[OT, Olympics] Russia pulling out?

[Left-handed Hummingbird]

Well, I can't blame them for being bitter NOW after another scandal in the olympic skating. I realise that the American (like any other country's) media isn't ever going to critisize the judgement when you win, but Slutskaya had deserved Gold. Not Hughes - even though she is an all american, charming, girl-next-door upset.

The Danish commentators weren't in doubt that Hughes showmanship is great, but her technique is quite simply far below that of the other finalists. She only landed one (count them: ONE) of her tripple jumps perfectly, she didn't finish the rotations in the rest of them - which she often doesn't, but she is great at camouflaging this. The Swedish commentators were speechless. Slutskaya was robbed.

Oh well, I guess the local kid always gets the breaks, but I think if this was a Japanese kid in Nagano that had stolen gold from the American and Russian favorite people might have seen it differently.

With that said, WOW what an American showing. Cohen is going to RULE the next olympics, she has far better technique than Hughes, and her agility was possibly the greatest of all the skaters. She is a great jumper as well and when she starts doing quads, nobody is going to stand a chance against her.

 

[Someguy]

Yes...I think the russian did alot better...But...I heard (from an american news source...so take it with a grain of salt) that her program was harder, so they had to look at that too...the russians was more conservative...

Still...grain of salt...

 

[Desdichado]

Well, I can't blame them for being bitter NOW after another scandal in the olympic skating. I realise that the American (like any other country's) media isn't ever going to critisize the judgement when you win, but Slutskaya had deserved Gold. Not Hughes - even though she is an all american, charming, girl-next-door upset.

The Danish commentators weren't in doubt that Hughes showmanship is great, but her technique is quite simply far below that of the other finalists. She only landed one (count them: ONE) of her tripple jumps perfectly, she didn't finish the rotations in the rest of them - which she often doesn't, but she is great at camouflaging this. The Swedish commentators were speechless. Slutskaya was robbed.

Oh well, I guess the local kid always gets the breaks, but I think if this was a Japanese kid in Nagano that had stolen gold from the American and Russian favorite people might have seen it differently.

With that said, WOW what an American showing. Cohen is going to RULE the next olympics, she has far better technique than Hughes, and her agility was possibly the greatest of all the skaters. She is a great jumper as well and when she starts doing quads, nobody is going to stand a chance against her.

Hmm... Did you watch the same program I did? Sarah Hughes skated smoothly and flawlessly, while Slutskaya really struggled to power her way through her program. Even after Slutskaya skated, you could see the disappointment in her face: she knew she didn't skate a gold medal winning performance. Frankly, I was surprised. From the short program, I'd have picked her to win, but her free skate simply wasn't to the same level of quality.

I also agree that Cohen will be the one to watch: that girl has everything -- charm, skill, technique, artistry, originality, pluckiness. She'll be a medalist in Torino for sure.

As to the Russian and Korean complaints, I can't help but think that they're looking at the Canadians successful "reversal" of a judged event and trying to carpet-bag on the same technique. In the case of Korea in particular, the ruling is quite clear, the replays, especially from above, show that he clearly cross-tracked as covered word-for-word in the ISU rulebook. Seems cut and dried. They don't have a leg to stand on.

 

[IceBear]

As to the Russian and Korean complaints, I can't help but think that they're looking at the Canadians successful "reversal" of a judged event and trying to carpet-bag on the same technique. In the case of Korea in particular, the ruling is quite clear, the replays, especially from above, show that he clearly cross-tracked as covered word-for-word in the ISU rulebook. Seems cut and dried. They don't have a leg to stand on.

Being a Canadian, I didn't feel like we did anything to get a reversal. Yeah, we felt like we were robbed and complained, but we're used to getting screwed in figure skating so basically we took it in stride. Most of the Canadian media, in my opinion, were pretty laid back about it the day after. However, the American media seemed to want to run with it (I mean Entertainment Tonight for God's sakes was almost running a nightly update on it)and, in my opinion, that's what put pressure on the IOC. Once the IOC decided to investigate the matter it took on a life of it's own.

IceBear

 

[Desdichado]

Being a Canadian, I didn't feel like we did anything to get a reversal. Yeah, we felt like we were robbed and complained, but we're used to getting screwed in figure skating so basically we took it in stride. Most of the Canadian media, in my opinion, were pretty laid back about it the day after. However, the American media seemed to want to run with it (I mean Entertainment Tonight for God's sakes was almost running a nightly update on it)and, in my opinion, that's what put pressure on the IOC. Once the IOC decided to investigate the matter it took on a life of it's own.

