>When you can physically train more because of "grandpa's water", you tend to get more consistent jumps.

No disagreement, but then you have to make the next logical conclusion, because you can't have it both ways... They are either doping and it's getting results which then ties the hands of the judges (Hint: it's this one) or you can say they are getting favors that doesn't have to do with their skill... but not both. They wouldn't need to dope if they were getting rampant favors... they dope to ensure they have an advantage come time to look at things with a closer lens.

Then you really have to consider, you don't even know what you don't know. Do you understand how small of a world figure skating is? I am not a major player in the sport, and I personally know 5 of the 9 judges that were on the panel for the Women's free skate, two of which I competed against for years, lol. If some yahoo on reddit who is involved can know half the panel just by happenstance, what are the odds the coaches with people in the actual even know EVERYONE? I can assure you, it's 100%.

Hell, even as a developing skater myself, the number of times an official took me aside and told me things off the record couldn't even be counted on one hand. What you are describing is just part of daily life in the sport. The deeper in you are, the more everyone just knows everyone and who they know... it's just how it is, everywhere.

Do you really think the well connected US coaches, like say Artunian, are just sticking their head in the sand and don't know inside out who the people on the panel are? Or do you maybe think they have done a little greasing of the wheels also, and what Eteri does with the officials she has influence on isn't all that different then what I have personally seen coaches in the US do... you are describing a standard practice, for better or worse. Not a specific offense of the Russians.