# Olympic Figure Skating
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 12, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105 "2006-02-12T13:00:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/121 "2006-02-24T16:28:21Z")
> [@annieclaus](#):
>
> She’s probably going to go down in skating history as the girl who just never could get it right. . . but at least she’ll go down in history as something.
Again (and I’m not trying to ruffle anyone’s feathers here, really)—that’s different from Michelle Kwan how? I think how it’s funny that we judge Cohen based on a “vibe.” Unless, of course, she has a reputation for being a diva. But even then, so what? She certainly wouldn’t be the first athlete, male or female, to exhibit this type of behavior.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/122 "2006-02-24T16:41:37Z")
I’m not judging her as a skater – as a skater, she’s worthy of – and has – my respect. I’m talking about the fact that I don’t “like” her, and that therefore I’m not a fan. There are skaters who I respect, and there are skaters who I like, and there are skaters who I love – and she’ll never be in either of the latter two categories, which are all about off-ice persona, how the person comes across in interviews, etc. I love Michelle Kwan; I liked Nancy Kerrigan. I love Kurt Browning; I like Elvis Stojko. I respect Evgeny Plushenko – I love Alexi Yagudin (and I adore Ilia Kulik). I love Rudy Galindo – I respect Johnny Weir. Etc.
Fair? Not really. Relevant? Not at all. We’re talking about fandom, which is about not only the performer’s performance, but about a certain emotional bond to the performer. I not only don’t feel that bond with Sasha Cohen, I find something actively off-putting about her bond.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/123 "2006-02-24T16:50:57Z")
And we (or I ) wouldn’t like the others who were divas. If you want to be a diva-you need to meet a standard consistently and make it look easy. Even then, diva-ness is a real turn off for me-male or female.
Over the years, Cohen has displayed a distinct lack of grace or sportsmanship in interviews. She comes across as whiney, arrogant and un-gracious. Case in point: at one of the Olympics (I forget which one) Sarah Hughes says what an honor it is to be there; Michelle says ditto and wants to go out and do her best, Sasha says she wants to win. (I’m paraphrasing).
well, duh–they all want to win. It’s the way she said it( I wish I could remember her phrasing). It was more than immaturity–it sounded like the lil kid at the birthday party insisting that HE break open the pinata. Also, she has yet to learn the spiel of “being gracious makes people more sympathetic when failure occurs which is often does in figure skating and I should be gracious towards my other skaters and my audience and interviewers because it’s the right thing to do and I may fall-yet again!-and fail to skate 2 clean programs in a row”.
I usually see no joy in her performances, just fanatical determination and presumption. I saw some humility and some actual joy this Olympics. Great! I’ve been watching her for about 5(?) years now–this is the first time she hasn’t looked royally pissed off at everything/everybody. Some of this is evidenced in her warm ups–she knocked into another skater last noc! This does not happen. (unless you are so focused and feel that all the ice is yours). My daughter skated–sharing the ice is something that all skaters know about. There is an ice etiquette involved. And even if she has a rink to herself for her practice, there was a time when she didn’t. She knows the etiquette. She ignores it.
I haven’t seen any other skater (barring Tanya, who is in a class of her own) who exhibits this “vibe”. It is no secret–it’s been commented on by Button and others ( Button wants to eat her up, but that’s another thread). Actually, thinking about it–Nancy Kerrigan had sort of the same thing: she didn’t handle the press well at all and was excoriated for stuff she said about Disney, when she was working for Disney.
IMO, her arrogance (whether perceived or actual) is not warranted because the talent is inconsistent. She is a beautiful skater. The personality that comes across is “win at any price”. I don’t like that attitude in ANY competitor, male or female.
I prefer the attitude of go out and do your best. YMMV.
It may not be fair, but there it is. Being good at a sport isn’t enough–there are other skills involved in being that caliber of athlete.
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### Author:  [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/124 "2006-02-24T17:10:38Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#):
>
> I was hoping the Canadian Joannie Something would medal.
>
> The skater from finland was also very nice too.
> Sasha Cohen scares me.
