#Morgan Cipres

[madetobepraised]

[devilishangel60079]

Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres Skate to "The Sound of Silence" (No Audi...

[kaleidodreams]

Updated 100 Memorable Skating Programs

Back in 2018, I created the original version of this list. (You can find the master post here.) Since 2024 marks my 30th year as an official fan of figure skating and there have been some more great programs created since the last time, I thought it was about time to update the list in honor of World Ice Skating Day. Same rules apply as last time:

Only senior competitive programs starting from the 1993-1994 season are eligible, since that's the first season I really started watching figure skating.

Each skater may only be listed once, unless a partner/discipline switch is involved.

Choice of music may also not be repeated. (Yes, there are two James Bond programs on the list, but Yuna and Wakaba use different music for the most part, so I'm letting it slide.)

I debated long and hard about whether or not I should still include programs from skaters who have proven themselves to be not so great people. I'm someone who has little difficulty separating the art from the artist, so in the end, I decided to keep them listed (although most of them got knocked down a few pegs). This list is more about the choreography than the skater anyway, although there are certainly some problematic choreographers out there, too. (Looking at you especially, Morozov!) So, just because a skater is listed doesn't mean that I'm a fan of them or that I condone their actions! I just think certain programs are still great regardless of the skaters' terrible behavior off the ice.

Choreographers are noted if known. If you know who choreographed the programs without a choreographer named, please let me know!

I've also created a handy playlist on YouTube if you don't want to click on all these links.

Ashley Wagner - Moulin Rouge (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2016 Worlds

Jason Brown - Melancholy (Rohene Ward) 2023 Nationals

Patrick Chan - Phantom of the Opera (Lori Nichol) 2011 Canadian Nationals

Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje -Je suis malade (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2012 Worlds

Meryl Davis/Charlie White - Kajra Re/Silsila Ye Chahat Ka/Dola Re Dola (Marina Zueva, Igor Shpilband, and Anuja Rajendra) 2010 Olympics

Mao Asada - Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 (Tatiana Tarasova) 2014 Olympics

Sui/Han - Rain, In Your Black Eyes (Lori Nichol) 2019 Worlds

Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat - Romeo & Juliet 1998 Olympics

Cain/LeDuc - W.E. (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2022 US Nationals

Daisuke Takahashi - Blues for Klook (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2012 Worlds

Kurt Browning - Casablanca (Sandra Bezic) 1994 Olympics

Michelle Kwan - Salome (Lori Nichol) 1996 Worlds

Alexei Yagudin - Winter (Tatiana Tarasova and Nikolai Morosov) 2002 Olympics

Jamie Sale/David Pelletier - Love Story (Lori Nichol) 2002 Olympics

Jeremy Abbott - Exogenesis (Jeremy Abbott and Yuka Sato) Nationals 2012

Oksana Grishuk/Evgeni Platov - The Feeling Begins 1997 Worlds

Yuzuru Hanyu - Seimei (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2015 Grand Prix Final

Chock/Bates - Egyptian Snake Dance (Marie-France Dubreuil, Ginette Cournoyer, and Sam Chouinard) 2019 Grand Prix Final

Javier Fernandez - Guys and Dolls (David Wilson) 2016 Worlds

Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres - Sound of Silence (John Kerr and Silvia Fontana) 2017 Euros

Evgenia Medvedeva - Anna Karenina (Daniil Gleichengauz) 2018 Olympics

Nathan Chen - Philip Glass medley (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2021 Worlds

Gabriella Papadakis/Guilliame Cizeron - Elegie (Saxon Fraser and Marie-France Dubreuil) 2022 Olympics

Aljona Savchenko/Bruno Massot - La terre vue du ciel (Christopher Dean) 2018 Olympics

Kevin Aymoz - Bolero (Brice Mousset and Kevin Aymoz) 2023 Skate America

Julia Lipnitskaya - Schindler’s List (Ilia Averbukh) 2014 Olympics

Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze - Lady Caliph 2002 Olympics

