Something most Americans don’t understand is the mindset of Russian authority figures.
Note the response of the Russian Olympic Committee president (both unhinged and irrelevant), and even worse, Valieva’s coach after the girl returned to the “kiss and cry room” to await her scores. (Anger, criticism.) I may have to watch tonight - if only to see if Tara Lipinski winds up on that coach in later commentary... Popcorn on the menu tonight. :-)
Then aside from those types there is the Russian silver medalist, Alexandra Trusova:
https://sports.yahoo.com/hate-russian-womens-ice-skater-182910675.html
Drive to win is one thing. I leave that thought at that.
One wonders how much of this malignancy is present in Russia’s upper leadership. Quite a bit, I suspect.
Wow. Upon reflection I was thinking maybe I was a little tough on Alexandra Trusova. Then I saw the interview with her. She was still angry about not getting a gold medal. “Crying angry.” This girl needs some counseling. Or maybe serious time in New Testament instruction. Something...
I would still give the odds that Valieva was sabotaged at 50/50. At any rate, it was hard to watch her come apart.
The weird thing is that those 3 top Russian skaters all have the same coach, and somehow Trusova doesn’t seem to understand that SOME artistic element and connection to the crowd is still crucial in skating. Johnny Weir’s comments that her performance was all “nuts and bolts” was spot on.
Tara Lipinski was relatively restrained. Darn!!