Yup. When Evgenia was around, too, training there, it must have been akward, especially before the OG. No matter how close you are if you‘re directly competing against each other, knowing that the other one could potentially crush your dream, there‘s bound to be some tension. That‘s happened even to Yuzuru and Javier before Pyeongchang and they‘re used to competing against each other when Evgenia and Alina were still quite new to it because of Alina just turning senior this season. So, yeah, it‘s probably only natural that she‘s feeling lighter and more confident now. No more answering questions about her greatest rival, whether they were really friends, no more tension of Eteri trying to be fair to both top skaters (which must be incredibly difficult, imo, so it‘s actually good she can only focus on one of them now) and most of all: An Olympic Gold Medal in the bag, positivity from her fans, family around and a cute dog. If she wasn‘t feeling happy now, I‘d worry about her. I really hope that all the beautiful things she experiences now will help her findher strength for the next season and show to everyone, that no, Alina Zagitova is NOT just a one season wonder. She‘s the Olympic Champion and rightfully so and she‘ll kick your ass if you ever dare to doubt this girl again
So. Enough of this kitsch. I was feeling a bit sentimental today, forgive me