In one way, I am speechless. In another way, I have so much to say I'm not sure what to type first.
This silver medal hit me, as a fan, differently than last year's silver medal. And it's more than Olympic qualification being on the line. Last season Andrew's skating went so well that Nationals was (sort of) expected. He still had to do it, but we knew he could, even though two 4Ts was brand new. This year, his season was not good at all in comparison (even with silver at Nebelhorn). France and NHK were so rough, particularly NHK, which was the last time we saw him skate. At last year's Nationals, he was 2nd after both programs, while at this Nationals, he did just enough to stay in it with his SP but he was in 5th and he needed to be perfect in the free skate and have others make mistakes. Plus, Scheherazade was a calmer, softer program, whereas this one is bold and in-your-face, with a show-stopping ending. Andrew's mental reset from NHK to Nationals SP and then to Nationals LP is super impressive. Going into this Nationals, I admit I kept my expectations of Andrew quite low. He surpassed them by a lot, obviously. And it also hit differently because Andrew burst into tears immediately after he finished, with the release of all that pressure. He knew he did everything he could and he seemed so relieved. He doesn't cry publicly very often.
As I wrote after the SP, his SP also was very nice. The 3A and 3F+3T were more steady than they've seemed all season, and with the 4T fall, he got up from it right away. And the free skate was probably the most perfect free skate he's done in any competition, both technically and artistically. I would have loved to see him do a quad-triple combo, but I'll take the quad-double. Describing the experience of watching that program unfold on my TV screen is impossible. I'll call it exhilarating, exciting, and thrilling, but words can't do it justice. And, given his season, the sheer unexpectedness added to my joy. It meant more, because my memory of the other performances is so fresh. I hoped he would skate well, but I didn't dare expect it to be that pristine. Wow. Just wow. Oh, and the blingy costume has returned (good choice, in my opinion).
And the DRAMA of it all. How Andrew had to wait for four more skaters to go, and then still not knowing which skaters would be selected for the Olympics. He won silver, but I was nervous still that he wouldn't be chosen for the Olympics (given last year's Worlds and this rough season). So to open this thread yesterday evening and read that he WAS chosen!!! That he and Max were BOTH chosen!!! Never did I foresee a scenario in which BOTH Max and Andrew would go to Milano, and yet that is exactly what happened!!! Speaking of Max, how fitting it felt that he and Andrew skated their LPs back-to-back. My heart was full of so many emptions at once. They are completely different skaters from each other, and yet I love them both SO MUCH. I am so happy that Max finally got into the Top 3, and the rest of Max's context goes without saying.
CONGRATULATIONS, ANDREW!!!!! YOU ARE AN OLYMPIAN!!!!!
@el henry, how are you doing? What a roller coaster, to be both exhilarated for Andrew and heartbroken for Jason, plus Max being Max. I am also a big Jason fan, and his free skate was a tough watch. And yet it allowed both Andrew and Max to become Olympians. along with Tomoki's low score. (Did Tomoki get a bunch of URs/downgrades? I haven't looked at free skate protocols.)
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Who am I kidding, I am over the moon now.
but of course that was the first year of the team event.
As I suspected, they gave us the NBC broadcast feeds except for certain portions which had Ben and Ashley commentating. But, click play anyway. It's worth it.
