Wow, Arakawa looked great in the champions skating gala....

[Wetzelbill]

That woman can skate! Duh, that's obvious. She had on this gorgeous blue outfit and just lit the ice on fire. She's so graceful and skilled. She really deserved her gold medal. She had a performance for the ages. It's nice to see somebody win without controversy, who just went out and performed on another level, under pressure and on the biggest stage of them all. I think that's what winning is all about. All the hard work, all the years of training, the mental toughness etc. You do it to put it all on the line when it all matters. To win the Big Dance like that has to be special. Not even describable. :)

[kwassa]

1. The problem with skating is ....

It is lost somewhere between an athletic event and an art form. Which is it? I tend to respond to skating as an art form, since I have no idea what it takes to land these jumps.

Arakawa was beautiful, classic and tasteful. But guess what? Sasha Cohen was great in th gala, too.

[GalleryGod]

3. Sasha was Elegant and Graceful...almost a "throwback"

Like a porcelain doll out there...geez I didn't hear any comments about her skating to Streisand?

As always-the "Free Skate Gala" is the most expensive and hottest ticket in Turin.:patriot:

[CBHagman]

6. It requires considerable athletic ability.

Some skaters may look slight and even delicate, but they lift weights and do crunches that would daunt most of us. Of course they have to have tremendous flexibility and stamina to execute those programs.

Pretty much every time there's a figure skating event, someone in the press or elsewhere goes through precisely the same argument: It's pretty, but is it sport? But everything about sports is arbitrary. I mean, why should knocking a little white ball around or trying to leap over a barrier be deemed a sport but not speeding around a rink while executing jumps, lifts, and spins?

I classify figure skaters with divers and gymnasts, in that what they do is also artistically pleasing but also an athletic event.

On edit: I'm really upset that I overlooked the skating gala on the TV schedule. I thought it was occurring this weekend, probably on Sunday. But I think highlights might be shown.

And the Worlds are coming up anyway.

[RockaFowler]

2. The Russian Male was great, too

I forgot his name, but he was unbelievable. The triples he did were better than in his free skate where he won the gold.
As for Sasha, she didn't do any triples at all. I guess she didn't want to fall again.

[GalleryGod]

4. Extraordinary !

The Chinese and Russian pairs were awesome also...
BTW...Julia Mancuso is a downhill goddess!:patriot:

[colinmom71]

5. More like resting her legs till Worlds in four weeks...

Rumors behind the scenes are that she's hurting worse than she's willing to show. That's the real reason she fell on her first triple Lutz and stepped out of her triple flip at the beginning of the program. Supposedly her mom strongly hinted at a groin injury in an interview the other day, so I can see why Sasha would take it easy on jumping for a week or so before she has to resume training for Worlds.

Hopefully, this will help her to perform and place well then. If our other American ladies (Meissner and Hughes 2.0) can perform in Calgary as solidly as they did in Torino, the US should get to keep 3 slots open for next year's Worlds team.

Oh, and the Russian mens' gold medalist is Evgeny Plushenko, and yes his exhibition was far better than his winning programs...

[LisaL]

8. Sasha is not making excuse for herself, even though she seems

to have a legitimate excuse. I have no clue as to why the gold medal seems to be the only one worthy of accomplishment either. They do award three medals after all.

[LisaL]

7. Yes, he was skating to live violin. It was amazing.

[flamingyouth]

9. I couldn't stay awake for it all - I had to tape it

I did get to see some of the ice dancers, though, and Johnny Weir, whom I really loved. His routine to "My Way" was awesome. He's a great skater. I wish he'd gotten a medal. He seemed much more relaxed (rightfully so) last night. I'll enjoy watching it all tonight on tape.

I'm looking forward to watching the world championships next month too. :)

[AirmensMom]

10. I missed it.

:cry:

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

11. Actually, I was disappointed with NBC's coverage of the gala

last night. I thought they would show more skaters, but tomorrow at 11:00 am EST on the cable station USA, there is a wrap-up of the ice skating competition and hopefully, we'll get to see some more of the exhibition performances.

I agree, Shiz was fabulous last night as was Plushy. Plushy's not my "cup of tea", but the man can skate and ITA with Shiz getting the gold. She skated beautifully in both the short and long programs. She wasn't really a surprise to me, after all she won the World Championship in 2004.

I'm kind of sad though that the Olympics are almost over, but the World Championships are in Calgary next month and hopefully ESPN will air some of the competitions live.

Funny note to this. Mr. Wonderful's been in Ireland for the past 6 days and when I talked to him yesterday afternoon, he wanted to know who had won the Ladies. We've been married for 25 years and the man has never asked me anything about figure skating. I think I finally managed to make him a fan of my beloved sport...He was PO'ed that his sister doesn't have Eurosport coverage on her satellite dish and I guess he missed the coverage on the BBC. Wonders will never cease :rofl:

[CBHagman]

12. Love your nicknames...

...and also the fact that you were able to convert your SO.

[Wetzelbill]

13. haha

That's great! That's the power of love and persuasion. :)