Yu-na Kim - James Bond medley (David Wilson) 2010 Olympics

Shoma Uno - Buenos Aires Hora Cero (Mihoko Higuchi) 2016 Grand Prix Final

Michal Brezina - The Way You Look Tonight (Jeffrey Buttle) 2016 Skate Canada

Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz - Riverdance 1998 Olympics

Adam Rippon - O/Fly On (Benji Schwimmer) 2016 Trophee de France

Jeffrey Buttle - Bells of Moscow (David Wilson) 2005 Worlds

Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier - Vincent (Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs) 2019 Canadian Nationals

Rudy Galindo - Swan Lake (Sharlene Franke) 1996 US Nationals

Sasha Cohen - Malaguena (Tatiana Tarasova) 2004 Worlds

Aljona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy - Pina (Ingo Steur) 2011 Grand Prix Final

Samantha Cesario - Carmen (Inese Budevica) 2013 Trophee Eric Bompard

Tatsuki Machida - East of Eden (Phillip Mills) 2014 Worlds

Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao - Turandot (Lea Ann Miller, Renee Roca, and Gorsha Sur) 2003 Worlds

Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker - Liebestraume (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2018 Nationals

Olga Mikutina - My Nocturnal Serenade (Rostislav Sinicyn) 2023 Europeans

Lu Chen - The Last Emperor (Toller Cranston) 1995 Worlds

Giada Russo - Red Violin (Edoardo de Bernardis) 2016 Europeans

Junhwan Cha - Fate of the Clockmaker/Cloak and Dagger (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2022 Olympics

Han Yan - La La Land (Yuka Sato and Kurt Browning) 2019 Chinese Interclub League

Wakaba Higuchi - Skyfall (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2018 Worlds

Kazuki Tomono - Die Fledermaus (Misha Ge) 2022 Japanese Nationals

Yuma Kagiyama - Believer (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2024 Worlds

Karen Chen - On Golden Pond (Karen Chen) 2017 Nationals

Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani - Coppelia (Marina Zueva and Cheryl Yeager) 2016 Nationals

Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirov - Manfred Symphony (Peter Tchernyshev) 2014 Skate America

Philippe Candeloro - The Three Musketeers (Natacha Dabadie) 1998 Olympics

Alexander Abt - Songs from the Victorious City 1998 Nations Cup

Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir - Prince medley 2017 Worlds

Ekaterina Gordeeva/Sergei Grinkov - Moonlight Sonata (Marina Zueva) 1994 Olympics

Satoko Miyahara - Madama Butterfly (Tom Dickson) 2017 Japanese Nationals

Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha - The White Crow (Romain Haguenauer and Ginette Cournoyer) 2023 Four Continents

Anjelika Krylova/Oleg Ovsiannikov - Masquerade Waltz 1997 Worlds

Alena Kostornaia - The Departure, November (Daniil Gleikhengauz) 2019 Grand Prix Final

Nelli Zhiganshina/Alexander Gazsi - Two from the Grave (Ilia Averbukh) 2013 Worlds

Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov - The Man and The Shadow (Nikolai Morozov) 2015 Grand Prix Final

Stephanie Rosenthal - Rockit (Stewart and Christi Sturgeon) 2006 Nationals

Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue - Across the Sky, Caught Out In The Rain (Marie-France Dubreuil) 2018 Nationals

Mikhail Kolyada - The Nutcracker (Ilia Averbukh) 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia

Sinead Kerr/John Kerr - The Landing/Turn Around/Gravity of Love (Evgeni Platov) 2008 Worlds

Kaetlyn Osmond - Sous le ciel de Paris, Milord (Lance Vipond) 2016 Grand Prix Final

Carolina Kostner - Ave Maria (Lori Nichol) 2014 Olympics

Karina Manta/Joe Johnson - Sweet Dreams (Christopher Dean) 2019 Nationals

Gracie Gold - Firebird (Lori Nichol) 2016 Nationals

Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri - Atonement/Song For A Little Sparrow (Barbara Fusar-Poli and Corrado Giordani) 2022 Europeans

