Well now…

I’m in one of those moods where I feel like I have so much to say while not knowing what to say.

The Olympic figure skating events finished yesterday on the highest of highs and I could not be happier. My predictions from a couple of weeks ago came true with the Chinese darlings of Wenjing Sui and Cong Han expertly and breathtakingly winning the coveted gold medal.

I won’t lie. I had legit tears in my eyes watching them fly across the ice. They are diminutive in size alone as their fire and skills are enormous. With the pressure of both being from the host country and also from being the silver medalists 4 years ago they ran with this event, winning both the short and long programs over the last 2 days.

Sui and Han teamed up in 2007 and the skating world has watched them grow up in front of our eyes. As teenagers at times he seemed put off by his tiny little partner’s brazen comments but now there seems to be an absolute love connection between them. I don’t even know if they are romantically involved but they remind me of their coach, Hongbo Zhao, when he skated with his now-wife, Shen Xue. Those 2 revolutionized figure skating in China and made it one of the top pairs producers in the world!

(Incidentally, Sui and Han teamed up together in 2007, inspired by Xue and Zhao!) (Also incidentally, Shen and Zhao got married at the Capital Indoor Stadium where the skating took place.)

I’m also tickled that Tarasova and Morozov won the silver. I would have been ok if they won gold because these 2 have battled this out for years and finally put down routines they can be so proud of.

It really was an exceptional long program last night for most of the skaters. The Americans skated well (Ashley and Tim didn’t have their best night but holy smokes, Alexa and Brandon sure did!!!!) (One has to wonder how Alexa’s hubby, Chris, who used to be her partner and had to stay home this event, feels about how *close* his wife and their former competitor are becoming… especially after such a kick-ass long program!)

There is always some sort of drama surrounding the world of figure skating (“is he or isn’t he?” “are they or aren’t they?”) but nothing has come close to the drama surrounding the ladies event this time around in Beijing.

I am concerned about the mental health of most of the Russian contingent in this discipline.

Where to start?

15 year-old Kamila Valieva, favored to win the event, tested positive (in December) for a banned heart medication (which increases endurance.)

*****

NOW WHAT????

Russian Fed banned her from competing, then they reversed that, then the IOC wanted her booted from the event only to have the Court for Sport Arbitration say she could compete. Their thoughts were that not letting her compete would be bad for her mental health at such a young age.

Um….

I think its “bad for her mental health” that she will someday mature and realize that her skating is not what made her a household name this Olympics and that scandal will follow her the rest of her life!

Fame and infamy are intertwined in this young woman’s life and I feel every ounce of pity I have for her.

She was one of the skaters who was a complete mess after her long program last week because even though she tried the jumps, they weren’t there. Her country gave her a HUGE welcome-home, cheering audience when she returned to Russia (ahead of the closing ceremonies) so that’s going to be confusing, too.

Cheers for what?

Getting busted for taking banned meds (that she may not even have known she was taking), which the rest of your Russian team-mates and the US and Japan got penalized for because nobody got to receive their medals for the Team Event, then for being allowed to skate when the fricking International Olympic Committee and pretty much every athlete on the planet publicly wanted you out of the event, and then for screwing up bad enough you didn’t make the podium?

Yeah, lets celebrate that!!!

I am trying to forget the image of the spoiled Alexandria Trusova, who won the silver medal, bawling and wailing because, again, she won the silver medal.

The Olympic silver medal.

I didn’t make it to Canadian Nationals, let alone the Olympics. I would be blowing kisses and elbow-bumping every single person I know for a full month if I even made the Olympics let alone the podium. Lets not forget that Trusova doesn’t even try to be artistic. She has a bunch of quads that she methodically skates into and out of and then does another. Her spins suck. Her footwork sucks. Her outfit sucked. And yet… the silver medal because she amasses all these points for the jumps (with her arms above her head here and there because the routine isn’t ugly enough.)

Thankfully all is right with most of the figure skating world in that Nathan Chen became a global superstar in winning the men’s event and the French ice dancers, Papadakis and Cizeron finally…. finally won their Olympic gold medal.

And I loved watching all of the sports like I always do with the Olympics. There is something so attractive about every athlete who trains their butts off for their entire lives and they make it to this highest of stages. Maybe I didn’t *love* the ladies long program but I watched everyone they showed on TV and cheered the clean athletes on.

I’ll leave it at that because I don’t know what else to say despite having so much to say.

As an aside, my world of real estate is continuing its weird uptick. I also plowed snow again tonight despite the melt we’ve had and the high temps. We are in the middle of a winter storm warning with blowing winds so if I have any hope of plowing out tomorrow I had to pre-plow tonight.

Cheers, 2022 Olympics, even if it will be remembered for the wrong things in ladies figure skating there was still a lot that went right.