Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Blog - Day 8, or Day 7, Your Pick…

The Sochi 2014 Olympics. February 13. As according to HD…

--Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) channeled some of that team skate goodness into a great, record-breaking short program. Just the kind of start you'd want to see out of someone who looked the way he did in that prior event. Unfortunately…

--There will be no showdown with my favorite, Evgeny Plyuschenko (Russia), whose 31 year-old body and surgically-repaired back finally bit back, forcing him to pull out of the event and finally put a cap on his career. In a piece done prior to the Games, he described the fear of doing jumps and landing wrong, risking paralysis with the disks placed in his spine, so for him to start experiencing pain again after pulling double-duty in the team event and not feeling his legs after near-fall in the warm-ups for the day's events was more than enough impetus for him to continue no longer.

I can personally attest to what Plyuschenko was likely wrestling with in his mind. When I was little, I was playing around in the kitchen by myself and was straddling a cabinet drawer. I slipped backwards and fell on my tailbone, and for around five to seven minutes, I couldn't feel my legs. The situation and feeling was so surreal, I did not know what to even think, be it cry, be nervous, or be in fear. My mother walked by at one point and I played it off like I was just sitting there, as I did not want to alarm her, nor did I know how she would react. I just stayed calm and waited to see if my condition changed, which it thankfully did, and I was able to get up and walk away with no ill effects. Regardless of the inherent confusion I felt, the whole experience could be summed up as "disquieting", something I'm sure Plyuschenko had to deal with not only in the back of his mind, but also every time he went out to skate and with every quad he attempted.

Some more cynical fans may scoff, but I fully support his decision both as a fan of his work and as someone who can relate to his situation on some level. He got a record fifth figure skating medal, exceeded expectations, had a "best of" swan song in his final team skate performance, and helped make that medal "gold" for his Olympic-hosting country--hard to ask for a better impromptu send-off than that.

--As good as Hanyu, Patrick Chan (Canada), and a few others were, Jeremy Abbot may have had the most memorable and satisfying performance of the night. The narrative of the four-time U.S. champion was that he flourished domestically, but floundered internationally, a point that was emphasized by a poor showing in the team skate and again on his very first jump attempt, where he had a dramatic and hard crash his side.

As he laid on the ice for a few moments, crumpled against the barricade in pain, Abbot could have just quit and gotten his side checked out. Instead, with the crowd roaring as he got back on his feet, still visibly in pain and conflicted, he went right back into his routine and skated like a man possessed. Rather than show everyone his deficiencies, he showed everyone what his full potential was, delivering a startlingly-brilliant performance in the process (with the music, Jun Miyake's "Lillies of the Valley", fit it and his resurrection perfectly).

As much as I dislike using the word, which gets overused, Abbot's performance was truly inspirational. With as many times as he has flubbed on the big stage, to see him not cave in again, let everything go, and put it down like he did--especially in his final Olympics and season, and with everything before--was nothing sort of that word. And it made me appreciate him and his craft all the more…

--Plyuschenko may have been gone, but the Russian crowd sure had some fun with Sweden's Russian-borne Alexander Majorov and his regionally-flavored skate and music…

--Team luge is always a kick to watch, but to be "that guy/girl" that slides by and forgets to hit that paddle… Or that doubles team going last that topples over at the start…

--In the interest of, erm, fairness, it appears that the guys, too…don't seem to be wearing anything. Either that, or some are more well-endowed than others, which certainly, well, seemed the case. I don't think they many were wearing cups, either… Unless, it was too cool out there for a few… But, then again, it was a little warmer… Okay, nevermind…

--The U.S. men's freestyle skiers really put on a show in slopestyle with their sweep of the podium, but bronze medalist Nicholas Goepper caught my eye the most--and wasn't just his eschewing of ski poles. He is a total natural in effortlessly flipping and doing intricate tricks in the air and is only 19. Hard to believe I missed him win back-to-back at the X Games, but I will certainly be looking out for him in future competitions…

--Funny enough that the Sochi logo (rather skillfully) makes use of the Games' web address--a sign of the modern age--but even more humorous and current is its tagline, "Hot. Cool. Yours."  It sounds exactly like what an ad agency would have come up with, which perfectly befitting on many levels…

--A.K.A. Flatland, a.k.a. Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland (Norway, Biathlon)…

--As much as I wanted to see Elise Christie claim Great Britain's first speedskating medal, she was way too eager and reckless on that pass near the end and deserved the penalty (which is basically a disqualification) that stripped her of her silver medal finish. Arianna Fontana (Italy)--who was skating very well and caught the worst of it-- and Seung-Hi Park (South Korea) were disserviced by her action and deserved the move up in medals.