except when she says her jumps were never underrotated.
@@curtisdalrymple42 she was just being bitter because she never won even 5% of what those 3 girls did. So if she wanted to express her professional opinion, she should have started with some recognition of their skills, stamina and hard work. But the only thing she did was criticizing.
She herself under-rotated good 50% of her triple jumps. Too bad her PERFECT technique and her mother lessons didn’t help her with that.
When I saw the report from volunteers tonight that Sasha didn’t leave with her team, had to stay alone in the arena and be dragged back later, I lost the little stability and hope I didn’t even know I still had. I hope someone has Anna and Kamila. Someone who isn’t Eteri or Gleikhengauz. Anyone.
On a “lighter” note, that led to the discovery that the chinese refer to Eteri as “noodle hair”. I think David Spletnikov should adhere to the pet name. (Mother Gothel still my favorite though)
Why exactly Sasha didn't want to leave?
Ooh, where is this report?
@@TTran-ti3uy The volunteers didn’t specify, they only said she did not want to leave with her team. I guess her mind was still reeling from everything that happened or maybe she just couldn’t stand being around those people. Probably both?
Alina and Zenia are there also, they will take care of them.
Thank you Dave and Jonathan for having Polina, it was wonderful!!! I was totally captivated for the whole 59 minutes...wow...problem is I'm on the West coast and couldn't stay that late (3-5am) and I didn't see any of the performances, but I'm so glad I could hear your takes. Hope that NBC or the Olympic channel will post them, as I wanted to watch all the skaters. Very good job, and thank you so much to all of you! 🌻🌺🌼
I saw Kurakova's performance, wonderful , You Young's very nice, Kaori, very nice and Anna's very nice, too. I saw Kamila's and i still think it would've been great if she was withdrawn after the testing cam positive, rhather than crashing her in front of the world, no 15yo, can whistand such a pressure and scrutiny...how sad, and I'm so sorry they did this to a 15yo kid...
I saw Kurakova's performance, wonderful , You Young's very nice, Kaori, very nice and Anna's very nice, too. I saw Kamila's and i still think it would've been great if she was withdrawn after the testing came positive, rather than crushing her in front of the world; no 15yo, can whistand such a pressure and scrutiny...how sad, and I'm so sorry they did this to a 15yo kid...so sorry for Kamila :-(
Kaori and Alysa were the highlights for me. The joy on their faces is what figure skating should be about
Wakaba too!!
Very true, Alysa will never have M.K.s. power, consistency and out of this world physical presence, let's face it, nobody ever will, but everything else was there for all to see. The joy, the beauty and the happiness and joyfulness she projected inside the arena and all skating fans watching was all inherently Kwan in its beauty and magic. I dare say she made me drop a tear or two watching her. Definately the highlight skates for me alongside Anna, Wakabe and You.
I think there is a lack of African-American Ladies in figure skating. Now this sport is pure racism. We need to kick out all these russians and replace them with African Americans Ladies!
I’m so proud of Anna. She’s always written off in conversations and ALWAYS comes out skating her best at the right time. I’m glad I picked her as my child just like Dave 😂😂
LMAO not he did not picked her. He was saying she was done after her second Nationals win and after Worlds said that it was her consolation prize for her to disappear quietly?
Her win is biggest FUCK OFF to Dave.
@@SamKreinberg Relax. It's a half joke lol
@@SamKreinberg 🎉🎉
@@SamKreinberg Yeah it is funny how they want to prove so badly they chose Anna lol. Everyone wrote her off in the past 1 year. One thing is for sure, never underestimate Anya. Although it is true she would not have won without the doping scandal, because Kamila was much more the favorite for the gold.
That was terrible I felt like I was watching children being exploited like I wanted them to get the cameras out of there face
It was beyond disturbing.
It kinda gave me Dance Moms vibes where there were backstage meltdowns and fights...all with the voyeuristic cameras loving the 'drama"
No seriously the camera WOULD NOT STOP following trusova in a moment of a clear breakdown even as she tried to move more and more to the corner.
