Three years ago today...
So it was the evening of February 11, 2014. I was a little girl, and I was more interested in all the flags and costumes than actual skating. The only skater I remembered and liked was Mao Asada, and I had hazy memories of Davis/White, but skating was not my thing. I was a gymnastics girl. I was just watching because my mom loved it and I didn't want to be the “disinterested daughter”.
We’re watching pairs, and all the talk is about this Russian couple. She’s a lovely blonde princess in a pale blue dress and he’s dressed like a nobleman from another era. And the crowd loves them. The commentators can’t get enough of them.
We’re also watching for our own country, so we cheer when Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir take the ice.
Me: “He’s so big. And she’s so little!”
I'm enjoying it. He flings her around so easily, and yet you know there must be iron in her bones for her to hit those jumps. I'm so excited to watch them, and I want the commentators to shut up about how these two don’t have a chance at a medal.
Sometime between this stunning acrobatic feat and waiting for THE Russian couple, I fall asleep. I wake up just in time for them, look around, and ask my mom, “Did I miss anything?”
Mom: “Just a Russian couple who had a clean skate.”
Me: “Okay. But not THE Russians.”
There’s also this Canadian couple. The first thing I notice is how tall the guy is. Then how tiny the girl is. Then how handsome the guy is. And then how pretty the girl looks in her pink dress. Then the girl’s Olympic ring necklace. And then they start skating to this beautiful piano music. And he picks her up like she’s a peanut (which she is, but it's still so impressive because he does it with one hand).
This is getting way exciting.
Then there’s a routine to the Pink Panther soundtrack. I’m in!
THE Russians, as you might’ve guessed, are Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov. And they are on fire. The arena is amazing, how it lights up. Everyone is screaming, and I think, “Hey, skating is cool!”
Then there’s the free skate. Back then I thought the short program and the free skate were two different competitions. That's how little I knew about the sport.
The first several pairs go. I’m sad that those cool Canadians fell, but I write down their names because I know they're good. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. Note to Self: they're going places.
In the final warm-up group of the free skate, I notice a pair I’ve never seen before.
The girl is small, like most pair girls are, but she stands out. Her dress is red with black trim, a simple cut, and she has dark hair pulled into a ponytail and red lipstick to match the dress. The guy is wearing this theatrical striped suit.
Me: “'I don't remember this pair.”
Mom: “'Oh these are those Russians you slept through.”
Then they start skating. They're really killing it! I'm following along, following...
Then the Addams Family soundtrack starts up. My dad (who doesn't follow figure skating and still thinks Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner are the same person) came in and asked, “'Who are these people?”
Me: “Shh! These guys are doing great!”
I don't know why I've never heard of this pair. Why hasn't the media said anything about them? They're so good!
They attempt a throw jump at the very end of the program, and the girl sticks it so solid I say, “Yes!”. They hit their closing pose, and she’s screaming, bouncing, and pumping her fists. I feel like joining in. And he has such a big boyish grin that melts my heart.
Me: “THE Russians are probably so nervous right now.”
THE Russians skate right after this amazing performance. They're wearing gold costumes, as if they know what they came for. And they skate like gold, too. They really are doing great.
But all I remember is Morticia Addams, her sweet partner, and those 4 minutes of bliss.
Then the Chinese pair goes. They’re nice to watch, and the performance puts them in third.
Pink Panther girl has now put on something more subtle. They're looking good until her partner misses a jump. They get up and keep skating, which I always admire, and then a few seconds before the end, the commentators say these guys are spontaneously adding a trick.
Throw triple Axel. Very hard and it’s at the end of the program. They’re doing everything they can to win.
She falls.
They both look so upset. They came here for gold, just like THE RUSSIANS, but it's not going to happen for them. They aren't going to be happy with silver. They came to win.
The only thing worse than silver for a couple who wanted gold is bronze.
Me: “But they won a medal! How can they be upset?”
The arena is going insane. THE Russians have won gold and everyone is surprised - the girl in the red dress and the guy in the striped suit get silver!
Me to that pair: “I’ll see you win gold in 2018! You’ve got what it takes!”
Since then I have been a hardcore skating fan. I have diligently watched the Grand Prix, followed the skaters on Instagram to the point of obsession...basically gone mad for skating. And I owe it all to that magical night. February 12, 2014.
I have watched that Canadian couple rise to the top. I have watched the German girl in the Pink Panther unitard find a new partner and chase her dreams again. I have watched THE RUSSIANS fall in love, get married, and have their daughter (who will be born this month!). And I have watched the girl in the red dress grow into a fierce, lovely young woman with the guy in the striped suit eternally at her side through the good and the bad.
I don't know what's going to happen in 2018. The sport has changed so much, and anything can change in the blink of an eye. Your feet can slide out from underneath you, and it’s over. There goes 4 years of hard work, gone in an instant.
But when you land it, they can never take that moment away from you. And they can never erase your name from the books. You are a part of history.
So whenever I'm feeling down, whenever things don’t go like how I planned, whenever I just wonder what’s the meaning of this crazy world, I think of that night that changed my life. And I strive to be a professional optimist. Because being happy is why we’re here.