Friday, February 16, 2018

Pyeongchang Posts: Reflections on the Men's Short Program


What an incredible night of men’s figure skating! It’s a late night, but was well worth staying up past my bedtime! On a night when one skater soared to the heavens, another skater crashed to earth. Twice.

First Pennsylvania’s own, Adam Rippon, continued to live out his Olympic dream with a perfect performance— and plenty of sass! Defending Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu showed everyone that his reign is nowhere near over. He threw it down and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. He was otherworldly. The other top contenders were also terrific. Skaters from Spain, Japan, and China trail Hanyu by mere points, setting the stage for an epic final tonight!

The biggest heartbreak of the night was Nathan Chen, who had a disastrous outing, making uncharacteristic mistakes and finding himself in 17th place, 22 points out of bronze-medal position. Nathan was widely considered a gold medal favorite, but maybe the pressure was too much for the 18-year-old, who has limited experience on the biggest stages. It’s devastating, but this is sports. Sometimes things don’t go right and you have to find a way to put it past you and rise above. I will be rooting for Nathan to do that in the freeskate!

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