An Olympic Wrap-up
Consider this the Bloody Mary brunch after the Olympic hangover.
This time on The Nice Capades:
A little reflection to wrap-up the Milan Olympics.
Worlds Watch! Who’s in, who’s out!
A handful of other figure skating tidbits
Three Non-Figure Skating Things: Small Delights from this week
It’s been a week since the Olympics ended, and it feels like I just got back from a vacation that I’m desperately clinging to in my regular life. Sorting through pictures and ordering the fancy jelly I got at that one beach cafe, watching in resignation as the vacation glow slides down the shower drain with each passing day. Back to meal planning, HOA business, meetings that could have been an email, and…oh yes… continued geopolitical upheaval.
As I grasp at those wisps of the Olympics, here’s the piece that’s sticking: this one specific quote from Cosmo’s interview with Alysa Liu:
Connections with people—that’s the most important thing in life. It overrides everything. At the end of the day, skating isn’t as important as people. I can very easily distinguish between competitor and friend, because no one is a competitor in my mind. It’s all fake. The competition, these results, these scores. It’s just the system that we made because we, as humans, are bored and we want to play or something. But…connection, that’s real, and most people realize it too late.
This is the thread tying together all of my favorite Olympic moments.
Matteo Rizzo, sliding like a footballer on his knees across the ice, celebrating his clutch skate with the rest of Team Italy as they lean over the boards to greet him.
Alysa and Ami jumping up and down together, delighted when Ami realized she managed to hang on to a medal.
Amber Glenn shooing away a cameraman, trying to give Kaori Sakamoto a moment to grieve without the world watching.
Piper and Paul, luminous and emotional together after their perfect free dance.
Ilia showing up in the stands for almost every event after his, sitting with skaters from all different countries, clearly a fan of the sport and all the other athletes.
Isabeau Levito, so clearly in love with the Olympic Village, the closest thing she will get to a college experience. Adopting a plant with her roommate and zooming around in a golf cart with other skaters.
Team Japan rallying around each other in the Kiss and Cry, screeching into each other’s ears and extending comfort in equal measures.
Kaori Sakamoto showing Alysa how to use her medal ribbon to give the stuffed Tina a place to hang out during the medal ceremony.
In almost every instance, the best Olympic stories are the ones where we see the athletes with each other, celebrating and/or commiserating or just being friendly. And the most fun part of watching the Olympics is the same— the part where we celebrate and commiserate with each other. Figure skating is never so fun to watch as it is when you have someone to react with you. Forgive me while I break out the cheddar cheese, but the actual best part of the Olympics was watching it with you.
We don’t always get the stories we want. The bad guys win. The hero doesn’t quite nail it at the right time. The queen tumbles from her throne and is lucky to even be in the castle at all. But if you look around, there’s all still a pretty great, pretty epic story unfolding with characters you didn’t expect and side quests that end up being the main event. Thanks for being part of my version of the story.
Worlds Watch:
Don’t worry, if you’re new to the figure skating fandom and need MOAR, Worlds is less than a month away. You can see the entries here (Rocker Skating). We’ll talk more about what to expect when it gets closer, but suffice to say that a post-Olympic Worlds is usually the best kind of joyful chaos.
Some notable skaters opted out before the official entries were released:
Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ): Of course he did; he’s too busy accepting gifts of apartments and cars and tapestries in Kakakhstan. Hope he fully enjoys the spoils of victory! Supposedly he gets his braces off in a month, so he needs to be at home for that!
Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITL): They got their bronze medal in the Team Event and their moral victory over the Brits in the Individual Event. I suspect they only ever held on to make it to Milan, so it makes total sense they’re dunzo.
Jin Boyang (CHN): He hasn’t said he’s retiring, but that was his third Olympics and he’s 28 years old. It seems likely he doesn’t need a trip to Prague to feel satisfied with his career. China is ready to start building up another Man, I think.
Deanna Stellato/Maxime Deschamps (CAN): Not shocking. Deanna already told reporters that her Olympic medical clearance was a special circumstance and she didn’t think her doctors would clear her for Worlds. I hope they’re back next season because I’d like to see her go out on her own terms.
Sui Winjing/Han Cong (CHN): Also not shocking, seeing as they’re basically held together by rubber bands and crossed fingers at this point. Wishing Sui a lovely retirement with her meerkat, touring China in her coffee truck.