Thank you, TSL and Polina, for drilling down to the real issue--the elevated scoring of bad & potentially injurious technique. Inconsistent and flat-out WRONG judging continues as the core issue underlying all of this mess.
I gradually stopped watching the ladies events over the last 4 years. It always feels the same- Russian skaters are shamefully over scored for imbalanced and uninteresting programs, bad technique and little artistic merit. And lately this is happening in ice dance and pairs. If this trend continues, I will not have any skating to enjoy
@Kirsten Kelly l know--I have been disheartened by the ongoing imbalance in scoring and I agree with you that it it has crossed over to all the disciplines.
My favorite moment was Young You's LP performance and her emotional reaction when she finished. Besides being one of my favorite skaters and having my favorite jumps in the competition with such aesthetic air position and beautiful flow, I was really happy to see her go clean to my mind after her mistakes at the 4CC's whie being the tallest woman I know of to land the triple axel. It was a great comeback and really heartwarming.
Her performances, as well as Wakaba's, were some of my favorite ones to watch! I even watch them when there is nothing to watch on TV.
I am manifesting Tuktamysheva being 2022 World Champion.
Me too. She deserves it!
God that would be amazing
Me too
Russian just didn't respect Tuktamysheva , because they are saying all session she's to old....
Is she replacing Kamila?
Yes! Glad she mentioned Gubanova! She is a notch above even Valieva in some ways. Her cross-overs are so much more effortless than any of Eteri's girls.
@Nathaniel Walker Components is a pretty vague term.. All i know is that her skating quality is beautiful to watch. I know i'm supposed to be gaga over Valieva's extensions and her jump rotations, but her cross-overs are jerky and just the way she moves across the ice doesn't do anything for me. It's all kind of rickety looking. With all the 'wow' it doesn't wow.
Gubanova is a glorious gem amongst some dirty rocks.
Nearly 12 hours after watching the free skate, I still can't get over what I saw. So emotionally disturbing. That poor girl. They completely threw her to the wolves. I sure hope someone / her family in Russia, is waiting for her and will take loving care of her when she arrives home. ISU better take some action. If they don't, they are promoting & approving child abuse. Just disgusting & disturbing. The way Eteri was admonishing her....😳😳😳. What was that?!?!!
Oh god, I could't see... where I find this?
Believe me. All normal figure skating fans in Russia hate Eteri.
For everything she did to the girls we rooted for.
Broke, destroyed, crushed. And we hope that her coaching end is very soon.
I'm from Russia, but I was madly rooting for Nathan and Kaori. I'm glad they did their best.
@@laynaribeiro3248 , I watched it at 4am CST this morning on the Peacock network live feed. The ending coverage, after the skating was over, was the saddest thing I have
ever seen😢😢😢
@@tassietagarelli8905 I was more upset about it then what happened in pairs 20 years ago. What was the big deal then a overrated pair didn't get gold. I never seen anything like it after a skating competition and I've been a fan since 94.
@@iamsoverybored878 , it was the most disturbing I have ever seen. I can't believe there isn't more outrage.....
I feel like I only see the Russian skating I also grew up loving in Pairs. Like Tarasova, her foot never leaves the ice in ANY move without a perfect point and a beautiful straight, extended leg!
Zhenya Tarasova is DIVINE! 😍
Never clicked on something so fast in my life. THE DRAMA, DAVE!! 😂😂❤️❤️
Yess samee
As a viewer, I have never experienced anxiety watching a competition like this. When I was a kid, I would get nervous for my favourites but this was just pure discomfort as an adult. 8 watched to see Wakaba's Lion King. Even with the fall on the triple 3t, she was so pure and light
Alysa is at 7th, Mariah is at 10th, Karen is at 16th at Olympics. Polina, do you know Math? Alysa beats Karen for almost 30 points at Olympics. Alysa, Mariah and Karen are at the same level? Based on your logic. Kaori, Sasha and Karen Chen are also at the same level then.
