A great night of skating in Vancouver

Women’s figure skating is always interesting to watch. You just never can tell. Coming into tonight, this certainly seemed like Kim Yu-Na’s event to lose. But Mao Asada was determined to give her a run for it. And then bronze seemed pretty much up for grabs. Joannie Rochette, who skated an emotional program following the recent death of her mother, held third going into the free skate.

Rachael Flatt was a victim of the scoring system, receiving about eight points in downgrades, in spite of performing a routine that looked simply marvelous. That put her in only second after skate. But she didn’t stay there long as Japan’s Miki Ando passed her for first.

And then it was Kim Yu-Na’s turn. So much pressure on this young lady. A whole nation’s hopes riding on her. I don’t think we, here in America, fully appreciate how other nations view their Olympic athletes. Sure, we love it when Apolo Ohno wins. And we hate it when Lindsey Vonn crashes. But they do not come home to feel like the whole nation is disappointed in them. But Kim Yu-Na has stated that is her fear. Not just that the entire nation would be disappointed but that they would turn their backs on her. I can’t even imagine what kind of pressure that would place on a young person. Fortunately, she rose to the challenge beautifully.

Mao Asada didn’t seem in the least intimidated, coming out to perform the first three triple axels by a woman in a program. However, she had a few little bobbles that made it almost impossible for her to pass Kim Yu-Na. Not to say that the program wasn’t beautiful. It seemed almost certain that she would take the silver.

I always want the Americans to win, but in this particular case, I’d be perfectly happy to let Joannie Rochette have a medal, instead. She skated beautifully, under any circumstances. But especially given the emotional weight she’s skating under. And after she skated, she was in third.

While I like Mirai Nagasu, I just couldn’t really hope for her to overtake any of the top three. She’s 16. She should certainly be back for future Olympics. She skated a great program. It was enough for fourth but not enough to take over third.

It was a beautiful not of skating. There was artistry, athleticism and sweetness. Congratulations to all of the ladies.

I would like to state, for the record, that there are two spins being performed in ladies figure skating that I just don’t enjoy. One, the spin that looks like doing the splits standing up holding onto your skate. It’s not attractive. And, two, the one where they sit and put their nose to their toes. Again, not attractive. I have no doubt these are difficult spins. But NOT pretty.

Other than those, I still really enjoy figure skating. And I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with skating over the next four years.