And then a couple more have withdrawn since the official entires were released this week:
Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN): They’re two time World Champs and now Olympic champs; at this point, the motivation to keep going to another Worlds seems like it would be low. Ryuichi always looks like he can barely breathe or stand at the end of their programs, so I suspect they’re glad to be finishing victorious and in one piece. A retirement announcement seems imminent.
Loena Hendrickx (BEL): Loena more or less limped into the Olympics, determined to get there one last time with her multitude of injuries trying to pull her back. She performed well enough, all things considered, and I would be shocked if we ever see her compete again. If her Instagram is to be believed, she’s building a house that appears to have heated floors, and she has a cute dog and a nice boyfriend. Go have fun, girl. I look forward to you sharing your bonkers home decor choices.
Jackie Wong indicated (Twitter) other skaters on the entries list are not actually planning to go to Worlds, and Zingnik just hosted a live video (Twitter) where they said something that suggests someone on Team USA is not going. My guess? Chock/Bates. I think they would only go if they felt like USFS needed them to help secure three Worlds Ice Dance spots for next year, but it seems like the US Ice Dancers can wrap that up without them at this point. Who else do we think is retiring early or sitting out of Worlds?
Some other Figure Skating Tidbits:
Alysa is supposedly dating this guy (Twitter). I’m too old to know who he is or if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I’m more interested in her custom ice cream flavor! (NBC Bay Area)
I know there’s a lot of crossover between this audience and the Fug Girls audience, but if you some how missed it, they posted their round-up of the Women’s Event costumes.
If you can’t wait until Worlds for a skating fix, Junior Worlds is this week. Personally, I don’t get attached to Junior skaters because some of the good ones tend to flame out/retire/break up before they hit Seniors. I will probably tune in casually to see some of the skaters most likely to cross over into Seniors next year, like Mao Shimada and Rio Nakata. You can figure out when and how to watch here.
I just finished watching The Traitors Season 4, of interest to the skating audience for the presence of Johnny and Tara. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just reiterate that The Traitors is the best reality competition show out there, and you don’t have to be invested in the whole ecosphere of reality TV to enjoy it. I also suspect the Traitors got some nudges to keep Johnny and Tara in as long as possible for promotional reasons because, by their own admission, they’re not great at this game. And if you think Johnny and Tara are wild dressers, you’ll be surprised to learn they’re pretty basic by castle standards. For those of you in the US, you can catch it on Peacock— squeeze out some extra use of that subscription you got for the Olympics.
Do you need to keep processing the Olympics? Do you simply need more commentary in your ears while you fold laundry and walk the dog? In addition to my usual suggestions to seek out the Rocker Skating podcast, Scoreography, and The Runthrough, I also really enjoyed this debrief with Sara Hildreth, Layne Fargo, and Denne Michelle Norris on the Fiction Matters Substack Podcast.
Three Non-Figure Skating Things: Three Small Delights from this Week:
A fountain Diet Coke with crushed ice from the local deli. I’m finishing it as I type this and desperately wish I had committed to the Large instead of the Medium.
This lotion from Prequel is the only thing that helps my chronically itchy neck. I just purchased it last weekend, and I’m already here to tell you it’s a auto re-buy for me. Absolutely nothing else has worked, not even a steroid cream. At last, I can go to bed without feeling like I’m going to claw my neck in my sleep.
A stuffed pierogi arrived in the mail this week, a gift from my family, who claimed it was from the Polish Figure Skating team. (For those asking, I don’t think it’s from the official pierogi maker of the Polish team. It arrived in a nondescript package from Hialeah, FL.) It’s delightful and now a permanent part of my living room decor. I told one of my friends about it, and she responded, “It’s adorable! I thought it was going to be real food, and I was wondering why they sent a single stuffed pierogi.”
What’s Next: Back next week to share whatever additional skating news updates we get in the run up to Worlds! Maybe Ilia will have a rumored romance with Oksana Baiul! Stay tuned!
A friend of mine was commissioned by Alan Cumming’s stylist to make a few statement pieces for his wardrobe this season including the chainmail in the first episode!
I wanted to thank you for your wonderful write-ups - they were so fun and informative and really added to my enjoyment of this Olympic season!!