Dimitri Aliev is the name. And how many quads did he execute? Funny, I have no idea, if any. I know I was mesmerized by the totality of his generous program.
And how refreshing a break from last week, when over here we were driven to count count count quads. All the talk dominated by quad obsession. He may do five! Oh, well, he did get in two!
That was a surprise, we had not seen that quad coming!
And how narrow a focus, reducing the event to a one-theme contest. Great figure skaters should sweep us up into a journey of flight. I caught the top rated men in finals and posted my own grades. I gave Dimitri my highest score -- 94, my second highest, 92, to the commanding Spaniard, Javier Lopez Fernandez, a little more athletic, if only he had not missed or smeared several ill-fated landings. He seems to hold the "reputation" factor. Between the two men, the competition in Korea next month should be fierce.
This event was never intended to be a showdown over just one item. The ridiculous focus on quads --- seems more prevalent over here --- shoves us into a fixation on just that one component, rendering all the other jumps and the spins less important, the routines less wholly satisfying.
Leave it to Russia to show us the way. And the way is only 18-years-old. Dimitri is a compelling artist on blades, from his mastery of big tricks to an interlocking choreography that does not seem secondary at all. A sublime pleasure to watch, his body movements forming fluid sculptures in motion. Rare to have artistry and athleticism so evenly matched.
And what a surprise, his routine was over, already? I couldn't believe how fast it went - the mark of a skater's avoiding middle-of-the-program slumping and slippage. Other than one failed landing, Aliev was near perfection.
Commentary from hell
About the side line critics: I rather enjoyed, actually could appreciate the brevity of Johnny Weir's remarks, certainly compared to the annoying jack hammer banter of Tara Lipinski, who sounds like a stock market analyst rattling off facts and figures. Seems to me that a skater's performance, like that of any talent show competitor, should be, for the most part, critiqued after the event, not during it. I don't need the condescending Ms. Lipinski to tell me what I can actually see for myself. She is such an in-our-face annoyance, that I may turn down the sound while trying to watch the Olympics, or I may skip the whole damn thing altogether.
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