Unfortunately Joannie Rochette was in 9th after the short, so her chances of a medal were pretty remote no matter how well she skated. I was really impressed with her performance though. Apparently she got the 2nd highest technical mark, and was just held back by the artistic, or whatever they’re calling it these days. I’m absolutely thrilled with how the Canadian women placed though. They were both in their first Olympics, and the other Canadian, Mira Leung, has never even been to the Worlds yet, so to finish 5th and 12th is incredible.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/125 "2006-02-24T17:33:33Z")
The next Winter Games (and Worlds) should be quite good–there is alot of talent out there.
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### Author:  [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/126 "2006-02-25T00:55:43Z")
Saw most of the ladies program, including the final. I think that Shizuka Arakawa…_Japanese_, for crying out loud…beating both Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya illustrates just how difficult winning a gold medal really is. Remember, it was Hughes who lost a week of warmup time (which ultimately didn’t make much of a difference), not Cohen, and Slutskaya went in KNOWING that she couldn’t just coast and count on favorable judging.
I think Cohen acquitted herself nicely and should be very glad to have a silver. All the yapping about how the gold was her’s, crushing disappointment, etc…she was _more than 7 points behind Arakawa_. Even if she was clean, the gold was far from guaranteed, even more so considering that Arakawa skated a more conservative routine than usual.
As for that vibe…if she had it in the past, she appears to have finally grown up and let go of it. She seems to understand that 1. There’s nothing at all wrong with silver and 2. Ultimately, the only thing you leave with is your reputation. Unlike another famous silver medallist, Nancy Kerrigan (who really _is_ a cold-blooded diva instead of just looking like one, and I’m still mystified as to how an entire nation deluded itself into believing otherwise), Cohen managed to keep her rep intact and, if she so chooses, will have a future in this sport.
Good competition all around with a finish as unpredictable as anything you’ll see in short track speed skating. I’m more than satisfied.
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### Author:  [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/127 "2006-02-25T01:35:37Z")
Sasha Cohen looks like a [Madame Alexander doll](http://www.madamealexander.com/traditional_2004/product_detail.php/pid=140~subid=40/index.html) .
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/128 "2006-02-25T02:19:59Z")
Okay, the exhibitions:
Johnny Weir, get over your own damn self. “My Way”?!?!?!? :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/129 "2006-02-25T02:29:42Z")
> [@DKW](#):
>
> Unlike another famous silver medallist, Nancy Kerrigan (who really _is_ a cold-blooded diva instead of just looking like one, and I’m still mystified as to how an entire nation deluded itself into believing otherwise)
Funny you should mention that, I’ve disliked her ever since she made fun of my favourite all time scater, Oxana Baiul for being too poor to be able to buy custom designer outfits and instead wearing home-made ones.
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### Author:  [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/130 "2006-02-25T02:31:05Z")
erm, that should be **skater** , not really a big fan of scat.
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/131 "2006-02-25T03:13:17Z")
I don’t get the bad-Sasha vibe either, but I have always, always gotten a really bad diva-vibe from Kwan.
I am not a hard-core fan but for me it’s all about what I see on the ice–not in interviews. In fact I dread those damn interviews and go load the dishwasher or something when they come on. Okay, well sometimes I just sit there. I’m not at all sure Michelle Kwan OR Sasha Cohen is anybody I would want to have lunch with, even a very short lunch, but they can entertain me for a few minutes every couple of years…
And here’s the thing, Sasha Cohen always does, even when she falls. And Michelle Kwan almost _never_ does (or did). She always, always disappointed me, even when not falling.
It is too bad the media makes an Olympic sport out of having the athletes become personalities.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/132 "2006-02-25T03:40:55Z")
I have to admit that Sasha has a graceful, balletic quality and immensely talented if she could pull her poo together, but she looks like she could snap and go mental on someone in the blink of an eye.
My Crazy Bitch vibe just goes off the charts when I see her. I am not afraid of alot of people, but I would go out of my way to avoid her.
Put her in a leather number, give her a laser gun and some ray bans and she is the next Jessica Alba-Terminator.
What does Dick Button say about the Sashanator?
Irina, OTOH, I think would be a very interesting person to sit down with and just talk. She has an approachableness about her.
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### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/133 "2006-02-25T04:08:44Z")
> [@DKW](#):
>
> Saw most of the ladies program, including the final. I think that Shizuka Arakawa…_Japanese_, for crying out loud…beating both Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya illustrates just how difficult winning a gold medal really is.