Keegan Messing - Singing in the Rain (Lance Vipond) 2018 Worlds

Elizabeth Punsalan/Jerod Swallow - Astor Piazolla medley (Igor Shpilband) 1998 Olympics

Rika Kihira - A Beautiful Storm (Tom Dickson) 2018 NHK Trophy

Mariah Bell - Chicago (Rohene Ward) 2016 Skate America

Brian Joubert - Rise (Evgeni Platov) 2009 Europeans

Stephane Lambiel - Poeta (Antonio Najarro) 2007 Worlds

Kaori Sakamoto - The Matrix (Benoit Richaud) 2020 NHK Trophy

Akiko Suzuki - O (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2012 NHK Trophy

Qing Pang/Jian Tong - The Impossible Dream (Shae-Lynn Bourne and David Wilson) 2010 Olympics

Takahito Kozuka - Io ci saro (Lori Nichol) 2014 Japanese National

Smart/Diaz - Mask of Zorro 2022 Europeans

Matt Savoie - Ennio Morricone medley (Tom Dickson) 2006 Nationals

Deniss Vasiljevs - Puttin’ On The Ritz (Benoit Richaud) 2016 Worlds

Caroline Green/Michael Parsons - Violin Concerto No.1 Eso Concerto, Clouds, The Mind on the Wind (Elena Novak and Alexei Kiliakov) 2022 Four Continents

Tara Lipinski - The Rainbow (Sandra Bezic) 1998 Olympics

Denis Ten - SOS d'un terrien en détresse (David Wilson) 2017 Shanghai Trophy

Valentina Marchei/Ondrej Hotarek - Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano (Massimo Scali) 2018 Europeans

Krisztina Czako - The Addams Family (Igor Bobrin) 1997 Europeans

Cheng Peng/Yang Jin - My Drag (Lori Nichol) 2016 GPF

Bradie Tennell - Mechanisms, Chronos (Benoit Richaud) 2020 4CC

Evgeny Plushenko - Tribute to Nijinsky 2004 Russian Nationals

Vanessa Gusmeroli - Rats D'Hotel 1999 Worlds

Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau - Monde Inverse (Shae-Lynn Bourne and Shae Zukiwsky) 2015 Skate America

Isabeau Levito - Dulcea Și Tandra Mea Fiară (Yulia Kuznetsova) 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva - Batwannis Beek/Sandstorm (Tatiana Prokofieva) 2015 Europeans

Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi - Soran Bushi (Marina Zoueva, Ilia Tkachenko, and Koyo Yanai) 2021 NHK Trophy

Amber Glenn - This Time (Kaitlyn Weaver and Randi Strong) 2024 Lombardia Trophy

Ivan Righini - You Raise Me Up (Ivan Righini) 2016 Europeans

Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte - Life is Beautiful (Liudmila Vlasova) 2017 NHK Trophy

[alenightshade]

hey I saw you call kevin aymoz an abuse apologist, i had never heard anything of the sort, what has he said?

Hi!

His coaches Silvia Fontana and John Zimmerman covered up for Morgan Cipres and Kevin has defended that cover up.

If you don’t know, Morgan was sexting and sending d*ck pics to a minor in the US during Olympic year. The girl in question reported it to Zimmerman and he as well as Fontana intimidated the girl into silence so Vanessa and Morgan could go to the OG.

The girl eventually spoke up and that’s why Vanessa/Morgan retired quickly and quietly. Cipres cannot step into the US otherwise he’ll be arrested. Zimmerman was suspended for a year due to the obvious cover up + a settlement out of court. Fontana got away scot free.

Kevin Aymoz was asked by fans to leave his coach (Fontana) and he started deleting comments and publicly defended her and the decisions of their coaches.

I totally understand the horrible decision of leaving someone you’ve been with for years but going so far as to fight for their character and their (lack of) integrity when they literally COVERED UP ABUSE and INTIMIDATED A MINOR is just disgusting.

