Photographs by Melanie Heaney
Buongiorno from Milano!
Time flies so quick: the pairs medals have been awarded, that means that we solely have the ladies’s podium to be decided.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara received a gold medal skating their hearts out in a ultimate that noticed groups delivering unbelievable programmes. With this end result, they made historical past for Japan, profitable the primary pairs medal within the Winter Olympics for his or her nation.
The quick programme was fairly a journey, with groups from first to tenth place ending inside ten factors of one another, which, in pairs phrases, signifies that something may occur.
Miura and Kihara completed in fifth place, which had them beginning their free within the one-before-last group. Regardless of that, their free programme was a celebration of their craft, skated superbly and with a pace that was second to none.
After spending all of the final group on the leaders’ chair, upon realising that they had been Olympic champions, they turned very emotional and remained speechless for a short time, not in a position to maintain again the tears, then congratulated the opposite medallists and acquired prepared for the rostrum. Within the blended zone and throughout the press convention, they appeared fairly relaxed and confirmed huge smiles.
Historical past was additionally made for Georgia, with Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava incomes a silver that turns into their nation’s first ever Winter Olympic medal. Their free programme was skated delivered in a really strong manner, displaying how robust they’re. They took the ice trying centered and able to obtain their dream.
Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin had been within the lead after the quick programme, however their free skate couldn’t enable them to combat again in opposition to the unsurpassable Japanese workforce. Their mixed scores nonetheless allowed them to safe a bronze medal, regardless of their free being the fourth better of the day.
I’ve to say the Hungarian workforce: Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko are having a improbable season, they usually didn’t waste the Olympic alternative to skate the freed from their lives, which resulted in a improbable new private greatest for them and a fourth-place end. Additionally, shifting performances from Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii (Group Occasion bronze medallists), and Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini, each celebrated with loud cheers.
What I needed to mirror on is how stunning it’s to witness Olympians supporting Olympians. That is in keeping with the Olympic worth of fraternity, one thing that traditionally has at all times been on the core of the Video games.
Let me point out just a few of the ice dancers that had been on the pairs occasion.
Tim Dieck needed to point out all his help to girlfriend Sara Conti. We all know Tim, he’s no unusual man: throughout the quick programme, Tim was carrying a matador costume, cheering out loud and likewise trying a Spanish flamenco-type pose; within the free, he had an Italian flag with Sara and Niccolò’s faces on it. His cheers had been so loud, you might nearly hear him out of the almost 10,000 that had been there!
Sitting with him had been Olivia Good and Jean-Luc Baker, additionally cheering out loud and being stopped by spectators to congratulate them on their engagement.
On the opposite facet of the sector, I noticed Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan with an enormous inflated pretzel. That’s how Germans present their help!
Allison Reed, Saulius Ambrulevičius, Phebe Bekker, James Hernandez and Holly Harris had been additionally there, and I’m certain extra had been within the enviornment.
Don’t we love seeing Olympians supporting different Olympians? I’m glad that, though the ice dance occasion is accomplished, athletes can proceed to benefit from the Olympic spirit and reside that worth of fraternity that has at all times been on the core of the Olympic Video games.
Matteo
