Today I witnessed one of the most disheartening Olympic moments ever. I hate what these Games do to me. I've had heartbreak in every one of the Olympics I've watched now:
1988 - I desperately wanted Debi Thomas's Carmen to bitch slap a gold over Katarina Witt's.
1992 - I was bummed that Kim Zmeskal couldn't boogie out an all-around gold after coming in as the World Champion.
1994 - I wanted figure skating's battered princess Nancy Kerrigan to spin gold when Oksana Baiul two-footed a triple toe loop.
1996 - I wanted the Romanian American dynamo Dominique Moceanu to charm her way into a medal.
1998 - I was appalled that a disgusting little elf named Tara Lipinski had the luckiest day of her life when one judge stole Michelle Kwan's gold medal and tossed it into her grubby, greedy little hands.
2000 - I sullenly watched the American women's gymnastics team make a dismal and forgettable showing after being the defending champions.
And today, in 2002, I watched how politicized and biased figure skating judging really is. Referring to Commentary, Day One, below, I raved about Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze, and I slammed Sale and Pelletier. Tonight, it was totally irritating and embarassing to witness the NBC commentators' partisanship towards the Canadian team. The history here is that the Russian pairs have dominated the sport for the past 10 Olympics and coming in as the World Champions, the Canadian pair was set to break that streak. While the Russians were up, Sandra Bezic and Scott Hamilton were unabashed in criticizing and exaggerating every possible mistake they could have made. But to some extent, they were right. As breathtaking as their chemistry is, Sikharulidze flubbed a double axel and there was a bit of a frenetic quality to their usually agile, fluid movements. When the scores showed a slew of 5.7s, the Canadians stepped onto the ice with a lot of positive energy and hope. I didn't like them on Saturday. But today, I was enthralled. Every jump was perfect, every throw landed so artfully that it was soft and silent. There was drama, athleticism, precision, and grace -- it was all there. Sometimes I felt like my heart stopped. You have to remember, I didn't like this pair. When it was over, every person in the arena was on his or her feet. Sale and Pelletier cried with the immense gratification of every struggle being redeemed in 4 1/2 minutes. All that accomplished, and not a hair was out of place and not one drop of sweat. They made the moment.
And then 5 of the 4 judges put them second. On what basis? That they came into the competition in second place? Tara Lipinski did that in 1998. Oksana Baiul did that in 1994. Both went on to win gold medals. Sikharulidze had deductible technical errors that in all fairness should have put the team behind several of the contenders. But, alas, the winners are chosen by the judges before anybody even steps on the ice.
I felt really awful for Sale and Pelletier, as their heartbreak was being photographed and presented to Olympic fans all over. It was such a private and public moment, all at once. I felt really cheated to be a fan of the sport, because what's the damn point? It's all someone else's game.
And I'm really worried for Michelle Kwan. They did this to her before and she smiled and emerged as a noble queen. But that's not the crown she's here for.
So yeah, if anybody who read this (the few of you who read this), followed it and cared, I've got it all on tape.
posted by Lucy Sloan @ 12:58 AM
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