[ellsey]

That’s three strikes against Montreal’s handling of sexual assault now - Sorensen, their apparent lack of support for Solene, and the implication that the utterly horrific acts described by Olivia Oliver were perpetrated by a Montreal-based skater. A total indictment of a school pushed as being a healthier alternative to the known abusive environments of years past. I hope the Ontario team are thinking seriously about their responsibilities and how to do things differently, but I don’t really see how a trio of recently retired elite athletes who are heavily indebted to the team in Montreal and never stepped away from the skating world can possibly have gained the necessary perspective. Then there’s the scandal of the coerced teen marriages. Morgan Cipres. John Coughlin. Numerous others whispered about in the corner of the run down recreational rink in my town. I’ve loved this sport since I was a kid and I’ve always had to reconcile that with knowing it was rotten. But right now I feel kind of dirty even watching it. I don’t know. I’m just sad and rambling.

I know I'm behind on asks, but I wanted to respond to this one quickly because honestly I'm having the same feelings. I literally told my non-skating friends about how all this is making me question what I am doing here. Like what am I supporting??

I love skating. I love doing it, I love watching it, I just love it. But how am I supposed to look at ice dance, my favorite discipline, and not think about what I know. I can't unlearn all the nastiness that I know is simmering under the surface. I can't unsee the fake IAM "support" knowing how they have treated their skaters who came to them for help. I can't ignore LITERAL CHILD BRIDES.

All of this is to say you are not alone. And I don't know what the answer is yet. I'm going to try to watch Skate Canada, but also I know. I know what else is there, the thing the ISU and the national feds wants so much to just disappear so they never have to acknowledge it. I know.

Even if I don't know them, I offer all my love and support to every skater who has been abused, assaulted, ignored, etc etc. I know the list is too long, but I hope they know they are loved.

[sunskate]

I feel bad for GrPa. To have such a successful breakout Olympic season only to lose their momentum (perhaps as people are suggesting due to programs) by moving to Olympic champion and silver medalist coaches even with a sixth place finish at their first worlds…who knows what happened if they didn’t move to MIDA. I think they took a big risk moving to coaches with no international elite coaching or choreographing experience (did we see any Charlie/Tanith/Greg choreo before MIDA? Maybe I should fact check myself there). It is not feeling like that risk is paying off

Charlie was establishing himself as a choreographer before MIDA - in 2018/19, he choreographed Wicked Game for Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres which had some buzz around it at the time, and he choreographed VM's RTR tour. there were other competitive programs, too. Not sure about Tanith choreo.

but Greg was coaching full time for years before MIDA - he's the most experienced of the 3. he was Madi Chock's partner before Evan until he retired in 2011 from competition. he was an assistant coach to Igor in Novi for years, then went to WISA, which is the connection to Green/Parsons, Bratti/Somerville and Cesanek/Yehorov, who all used to train there and moved to MIDA. i imagine he was making programs for teams at Novi and WISA too

Michael had been at WISA since he was 8 and left at 26, so that's an incredibly long time. he and Caroline teamed up in 2019, and if you remember their first couple seasons, their programs ranged from 🤷🏻‍♀️ to ick so the ones from their breakout season felt like a complete bolt of lightning. they said they did a large part of their own choreo for their FD, so they bring their talent with them. which makes that Rhapsody in Blue program that much more puzzling. MIDA has music tastes that feel like they come from a previous era sometimes. their programs have been pretty hit or miss so far

but that doesn't mean they won't learn. CPom had a bumpy first season at IAMO too, but they rightly got a reset. Gr/Pa can rewrite their narrative too, but it's going to be more uphill than they were anticipating

[azahar]

sunday song - the sound of silence

Version by Disturbed, accompanying a spectacular ice dance performance by Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres… enjoy.

