I went to bed before the men's finals last night, so when I got up this morning, I had no clue who had won. Getting the newspaper was no help. The skating was on too late on the East Coast to make the morning editions here, so I had to come to the internet to get the results.
I was completely surprised and delighted by the winner, and I can't wait to watch his performance this afternoon when I settle in.
More irritating, of course, were the complaints by the sour-faced sore loser silver medalist who, echoing his fellow countryman from 2002 when she won the silver and thought she deserved the gold, complained about the winner's program in comparison to his own as if landing a quad is ALL that is needed in a sport called figure SKATING, not figure jumping. The judges were looking for a total package of performance with lots of jumps, super spins, and artistry in footwork and transitions going into and out of other moves. The winner had the most exhausting footwork sequence in the entire competition - a level 4 sequence. The silver medalist has a level 2 footwork sequence and stated flatly before the competition that he had no intention of changing it to reflect more difficulty.
Guess what! Had he upped the artistry of his footwork sequences to a level 4, he would have won the gold medal!
