Worlds, cont'd
What is with the ice dance drama this year?
I kind of remember a tiny bit of drama in 1994, with the triumphant return of Torvill and Dean, and the shock that they only got the bronze. And of course, unlike today where you can look at a breakdown of scores and see exactly what was scored and how, the scores just were what they were.
But man. Drama.
Poor Nora Hoffman of Budapest was warming up with her partner, Attila Elek (omg, I just realized, that being from Hungary, he really is ... Attila the Hun ...) ahem. But I digress. Anyway, they collided with Japan's Nozomi Wattanabe and Akiyuki Kido and she was injured. She hurt her back and her elbow was sliced by Nozomi's skate. In spite of this, in keeping with rules of the game, they could not skate later in the group; they had something like two minutes to get medical attention and then get back out and skate. She was so amazing, never once looking like she was in pain, blood seeping out of the bandage on her elbow. The moment the dance ended, she collapsed to the ground, but wow. Times like this you realize just why this is a sport and not merely an art.
Just as a side note. The UK's Scottish ice dancers, Kerr and Kerr. I'm sorry, but is anyone else weirded out by the fact that they're brother and sister?
How gorgeous was the performance by the Canadians, Dubreuil and Lauzon? They totally broke my heart at the Olympics, if you recall, when Marie-France fell during the original dance and they had to withdraw. This after making such a huge sacrifice to train the way they did (picking up and moving to France). To then come to the Worlds in their home country and perform so beautifully ... I remember when they withdrew in the Olympics one of the commentators had said what a shame it was that we wouldn't see their free dance, as it was so amazing. And that was true. I'm glad they made it to the podium, though I was really rooting for them to get the gold. (Belbin and Agosto got the bronze).
The pairs. I have to say, I'm starting to come around to the Chinese skaters; in particular, the gold medal winners Qing Pang and Jian Tong. I think they really do find the balance between the athleticism and the artistry. And of course, not only my opinion, as they did in fact win. Zhang and Zhang came in for the silver, again, and Russia's Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov the bronze (up from their 5th at the Olympics). Inoue and Baldwin came in fourth, which I think must be even harder than fifth. So close. I think maybe next year they can make it. (Interestingly, I just learned that he was actually a singles skater for many many years, and eventually realized he wasn't going to make it with his inability to do a quad jump, so switched over to pairs skating.)
And the ladies. Sasha Cohen did exactly what she did in the Olympics: first after the short program, and then have a lousy free skate. And once more, the bronze. But that cute little Kimmie Meisner did an "awesome" free skate pulling herself up from fifth after the short to a gold medal. Yup, world champion, 16 years old. (It's awesome!) From 6th at the Olympics to this. Japan's Fumie Suguri took silver, which had to be particularly thrilling after coming in 4th at the Olympics.
Another season over. Onwards.
I kind of remember a tiny bit of drama in 1994, with the triumphant return of Torvill and Dean, and the shock that they only got the bronze. And of course, unlike today where you can look at a breakdown of scores and see exactly what was scored and how, the scores just were what they were.
But man. Drama.
Poor Nora Hoffman of Budapest was warming up with her partner, Attila Elek (omg, I just realized, that being from Hungary, he really is ... Attila the Hun ...) ahem. But I digress. Anyway, they collided with Japan's Nozomi Wattanabe and Akiyuki Kido and she was injured. She hurt her back and her elbow was sliced by Nozomi's skate. In spite of this, in keeping with rules of the game, they could not skate later in the group; they had something like two minutes to get medical attention and then get back out and skate. She was so amazing, never once looking like she was in pain, blood seeping out of the bandage on her elbow. The moment the dance ended, she collapsed to the ground, but wow. Times like this you realize just why this is a sport and not merely an art.
Just as a side note. The UK's Scottish ice dancers, Kerr and Kerr. I'm sorry, but is anyone else weirded out by the fact that they're brother and sister?
How gorgeous was the performance by the Canadians, Dubreuil and Lauzon? They totally broke my heart at the Olympics, if you recall, when Marie-France fell during the original dance and they had to withdraw. This after making such a huge sacrifice to train the way they did (picking up and moving to France). To then come to the Worlds in their home country and perform so beautifully ... I remember when they withdrew in the Olympics one of the commentators had said what a shame it was that we wouldn't see their free dance, as it was so amazing. And that was true. I'm glad they made it to the podium, though I was really rooting for them to get the gold. (Belbin and Agosto got the bronze).
The pairs. I have to say, I'm starting to come around to the Chinese skaters; in particular, the gold medal winners Qing Pang and Jian Tong. I think they really do find the balance between the athleticism and the artistry. And of course, not only my opinion, as they did in fact win. Zhang and Zhang came in for the silver, again, and Russia's Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov the bronze (up from their 5th at the Olympics). Inoue and Baldwin came in fourth, which I think must be even harder than fifth. So close. I think maybe next year they can make it. (Interestingly, I just learned that he was actually a singles skater for many many years, and eventually realized he wasn't going to make it with his inability to do a quad jump, so switched over to pairs skating.)
And the ladies. Sasha Cohen did exactly what she did in the Olympics: first after the short program, and then have a lousy free skate. And once more, the bronze. But that cute little Kimmie Meisner did an "awesome" free skate pulling herself up from fifth after the short to a gold medal. Yup, world champion, 16 years old. (It's awesome!) From 6th at the Olympics to this. Japan's Fumie Suguri took silver, which had to be particularly thrilling after coming in 4th at the Olympics.
Another season over. Onwards.
posted by Tracy @ 6:31 PM
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