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Hart to Hart 5x16 - Silent Dance

A young figure skater's dreams of Olympic gold will be shattered unless the Harts can mix modern technology with the astounding talent of skater Tai Babilonia.

#hart to hart #jennifer hart #stefanie powers #jonathan hart #rj wagner #80s television #Tai Babilonia

U.S. Figure Skating executive director David Raith says sexual abuse is a "societal issue." Several of the sport's biggest stars disagree.

Christine Brennan Jan 27, 2020

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Last March, the U.S. Center for SafeSport delivered a chilling assessment of sexual abuse in the sport of figure skating, saying it discovered “a culture in figure skating that allowed grooming and abuse to go unchecked for too long.” Despite a series of high-profile allegations of sexual abuse in the intervening months, U.S. Figure Skating executive director David Raith told USA TODAY Sports Thursday afternoon, “We don’t agree with their statement.”

“As an athlete who spoke with the executive director face-to-face about my own story, I am surprised to hear that he does not agree with SafeSport’s assessment that there is a problem,” Wagner said in a text message Friday. “It would also be surprising if he believes he is better equipped to make that assessment than an independent body dedicated to preventing this exact situation. Denying or ignoring the elephant in the room is not enough to save the sport I love.”

“I am frustrated and disappointed that U.S. Figure Skating can’t or won’t acknowledge the systemic problems that led to this conclusion from SafeSport,” she said. “Skating has a history of fostering and creating power imbalances that thrive in dark corners, and to believe that all of these cases are unrelated to the culture of figure skating is either grossly naïve or absolutely negligent.”

While rejecting SafeSport’s assessment of skating’s culture, David Raith would not offer his own characterization. “We look at it as a societal issue,” he said. “It’s not just us. It’s every sport....We’re doing everything we can to help educate.......But we’re trying to do everything we can. For me, the No. 1 thing is that you support survivors and you believe in survivors.”

”If there wasn't a problem, there would not be any of these stories,” Adam Rippon, 2016 national champion and 2018 Olympic team bronze medalist, said in an interview during nationals, which he attended as a coach for 2020 national silver medalist Mariah Bell.

“I think there's a bit of denial and there's a bit of shame, like how could this happen in our home when we think that we know what's going on?” Rippon said. “I think there's a bit of sadness because we don't want that, we don't want that here. In the last year, we've seen a lot of stories and people haven't really known how to deal with these situations. We should know how to deal with them.”

Tai Babilonia, [pairs] five-time national champion, 1979 world champion and two-time Olympian.....said in a phone interview that USFS’s denial of a cultural problem was concerning. “What are they afraid of? Just make it better. Just own that there’s a problem and try to make it better. Here we go again, roll our eyes and it’s swept under the rug,” she said.

Bill Fauver, [pairs] a longtime coach and two-time Olympian.....said SafeSport’s assessment of the USFS culture was “stating the obvious.” “What U.S. Figure Skating is doing is only what is mandated,” he said. “They are not taking any unique or bold steps to address the situation. It is simply not going to go away by wishful thinking.”

#Figure skating #sex abuse #skating survivors #sports abuse #Adam Rippon #Ashley Wagner #Tai Babilonia #Bill Fauver #safesport #usfs #united states figure skating #David Raith #Christine Brennan #Morgan Cipres #James & Cipres

February 1980. 'Terrific is the word for figure skater Tai Babilonia and her partner Randy Gardner who will compete for the Olympic gold medal in pairs at the Winter Games in Lake Placid, NY...'

#seventeen magazine #1980s style #1980 #tai babilonia