--Filip Flisar (Slovenia, ski cross) = epic mustache
--Didirk Bastian Juell (Norway) = epically big air
--The ladies' long program skate was no more short on surprises than the short program. Actually, it may have been even more so…to an extent.
--The night, though filled with very fine performances, was also bittersweet on some levels. The final outcome was both a surprise and not…
--Adelina Sotnikova (Russia), as in her short program, was very technical, but more show-offy than smooth, nor was it exactly a display of well-roundedness and polish. It felt colder & more mechanical than most of the other skates, and it felt like her routine only existed to get big points. That is the name of the game in some respect, but the win felt cheapened by the gruffness of her skate, the lack of coordination with her music, and the lesser quality of her earnest, but still burgeoning, artistry. Her long program, in all of its bells-and-whistles, were nice and something to see, but strangely, were not that impressive, either--at least, for me. If there was more of a flow and form to her routine, I might have liked it more. As it stands, though, she essentially only really won by virtue of point-racking.
--Her tactic hearkened me back to Plyuschenko's Vancouver 2010 skate, where he focused primarily on throwing his big-points-getting jumps first and just skating the rest out, hoping to nab the gold that way. He, of course, got silver instead, but where Sotnikova was successful was that she interspersed her jumps throughout it, including in the bonus portion, which rewards skaters for doing feats at a time when they should be tired. That makes her win somewhat of an "athletic" one, too, but there is more to it than that in figure skating and that feels like an empty credit in the greater scheme of things (pertaining to the earlier points discussed). Again, that is all well and good, but I like to see someone do more than that…
--On the other hand, a certain amount of this dilemma also lies squarely on Yuna Kim. She gave herself no chance to win with her technical score being lower than Sotnikova's or the other girls high technical score and with both the Russian's momentum and the razor thin margin Kim had on her. Yes, she was blissfully brilliant and darn near flawless, and between both programs of the competition, Kim skated better and more cleanly, but the signs were clear even before the long program due to Sotnikova's technically-juiced program.
--Kim arrived in Sochi already content with a gold medal from Vancouver and appeared content with winning just a silver or bronze, or to at least make a good account of herself if she didn't win again. She skated that way in a short program that was satsifactory and better than most of the field, but not as good as previous skates seen out of her. She had the chance to add in the nessessary elements to keep Sotnikova off her heels, but she never did. After she put down her great long program, only to get silver in the process, it appeared as if reality had hit her in an interview after the competition, as she thought that she skated a clean program and seemed downtrodden over the outcome. She remained content with wrapping up her competitive career, but I would be hard-pressed to believe that she wasn't smarting a bit from the final standings and thinking "what could have been…".
--In short, I liken Sotnikova's overall gameplan and performance to a giant, Rock-em, Sock-em Robot winning a boxing tournament against humans. You might be in awe of its power and of it KOing people left-and-right, but then again, a machine is a machine. It was allowed to enter, though, and hey, it was kind of fair in terms of the rules set, but is it really that remarkable in the end? All it had to do was swing and lay them out. It was basically the winner by default. And being the machine that it was, it didn't move or look all that pretty in the process, either, despite the tournament also grading everyone on finesse and other values, as well…
--(**This suitably-bizarre and maybe questionable analogy has been brought to you by HardDoor, the anime & boxing blog, and its writer, HD, who was trying to make a point without ever having those two topics in mind when it popped up…**)
--Mao Asada (Japan) may have messed up in the short program, but she redeemed herself in full with a superb, near error-free long program. She fought hard for each jump, spin, and move she made and showed what she always has been capable of. Similar to Jeremy Abbott (USA), she may have won the big tournaments (including two world championships) but the Olympics never came easy. Here, she had a disastrous short program, but just like how Abbot pulled himself up and skated his butt off to erase what happened in people's mind, Asada did the same in her glorious swan song of a program.
--"And that's *Miss* Ashley Wagner, thank you!"
--All that talk and hand-wringing for nothing. Good for Wagner. No, she never had a true shot with the tight field, but she skated like she did. And she held up her end to help Team USA get a bronze in the team skate, so I'd say she did pretty well…
--At first glance, Polina Edmund (USA) might look a little too ungainly and gangly to be a good figure skater, but she turned out to be one of the more plesant surprises of the ladies' event. She knows how to accentuate her long limbs with a natural flow and grace. She's very lithe and almost balletic (no surprise given her body type), and has a certain cuteness and distinction to her skate. Her mother trained her very well (any surprise she from Russia?).
--Yulia Lipnitskaya may have fallen in her long skate and out of medal contention, but she'll be back. Ohhhhhh, she'll be back…
--After two big Olympic trips better left forgotten, it was very gratifying see Carolina Kostner (Italy) skate two clean, entertaining programs to win that elusive medal (bronze). Her long number to "Bolero" was especially good…
--Blast you, HD (no, not you…), just like in Beijing with all of those women with unshaven underarms (not to sound like a Chauvinist pig, or anything…), why must you show me Sotnikova's unfortunate shave job under her's. Ouch, but at least she tried…
--C'mon, Miller, you know you want you's some ski cross…
--For all of the assumptive talk (IMO) of beating their foe Canada, there was something of an air of comeuppance when the USA women's hockey team lost to them in OT off of a deceptive, and great, set-up play. No matter who it is, I have never liked hearing someone talk as if they had something in the bag when they didn't nab anything, yet.
--Any name with "Chapuis" at the end of it should only be spoken as if it were in the chorus section of a salsa y merengue song.
--A good showdown in the ski halfpipe ultimately won by USA's Maddie Bowman. Again, like seeing all of the athletes be happy for one another as they seek to outdo the other. Also good was the remembrance of pioneer Sarah Burke, who helped push for its inclusion in the Olympics before her untimely death in 2012.
—One of a -very- few blogs that discusses about anime, boxing, and a little bit of randomness…
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