[ SECRET POST #7005 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #7005 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.
[pride and prejudice]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 10 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1000.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

...Japan was the top contenders, what does soviet/ex-soviet have anything to do with this? Russia and Belarus were not even able to compete shy the one neutral athlete.

[(Anonymous)]

Tell me you know nothing about figure skating without telling me you know nothing about figure skating.

[(Anonymous)]

So the OP is happy to see someone skating happy. Russia and the Soviet bloc in general have a history of brutal treatment of their figure skaters (and other athletes but skaters are the most high profile). The skaters are always amongst the best in the world but they don’t typically seem happy. They’re technically proficient but often there’s no real heart in their performances because it was brutally trained out of them. And until pretty recently figure skating in general tended to discourage anything other than technical performance with a focus on jumps. So OP is saying that they get joy seeing someone exude joy while skating.

And if OP is American, they probably feel even more joy and possibly pride in such a soulful performance.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Thank you, for both being kind and offering an explanation. I know that the Russian delegation was suspended for cheating for a few olympics now, and heard about the Belarusian athlete who couldn't return home because she didn't win a medal, and it is truly heartbreaking that the corruption runs so deep. I watched the competition and felt a lot of emotions for many of the athletes, but I guess I just didn't see why Liu was singled out specifically, especially in that context. (I try not to watch the scoring or placements until its done, tbh, so I didn't hear her backstory either)

Thank you again! <3

[(Anonymous)]

OP

This. And yes, I'm American and I felt pride and a little bit of an extra tie to Alysa Liu. Her dad came to the US under similar circumstances as my parents, and like my parents her dad responded to his birth country attempting to give her citizenship the same as my Mother when Russia offered that shit for a while to her kids; "Over my dead fucking body do you get my child."

I think the thing that makes me saddest about the Soviet athletes were the ones who never made it to fame. The USSR was very into throwing as many resources as possible into things that made them look good on an international stage. Possible Olympic contenders were identified almost as soon as they could walk. Those contenders spent their entire lives from there on in grueling training every day. The malnutrion, the verbal abuse, the abuse to their bodies.

And then Olympics would come up and there were only so many spots open. Or an athlete would have a career-ending injury. The USSR would drop them back on the street without so much as a grade-school education. They had known literally nothing else.

But look; the Russians were winning all. the. time!!! They must have been doing something right, yeah? So the coaches went to the west and brought the Soviet system over here. And we allowed it in the name of winning. (If there's a hell you can bet Bela Karolyi is in there.)

This was the first time in Olympics I ever saw a skater really enjoy herself. It was also the first time I watched the skaters from different countries embrace each other as friends. It felt like what the Olympics was always meant to be: friendly competition to foster camaraderie between the nations.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sorry, but maybe if you're reading comprehension is this bad don't comment on secrets.

[(Anonymous)]

Look into the history of the sport.

[(Anonymous)]

Look up for Elena Mukhina. She wasn't a figure skater but she endured the horrors of the training in the Soviet-era.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

That's horrific. I've never heard about her before, but what she went through is unimaginable. I don't even know who I'm most furious at, the doctors for forcing her cast off to train, the coaches, the system, everyone. It feels weird to thank you for your response given the terrors it reveals, but I do appreciate it. You're much kinder than most of the responses I've gotten. So thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

Me: I've taken a pretty long break from FS because I felt it was getting toxic, but maybe this secret post will be civil or interesting-

Also me: *facepalms at this comment*

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

tbh, the last few days have been pretty non-toxic. And comparing to the week or so before that, this is barely on the radar. Sorry for the face-palm though, I'm not the best at expressing myself.