ISU investigating "surge of hate" directed at French ice dance team, condemns reported homophobic comments

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ISU investigating "surge of hate" directed at French ice dance team, condemns reported homophobic comments

The president of the French Ice Sports Federation told the International Skating Union that the ISU “can’t remain silent in front of this surge of hate” directed at French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.

In a letter dated Oct. 12, a copy of which I have obtained, FFSG President Nathalie Péchalat made a forceful appeal for the ISU to take action after several months in which Papadakis and Cizeron “are targeted, not on a sporting level but due to Guillaume(‘s) sexual orientation.”

Cizeron, 2018 Olympic silver medalist and four-time world champion with Papadakis, came out as gay in May 2020.

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After a highly decorated career, Ashley Wagner is proudest of current chapter in her story

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After a highly decorated career, Ashley Wagner is proudest of current chapter in her story

At this time four years ago, Ashley Wagner was beginning the final months of training for what she reasonably could have expected would lead to her second Olympic appearance after having won an Olympic team event bronze medal in 2014.

Sure, her 2016-17 season had been a struggle, with a subpar seventh-place performance at the World Championships. But that was still her sixth straight worlds, and, among U.S. women, only Michelle Kwan has a longer consecutive appearance streak.

Beyond that, Wagner had skated to a silver medal at the 2016 Worlds, to this day the only medal by a U.S. woman at worlds since 2006. And Wagner had been just five points from a medal at the 2015 Worlds, when she was third in the free skate.

In October 2017, no one could have foreseen Bradie Tennell going from relative unknown to 2018 U.S. champion or Mirai Nagasu putting it together for a stunning performance when it counted most, at the 2018 U.S. Championships. Wagner, a three-time U.S. champion, and Karen Chen, the 2017 champion, were, at that point, seemingly the best bets to claim spots on the team going to South Korea, with the third and final spot up for grabs.

Four months later, after a workmanlike, unremarkable performance at nationals, Wagner would be the odd woman out.

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Once again, World Team Trophy has six countries, but only three medal contenders...and that doesn't add up to much of a competition

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Once again, World Team Trophy has six countries, but only three medal contenders...and that doesn't add up to much of a competition

The big problem with the competitive aspect of the World Team Trophy is having just three countries with a chance to win medals now that Canadian skating has hit a fallow period since its athletes won the team gold medal (and three individual medals) at the 2018 Olympics.

Only Canada, Russia, the United States and Japan ever have won medals at the World Team Trophy, which has a six-country field, two entries per country in each segment of singles and one couple in pairs / dance. Canada’s last WTT medal came five editions ago (2013.)

Only Canada, Russia and the USA have won team medals at the Olympics since the 2014 addition of the event, where the field has 10 countries with only one singles skater and one couple in the short programs, after which the field is cut to five countries for the free skates.

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By the (likely) final performance, Nathan Chen became a mirror for Glass music

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By the (likely) final performance, Nathan Chen became a mirror for Glass music

My observations from Day 2 of 3 at the World Team Trophy, where Nathan Chen was Same As He Ever Was in winning the free skate after winning the short program on Day 1.

(Wait…maybe Talking Heads for him in the Olympic season?)

1. It’s too bad that Friday was most likely the last time Nathan Chen will skate the free program Shae-Bourne artfully choreographed to selections from the music of the minimalist composer, Philip Glass.

Chen clearly had a physical as well as intellectual understanding of Glass, having studied his music at Yale and having learned how to play part of it on the piano. The skater’s interpretation got more nuanced each time he performed it, with the final half of the four minutes at the World Championships and the opening 30 seconds at World Team Trophy clear evidence of how he “got” the music.

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At World Team Trophy, another angle on Chen-Hanyu rivalry

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At World Team Trophy, another angle on Chen-Hanyu rivalry

Thanks to NBC’s Peacock TV for the ability to watch the World Team Trophy from Osaka, Japan, at a reasonable hour in the USA via replay.

It meant I was awake enough to make some (hopefully) coherent observations after Thursday’s day one, which included singles short programs and the rhythm dance.

In no particular order of importance:

I used to think (at least until the 2018 Olympic free skate) that Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu was so dominant, particularly in component scores, that he could make one semi-serious mistake and still win in any program.

Nathan Chen has shown that thinking no longer prevails, particularly among judges.

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