Teenage figure skaters as young as 13 are being increasingly targeted by abusive comments on social media, Olympic gold medalist Evan Bates has warned.
In a sport which has seen revived popularity since the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Bates said some users were creating “toxic environments” around livestreamed events like Junior Grand Prix figure skating. That's a key event for competitors aged 13 and older with dreams of becoming Olympians in the future.
“We’ve seen a huge uptick in viewership and our online streams, but with that comes more chatter and unfortunately more of that negativity,” said Bates, who chairs the International Skating Union's athletes committee.
“We’re talking about minors and kids who don’t deserve that kind of abuse. A skater’s pursuit of their dream to skate at ISU level shouldn’t come at the expense of their mental health or well-being.”
Bates was speaking ahead of the International Skating Union signing up Friday to a campaign against online abuse. The ISU, which runs figure skating and speedskating, has also pledged to extend a program giving competitors access to AI-powered software which can hide abusive comments on their social media accounts from view.
Bates and his ice dance partner Madison Chock are two of the most experienced and decorated athletes in the sport. The 37-year-old American said he wanted to see other high-profile skaters be more vocal when they see online abuse.
“More and more I’d love to see these athletes, these older athletes who’ve been through it, step forward and call out people who are creating these kind of toxic environments for skaters,” he said.
In an unusual meeting of skating and auto racing, the ISU has signed up to the United Against Online Abuse campaign. That was originally set up by auto racing body the FIA, whose own sport has increasingly seen on-track rivalries mirrored by social-media hostility.
Bates said he's trying to recruit skaters to use a tool he likened to a “shield” which blocks abusive or negative posts from view on their social media despite a “natural hesitance” to allow a third-party tool access to their accounts.
He said the tool has flagged up 300,000 “negative comments,” half of them during the Olympics, on the accounts of 92 skaters using the system.
“I think to a certain extent it is internet culture. I don’t think it’s new. Harassment and abuse of athletes isn’t new,” Bates said. “As a soccer fan or a football fan, NBA fan, it’s sometimes crazy to hear the things that even people in the stadium shout at the players on the field. I think now there’s just a means to reaching athletes through social media that’s more direct.”
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FILE - Skaters warm up before performing during the ice dance rhythm dance program at the figure skating world championships, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — Facing elimination for the second consecutive day, José Ramírez and the Cleveland Guardians responded once again.
“What this team is doing is only what we know how to do,” the All-Star third baseman said.
Ramírez homered and drove in three runs, and Cleveland beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Thursday night to send their AL Division Series to a winner-take-all Game 5.
Patrick Bailey also went deep and Game 2 starter Gavin Williams came out of the bullpen to get the last three outs as the Guardians won in Chicago for the second straight day after beginning their postseason with two losses at home. Jo Adell hit a two-run single in a six-run sixth inning for the AL Central champions.
“This team has answered all year,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We talk about it — we punch back.”
Cleveland is looking to become the first club to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series since the 2017 New York Yankees accomplished the feat against, well, Cleveland. Teams with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have gone on to win 83 of 93 times.
Game 5 is back in Cleveland on Saturday night, and the winner will open the American League Championship Series at Tampa Bay next Monday.
The road team has won all four games in the only one of the four Division Series to go the distance this year.
“As we’ve battled back and forth with these guys, obviously fitting that it’s going to come down to this,” White Sox manager Will Venable said.
Chicago's bullpen — one of its biggest strengths in a surprising season — is suddenly looking very tired. Grant Taylor was hit hard after pitching 5 1/3 scoreless innings over the first two games of the series, allowing four runs and four hits without retiring any of the six batters he faced during Cleveland's rally in the sixth.
“Body felt good, stuff felt good, just didn’t execute,” Taylor said.
Miguel Vargas homered for the White Sox, who flopped in their second straight bid to clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since the 1906 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Sam Antonacci drove in two runs off the bench.
All-Star closer Cade Smith worked a scoreless eighth for the Guardians but gave up Vargas' first postseason homer and a walk to start the ninth. He was replaced by Williams, who was making his first career relief appearance and could still start Game 5 as well.
The right-hander needed 18 pitches to get three outs after throwing 98 pitches on Monday. He was the seventh Guardians reliever as the teams combined to use 15 pitchers in a game that took 3 hours, 39 minutes.
Williams went 14-8 this season and led the AL with 248 strikeouts.
“We’ve still got one more to win at home,” Bailey said. “Again, this was an awesome atmosphere to play in. We can’t wait to get back to Cleveland for Game 5.”
Cleveland trailed 2-0 before rallying in the fifth. Bailey led off with a pinch-hit homer, and Steven Kwan chased Erick Fedde with a one-out single.
Jordan Hicks came in and Ramírez drove a 99.9 mph fastball to right-center for just his second homer since Sept. 1, a span of 26 games. The seven-time All-Star had surgery after he broke a bone in his left hand on a swing June 13.
“It was José Ramírez being José Ramírez in the playoffs,” Vogt said.
It was Ramírez's first postseason homer since 2024 and No. 5 overall. He also starred in Game 3, finishing with two hits and two RBIs in Cleveland's 9-3 victory.
“It was really special,” Ramírez said through a translator. “It was great energy out there, and very special to share this with the guys.”
Chicago responded with two runs in the bottom half, sending a charge through the crowd of 39,920. Antonacci was hit by a pitch from Tim Herrin with the bases loaded, and Brenton Doyle made it 4-3 with a sacrifice fly. The White Sox had the bases loaded with two down, but rookie Braden Montgomery struck out swinging against winning pitcher Erik Sabrowski.
Antonacci has been plunked 33 times this year, including a franchise-record 29 in the regular season. The rookie became the first player in postseason history to be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded multiple times in a career, after he was also plunked in the same situation in Game 3.
Losing pitcher Anthony Kay started the sixth for Chicago, but the left-hander was replaced by Taylor after Travis Bazzana's RBI double tied it at 4. Bailey greeted Taylor with a run-scoring single, and Cleveland started to pull away.
Walks by Brayan Rocchio and Kwan loaded the bases for Ramírez, who made it 6-4 with an infield single. Chase DeLauter added another run-scoring single before Adell capped the outburst with a liner to right that drove in Kwan and Ramírez.
“I feel like we’ve been impacting the baseball a lot better the last two games,” Bailey said. “Obviously, the more you see a certain guy, kind of not necessarily more comfortable, but you get to see (those) kind of shapes more and more. Definitely helps.”
Adell hit a three-run triple during Cleveland's Game 3 victory. He has four hits, three walks and six RBIs in the series.
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Chicago White Sox players watch from the dugout during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas watches his solo home run during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Gavin Williams delivers during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez celebrates after hitting a 2-run home run during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez hits a 2-run home run during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
