March 27, 2008...11:35 am
World Figure Skating Championships 2008
I don’t know if there’s too much to say about this year’s championships which was held in Gothenburg. And I’ve already been rambling enough about Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy and their well-deserved gold medal. Most of the results were more or less expected. No huge surprise. Except the men’s skating. First off, I think both Swedes (Adrian Schultheiss and Kristoffer Berntsson) did very good in the short program. But then there’s the free program. Adrian did fine, especially considering it was his first World Championship. Kristoffer, though… Where do I even begin? I love Kristoffer. I think he’s fun to watch, he’s got a great presence and some great moves. But you need to stand on your feet if you want high scores. It’s the same old, sad story. Kristoffer makes it so hard for me to love him. He was placed 14:th in the end, while Adrian (a debutant!) ended up at 13:th. I predict we’ll be seeing more of Adrian.
It’s no secret that I love Stéphane Lambiel (a.k.a. Lambi). He’s a true artist; he creates pieces of art on the ice. He’s always keen on having a story to tell. It’s so much more than just skating. He’s the men’s version of Aliona and Robin. Unfortunately, Lambi didn’t skate particularly well. I would’ve loved for him to win the gold since I truly think he is the best figure skater in the world and I know he wanted to win as well but with scores like that it just ain’t gonna happen. All I could do was to hope for the best. The best obviously meant a fifth place and I guess it could be worse.
Tomas Verner (who recently won the gold medal in the European Championships) was, to my surprise, even worse than Lambi. And so he’s out of the game. And so who’s left? Brian Joubert and Daisuke Takahashi, two names that’s been running hot as possible winners. As Brian Joubert finishes his program he bends down and kisses the ice. Joubert stated earlier that the fight for gold is just between Takahashi, Lambi and himself. And since he did the best out of the three he clearly thinks he’s got it. But there’s one man left: Jeffrey Buttle. Jeffrey Buttle. Jeffrey Buttle is my saviour. He skates perfectly, just enough flawless to beat the crap out of Brian Joubert (in case you haven’t noticed earlier I truly loathe Brian Joubert with all of my heart). Oh, it was priceless! I’m forever grateful. It was worth more to see the self-righteous Joubert end up at second place than it would’ve been to see Lambi win gold again (well, ok, maybe not, but I’m trying to see life from the bright side).
I’m also glad Johnny Weir, another favorite of mine, ended up at third place. Too see all results, go here.
Brian Joubert made a big scene out of his very fair scores. He didn’t see the fairness which, in the end, just proves how little he knows about the sport he’s practicing.
2 Comments
March 27, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Lambi rules! And God, I was so nervous when Buttle was the last man out on the ice, the only person able to kick Joubert’s ass to silver position - and he did it. I can’t even begin to imagine the tantamount pressure of having appx. 10000 people watching you on the stadium and a few million people (at least) watching you live from home, knowing that should you slip up just once, you won’t win gold? Horrid, yet, he did it, despite Joubert’s frozen-water-kissing scene. Bastard!
And you’re of course right about Joubert; if he can’t see what’s fair he should just shut his trap, but in the end he’s just helping people to see what a retard he is, both off and on the ice. If he thinks that his low points should magically suffice to give him the gold medal, then congrats to you, Brian, you’re an idiot.
I hope Kristoffer trains a lot more on his free skating, because that seems to be where the problem is. And I’d love to see a new FS program from him! I think there aren’t enough funny skaters. Too bad that Préaubert couldn’t skate, I was looking forward to seeing him - and I still am!
March 27, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I’m glad you mentioned Joubert’s small-minded remarks about the quad and how more credit should be given for it. Probably without intending to, this skater revealed his true nature. The fact is that Buttle surpassed every competitor without doing a quad because he was so superior and flawless in doing an extremely difficult program. I personally would rather see an interesting program without a quad than to see skaters struggle to do the quad because supposedly everyone has to do one to be competitive. I wonder what the stats would be if the number of attempted quads were compared to the number of completed quads (not ones that are two-footed). Jeffrey Buttle and Johnny Weir showed that skaters can be competitive without a quad. Now if Johnny could gain the same kind of control of his nerves that he seems to have in the short program he could move to the top.
I’m also a fan of Lambiel. I always root for him. He seems to be a really humble person, judging from the interviews I’ve heard. He is a phenomenal skater, but I we must remember that he and others as well can’t always perform at the same level of perfection. After all, even Tiger Wood isn’t always on his game and doesn’t win every tournament he enters.
I hope that Buttle, Weir or Lambiel are at their best when they reach the Olympics. Anyone but Joubert!
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