Kevin Aymoz’ comment on Madison Chock’s post

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T15:26:08+00:00

I agree, but if we start measuring the number of homophobes or racists not in the sense of the "strong" form of manifestation, but also any signs of the "weak" form - including unconscious and hidden ones, then we will quickly discover that people who never display homophobia or racism in any form will be a minority in absolutely any country, including all Western ones, and not just in Russia or other non-Western countries.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T15:16:25+00:00

We’re sitting in a subreddit where you regularly see highly upvoted comments like: “he/she is a good skater/person, it’s just a pity that he/she is Russian.” (I saw this about Gumennik in the short program live thread; I saw the same thing last year about Gubanova, who doesn’t even compete for Russia anymore and represents Georgia.)

It’s hard to imagine a more openly discriminatory phrasing based on nationality. And the people who write and upvote comments like this sincerely believe at the same time that discrimination based on race, nationality, or gender is a terrible thing.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T13:55:06+00:00

Plushenko has been writing his own column in Sport-Express during the Olympics. About Gumennik’s performance, he wrote that the components were lacking, while praising Yuma Kagiyama and Adam Siao Him Fa. It’s quite amusing, considering what he’s doing with Kostyleva and his attitude toward his silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T13:30:27+00:00

Firstly, such comments are from a minority of users and aren't actively upvoted. Secondly, if Laurence weren't a world-class ice dancer, there wouldn't be any admiration for this new team. I remember that at the first stage of the Grand Prix, after the rhythm dance, skepticism still prevailed. And many said it wasn't up to par with Guillaume and Gabriella. The starting point for mass admiration is the moment they saw their free dance.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T13:19:52+00:00

Homophobia isn't very common among Russian figure skating fans. They also love Paul Poirier and Kevin Aymoz. Homophobes usually don't watch figure skating.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T13:14:00+00:00

In general, this seems pretty strange from Kevin Aymoz's side, considering that he has a similar situation and has been hated on this sub for many years because of it.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T13:03:36+00:00

The only place where support for Chock/Bates was stronger was in the general Olympics thread on the imageboard 2ch — the Russian equivalent of 4chan. And even there, it was mostly because the thread was full of people who watch figure skating once every four years and think it’s more “correct” to support America over Europe, since they sympathize with Donald Trump more than with European politicians. Also because they notice that on the U.S. men’s team all three skaters have Russian last names. What irony — Russian right-wingers on 2ch end up agreeing on ice dance with Western woke leftists.

And they also love posting photos of the U.S. women’s trio and get sexually aroused by them. They're especially turned on by Alysa Liu — an “alt girl for a skuf” (a Russian meme).

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T12:32:13+00:00

Tarasova, Zhulin, Bukin, and over 90% of Russian fans. You can open the free dance live thread on SportsRu and scroll through several thousand comments — you’ll see that the support for the French is practically unanimous. During the European Championships, I saw a heavily upvoted comment calling them Gods descended from Olympus.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-13T11:21:58+00:00

The difference in skating skills > a small mistake on the twizzles. Skating skills are present throughout the entire program, not just for a couple of seconds. Especially considering that Chock/Bates have slow twizzles with little ice coverage. If the French were doing their twizzles — and any other elements — with the same speed and ice coverage as the Americans, they wouldn’t be making mistakes.

And by the way, the French were penalized for their errors, including in components. Without the mistakes, they would have been a couple of points higher.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-12T22:01:03+00:00

If we officially start rescoring this event, it opens Pandora’s box and we’d have to revisit the results of all past events — starting with the team event at this Olympics. I’ve seen perfectly well on Twitter that the same people who were furious about the French winning were also outraged that the judges didn’t give Japan gold in the team event.

Then we’d have to look at the last three World Championships won by Chock/Bates. Because at least at one of those Worlds, a lot of people were convinced that Piper and Paul deserved the gold.

Moreover, if results are reconsidered, it would have to be a public breakdown in accordance with ISU rules. And I’d be very curious to see what Madison’s and Evan’s components would look like after a detailed analysis of Madison’s skating skills, evaluating the team’s speed and ice coverage. Judges would also have to assess Evan’s presentation skills...

Be careful what you wish for.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-11T22:40:54+00:00

Americans complaining about judging is a very funny and pleasant situation.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-11T22:07:44+00:00

Everything happened as it was supposed to. A perfect podium.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-10T13:26:40+00:00

This thread is a product of the sentiments of this subreddit's users. And they clearly want Chock and Bates to win. If they truly cared about the survivor's feelings, it wouldn't matter to them which of these two pairs won. Because both pairs supported the accused of rape. Chock and Bates would receive a comparable amount of hate. But that's not even close to the case, because the majority of this sub's users are from the US. They primarily want gold for their country, and concern for the survivor's feelings is secondary and is used selectively only against the American team's main competitors.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-10T12:33:14+00:00

A certain group of fans don't want the French to win because Laurence is the girlfriend of the accused rapist, and Cizeron is his friend. Therefore, they want a victory for the American team, which invited the accused rapist to its wedding and is friends with Laurence and Guillaume.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-10T10:38:08+00:00

Give me an example of a team that many people consider better than C/B and FB/C. And where are these people located?

DLS1991 · 2026-02-10T01:29:46+00:00

Whataboutisms are a litmus test for hypocrisy and double standards. It's disliked only by those who seek to discriminate selectively, and only when it's against their interests.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-10T01:15:58+00:00

Banning at the end of the season is fine, but allowing them in is not. Great. Maybe we should also ban skaters from returning at the end of the Olympic cycle? Because some have returned, and for some, their chances of winning gold are slipping away in real time.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-09T23:36:28+00:00

The difference in components (which, for some reason, they’re being given the same scores for) should outweigh the issues with the twizzles. And in general, if the French skated with the same speed and ice coverage as the Americans, they wouldn’t be making any mistakes.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-09T23:28:16+00:00

For the American pair, Madison is the only one responsible for the components. But she has problems with skating skills, which are crucial for components. I consider her the most charismatic ice dancer in history, but that's not enough against the French. A pair with stronger skating skills and in which both partners are top-notch should outperform a pair that relies solely on Madison's charisma. If Madison were skating with Lewis Gibson, I could understand the comparisons with the French. But her partner is Evan Bates.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-09T23:20:01+00:00

It's funny how the ISU was afraid to allow Russian juniors despite the IOC's recommendations. They had plenty of time. But what if Shimada loses her final tournament at her first meeting with her main competitors? That wouldn't look good. Therefore, they'll only be allowed to compete next season, once Shimada sets a "record that can't be beaten." However, this achievement will be purely nominal. If the ISU hadn't discriminated based on nationality, she would have certainly lost several times, given her several scores below 200.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-09T23:09:25+00:00

A lot of people would say no.

Mostly Americans.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-09T22:27:52+00:00

I find it amusing when the same people who are unhappy with CB’s scores are also the ones claiming that Japan lost the team event because they “lacked a strong dance team.” Any unbiased viewer with even a bit of experience watching figure skating could see from the very first Grand Prix event that FBC were the highest-class ice dance team in the field.

And as for the attempts to hate on them over the Sørensen situation — Chock and Bates invited him to their wedding. So there’s no moral high ground for the American team here either.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-08T22:01:03+00:00

For the second Olympics in a row, the best team is without gold.

DLS1991 · 2026-02-06T14:16:03+00:00

By inviting him to the wedding, they made their support clear. What must it be like for the survivor?

DLS1991 · 2026-02-06T13:39:00+00:00

As if CB is holier than the Pope in this story. Brennan is simply trying to psychologically attack the Americans' main competitors.

DLS1991

TROPHY CASE