Also, maybe you go bring Dorothy Hamil into this discussion. At one of the world championships, she was booed, and Dorothy was under the impression that they were booing HER. It was unprecedented at the time, but Carlo Fassi was able to pull Dorothy together after a quick second off the ice. The referee allowed her time to pull herself together and she went out and skating brilliantly. I do think Valieva could have still pulled it out a win, but she would have needed the MIND of a Shcherbakova. THIS is why I said Shcherbakova was going to win ANYWAY. Even if Valieva was not here, and it was Elizabeta or even Kosternia, niether one of them have the same mental iron will as Shcherbakova. I have said this over and over, to win against ALL of these girls THREE TIMES (at Russian Nationals where the pressure is of an Olympic nature) - that means you are made a steel. If Eteri was smart she would have Anna share with everyone how to deals with pressure. I'll leave it there. But with the right handling, Valieva could have won. (As things stand now, maybe that was a blessing in disguise she didn't win, because now there may only be one medal that will be stripped [team event] vs. two had she competed she medal in the individual event.)
I teard up for all of them and for sasha too. They told her to jump 5 quads. So she jumped 5 quads. sacrificing her body doing something impossible because they told her you’d win. She didn’t win after breaking her body
I'm sure she might've heard, as a skater, that there are some components called PCS that count, too...she has none, and as Polina mentioned, she did a lot of technical mistakes, too, which were overseen by the technical panel...I hope the ISU will introduce a limit on quads for women, like 1-2 and only in the free, and real emphasis on artistic, otherwise we're going to be forced to see lots of Trusovas, to say the least...
@@Q_from_Star_Trek I’m not saying she should’ve won. I’m saying that what she has been told. She went to plush and became a better well rounded skater but there was no chance for her to go to the olympics, so she went back to eteri who put her on a 5 quad program and apparently told her that what she needs. Which is regarded as an impressive feat and near impossible on a broken foot by every skater who’s relevant (not polina) I wonder if she net picks at US skaters or her own jumps like that. Even if trusova got called out on edges and pre rotations (which isn’t accounted for in scoring) she’d still get an insane tes. US ladies don’t get called out on under rotated triples. I’m not saying trusova’s program is good. I’m talking about the technical elements she preformed, that she was told to do to win regardless of her broken foot, and their extreme difficulty. Only to lose. Anyone would be devastated by that.
I have been stalking TSL ever since the event concluded this morning - which I watched live in utter horror before dawn on the West Coast. So much blame to go around I hardly know who should be at the top of the shortlist, although Eteri’s finger wagging lecture gives her front runner status. Thank you Dave, Jonathan, and Polina!
Thank you!
Polina is articulate, logical, well reasoned, and evidence-based. Her perspective is interesting and nonabusive. 👍
Polina Spletnica🤫🤣
Amongst all of this, when will Eteri be held accountable? She is behind all of the unhappiness of her skaters.
No. Don't even expect accountability in figure skating
I really enjoyed watching this discussion and the input from everyone. Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Eteri and her crew are very much the Karolyis of figure skating. They run that outfit the same way the Karolyis ran their gym in the 80s and 90s, and the way Marta ran the National Team: pitting all of the girls against each other, hounding them about their weight to the point they end up with eating disorders, working them so hard they’re suffering chronic injuries and are driven out of the sport by their late teens. They need to overhaul figure skating. I’d raise the ages for Juniors and Seniors, and they need to get back to figure skating’s roots, emphasizing strong, precise technique and genuine artistry over multiple quads. And they need to really send a message to Russia about the doping, because allowing them to compete under the title ROC - they are making a mockery of the sport, the Olympic Games and making fools out of everyone. But it’s the girls under Eteri who are suffering the most. What are they going to do? Wait until one of her starving, thirsty and possibly doped up skaters collapses and dies because 2 shrimp wasn’t enough to sustain her forever?
If the parents are not aware or don't care it's obvious the ISU does not care.
