Even russians don't want to watch figure skating :sarcasm:
Part of to blame is the ticket sales
on a given day, somewhere between 72 - 92% of tickets are sold to russians/local citizens
as Sochi games were catered for the mass public.
They just wanted to see Plush, not figure skating. I think it was better that they left. Good for them, good for the skaters, good for the rest of the crowd who actually cares about the rest of the competition.
Wow. I don't think anyone saw this coming. So disappointing for the Russians and for Plushenko. I don't think he would have withdrawn unless it was serious. This is why you can never count your chickens (or in this case medals) before they hatch at the Olympics. Anything can happen. You can see the energy just get drained. I would not have wanted to skate in complete silence. They did come back alive as the evening picked up.
I can't say I was surprised. Why didn't they put Maxim Kovtun in the SP? Isn't this the type of situation why federations name alternates?