Monday, November 16, 2009

PLUSHY! Yes, we're circling back towards the quadrennial awesomeness which is Olympic figure skating, and as such we invite back frequent commentator Gretchen, winner of the 2006 ALOTT5MA Award for Olympian Achievement In Guest Posting, to bring us up to speed:
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Skating is back!* It's that time again -- time for America to fall in love with figure skating for three intense months, before forgetting about it for the next four years. After all, has anyone really thought about figure skating since Torino? Probably not, if this weekend's coverage of Skate America was any indication. Peggy Fleming had to remind us all about the Code of Points, which has abandoned the old 6.0 scale. Newspapers bemoaned the fact that no American woman had secured the official "America's Sweetheart" position, and that we have only two (rather than the usual three) berths at the Olympics this year. And gauzy TV packages touted Yu-Na Kim, the 2009 world champion, explaining to us Americans that while we have no idea who she was, she is known as Queen Yu-Na in her home of South Korea and is largely viewed as a lock for Olympic gold.

With Yu-Na Kim, Evan Lysacek, and ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, Skate America was a good preview of some (though not all) of the top contenders, all of whom were expected to win and did. The biggest surprise was Rachael Flatt's terrific and exuberant skate in the long program (surely a statement that she deserves the Olympics and the American's Sweetheart title), and Queen Yu-Na's surprising falters on the ice, where she delivered her worst long program in two years. It's a testament to Yu-Na's dominance that even in light of her falls and bobbles, she still easily took gold.

Sasha Cohen was scheduled to skate and pulled out at the last minute, claiming injury. She hasn't skated competitively since 2006, instead focusing on the professional skating scene. No matter how good a pro she is, the reality is that her pro performances were a far cry from Olympic-level skating, often replacing jumps (and ice skates) with a focus on her extraordinary flexibility. The last-minute pull-out makes me think that she's just not ready for competition -- and may have underestimated how hard it would be to come back. The real question is whether she can get her act together in time for nationals. I have my doubts. In Sasha's place, Emily Hughes was a last minute entrant into the competition, but had a disastrous short program, resulting in a seventh place finish overall. After two years that were largely plagued by injury (not to mention five-class semesters at Harvard!), she also may simply not be prepared for this level of competition.

While Evan Lysacek seems to have his gold-medal-march all planned out, there's one thing that can get in his way -- one big, arm-waving, ice-thrashing, former-gold-medal-winning thing. Yes, Plushy's back. Like Sasha Cohen, he's attempting to stage a return to the world stage after retiring post-gold-medal in Turin. Unlike Cohen, he's actually shown up for a Grand Prix event (the Rostelecom Cup), which he won. But his comeback attempt raises similar questions -- after spending four years basically off the ice (although he did show up to skate as part of the winning 2008 Eurovision Song Contest performance), is he ready to compete with Evan Lysacek, who has been plotting out this move for four years?

After the International Skating Union passed the "Boitano Rule,"** which allows skaters to claim amateur status even after skating professionally, numerous skaters have tried to follow this path of going pro, and then returning to amateur competition for the Olympics. After all, the Olympics offer excitement, attention, and a world stage unlike any professional ice show. But it's not always easy. Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt both failed to make the podium in their post-professional try at Olympic gold. At this point, I wouldn't bet that either Plushy or Sasha Cohen can find their way back to medal contention. But I hope that NBC will broadcast enough skating to let us see them try.

*As a reminder, I have no actual knowledge of figure skating other than an excellent memory for the last thirty years of winter Olympics and an abiding interest in this often-ridiculous, occasionally sublime, perpetually entertaining sport. If anyone has actual knowledge, please weigh in!

**Did anyone else see Brian Boitano's new show on the Food Network? It was actually funny!

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