--After the some (very) fine skating from the individual male skaters in both the team skate and short program, most notably from record breaker Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) and three-time world champion Patrick Chan (Canada), I was expecting an exemplary battle and display of skating prowess from them and the rest of the field. Instead, it was a rather tepid affair, maybe part nerves, part fatigue from back-to-back nights of competition (previous Olympics featured a day of rest in between). I was expecting to be wowed by Hanyu, based on his work thus far in Sochi, but he skated to a proficient, but also somewhat bland, long program, which saw two inexplicable falls.
The door was left wide open for Chan, ever the favorite, but he managed to do even worse with the 3-4 mistakes he made. While Hanyu's were more moderate, Chan's were more numerous, and though he himself never had a full out fall, his errors were more avoidable and were spread through his routine, as opposed to Hanyu's faults occurring in the beginning of his program. That gave him enough time to skate cleanly and look great, whereas Chan gave off an impression of inconsistency. It's sad, and I feel bad him, but that how it is, and Hanyu showed himself to be the better, more consistent, and impressive skater.
--Funny that, in a error-filled free skate from top to bottom, some of the few clean and standout performances belonged to none other than Jeremy Abbot (USA), getting it done again, and Kazakhstan's Denis Ten, who won his country's first-ever figure skating medal.
--Jason Brown (USA) is the happiest 8th-placer I've ever seen. In fact, he always seems perpetually happy and grateful for every moment. Like him…
--In fact, it brings to recall that footage I saw of Putin going around and shaking the hands of skaters at the team skate competition last week. He was shown greeting the U.S. squad and though Brown (of course) and Charlie White looked genuinely star-struck and honored to shake his hand, Gracie Gold had an "OMG, you are so icky and I hate you and everything you stand for. But, I will grin-and-bear it and shake your hand for P.R.'s sake…"-look and smile on her face and Meryl Davis had that telltale fake, put-on smile when it was her turn. Not that unexpected when you really think about it…
--Godspeed to Javier Fernandez's efforts to get figure skating up-and-going in Spain. He's got the goods, so the more, the merrier…
--Also a round of good luck towards the Philippines' Michael Christian Martinez. He does not have a great amount of access to resources, but with some Pacquiao-like polish and molding, he could truly be something…
--Boy, the U.S. curling teams have been getting flossed. Won a few, lost many (and sometimes big), with some decisions poorly made and others made with few good options available…
--After all of the injuries and surgeries, missing out on Turin after a freak accident, losing out on bronze by fractions of a second in Vancouver, retiring, having a family, and, unfortunately, having a miscarriage--something that helped fuel her return--I was incredibly glad to see Noelle Pikus-Pace put in a strong showing and win silver in women's skeleton. Her and her family made sacrifices, followed her to her meets, all while she balanced being a mom and training (such as taking her toddler with her to the running track), and slid on a sled built by her husband--and all of it paid off. The sheer exuberance at the end of it said it all…
--Now, fellow U.S. slider Katie Uhlaender finds herself in the same position Pikus-Pace did in Vancouver. She was dogged in her pursuit and raced well, but unfortunately came up short. She'll have to wait four more years for another shot…but only two until she can (hopefully) contend at the Rio 2016 Summer Games in weightlifting! I'll be keeping two fingers crossed for her in both efforts…
--Alla Tsuper (Belarus), the oldest in the field at 34, threw it down super (*hur hur*) nice in ladies' aerials to win gold. Now, if bronze medalist Lydia Lassia (Australia) was only able to nail the landing on that insane whatever-she-was-doing…
--"Womens' Skeleton"…"Ladies' Aerials"… Okay…
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