Olympics & nationalism; pairs ice dancing original portion

[hermionesviolin]

I came out and heard/saw the little thingie on Tanith and whassisname [edit: Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto] about her citizenship and how they didn't compete in the ‘02 Olympics.  This got me thinking about the Olympics is supposed to ideally be about nations coming together in harmony and the mingling with each other but it's so all about one's own country winning, and it seemed like there was something wrong with things when having a pair from two different countries meant you were unable to compete in the Olympics. (Yes of course I know theirs was an unusual circumstance and all. But still.)

Of course I already mentioned that when Lindsey Jacobellis said something about the U.S. would be on the podium I was reminded of how the obsession with one's own country winning bothers me.

Apparently the compulsory ice dancing was last night and the original program is tonight.  So I amend my "Ice dancing is teh boring" statement [from the aforelinked entry] to apply only to the compulsory program, where it seemed like everyone skated the exact same program and in bride&groom outfits to boot.  (Though I'm not a particular fan of the baring women's costumes either, I mean what happened to the sleek classy outfits?)

Anyway.

I think the first one we saw was Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon (yeah nbc.com for enabling my research, as I know almost nobody's names -- or countries, while we're at it).  Her fall was so ouch, and she was clearly in such pain, I mean, unless you physically can't, you keep smiling and you skate off the ice and then you collapse.  And he pushed her, hands on hips, as they made their way off the ice.  So cute.

Yeah, I cried.  I don't even know these people, but have we mentioned that I'm a big ole marshmallow?

At one point afterward, the woman announcer said something like "But the important thing is whether [whasshername] is okay" and I thought, "Yes" (recalling sexonastick's comments on the coverage after the women's snowboardcross) and then she said something like "She might not be able to compete in the freeskate tomorrow night," and I thought, "Um, not so much the point."

And then the Italian pair fell, which was unfortunate.  Theirs was less of a major fall, and they didn't keep up the smiles.  One of the announcers said that with the new scoring system, skaters are going all out to get as many technical points as possible so falls become far more common whereas once they almost never happened in ice dancing.

Then the next pair made it through without falling and I came back to my room.  [Oh and I think they were ones who after they finished the woman picked up one of the plush toys that had been thrown and held it up grinning.]

Then I heard my mom.  Barbara and whassisname fell.  She looked pissed.  And in the replays they were saying he couldn't hold her up, so I can understand why she was so upset, but she just seemed very unprofessional about it.

Belbin & Agosto were next, and they just seemd so seductive when they started; it was great. The male announcer was saying that they'll remember this program -- how they skated their best and with such energy and everything -- far more than they'll remember where they end up in the standings, which I was pleased to hear since they usually seem to be all about the medals.

Comments

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

The nationalism tends not to bother me so much at the Olys because it seems to be pretty good-natured by and large, and I'm very sappy about people being so proud and happy to win on behalf of their country. But I tend to be naive about such things...and yeah, the situation with B&A is weird, and it bothers me that she had to switch her citizenship to compete, though obviously I'm thrilled that it came through.

I'm wishing now I had actually watched the whole thing tonight. I meant to tell you last night that the compulsories were a really poor introduction to ice dancing :) It literally WAS the same dance over and over.

B&A are freaking HOT. That's all.

Yeah, nice sentiment from Dick Button about how they'll remember a great skate far more than they'll remember their placement, and I might actually buy into it if it weren't for the fact that the whole Olympic mystique gets perpetuated in such a way that if you haven't won a gold, you haven't reached the pinnacle of your sport, period. Makes me rageful particularly in MK's case. I will be extremely upset if B&A don't medal here, though, mostly because I suspect that if that happens, it'll be because they'll be undermarked, not because they won't have earned it.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, it definitely hasn't seemed malicious (though one of the items I mentioned when talking to my mom was that the skating scoring system was overhauled because of cheating judges) it just bugs me. And I'm not even rocking the radical Left Amerika=evol sentiment, I just get annoyed by automatic sentiment [and really, beyond sentiment to a feeling of superiority] for a place merely by virtue of birth.

It is only in hovering over your icon on this comment that I realize your "heart" icon has been of them. (Yeah, I haven't paid attention to skating in years and never really paid attention to pairs.)

My mom is rooting for them, mostly 'cause there's a narrative behind them. My personal favorite after tonight (I wasn't paying attention to the who's who before) is Dubreuil & Lauzon 'cause of how they handled the fall in contrast to everyone else who fell. I am per usual so not invested in much of any of it, though.

After watching for some time last night, my mom and I were guessing that the compulsory was in fact the exact same dance over and over and that they were marked for style or whatever (on top of being able to execute the technicality flawlessly, of course).

Yeah, I definitely thought of the MK coverage I'd seen via you where there was so much emphasis on her losing her last shot for Olympic gold as if none of her other awards/work meant anything.