Posted on 02/17/2006 12:40:08 AM PST by vertolet
TURIN, Italy Epochs pass, governments fall, but Russians still win figure skating medals. And Evgeni Plushenko is a thorough Russian. Russians skate like they own the ice, and others skate like they're afraid of falling on it. The difference between the Olympic gold medalist and everybody else in the world was this simple: He was Russian, and they weren't.
The martial, cymbal-clashing Russian anthem boomed through the Palavela, just as it does at every Winter Games. Skaters from the former Soviet Union have now won five straight men's gold medals, and no one will challenge them in this sport any time soon, judging by Plushenko's leaping, dominant performance, skated to a hopped-up version of the theme from "The Godfather." To other countries, figure skating is a sport, but to Russians it is a matter of cultural identity.
"It's everything, everything," Plushenko said afterward when asked why his country does this every Olympics. "I have a great coach, I have also...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Yeah, Plushenko is great.
I do remember his competion with Yagudin last Games. It was something!
Slutskaya is poised to take Gold as well.
(Sadly she has alamost no competition to make it a lively show, with Kwan injured and Asada too young to compete).
Still after all she's been through with her mother's illness as well as her own blood condition, she deserves gold.
Slutskaya.
What an unfortunate name.
Bryant Gumbel is heartbroken that it wasn't JaJuan Federovsky-El
(Its pronounced slootskaya btw)
Well, pronunciations may vary.
;-)
Actually, I'm sure she's a fine lady; but I seem to appreciate a cheap joke.
You're not the first to make it, and won't be the last.
Alas, I go for the trite.
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