[blogger360ncislarules]

Rescue: HI-Surf (Sept. 22, Fox)

Surf’s up — and dangerous — in Fox’s newest first responder drama, Rescue: HI-Surf. Set on the idyllic beaches of Oahu’s North Shore, the series follows a team of hardworking lifeguards — from veteran Em (Arielle Kebbel) all the way to new recruits Kainalu (Alex Aiono) and Hina (Zoe Cipres) — as they dive headfirst into the deep end to save tourists and locals who get swept up in the island’s ever-changing tides. “I really wanted to make a show that wasn't just set in Hawaii, but that was actually about Hawaii. It's about the people who call that place home,” creator Matt Kester explains. “It's an exciting show with all the rescues, but there's also a lot of great drama and really great character relationships that we’ll be playing out over the first season.” —Emlyn Travis

Sullivan's Crossing (Oct. 2, The CW)

Back to Sullivan's Crossing we go. Season 1 of the CW drama series left off on a cliffhanger with viewers wondering whether Maggie (Morgan Kohan) is pregnant and if a romance with Cal (Chad Michael Murray) is in her future. Murray says that season 2 delivers more about Cal’s dark past ... and his future. “Cal is starting to realize that Sullivan’s is his home,” Murray says. “Just when you think you have the entire world figured out, we turn over another stone and you realize that these characters' pasts are far darker than we ever assumed that they might have been.” But have no fear, this season has some light too. Murray teases a scene later in the season where the boys of the Crossing compete in a friendly game of ax throwing. “It was just fun to step aside from the heavy weighted drama at the Crossing.” —Calie Schepp

Tracker (Oct. 13, CBS)

The Shaw siblings aren't messing around when Tracker returns. Although the mystery of what Dory (Melissa Roxburgh) is up to with her father’s files will be explored a little later on, Russell Shaw (Jensen Ackles) will make an appearance early in season 2. “He comes in at the highest point,” showrunner Elwood Reid teases. And it isn't a proper Shaw brother reunion without at least one family secret. “There’s a secret that is revealed about their father in the first episode that lands with both brothers,” Reid says, “There’s a memory you’ll see that Colter doesn’t have that his brother does about Colter and their father.” Now that the brothers are on better terms, perhaps they can actually compare notes about their childhoods? —A.Y.

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage (Oct. 17, CBS)

Spinoff series Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage picks up a few months after the events of the Young Sheldon finale, which saw the death of Georgie’s dad. Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Mandy (Emily Osment) are still grappling with the loss, and living with her parents and their baby all while trying to navigate inner-family politics and figure out their future. And while fans of its predecessor can expect lots of familiar faces — such as Will Sasso, Rachel Bay Jones, Zoe Perry, Annie Potts, and Raegan Revord — executive producer Steve Holland says he hopes audiences are just as excited as he was to dig into a different part of the Big Bang Theory television universe. “This is the first time in 18 years that we're not writing for Sheldon, and Sheldon's a great character and I'm so proud to have been a part of writing that character, but this is a different show,” Holland says. “I don't have to keep Googling science facts anymore or trying to pretend that I know what I'm talking about. This is a much more, I think, relatable family show. These are different characters. It's the same world, but the slice of this world they inhabit has a different flavor to it.” —L.H.

Ghosts (Oct. 17, CBS) Three seasons in, Ghosts has a big paranormal sandbox and in season 4, they’ve invited the hilarious Mary Holland to play. In last season’s finale, a vengeful spirit kidnapped Brandon Scott Jones’ Isaac, moments after he left his fiancé jilted at the altar. Holland is that vengeful spirit, the most puritanical Puritan, Patience, who “was actually kicked out of her village for being a bit too much, so even by their standards, she's a lot to deal with,” says co-showrunner Joe Wiseman. Patience has it out for Isaac since he abandoned her to the dirt by letting go of her hand so that he could sneeze. “She's been wandering for 130 years or something like that, so she's a little upset,” Wiseman reveals, “but she's going to spend a few episodes at Woodstone and is going to mix things up there.” —L.F.B.

[trinitea-fics]

Hello! I saw you comment on a figure skating post that you miss when Kevin Aymoz was unproblematic. Can i ask how is he problematic? Genuinely just asking out of curiosity, because I don't really follow athlete's life and such. Thanks in advance, if you answer.