Both Karolyis and Eteri are horrible human being. But Karolyis are actually great coach that taught great technique and their athletes lasted beyond puberty and are actually great (not because of political scoring). Both deserve jail time, but I’m not gonna praise Eteri as if her shitty skating technique is comparable to Karolyis gymnastics technique.
Feel like this was an accumulation of what happed the past 4 years finally exploding on the world’s biggest stage
Last 10 years.
Imagine you just won the Olympics and the first thing your coach tell u -“it’s a shame you did not jump the 4lutz” wth
100%
Asian mom. I have 99% in exam. How come no 100%.
I hope this interview gets very broad coverage. It was fascinating (and shocking) to hear Polina Edmunds so carefully describe the technical aberrations of the Russian team--this is something the layperson would never know, and it gives important insight into the strange bias of the judging protocol (or simply the specific judges). Not the first time this kind of thing has been seen--corruption at the Olympics!!--but given how much money and corporate greed are involved in the entire enterprise, none of this is a surprise.
Thank you!
And some people would claim that new scoring system is sooo much better than the 6:0 one. Yeah, right. Better ((((
@@MsRumex Yes the current system seems more easily manipulated than the old one.
Also, I can't blame Sasha for her meltdown. Yes, it was alarming, no doubt. But this girl has had a lot bottled up. Can you just imagine losing Russian Nationals to your teammate who doped? It is so unfair. Granted, they might all be doping. Still, I would be pissed. Eteri deserved all the chaos she got today. I hope Sasha spills the tea. I would not put it past her dad to defect to the US and train with Raf and then spill the beans.
If I really see you mean that all russian sportsmen dopping? are you kidding? or what do you mean? thanks
@@angy.litvin would it be that shocking? They have done it before. If one girl is doing it, there is no reason to believe they all haven't at some point. Considering girls like Aliona are basically old ladies with osteoporosis, I have no doubt they have all been abused with drugs.
Sasha was one of those really young girls doing quads on Team Eteri during the Dr Shady years so the odds of her not being on dope are negligible.
@@amethyst5512 she jumped quads before joining Team Eteri and when she left Eteri for Plushenko, she got better. What're you even talking about?
As someone who competed in elite-level sport as a child, and as a career asthmatic with shabby natural lung capacity, I can say that even taking a single puff of Ventolin was a no-no. For an asthmatic, the difference between competing with or without Ventolin can be enormous. The only way around this is to build aerobic fitness day in, day out. Not anaerobic fitness like bursts of jumping or spinning, but aerobic fitness through endurance activity like interval running. I'm no medical expert, but Kamila's long program looked like a) an athlete trying to execute beyond their current cardio-pulmonary capacity, or b) an athlete who has been told to go out and throw a routine deliberately. Which doesn't account for the being totally puffed out afterwards - thus making a) the more likely situation.
The video we were all waiting for!!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
17:00 I can't agree more with Polina's every comment. The major fault of figure skating basically lies with the judges. It's a tragedy young ROC girls are trying so blindly to make imperfect quadruples.
Great job Dave! Your in-depth analysis of the Kamila Valieva saga/scandel was very informative and insightful. This whole affair I hope brings about major changes in and for Figure Skating, If it doesn't I'm afraid the sport will die or be relegated to an obscure olympic sporting event like Curling.
This is all so sad and repetitive behavior. This happened in Pyeonchang when Evgenia was supposed to win but Alina won and Eteri was too busy consoling Evgenia. Poor Alina was treated like she stole someone’s bike initially by her own coaching team. While they used up Evgenia and Alina and getting the others ready to take their places, the three newcomers, Anna, Alonna and Sacha were pushing the others out. I recall One particular event when Evgenia withdrew from a competition because of injury, Sacha and Alonna laughed and joked about her withdrawal in mean girl fashion. Anna scooted away from them. I always said Sacha was a problem. She thought she was going to win with tech and no artistry and no choreography. Someone told her that and when it didn’t happen, she lost it.