That's only partly true. The Canadian Olympic Committee Chairman was calling for the action that eventually happened: ISU judging revision, giving a joint gold to Sale and Pelletier. The American media may have certainly contributed to making that call for action a pressure point instead of simply a complaint to be ignored by giving the issue widespread coverage, but the American media certainly didn't pressure either the IOC or the ISU to do anything.

 

[IceBear]

And based on past history, the Canadians complaining didn't make it happen either. I'm sure there have been many protests lodged by the various countries, including Canada, over the years and I don't think any of them changed anything.

I think that this time, it was the luck of timing. The Olympics are trying to shed their tarnished image of corruption, and thus as soon as their was any mention of a possible problem they started investigating it.

I still feel, however, that the American media covered it more than the Canadian media - Entertainment Tonight, the Tonight Show, Larry King, even Crosby, Stills and Nash That, plus the fact that all the parties involved were on American soil and thus were directly exposed to the media didn't hurt.

I didn't mean to imply that it was solely the Americans that caused the change. I think it was mainly the IOC wanting to come off as being squeaky clean.

IceBear

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

The Danish commentators weren't in doubt that Hughes showmanship is great, but her technique is quite simply far below that of the other finalists. She only landed one (count them: ONE) of her tripple jumps perfectly, she didn't finish the rotations in the rest of them - which she often doesn't, but she is great at camouflaging this. The Swedish commentators were speechless. Slutskaya was robbed.

Well, that one (count them: ONE) perfect triple jump was one (count them: ONE) more perfect thing than anyone else did. How was Slutskaya robbed? Her performance was conservative and lacked any sort of fire. Sarah Hughes rose to the occasion, Slutskaya coasted.

And:

With that said, WOW what an American showing. Cohen is going to RULE the next olympics, she has far better technique than Hughes, and her agility was possibly the greatest of all the skaters. She is a great jumper as well and when she starts doing quads, nobody is going to stand a chance against her.

I also agree that Cohen will be the one to watch: that girl has everything -- charm, skill, technique, artistry, originality, pluckiness. She'll be a medalist in Torino for sure.

Yes, it's possible that Cohen will go on to become a great star. It's also equally possible that she will never be a medal contender again. You can say that "Cohen will be the one to watch" or that she is "going to RULE the next olympics" all you want, but the fact of the matter is she had a chance here, at this olympics, and she fell short where Sarah Hughes didn't. Cohen may have better technique, the greater agility, technique, charm, skill, pluckiness and all of that, but Hughes has a gold medal in her hand- I wonder which ones happier right now?

 

[Desdichado]

IceBear:
I think that this time, it was the luck of timing. The Olympics are trying to shed their tarnished image of corruption, and thus as soon as their was any mention of a possible problem they started investigating it.

I agree 100%. Lucky timing for the Canadians, and the Russians and Koreans seem like cheap carpetbaggers trying to jump on the bandwagon. The Korean case seems especially cut and dried; I don't know what they're hoping to accomplish.

Arcane Runes Press:
Yes, it's possible that Cohen will go on to become a great star. It's also equally possible that she will never be a medal contender again. You can say that "Cohen will be the one to watch" or that she is "going to RULE the next olympics" all you want, but the fact of the matter is she had a chance here, at this olympics, and she fell short where Sarah Hughes didn't. Cohen may have better technique, the greater agility, technique, charm, skill, pluckiness and all of that, but Hughes has a gold medal in her hand- I wonder which ones happier right now?

True, I'm no diviner here. However, I think Cohen gots what it takes, and that she'll go on to be a real star. That doesn't take away from Hughes any: she's obviously got what it takes too, and can continue to be a star. Keep in mind this is Cohen's first ever international competition. Given her immense lack of experience, she turned out an extremely impressive performance.

 

[kenjib]

My impression was that Sarah Hughes got lucky and everything went right for her. She did the best performance and deserved the medal. She was not the best skater on the ice, but she was the one that did the best at that time - and that's all that matters. A lifetime of hard work is meaningless aside just a few minutes. It's not fair to award someone the medal because you know that they could have done better, but didn't.

 

[Dispater]

It's so nice to see who's on the top of the medal charts..