Kamila Valieva adds short program winner to her controversial role

/
Kamila Valieva adds short program winner to her controversial role

How do you watch with any pleasure an Olympic event in which the International Olympic Committee has all but called one of the competitors a pariah?

Not just any competitor, but Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, the one who has been favored to win the gold medal in women’s singles, which remains possible after she won Tuesday’s short program.

One whose presence in the event was so controversial the IOC declared there would be no medal ceremony for it anytime soon, and perhaps not for months, should Valieva finish in a medal position.

That there would be a similar delay in the presentation of the medals from last week’s team event, in which Valieva helped the Russian Olympic Committee team finish first while making history as the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics.

Waiting for Valieva to skate, as the 26th of 30 in the short program starting order, could anyone really give the others the attention their skating deserved?

Read More

At age 11, Nathan Chen set his course for Olympic gold

/
At age 11, Nathan Chen set his course for Olympic gold

Nathan Chen vowed publicly to have fun at his second Olympics, to free his head of the anxiety that overwhelmed him four years ago.

Chen remained so true to that pledge that he even broke out a wry smile after his one mistake in a free skate of surpassing difficulty Thursday afternoon.

He handled the free and an equally demanding short program so well on his sport’s biggest stage that Chen won the Olympic gold medal easily at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

But there was nothing easy about the journey that got him here.

“I never thought I would actually be able to make this happen,” Chen said. “It was a pretty daunting mountain.”

Read More

In potential swan song, U.S. figure skater Jason Brown vows to do things his way

/
In potential swan song, U.S. figure skater Jason Brown vows to do things his way

Jason Brown is a skater for an earlier time, the one before multiple quadruple jumps became necessary to win medals at major international competitions.

And yet Brown still is a skater for all time, one who has created indelible impressions from the entirety of his programs rather than from instants of outstanding athleticism provided by the revolutionary jumps.

"I have utmost respect for what those guys are doing to push the sport technically," he said this week in China. "I’m just in absolute awe, and I wish I could be one of them as well. But I am going to push the sport in my way."

That is through performances like the one Brown gave Tuesday in the short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics. His four jumps simply were part of a seamless, compelling expression of a traditional Black spiritual, "Sinnerman," as sung by Nina Simone and choreographed by Rohene Ward with references to what Alvin Ailey created for his landmark ballet, "Revelations."

Read More

After pushing sport's limits again, Nathan Chen earned his rare celebration

/
After pushing sport's limits again, Nathan Chen earned his rare celebration

His right arm came flying through the air in an arcing fist pump, a public gesture of intensity rare for Nathan Chen but one that was perfectly understandable when it happened.

"I have no idea what came over me," Chen would say. "It just felt right."

He was happy. And relieved. And expressing in one brief, emphatic movement what Chen called "a full spectrum of emotions you can feel in one moment," the moment that followed his flawless and impassioned skating.

For an athlete who admits to a predilection for keeping things bottled up, this was the time to let the cork pop.

After all, Chen had once again exploded his sport’s limits, and this time he did it in the Olympics, the competition where he had imploded four years ago.

Read More

Lessons from figure skating team event: Quads rain, and Valieva makes a splash with hers

/
Lessons from figure skating team event: Quads rain, and Valieva makes a splash with hers

This is what we learned from the 2022 Olympic team event that ended Monday with the result everyone expected, as the Russian Olympic Committee took gold, the U.S. silver and Japan bronze:

MEN’S SINGLES HAS POTENTIAL FOUR-WAY BATTLE FOR TITLE

Either Nathan Chen of the United States, who won the team short program, or Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who did not compete, still is likely to win gold.

But Shoma Uno (second in the team short) and Yuma Kagiyama (first in the free) of Japan both skated so well they could take full advantage if Chen and Hanyu make mistakes.

Read More