CAS ruling literally had the opposite effect they were trying to have for Kamila.
It’s the media and the hate from mainly Americans ..not that CAS
I thought there were so many amazing performances - My favourite was Kurakova! I think she did really well to jump up so many places after the short. She just seems so sweet and bubbly so I can't help but root for her! As to who I think did the *best*... idk, there were so many great performances - I really enjoyed Young's free a lot too, but I think I'm a little biased as Les Mis is my favourite musical :)
and she was underscored for artistic components for me... But we are very proud in Poland 🖤
I'm glad for this former Muscovite and a child star of Ilia Averbugh's shows. Good Job, Katya!
With all the drama and scandal, I found myself rooting for and invested in Kurakova (the Polish skater) who was 24th after the short program and managed to rocket all the way up to 12th place after the free skate. I knew there was no shot at a medal whatsoever, but her performance, the way she really just left it all on the ice...for me, that was the shining moment of the free skate, which feels sooo weird! Anyway, that's my 2 cents
Kurakova is Russian too. 🇬🇪, 🇵🇱, 🇺🇦, 🇦🇿, 🇨🇿, 🇭🇺 these girls are from Russia. Russian ballet is the best!
@@НаталияЛевакова-ю8я yes, I know she's Russian, what I meant was "the skater representing Poland". Didn't phrase that right. My bad.
@@НаталияЛевакова-ю8я She's Russian but she doesn't skate Russian. She is a breath of fresh air amonst the angst.
In Sasha's case, it was years of built-up emotions (probably from knowing that Anna was more favored, both by the judges and her coaches). There was no right time nor place for that emotion; she needed to let that out for the sake of sanity. She was overscored in her pcs, but hell Anna was overly -overly scored as well. Also, Kaori's pure joy was ❤️❤️❤️
How quick people are to forget that Sasha Trusova won two Junior World titles back to back. All this blathering about her "always being the bridesmaid" is painting such a false narrative with revisionist history that it's almost funny.
According to Aliona, the girls were always compared to Sasha and were told to be more like her
I can’t blame trusova for reacting like that after all she is a child also, plus I don’t think we would have seen so many girls trying to jump a quad if it was not for her that show that it was possible, plus not winning even once in 3 years even when her teammates didn’t have the best performance must been very hurtful, always the bridesmaid never the bride, poor child
but that is because she never cared to improve her PCS...she had this belief that the more quads you jump, the better chances to get the gold...i think Polina was right, this was a clear case of mental and emotional abuse...
I fell asleep with the ladies free skate playing in the background (I live in Pacific Time). When I suddenly awoke around 6:30am, I looked at the screen and heard crying from Kaori and saw a sad faced Alexandra and Anna. My first confused thought was... oh did they skate poorly and Kamila is up next? Then kept watching and realized it was the end of the competition... wait where's Kamila?! Then soon realized what had happened and was stunned with the result and how apocalyptic this all felt.
Thanks for being THE journalistic North Star throughout this fiasco, Dave. It's horrifying to think that Eteri's lesson learned from this ordeal is probably: let's focus all of our doping on girls under 16 years old. CAS has basically incentivized unscrupulous coaches to dope their under-16 girls...
lol i don’t believe in that story about Medvedeva and Sotskova
who would take doping in the changing room right in front of their competitor
I like how Polina is always straight to the point, i don’t really see any prejudice from her, that’s obviously circulating in the Russian media, where the headlines state „they broke her“, “they achieved their goal breaking her”, like maybe we should looking at WHO actually is responsible for that mess? Why a child should withstand all the pressure, while she most definitely not a villain of the story, but a victim. Maybe we should take a look at the wrong narrative that these kids are experiencing, the argument that this is SPORT so you have to compete at any cost and be the best is super weak, the cost of these medals really ruins the initial purpose of the Olympics, there’s only a dirty game left, just scoring for the medals, it gets more and more difficult to pretend that you like this sport that turned into pure corruption.
