flying camel said:
I wasn't happy that she beat Sasha, but I was happy that she skated so well.
Ditto. Though I like both skaters, I have more invested in Sasha simply because I've watched her skate--and struggle--longer. Sasha has worked long and hard, as they all do to get to this level, but she had what no other skater I've ever seen has had: A phyisical beauty and emotional depth on the ice that made her skating sublime when she skated well, especially seeing it live, and heartbreaking when she collided more with herself than with the ice, IMO, which is what I thought happened at these Worlds. It was the worst I'd seen her skate since fall '01, if not worse because in Calgary she put all her energy into both her SP and LP despite seeming to having nothing left but pain and exhaustion--physical, mental, and emotional.
I was happy for Kimmie that she won, but I was not happy because she beat Sasha, who had skated through at least four years of media "hellfire and damnation" and, probably worst, what must have been her own heartbreaking frustration, only to have it all, for whatever reasons, fall apart when she needed it most.
Of course people hate athletes, as is their right, and I'm sure it's not news to anybody in figure skating that life is competition and life isn't fair. Still, even with skaters I haven't liked, I've never been "happy" to see their dreams smashed when they were lucky enough to be born with great talent, had the work ethic to put in every ounce of their energy into training and competition, had the intelligence to try to balance difficult training without over training (even though I think she did overtrain this season), tried to make the right decisions, and come to the final and most important competions of a four-year cycle only to find that silver or bronze is as good as nothing at all.
But neither was I "happy" when Michelle's 3-time quest for the OGM ended up with a worse outcome every time she tried.
Also, I'm never "happy" with an event when so many great skaters perform so badly. I don't begrudge Kimmie a thing, she earned that World gold. But she has many years to earn more. For Sasha, it's all over on that account, IMO, as it is for other deserving skaters. But because the thread is about Cohen, for me, the sadness of her failure outweighed my happiness for Kimmie. However, I like Kimmie's skating as much as I liked Cohen's in '02, am indeed happy for her, and look forward to her watching her progress.
BTW, it struck me the other day that Sasha is the only "baby ballerina" skater from 2000 who didn't drop out, get injured out, or realize she just wouldn't be able to keep up. Sasha was the only "2000 baby ballerina" skater left standing. She's also the only US skater who went through the NJS throughout all its changes and manifestations by doing the GPS and every other ISU event except the year her back was injured. But you don't get anything for that, nor do I think Cohen would want to. She was working towards goals and she didn't make it.
Anyway, Kimmie would have been over the moon with a silver or bronze, as would the press--had Sasha skated well. The only medal Sasha could win without being crushed was gold. For me, unless I know the athlete is on anabolic steroids or beats up small animals or children, I get no joy out of watching her dreams turn to dust. Same goes for skaters such as Angela Nikodinov, Jenny Kirk, Irina, and others. I do, however, look forward to being "over the moon" myself for Kimmie in the future when all the top ladies skate well.
The topic of this thread and so many of its posts is so typical of GS.
Rgirl
Sigh. Sad state of affairs. And great posts, Doggygirl, kyla2, Rgirl, Dee, Joe, and others putting down this nonsense.