Hey Anon! So Kevin’s coaches also coached former pairs skater Morgan Cipres, who was accused and then charged with sending material harmful to a minor by electronic device in 2019, after sending inappropriate nude pictures to an underage skater at their rink. The coaches (John Zimmerman and Silva Fontana) were also accused of covering up this incident and intimidating the skater and their family into keeping quite. This resulted in Zimmerman being suspended from coaching by SafeSport for 2 years. And after all that, Kevin still has them as his coaching team, and happily so based off of his and Fontana’s interactions in the kiss and cry.

I think there was also some thing about him bad-mouthing Adam in the kiss and cry during this past nationals, saying that Adam’s success has lead to his downfall. But that’s less serious petty drama vs. working with coaches that covered up sexual abuse. But I do certainly think that's when a lot of people went from "Kevin has terrible coaches" to "Kevin has terrible coaches AND isn't that great of a guy either."

But long story short, any adverse reaction to Kevin online mostly has to do with his positive relationship with his terrible coaches that he should have left years ago.

[corporaloretsev]

sorry who was that post referring to? i’m new to fs

tw // sexual abuse

kevin aymoz, his coach silvia fontana (who you saw screaming with him at kiss and cry at worlds) and john zimmermann helped covering up morgan cipres' child sexual abuse case (you can google for details, john especially was listed on safesport if i'm not mistaken). he defended his coach, people were calling him out on twitter but he blocked every single one of them.

[jennibeultimate]

@twirlingtatos Hi! I’m still new to the backstage of skating and would love to educate myself about some of these things so I know what to look for. Where would you recommend I start? What keywords should I be searching? (In addition to what you’ve provided here!)

Hi, I will reply in the reblog bc otherwise word limit kills it.

❗Trigger warnings apply! Sexual assault, abuse

More under the cut: A list of recent cases that I could name on the top of my head. So this is not a complete list.

Believe survivors!

I am really not sure where to start....abuse goes on for so long in this sport and each year more cases come to light of sexual assault, physical and mental abuse, grooming, relationships with minors...

I think in recent years Christine Brennan provided lots of articles on cases of abuse, the latest one on Nikolaj Sørensen can be found here:

I think one case that had a big impact also in the fandom was the allegations against John Coughlin, many skaters came to his defense before Ashley Wagner spoke out about being one of his victims.

Other prominent case that came to light in recent years is the case of Morgan Cipres that also involved the coaches here:

Other latest cases involve Brian Joubert having a realtionship with a minor and being an abusive coach, there was more reported in French news.

Other prominent case is the former president of the French federation Didier Gailhaguet with many French skaters coming forward with allegations.

Not even mentioned here is the case of emotional abuse that is a method in a lot of coaching places. Mie Hamada was accused by Nobunari Oda, but he lost the case against her. Eteri Tutberidze has been criticized for years because of her training methods which she is open about but show a side of emotional abuse. Nikolai Morozov is also a name in relation to abuse as there are many reports on his sexual affairs with his students and his inapproriate behavior towards female skaters. He was never officially investigated but it's common knowledge around skating.

There are sadly many more cases and these are just the ones I can name from the top of my head. Usually if you search for the term #SkatingSurvivors on Twitter you will find ppl talking about different forms of abuse that took place.

And this is only what is public knowledge as this statement by an anonymous Twitter user shows, who didn't report her case to authorities but was still a victim.

I hope this gives you just a little insight into what is happening behind the scenes.

I don't want to believe that there are only bad ppl but the culture of figure skating is not providing a safe environment. SafeSport was implemented to provide more safety but so far their impact is little. The best they can do is try to ban the investigated skaters from coaching but I have yet to see a case that really got to be solved in court.

It's all very depressing sorry...

Please take care if you try to get more information on the matter, don't read into it if you don't feel well. Trigger warnings apply.

TW: Sexual abuse

It's making me sad that so many skaters and coaches turn out to be awful human beings.

And what's making me even sadder and angry is that nothing will come of accusations with lasting impact.

