DEBORAH CROMBIE: Who's watching the Olympics? I can't believe it's already been four years since the last winter games! I've always been a bigger fan of the winter games than the summer--I might have fantasized about being an ice skater, but never a gymnast. And definitely not a runner or a swimmer.
I'm the original armchair athlete, uncoordinated and never any good at sports or games. On top of that, when I was fourteen I broke my pelvis and tore up my knee, so the few times I tried skating, and the one time I tried skiiing, were really painful. Not to mention that I fell down a lot...
But I could watch! I fell in love with figure skating in the 70s. I was obsessed with Dorothy Hamil--I even had a Dorothy Hamil haircut for a couple of years!
And then in the 80s there were Torvill and Dean. I still think their 1984 Olympic gold medal ice dance free skate to Bolero is swoon-worthy.
Admittedly, I had a huge crush on Chris Dean, because he was (duh) English, and so cute! They choreographed their own routine, too, which no ice dancers do these days, apparently.
I miss the days of the cute short haircuts on the female skaters. Now they all look alike with the "ballerina bun," but I suppose it's practical, and these things go in and out of fashion.
The U.S. skaters have been terrific at these games. There aren't enough superlatives to describe Nathan Chen, the winner of the gold medal in the men's event.
But the U.S. has competitive skaters in the other events, as well, with ice dancers Chock and Bates (LOVED their free skate to music from Daft Punk), and Hubbell and Donohue; plus pairs teams Knierem and Frazier. There's even a pair from Dallas--Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc. Watching the pairs makes me really nervous--what they do is so dangerous.
Tonight, however, I'll be watching the women compete for the gold. (Notice I'm very carefully tiptoeing around that scandal...)
What about you, REDS and readers? Are you figure skating fans? Or will you be glued to monobob (I still haven't quite figured out what that is, but it was fun to watch.) Skiiing? Snowboarding? Hockey?
Or would you just rather curl up with a good book and a cuppa?
