Vladislava Urazova AA

[ArnoldRimmer]

That was the highlight of the Games.

 

[onodian]

We should start calling it the Mustafina on bb, just randomly having no acro series.

 

[Doug1233]

Skinner should have been second AA over Suni Lee

LOLZ

 

[Doug1233]

Personally in my scoring I had Carey tied for fourth on floor, altho she loses the tie-breaker on E of course. So I don’t think that one’s insane hehe

Gymnaverse had 3 tenths separating Carey, Ferrari, Murakami, Melnikova, Andrade and Jess.

Definitely not “insane” to change the Top 6 order into literally any combination.

 

[Doug1233]

I’m pretty amazed that someone can be a crazed, blinkered Urazova fan at the same time as being a crazed, blinkered Skinner fan…

Yeah. They’re both white.

 

[MaryClare]

Well no. People in America are now including Russians and those of Russian heritage as Asian. Probably since there’s much similar prejudice faced by Russians and Chinese in America due to political stereotypes and preconceptions. Alyona Shchennikova was recently included in a list of Asian American gymnasts.

 

[rue_des_plantes]

Well no. People in America are now including Russians and those of Russian heritage as Asian. Probably since there’s much similar prejudice faced by Russians and Chinese in America due to political stereotypes and preconceptions. Alyona Shchennikova was recently included in a list of Asian American gymnasts.

Urazova would overwhelmingly not be perceived as Asian in the United States even if people were told she was Russian, if for no other reason than most Americans’ mental reference for “Asian” is strictly East and Southeast Asia. I remember some joke discourse on Twitter about Nastia and Alyona being Asian, but I wasn’t aware of any serious claims.

I’ve never spoken to any American who would consider Russia Asia unless they were speaking geographically like Lake Baikal, regardless of their academic or political standing. The ones I know who can make that distinction would not haul off and call somebody with Russian citizenship “Asian” unless they knew they were part of, say, a Turkic or Mongol group.

 

[Doug1233]

Well no. People in America are now including Russians and those of Russian heritage as Asian.

No they are not.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

Yeah, arabiandoublesalto had used the word first regarding the insane takes so I just riffed off them haha

those six killed their routines

 

[MaryClare]

Many people in Russia and the former USSR are of mixed heritage which are not always obvious (Nabieva, Boginskaya), especially to Westerns who are unfamiliar with different ethnic groups in our part of the world. Race isn’t the issue it seems to be in other places and neither is it a barrier to how people accept their national identity. Kazakh TV did a big documentary (maybe 2 hours long) on Valeri Liukin a couple of years ago and he clearly considers himself to be from Kazakhstan even though his family background would appear to be Slavic.

I don’t know Urazova’s background but for me she’s someone who looks to have Asian heritage

 

[IratePanda]

Apparently, Urazova’s surname is very common in Uzbekistan.

To your original point, in the U.S., we recognize that people have mixed ancestry, but if we knew that someone from Russia (or another former Soviet republic) had some non-Slavic heritage, we wouldn’t necessarily classify them as Asian or non-White. Personally, I don’t feel that’s something I should decide for anyone else, anyway. Self-identification is precisely that. I know a Bulgarian-born woman of Romani heritage, and she identifies as POC (Person of Color). I have a friend from Ukraine who is half-Jewish, half-Cossack, and he identifies as Ukranian–full stop.

Fun, semi-related fact: Lilia Akhaimova is Jewish. I discovered this when I traveled down a Google rabbit hole looking for information on a completely different topic.

ETA: I didn’t mean to imply that Bulgaria is a former Soviet republic.

 

[MaryClare]

Urazov isn’t a common surname anywhere really. I’m not sure how anyone could think Lilia Akhaimova would be anything other than Jewish or of Jewish heritage when her surname is L’Chaim!

 

[IratePanda]

Well, I’m Jewish, and I didn’t even make that connection until I saw it spelled out. Then I punched myself in the head for missing the obvious.

 

[MaryClare]

Haha, well to further complicate things, Akhaimova was born and grew up in Vladivostok so really she is also Asian. This is why in Russia we don’t do ethnicity!

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Didn’t notice either, but that’s a superb name. I’m not even Jewish and I’d still quite like to be called L’chaim.

 

[Doug1233]

People in America are now including Russians and those of Russian heritage as Asian.

especially to Westerns who are unfamiliar with different ethnic groups in our part of the world

I’m confused with what you’re trying to convey here.

No-one in America would call Urazova Asian purely based on her appearance. Literally no-one. I have no idea where you got that from. Do you live in America?

 

[IratePanda]

And I wouldn’t consider Akhaimova Asian simply because she was born in Vladivostok. Geography doesn’t always determine ethnicity.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I would be extremely surprised if Americans are now commonly referring to Russians per se as Asian, but I think it’s useful to remember that the racial classifications used in the US aren’t used everywhere and don’t do a very good job at describing the situation and dynamics in a lot of societies.

 

[rlayt]

It’s not even helpful to state AMERICANS do this. America is a big diverse nation and we cannot agree on much amongst ourselves.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

True…