Late last night I was thinking of Zhenya and his skating, so I went to youtube (of course, lol) and immediately looked up two of the greatest events he did this past season (Cup of Russia/Rostelecom Cup & European Championships).
I hadn't rewatched the above at all until then, and I'm glad I didn't because rewatching them again gave me almost the same adrenaline rush, heart-pounding excitement (lol, Paul Wylie's commentary proved he's a fan of Zhenya too)! To see that first competition, after not seeing him skate competitively in four years, that was thee very best! Nothing compares to that first time, nothing (pulling an all-nighter and watching it live on IN and also posting at the same time on GS). And then to see him at the Olympics live for the very first time in my life was not only a miracle but honestly a joy beyond joy; I can still see it in my mind's eye, his standing tall & regal by the boards with all the rest of the top dogs, the King, warming up, practicing, and then him skating right in front of me at the Olympics. And then the jumps, like they were suspended in midair, time stood still, gasps all around me, miracle of miracles he landed them like a cat. Finally, history being made, to be a little part of it, to see Evgeni Plushenko become an Immortal on February 18th, 2010. Just thinking of it gives me shivers.
So of course after all that I dreamed about all the skaters that competed in 4 Olympiads ~ Elvis Stojko and Julia Sebestian two of the very few, in fact the only ones in recent history ~ and of course the great Gillis Grafstrom and Sonja Henie. And from there I dreamed of Evgeni Plushenko competing in his 4th Olympiad in Sochi, Russia, 2014. IF he can medal, that would tie him with Gillis Grafstrom as the greatest figure skater of all-time, man or woman. Because as it stands now, Mr. Grafstrom is the only figure skater to have medalled at Olympiads (1920, 1924, 1928, 1932). Zhenya will be chasing history...
This post gave me a little bit of a rush. Great description and just makes me worry about getting my hopes up for another return. I have watched his short program at Rostelecom cup at least a dozen times! I could repeat most of what Wylie said. I mean he has such command of the ice and I have never seen him live like you just on TV. He would just be 31. But people were saying "oh he is 27 the young men will beat him." Well that was not true in the GP or Russia or Europe and just by one point at the Olympics.