Vanessa James and Eric Radford are on an ego trip to Beijing. Skate Canada has buffed that conceit.
The veteran pairs team — though not with each other — was named to Canada’s figure skating squad for the Olympics despite not skating a long program on Saturday at the national championships in Ottawa, after placing fourth in Friday’s short program.
Both had tested positive for COVID over Christmas and had only four days of training for the event.
Stiffed by the decision to include James and Radford on the Olympic team are Evelyn Walsh and Trennt Michaud, the young pair that claimed silver.
James had entered the women’s dressing room after a sketchy short program and proclaimed, “Our spot is secured,” Walsh recalled.
It sounded like it was all in the bag for James and Radford, and James knew it, regardless of whether they earned a medal or even skated in the long program.
“It was not directed at me,’’ Walsh told the Star about James’ declaration. “But it was quite loud. Loud enough that my coach overheard it from the corridor.”
Walsh was dismayed. “We’d been on such a high after the short.” They were sitting second, with impressive execution, behind Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, who would cop their third national title. “Suddenly it was, like, what are we even skating for if the decision has already been made? It was extremely disheartening. That closed doors we didn’t know existed.
“We’re feeling lost and disappointed with how things worked out. I cried on the drive all the way home.”
James and Radford also were nominated to the team for the world championships in March. Walsh and Michaud were not, although they made their worlds debut in Stockholm last spring and finished 12th. Moore-Towers and Marinaro were sixth. That outcome locked in two spots for Canada in Beijing. Instead, Walsh and Michaud were assigned to a Four Continents event later this month, which is basically consolation for skaters who aren’t Olympics bound.
“That was just another disappointment,” Walsh said.
The team’s coach, Alison Purkiss, is discouraged that her skaters didn’t make the worlds cut. “It would have been much fairer if the two had been split, so they could go to worlds.”
The exchange in the dressing room — it really was only a one-way conversation — was reported to Skate Canada. At least one person who sits on the board of directors was told about it. Two people with knowledge of the incident have described it to the Star as “bullying.” Moore-Towers, who is the Safe Sport representative, was aware of the incident.
The incident might not rise to the level of bullying. It could just be part and parcel of the sometimes toxic environment that hangs over an intensely competitive — and, frankly, bitchy — sport, behind the facade of glitter and rictus smiles.
“I think it was said in frustration,” Purkiss said of the James outburst. “Those things have to be put into context.”
As of Monday, Walsh and Michaud had yet to be contacted by Skate Canada. They discovered their exclusion from the Olympics and world championships on Twitter.
“Nobody has taken the opportunity to explain to them, ‘Look, this is why we made the decision,’ ” Purkiss said. “So they’re questioning everything they know and had been told throughout the season about the criteria for the Olympics.”
That criteria, circulated to skaters last spring, stated the final determination would be based on results from the Grand Prix circuit, potential performance as indicated by international scores, previous world placement and nationals.
“A lot of people assume that (nationals) is the end-all and be-all in the final determining factor,’’ Michael Slipchuk, high performance director for Skate Canada, told reporters Sunday. “But for us, it’s part of our criteria.”
He pointed out that James and Radford had collected the highest scores among Canadians pairs teams coming into the nationals, in a season that was again severely disrupted by the pandemic. The Grand Prix last month was cancelled.
“We took the body of work of all athletes. We wanted to make the best assessment for the strongest team we feel has the best ability for us at the Games.”
For Skate Canada, it’s always about manipulating for medals.
Slipchuk did not respond to an interview request from the Star. Nor did any other Skate Canada executive. The Star also tried reaching out to James and Radford, through Skate Canada, without success.
Radford and James placed fourth in their three assignments, with a top score at the Internationaux de France of 193.64. Walsh and Michaud were ninth, sixth and eighth, with a top score of 168.87.
James and Radford are 34 and 36 respectively. Walsh and Michaud are 20 and 25. With Moore-Towers and Marinaro indicating they will probably retire after these Games, Walsh and Michaud project as Canada’s top pairs duo for 2026 in Italy. They’ve never been to an Olympics and would certainly benefit from the experience of Beijing.
A two-time world champion and an Olympic bronze medallist with former partner Meagan Duhamel, Radford shocked the figure skating community with his announcement in April that he was coming out of retirement and had paired with James. Duhamel, who had never been asked if she was interested in resuming a competitive career, was “blindsided.”
James, from Scarborough, had spent a decade skating for France with ex-partner Morgan Ciprès, who has been charged — in absentia — by the Florida state attorney’s office for allegedly sending lewd photos of himself to a 13-year-old female skater. This purportedly occurred while Ciprès and James were still skating together. James is adamant she knew nothing about it.
The yoking of Radford and James remains controversial and their selection to the Olympic team has sparked a strong backlash on social media. Duhamel tweeted: “I am disappointed in my sport today.”
Radford, in a virtual session with reporters Sunday, insisted their selection was justified.
“The criteria was stated at the beginning of the season. And so, from the beginning until now, we all have the same opportunities to perform and score. Vanessa and I posted the highest short and free program scores internationally, we had the highest placements.”
Before the comeback, Radford was to have choreographed the long program for Walsh and Michaud. When he became a rival, that plan was ditched.
Their long program was performed to “Dreaming With a Broken Heart.”
-by rosie di manno in toronto star