The sad truth is that even if victims come forward in the grand scheme of things in the figure skating world abuse gets a "pass" in the long run and nothing happens. Even to the extent that parents willfully let their chilren skate with abusers in favor of "pushing a career".

Show me someone that was publicily accused and was really canceled to never set foot into the skating world again in any form?

They remain skaters or coaches or whatever...

Sick and tired of the slogan that "cancel culture" kills careers when it never does.

Believe the victims!

_____

An old story that is hunting me for years now and cannot be more disgusting but just shows you how the skating world doesn't care:

Maybe you don't remember Karel Fajfr's case from the 90s but I do. (Or let's say it was brought to my attention again in 2019, first in 2014) He was sentenced to prison for sexual abuse of minors and got a 3 year coaching ban and yet after this he was coaching again bc parents believed he would be a good coach. And in 2019 there were new accusations of abuse but guess what the skater got the dead end and was charged for slander instead. So if a coach can still coach until this day even if he was proven guilty of sexual abuse and parents still let their kids train with him I fear that there is no change possible in figure skating. You can get away with anything it seems...cancel culture wtf...I bet even most of you have never heard the case at all. Maybe it's bc this is a German coach but he coached well known athletes who are now coaches Michal Brezina and Ondrej Hotarek. And he even got a virtual appearance as a coach character with his bright orange glasses on Yuri on Ice.

[prelude-numero-2]

So.

I watched the replay for the pairs.

The commentators (french) sometime say some shit sexist. They often talk when the athletes compete (sometime I can't hear the music at all) says mistakes about the jumps the names ect... This is kinda disgusting yes. When they are commenting I'm wondering why I watch.

At the final results, just at the last, Candeloro (one of them), after praised j/r (hem...) said " And we also salute Morg*n Cipr*s, without all this would not have been possible"

Holy shit. I screamed.

[looking-forthebigbluebox]

Eric Radford and Vanessa James are teaming up for team Canada. And i have some thoughts.

Firstly, they are both abuse apologists. Eric for working with John Coughlin after his abuse allegations came out. Vanessa for continuing to work with and support Morgan Cipres after his abuse and grooming of children was made public. So I will not be supporting either of them.

Secondly, it has been reported that Meagan Duhamel (who still performed with Radford until the pandemic) was not informed of the situation until the rumours started to become public. As a result, Meagan will stand to lose a lot of income from various skating shows and events who will unlikely hire her as a singles skater. The whole situation has really left her in the lurch and regardless of your personal opinion towards Meagan, this is a terrible way to treat someone.

Lastly i want to quickly point out my issue with the Skate Canada federation supporting this new pair. It is a further continuation of their habit of relying on veteran skaters to bring home international medals whilst not investing in the next generation. This is what led to the absence of international Canadian dominance following the many post-2018 retirements that affected every discipline.

[figureskatingfanblog]

French former Pairs skater Morgan Cipres has been charged with a third-degree felony for transmission of harmful material to a minor by electronic device, which faces a sentence of up to five years in prison. He is currently in France. 

[skate-the-onion]

In celebration of 1100 followers, here’s another flock of Troubled Birds.

[figureskatingconfessions]

“I hope that we as fans stop putting skaters on such high pedestals, like these are people who we don’t see more that 0.5% of their lives, we don’t know them, they’re not your friends, don’t get too emotionally invested thinking of them as the idealized version you imagine. Honestly they may be worst or better than you think they’re. Also, Yuzuru isn’t some kind of robot, he has his bad days and doesn’t end up first and it’s nobody’s fault. Stop thinking of him as some god who can’t say or do anything bad (not talking about something illegal, just ‘politically correct’ ideas); the same goes for Nathan and Shoma and Alina and every other skater out there. These are people we don’t know and once some of you realize that, your experience as stans will be better. A skater does something you don’t like? Unstan and move on, stop hating on more successful ppl just because you’re jobless, that’s just pathetic. Unless they’re Cipres or Yagudin, they’re horrible.”