5am bedtime? decidedly worth it
♥ Patrick Chan ♥
Yes, I realise I'm coming off as a thirteen year-old at the moment...
Right, so I actually did follow through on my pledge to stay up until five watching figure skating, and it was quite the experience in a number of ways. I was watching via BBC's live online stream, and the lovely thing about watching the Olympics on a state-run TV network is that there are no commercials whatsoever and, unlike NBC, the BBC has no qualms about actually showing the entire free skate from start to finish. Watching those skaters who, shall we say, had no chance of even approaching the podium was enlightening for the following reasons:
1. Out of the first, I think, eight skaters, only two managed relatively clean performances, whereas the performances of almost everybody in the top eight were, for the most part, well executed. It occurred to me then that the U.S.'s approach to figure skating coverage -- only showing the best of the best -- leads to the impression that every senior male figure skater in the world can do triple axels in his sleep. Not so, not so.
2. There's an interesting mix of skaters in the bottom half of the rankings. On one hand, you've got the veterans who have never quite managed to break into the upper echelons of the sport. On the other hand, you've got emerging skaters who clearly demonstrate potential but are still a bit too green to really make the most of that.
3. Then there's Brian Joubert, whose was wtf-worthy in both programmes. Not to mention, it isn't very smart to make statements here and there about how essential the quad is to men's figure skating and then, um, not land of them cleanly.
As for the important stuff --
1. HAH, PLUSHENKO. HAH. No amount of hip swivelling and flirting and oh my God some of those facial expressions made me want to die -- and not in the good way either -- was going to make up for the fact that his jumps were so magnificently sloppy. Indeed, many hours later, I still find myself surprised that he didn't fall on that triple axel, which, I have to say, would have made my night early morning. (What's this you say about schadenfreude? :D)
2. Though he isn't my favourite skater, I'm really happy that Lysacek ended up with the gold in the end, as, with two clean and well skated programmes under his belt, there was no way he shouldn't have.
3. Johnny Weir, your tears after the free skate absolutely broke my heart. His skating has always been overshadowed by, well, everything else, and it was just lovely to see a very genuine performance from him. I mean, look at his Twitter update afterwards! How does that not make you want to give him a big *squish*?
4. I was really impressed by all three of the Japanese skaters. As I tweeted last night (oh God, I just used the word tweeted), I may or may not be slightly enamoured with Takahiko Kozuka now. I can't wait to see where he goes in the next four years.
5. Dear Patrick Chan, you make my heart go all fluttery; indeed, the only time I audibly squeal while watching sporting events is when Roger Federer is blasting winners across the tennis court, so you're in good company. It's been a rough season and a rough Olympics, but a top five finish is something to be terribly proud of. While I would have loved to see him medal in Vancouver, his jumps, notably the triple axel, need much more consistency, so here's to hoping that he'll be able to build on this experience and win gold in 2014!
And, now that it is 4pm, I really do need to read. The Oxford academic cycle never ends...
Signing off, V.M. Bell