People really need to consider that different cultures have different mentalities. Two things:
1) i can see why the western world is outraged about Eteri’s words after Kamila’s skate, but it’s really not that bad. Like, her tone saying those words wasn’t in an accusatory manner, it’s basically something a person who cares would say. When it’s translated to English I see how it sounds aggressive. Somehow ppl expect them just to hug for the camera the way maybe Americans would, ignoring the fact that they’re not?
2) Anna looking lost after winning - same thing. In western culture skaters are more independent, paving their way through individually; here - she’s a part of a camp, her teammate just utterly failed, another one, a friend, is having a complete meltdown - she’s not heartless to be celebrating like crazy, she’ll have her whole life to celebrate that. There was not the time!
Hope it makes sense
I’m not excusing anyone just trying to bring a bit more context, like it’s not as wild as people seem to make of it
Look, as someone who is Russian herself and absolutely understands what you're trying to say, because I grew up within an environment who had this "different" mentality: It's just abuse. There's not so much a difference of mentalities as much as there's generational abuse that has been normalized. I promise you that Valieva wasn't fine when she just got off the ice and Tutberidze had nothing of comfort to say to her. She wasn't any different from a kid from a "western" culture, she was just a child at her most vulnerable moment who immediately needed some reassurance and she didn't get it. At least not from the adults who were responsible for her.
Согласна, что недопонимание на ментальном уровне... Так что бесполезно объяснять, к сожалению...
The woman who was talking to Kamila after the game, the one in the OBS patagonia, she was amazing. I could hear her trying to offer comfort to Valieva and it made me cry.
I feel like Trusova has been in a pressure cooker and it exploded. As much as it was ugly, also good for her. She let herself have those emotions that she's clearly been keeping in.
Anna just standing there looking lost and that broke my heart. She just won the Olympics and is just alone. Kaori, who is precious and must be protected, seem to want to offer more congratulations to Anna than Eteri did! (Also, Kaori just showed the real joy of skating and winning a medal and ugh, that made me cry the happy tears.)
I do suspect all of Sambo 70 of doping. That doesn't make them less of teenage girls with real emotions.
I do appreciate your post but completely disagree with Trusova's outburst. NOT good for her. Completely understand the emotions and the release but she behaved inappropriately and showed poor sportsmanship. She is not a 7-year-old.
I thought the same thing. The hero and only support for Kamila at the end was the media liasson who told her it was ok to keep walking and just walk away.
This is one of the best shows you have done.
We have a gold medalist who can't even be happy for herself, a silver medalist who is crying and a 15 y.o. child who is absolutely crushed. Is this normal? Who and what is this for? I couldn't even watch it. Tutberidze ruined everything.
What's exactly she ruined for Anna? That she is a Olympic champ? In her interview Anna said sje was happy and felt joy.
What's her fault if Sasha was not good enough and not even listen to coaches who told her not to jump 3A? Should Tutberidze give two gold meadals to make everybody happy?
Where can i see the video of Sakamoto's and Wakab's programs? Can't find them anywhere
This pandemic genocide Eteri Olympics has not been the fun Winter Games I'd anticipated 😐
100%
i was crying for kamila before she finished, but when eteri didn't comfort her i started next level rage crying, and when she was in the k&c i had to turn it off.
Eteri is such a HORRIBLE person
She did comfort kamila after the event but trying to comfort her right after she got off the ice would make her even more upset. Like when you’re about to cry and someone asks if you’re ok then you start balling. At that time she needed some professionalism and a bit of coldness so she wouldn’t break down in tears in front of the whole world
@@toxic-low-key-ghost7934 absolutely!
@@toxic-low-key-ghost7934 Apparently when Kamila just came out of the ice, Eteri was yelling at her saying why did you give up, why didn’t you keep fighting, why did you give up after your triple axel? Which is not the greatest thing to say to a girl who was just absolutely humiliated…
Damn you are really Gay. She fucked up. The coach had every right to scold her. Either you win or you lose. There is no damn participation trophy.