A few random thoughts...
Yesterday ladies short was an outstanding competition... too many wonderful performances to mention... loved Wakaba and Ivett... Medvedeva as fearless and consistent as ever... Dabin is just outside top 10, and how heroic would it be if she could move up one more place and earn 2 places for Korean Olympics?! So happy for Rika. Shocked by uncharacteristic error by Mai. Sad for the skaters who didn't qualify for FS :-/
Very high standards in Pairs too... such that mistakes proved very costly for several top teams. Loved loved loved Sui and Han. Amazed yet again by Bruno's monstrous power and strength, I'm used to seeing him bring Aliona down from a lift and then push her right back up before she touches down... but now seeing him catch her after twist... and rather than guide her down like other pairs, he fully catches her and places her back on the ice.
Men's practices have been pretty scrappy in general... nobody looks in top form... I'm not expecting an outstanding SP competition like the ladies. I think it will be won by whoever is mentally stronger - whoever has the fighting spirit, determination and self-confidence to rise to the occasion and deliver when it matters... as usual, anything might happen...! ;-D
Many of the mens toilets in the arena were "converted" to ladies... smart decision!
Arena food from "street food deli" kiosks has been very paletable and tasty! Not exactly cheap though.
So wonderful to see Laura Lipisto about. Kiira too. Wish they were still competing, both are still so young. Apart from performing in the Opening, Laura is commentating etc
Days are very long and tiring if we attend practices as well as competitions. So reports and photos likely to be sparse now...
I've taken a LOT of photos, there will be many thousands by the end. It will take weeks to sort through them, and upload...
no pretty postcards for me, thanks
my mother lost her bag but security found it too! Great staff!
