Olympic skating!
Okay, now my laptop is working again, I can make my obligatory Olympic Figure Skating Squee Posts! (Why don't I have a Davis & White icon anymore? More importantly, why does no one seem to make figure skating icons on LJ anymore? It's the Olympics! Icon it, peeps!)
So, the team event was actually pretty awesome. I was way skeptical about it going in, because it's just a weird alien concept to the eligible figure skating world, and I was concerned that having to skate two events in two weeks might be little much for the skaters, but clearly I shouldn't have underestimated the epic awesome of figure skaters. If the pairs event is anything to judge by, then clearly skating on Olympic ice before their individual competitions just made all the skaters better. All the pairs were even better in their individual skate than in their team skate, and their team skates were all pretty damn awesome! It was great to be able to watch the Olympics without being so darn nervous for everybody, too. I wasn't biting my nails through the team event because I knew that whatever happened they'd all still get a chance to skate again. I think the skaters must probably have felt something similar, and I think it's kind of nice to give them another event so they can have an Olympic experience that's more fun and less pressure-cooker. I was way more nervous over the individual competition, that's for sure! I haven't been super-impressed with pairs for a long time, but damn, Russian pairs skating is back, and all is right with the world! It just feels weird and empty without a fantastic Russian team at the top level, and now we have two who were just killer this whole Olympics. I'm so bummed for Savchenko & Szolkowy, though! At least they made the podium again, but they're SO SO SO good, and it makes me sad that they can't seem to have their perfect freeskate at the Olympics ever. But I so admire their guts for sticking that last throw in there! Yeah, it was a crazy stab in the dark, and no, it didn't work out, but they weren't going to get the gold anyway, so why not make the big gamble? Trying to do a throw triple axel in the last seconds of your freeskate takes courage, just plain. I hope they'll hang around for the World Championships, I'd love to see them knock that program out of the park like I know they can!
Off to watch the men's short program now! Evgeny Plushenko just withdrew, genuinely sad for him. So excited to see Patrick Chan and Jeremy Abbot though. Got my fingers crossed for both my boys tonight!
So, the team event was actually pretty awesome. I was way skeptical about it going in, because it's just a weird alien concept to the eligible figure skating world, and I was concerned that having to skate two events in two weeks might be little much for the skaters, but clearly I shouldn't have underestimated the epic awesome of figure skaters. If the pairs event is anything to judge by, then clearly skating on Olympic ice before their individual competitions just made all the skaters better. All the pairs were even better in their individual skate than in their team skate, and their team skates were all pretty damn awesome! It was great to be able to watch the Olympics without being so darn nervous for everybody, too. I wasn't biting my nails through the team event because I knew that whatever happened they'd all still get a chance to skate again. I think the skaters must probably have felt something similar, and I think it's kind of nice to give them another event so they can have an Olympic experience that's more fun and less pressure-cooker. I was way more nervous over the individual competition, that's for sure! I haven't been super-impressed with pairs for a long time, but damn, Russian pairs skating is back, and all is right with the world! It just feels weird and empty without a fantastic Russian team at the top level, and now we have two who were just killer this whole Olympics. I'm so bummed for Savchenko & Szolkowy, though! At least they made the podium again, but they're SO SO SO good, and it makes me sad that they can't seem to have their perfect freeskate at the Olympics ever. But I so admire their guts for sticking that last throw in there! Yeah, it was a crazy stab in the dark, and no, it didn't work out, but they weren't going to get the gold anyway, so why not make the big gamble? Trying to do a throw triple axel in the last seconds of your freeskate takes courage, just plain. I hope they'll hang around for the World Championships, I'd love to see them knock that program out of the park like I know they can!
Off to watch the men's short program now! Evgeny Plushenko just withdrew, genuinely sad for him. So excited to see Patrick Chan and Jeremy Abbot though. Got my fingers crossed for both my boys tonight!