😕
Japan has a pretty good group of skaters this year. Aside from Arakawa, Fumie Suguri finished 2nd in the long program and 4th overall. Who knows what Asada could have done if she’d been allowed to go.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/134 "2006-02-25T04:15:29Z")
> [@Sublight](#):
>
> 😕
>
> Japan has a pretty good group of skaters this year. Aside from Arakawa, Fumie Suguri finished 2nd in the long program and 4th overall. Who knows what Asada could have done if she’d been allowed to go.
What’s the reaction been to her win in Japan?
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### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/135 "2006-02-25T05:09:54Z")
She’s pretty much the local hero on all the networks right now. Of all the skaters, she got the least attention here before the games: Suguri was the elder veteran, Ando was the cute schoolgirl, and Asada was the miracle worker who couldn’t come out and play. Arakawa didn’t have an angle for the press to play up. So far, everyone’s really happy for her and she seems very likable, so if she and her agents play their cards right, she should have a good future in TV.
I had an image of her as a tough, wrong-side-of-the-tracks kid, but then I realized that was only because her name is the same as that of a rough neighborhood in Tokyo (kind of like being named Jenny Harlem).
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### Author:  [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/136 "2006-02-25T15:21:33Z")
I watched Sasha Cohen very carefully last night during her demonstration skate. . . or whatever you call it. . . the “Don’t Rain on My Parade” number. (How fitting!) She didn’t do much really, other than her famous spirals and spins. And then I watched her during her interview with Bob Costas. And I think I figured out what it is about her that creeps me out. She’s kind of the Stepford Skater. Wind her up and she skates like a dream. Wind her up a bit too tightly and she falls down and fails to win the gold medal. Wind her up again and she gives all the pat answers to an interviewer. I just don’t know who or what the real Sasha Cohen is inside the shell. (And, no, I don’t know who the real Michelle Kwan is either, but I don’t feel the Stepford-ness in Kwan.)
And Dick Button gushed, by the way!
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### Author:  [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/137 "2006-02-25T15:43:29Z")
Saw Cohen on Jay Leno before the Olympics and I thought she was charming. Really! Didn’t remember her name, though, and certainly didn’t recognize her. It was only when I heard her speak that I realized it was the same chick. What a difference a severe hairstyle and makeup can make!
Personally, I thought her performance was outstanding, two falls and all. Her “Romeo and Juliet” program gave me chills. As whatshername (the female skating commentator) said, other girls skated to the R&J theme. Cohen WAS Juliet.
Diva? Meh. The Russian girl (Irina) gives off a vibe, too, but after interviews I was rooting for her.
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### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/138 "2006-02-26T16:47:53Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#):
>
> Irina, OTOH, I think would be a very interesting person to sit down with and just talk. She has an approachableness about her.
I agree, but she does seem to have a temper, if this is true.
> [@](#):
>
> [Skating’s Best and Worst](http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/torino2006/figure_skating/news?slug=jz-wrap022506&prov=yhoo&type=lgns&expire=1)
>
> …
>
> Irina Slutskaya’s tantrum: After the ladies’ free skate, word was going around that Irina Slutskaya was so angry about her placement that she ended up throwing her bronze medal in the trash. Later reports confirmed this to be true. I know Irina to be a sweet and jovial person with a sincere personality. She was under considerable pressure with her and her mother’s personal health matters and was bitterly disappointed with not winning the gold. I know she wanted to win very much, and got caught up in the emotions of such a pressured-filled event.
This is the kind of story that in the future will be mentioned, and denied by fans, and argued about. I wanted other people to read it besides me, in case it gets buried, then passes into myth.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/139 "2006-02-26T18:20:35Z")
What a great thread. I learned a lot.
The only time I watch figure skating is during the Olympics. What is that move that some of the women are doing – the one where they raise a leg in **front** of their body and skate forward?
It’s not attractive. You’d never see a ballet dancer do that, and most of the skating moves seem to be drawn from ballet.
Is it new? I’ve never seen it before. Never want to see it again.
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### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-figure-skating/344105/140 "2006-02-26T19:06:50Z")
to me the biggest factor is the sportsman factor. are you gracious in winning and losing? throwing an olympic medal in the trash is just spitting on those that finished behind you.
no olympics for irina! ever!
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