- 09:19 AM
- 11/21/24
| Name: | Natalie |
|---|---|
| Member since: | February 12, 2002 |
| Last visit: | March 03, 2003 |
eilatan has posted 0 links and 4 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 0 comments to the Locker Room.
Well, iirc, Lipinski was only 15 when she won the gold. I'd be inclined to cut her some slack in the jumping up and down and screaming department. The one thing that I really dislike about Olympic women's figure skating is the pressure cooker that the athletes are put in--especially this year. Kwan was expected to "make up" for not winning in Nagano. Slutskaya had expectations put on her by her federation (she is not one who skates well under pressure; she has a tendency to crack, which is what happened last night). The pressures put on Cohen and Hughes were also tremendous, but not as much as those on Kwan and Slutskaya. I read and saw a lot of media reports speculating on a US sweep of the medals. I can't even begin to imagine the stress. A lot of the pressure was taken off Hughes when she placed 4th after the short program, and her skating last night reflected that. She wasn't perfect technically, and some the artistic stuff still needs work but she was by far the best skater last night. And she did do those two triple-triple combinations. It's really too bad that these athletes who don't win gold medals are made to feel like failures--both to their country and to their sport--when in actuality, they are still among the best in the world. Kwan and Slutskaya, especially, have absolutely nothing to be ashamed about.
posted by eilatan at 11:44 AM on February 22, 2002
I could make a snarky comment about Jean Racine being from Waterford, MI, but instead, I'll confine myself to commenting upon what a wonderful moment it was for Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers. Because it was truly wonderful to see a completely underrated and mostly ignored team (by the US media) win the gold medal. According to NBC last night, Vonetta Flowers is the first African American woman to win a gold medal at the Winter Games. I didn't go fact check them, but I would think they'd have those sorts of facts at their disposal (especially since the airing of the women's bobsled was pre-recorded and if they were wrong, those references could have been edited out).
posted by eilatan at 07:51 AM on February 20, 2002
The Russians are certainly trained in ballet, and historically there has been a greater emphasis on balletic moves in the Russian/Soviet program than in other countries. I know that other countries' skaters also take classes in ballet, but more than likely not to the extent of the Russians. Which certainly does show in their fluid movements and has definitely contributed to their historic success in pairs skating and in ice dance. That said, it's certainly not the only approach to either discipline (IMO), but things change very slowly in figure skating. As I'm sure most people realize these days. <g> What I'm wondering is this: what on earth you can train a crawdad to do? And will it be an Olympic sport in 2006?
posted by eilatan at 11:02 PM on February 18, 2002
I thought Janica Kostelic was simply amazing. After she won her first event, it was like she was unstoppable. Absolutely incredible.