Male Single Figure Skating Short Dance Sochi Olympics 2014

Male Single Figure Skating Short Dance Sochi Olympics 2014
Event reviewed by yours truly Miss Teresita Blanco

After waiting many days, I was finally able to see the Male Figure Skating event. I had sorta missed the team event due to circumstances beyond my control. Anyhow, according to the internet, the predictable occurred. Meaning, that Evgeni Plushenko won gold. In the team event, he even bested his previous records.

Anyhow, I was expecting a big show. As it always happened, the TV guys showed you a bit of intel on the players. During the side line interview, Plushenko was showing the camera guys his back scar. Due to his training, he had to get one of his spinal cord disks replaced. Apparently, it was miraculous that he had made it so far.

During practice, Plushenko kept tripping on simple jumps. Even when he was in searing pain, he managed to land on his feet. You gotta admire a guy, who refuses to fall face down on the dirt, in this case ice. When the show was about to begin, Plushenko told the judge that he was calling it quits.

Had any other weirdo said so, the crowd would have been booing. However, the Russian crowd simply cheered him on. They had seen with their own eyes how much pain Evgeni Plushenko was in, during his practice. I mean, the guy is freaking 31 and has a disk on his back.

During the interview, he said that he was not a robot. He was normal guy just like anyone else. Like any normal guy, he tried to give it his all, but the pain would not let him continue. Indeed, it took all his Russian pride to keep him from crying out in pain. You could see subtle hints of his suffering with each step he took.

His coach did try to offer his arm for support. However, Plushenko refused his assistance. He was going to go out on his own to feet. For his past 15 year, Olympic career he proved to the world that he was the best that ever was. Plushenko left an amassing legacy behind. Now, all figure skating males must perform at least a quad in order to be taken serious.

For this and for all his part performances. Plushenko still deserves our admiration. I remember how awesome he was in the last winter Olympics. He had come out of retirement and only after training for 4 weeks, he managed to land 4 jump spins left and right. Indeed, he epitomized all that any figure skating male hoped to achieve.

I think that is enough of a nostalgia blog. I was pretty shocked at not being able to see Plushenko figure skate. Still, the night did provide some other exiting performances. After he left, an American skater ,whose name alludes me, fell pretty badly. It was one of those epic fails moments. With the support of the crowd, he was able to finish his program without falling again.

The next great gay American skater was Jason Brown. He seemed to belong to the skating tradition of Johnny Weir, who blended both male and female elements in his dance programs. As for Brown, he had somewhat of a half backed music. I did like that he did not fall and that his triples where solid.

As it always happened, I think the judges gave him some gay deductions. I noticed that judges are jerks when it comes to male figure skating. They do not mind masculine girls. However, god forbid that a male dancer looks even remotely feminine. For that reason, I think that Brown did not get the score that he deserved.

During the performances, I started wondering: What does an 100 point performance look like? My question was answered by Yuzuru Hanyu. He belonged to the Japanese figure skating team. That day was his Olympic debut. At just 19 years of age, Hanyu scored an all time high of 101.45 points. That is one of the highest short program scores ever recorded. Dance wise, Hanyu skated like a young Plushenko. He landed his quads with gracefulness combined with agility. The speed of his program made him pretty interesting to watch.

He was also flexible and could do very fast turns. When he was done with his program, he saluted the crowd in his traditional, humble Japanese sort of way. I thought that was pretty cute. I also liked his baby face. Indeed, for a 19 year old, he had the face of a 12 year old. Well, you know that Asians age slower than most folks. But then when they reach 60, suddenly they look 100.... hehehe. I think that is enough on the Hanyu-kun's baby looks.

The last skater worth mentioning is Hanyu's senpai, Daisuke Takahashi. Daisuke, along with Plushenko where the only two older weirdoes from the last winter Olympics. Like Plushenko, at age 29, Daisuke was not at the top of his game. He did manage to do an energetic dance. He got a lot of deductions for missing his Quad jump. Other than that, he did pretty well.

Frankly, I liked him better in the old days, back when he used to dress like a Shinigami. Now, he is but a shadow of his former self. Still, he did have the energy to compete with the rest of the other youngsters. In a sense, ice skating is like gymnastics. Once you turn 25, its game over. Only very few skaters can keep pushing the envelope after they turn 25. I think that is everything worth mentioning. Overall, these male figure skating performances deserve 5 stars rating.