Olympic women’s figure skating: A memorable opening night
Olympic women’s figure skating is often thought of as the signature event from the Winter Olympics, and Tuesday night’s short program certainly did little to let that reputation down.
The games began with a lot of hype, with Yu-Na Kim of Korea pegged like a gold medal favorite and Canadian skater Joannie Rochette fighting over the emotion after her mother’s deathseven days ago. Rarely do events live as much that types of hype.
Not on Tuesday. First on the ice from the favorite was Kim, whose performance was preceded with a video highlighting her celebrity in her home country, where she makes as much as $9 million a year through endorsements along with other ventures.
But she lived up to the hype. Kim skated a near-perfect routine, recording a brand new world record for any short program under the present scoring system.
Also creating a splash was Mao Asada of China, who scored a 73.78, normally all but assured to become top score.
However the most emotional effort from the night came from Rochette, who battled through tears to wow the home crowd, which gave her a stirring ovation at the conclusion of her routine. Rochette skated in front of her teary-eyed father and turned in order to remember for the liftime, willing herself into the top three.
If the remainder of the Olympic women’s figure skating events are anything like Tuesday night’s, the most common large audience need to have plenty to dicuss about.
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