Canada's Olympic Team

wallylutz said:

The events at the 2014 Nationals felt somewhat bittersweet and nostalgic. I recall, 4 years ago, at the London Nationals in 2010, I consoled a very disappointed Craig Buntin after him and his partner narrowly missed the Olympic team. His partner then, is of course, Meghan Duhamel, the current World Bronze medalist and one of the favorite for the 2014 Olympics with her new partner, Eric Radford.

This isn't the only irony during this bittersweet weekend. 4 years ago, Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier fell during their Free Dance but were correctly marked above then the 3rd rank team - Weaver / Poje. Because there were only 2 spots available, it meant that Weaver/Poje would not be going to the Olympics after all the efforts that Kaetlyn Weaver did to obtain Canadian citizenship. Not only it was a heartbreaking moments for them, some of the judges at the event were pretty sad as well after the event. Ironically, 4 years later, Weaver/Poje has become one of the hottest dance teams in the world while it is Paul Poirier's partner who had to rush to obtain Canadian citizenship only to narrowly miss the Olympic team. What impressed me 4 years ago was how calm Kaetlyn Weaver accepted such profound disappointment. Seeing the "American civil war" going on right now, it made me appreciate the way Weaver/Poje grew from that experience. Had this been in the U.S., there would be undoubtedly claims of bias or fixed judging due to Vanessa Crone's fall in the FD yet they still moved ahead. I recall seeing how Kaetlyn walked back to the hotel with Andrew, very calmly and acted like it was just another day. This kind of attitude and professionalism really should serve as a good example to some other skaters who obviously feel entitled.

Then there is of course Kevin Reynolds. Kevin completed a technically demanding Free Skate but only to be marked down in the second mark and narrowly missed the Olympic team. To say he was disappointed was a major understatement. To add insult to injury, this took place during a controversial time when Skate Canada embarked on a questionable campaign to make figure skating more attractive to "tough guys" and Vaughn Chipeur seemed to fit that image better. 4 years later, Vaughn Chipeur retired after a few unsuccessful seasons and Kevin Reynolds became contender in the 2014 Olympics after becoming the 2013 Four Continents Champion over the best skaters from Japan, China and USA.

Life is full of surprises and irony. 4 years ago and now, the contrast can't be any more obvious.

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