Olympic figure skating is like my Super Bowl – perhaps even more-so than the Oscars this year. That said, these Winter Olympics started out rather casually and without the usual pomp and circumstance hat led into previously-hyped games. yet this one turned into one of the most emotionally-tumultuous Olympics, thanks largely in part to all the figure skating drama.
From the media’s relentless premature-coronation of the Quad God and a heartbreaking buckling under pressure performance by Ilia Malinin to the gloriously gratifying and ebulliently enjoyable magnificence of Alysa Liu – and all the bobsledding butts that came between them, this year’s games ran the gamut of feelings and vibes.
The figure skating dance competition was controversial enough, with the backstory of Guillaume Cizeron (physically naked backstory below for those kind of fans – just keep scrolling down) and his new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry taking center stage – and that was before the judges robbed Madison Chock and Evan Bates (flawless free skate) of the gold and giving it to Cizeron and Beaudry (flawed free skate).
The media was as awful as the media has become – hyping American athletes to the point where the pressure becomes too much – but the athletes themselves seemed to support each other in the face of all the madness, and the grace and good will of medalists and non-medalists was an affirmation of basic human decency. It was a breath of fresh air in this dark winter.
I’m not sure if it’s the bright lights of the skating arena, or the relatively benign nature of this good-spirited worldly competition compared to the more sinister visions that typically comprise night-time television, but the Winter Olympics always feel like a festive comfort when they roll around every four years.
It’s a time when an athlete’s performance is hopefully heightened, and everything just seems to mean a little more, such as the anticipatory electricity of a dinner party or a visit from distant friends or family. The older I get, the more I find myself seeking out such comfort. Here’s to the next Winter Olympic Games, scheduled for the summer of 2030… (but look for the 2028 Summer Olympics first) and here are this year’s Olympic posts for those who are already feeling nostalgic:
~ Olympic spotlight on Ilia Malinin
~ Dazzler of the Day Alysa Liu
~ Dazzler of the Day Amber Glenn
~ Dazzler of the Day Conor McDermott-Mostowy
~ Dazzler of the Day Erin Jackson
~ Dazzler of the Day Benjamin Karl
~ Olympic Spotlight Hunter Hess
~ Dazzler of the Day: Kevin Aymoz
~ Olympic Spotlight: Shun Sato
~ Dazzler of the Day Breezy Johnson
~ Dazzler of the Day Surya Bonaly
~ Olympic Spotlight Marco Odermatt
~ Dazzler of the Day Mikhail Shaidorov
~ Olympic Spotlight: Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea
~ Dazzlers of the Day: Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara
~ Dazzler of the Day: Kaori Sakamoto
~ Dazzler of the Day: Elana Meyers Taylor
~ Olympic Spotlight: Jordan Stolz
~ Dazzlers of the Day: Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin
~ Olympic Spotlight: Alysa Liu
~ Dazzler of the Day: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo
