My report (only the part till the SP :mi_ga_et: )
The trip was meant to be an adventure. Everything seems a blur now. The weather in Zagreb was especially terrible on the 24th of January. This is my birthday but really everything went wrong. :plush27:
In the morning when I arrived at the practice rink the training has already started (ok, just started since cekoni had chance to talk to Evgeni). I was waiting for my coffee when Mishen came and ordered a big cup of coffee, "big cup of coffee, big cup!!" It is so unreal to see the great Mr. Mishin is standing in front of me. I have always thought that he resembled my grandfather a lot, in person he is shorter than I expected but very cheerful. Shame that I could not talk to him since I was in awe...... :sh_ok:
The practice rink is COLD and DARK. The condition is terrible. None of the skaters did very well there including Evgeni. I brought my video camera with me so most of the time I was filming, only one or two glance when Evgeni was doing something on ice not involving moving around very fast. The jumps were not great in the practice, but seeing him on ice was just a great experience, he was so beautiful to watch, the movements were incredibly elegant. The short program competition was in the afternoon so he only practiced a bit short program. He was not in good shape jump-wise, but the mood was light. :co_ol:
After his training session, he stood with Vitaly at the side of the rink watching the next group's warm-up. Fernandez was in that group and he tried to make combo jumps in front of Evgeni at least two times, but fell down two times. And the jumps he made during the practice in general were not good. :plush34:
I went with Maolmi, Oleg and Wachiko with the bus running between the practice rink and the main rink. When I got on to the bus, I looked around quickly and did not see Evgeni. On the way to the main rink, the bus had an accident with a truck. I think it was the mirror hitting the truck but did not cause any damage (I guess). Then we found out, we were in the same bus with Evgeni!! :plush33: He must have had his hat on when we first got on the bus (he wore it when he was watching the next group practice), now from behind (four of us sitting at the end of the bus) I can see his golden hair shining in the front row.
We decided to check the banner the organizer promised to hang in the rink so we went directly to the rink. Inside the pairs were practicing for the free skates in the evening. Probably because there were not a lot of people the security checked the tickets very carefully (damn...). We could not sneak in section D anymore like I did the previous night for the pair short programs. So we entered section A.
The banner was hanged very high, very hard to find :plush43: . It is not a good sign since Evgeni likes to see the banners in the arena. I stayed to occupy good seats so I watched the whole pair practice and most of the men short programs.
Evgeni was the first high level skater to skate (3rd group Nr. 17 skater), he looks quite serious during the warm-up and did a beautiful 3A. When he took the ice, the whole arena cheered for him. I mean the previous skater was still waiting for the result and Evgeni was on ice for warm-up the arena was alive with his presence. :mi_ga_et:
The program started but he almost fell on the first jump (3Luz) :plush27: . Then he started his signature jump 3A, when he fell down everybody was in shock :sh_ok: . Then people started clapping encouraging him to continue :bra_vo: . He then did a perfect 3L3T (the GOE should be +3, it was perfect) :co_ol: . Audience clapped with the music and went a bit wild when he started his step sequence. He was on fire :du_el: , fought for every movements. The emotion, the energy, the determination were unbelievably alive :son-ce: .
When he finished his program, many people gave him standing ovation. He lit up the arena even though it was not his best performance. With beautiful smile, he bowed to the audience. He might have some tears in his eyes because he was so grateful for the supports from the audience. :a_g_a:
We clapped and clapped, waving Russian flags plush48 . The Italian girls and Greek fans also made a lot of noise down in the D section :co_ol: .
After rewind, the big screen shown his image at the kiss and cry. He looked terrible, tired and exhausted :plush36: . When he realized that he was on TV, he immediately tried to show a big smile. It almost makes me cry. He wanted to be strong and let the fans know that he was OK :plush36: . He continued smiling and making funny faces when the results came out.
Because I was stuck in the middle so I watched the 4th group skating. They all performed very well but nobody has that incredible beauty quality, and nobody delivered the electrified aura like a fighter.
I stayed in the bar and did not watch the final group. Not because I was afraid that they could overtook his points since his points was very low according to his standard. I stayed out because I have no interests in others. I like men skating only because of Evgeni, he is a dancer on ice, a real artist. I have more interests in pairs than other men. Of course I also plan to cheer for Liza.
When the competition was finished, I learned that he was at the sixth place. I was not particularly worried since anyway it is very difficult to get gold with 14 points behind, but a shot to podium is still possible because Swan is a very beautiful program and can blow people away with its elegance.
The weather was even worse than in the morning. In the morning it was windy and raining. Now it was snow storm!!! All of us were bit upset: strangely I did not feel anything, I mean I was not disappointed, I was not worried, even the speculation about his withdrawing was not shock to me. OK I spent a lot for this trip and it was my birthday, but I had it perfectly: I watched him fought to the end, I gave the support as a fan to him when he needed the most. He was incredibly beautiful out there, this would not be the only competition I would watch. I am sure of it.
The only thing worried me was that he said that he would fought to the end and prepared to any results, if he withdraw now, media would portrait him as coward. Which turned out exactly like that (from haters of course), who cares who won the short competition, Plushenko withdrew from competition was THE news.
Media really made a fuss about him "in tears" in K&C, WTF, why other skater can be sad, mad, angry after a disappointed performance, but expect him to smile all the way? He smiled, beautifully when he finished the program. With that smile he bowed to the audience. He smiled in the K&C when he realized he was on the screen. He is strong, he did not want people to worry. Isn't that enough for a great champion to offer to people when he was not in a good day?
Double standard!!!! :plush43:
After that performance, I was waiting for taxi at the 4 point Sheraton. I overheard a group children discussed about the competition. They said, "I like Plushenko!" Even he skated far below his standards, the children who were not influenced by the media and not biased said that they love Plushenko's skating. That meant something, isn't it?
As a fan I could feel the excitement of those people who wished him down for so many years, I experienced the feeling of one moment you were a king, after just one bad competition people treat you like you were past tense. That is just so ironic. Just like what happened in 2005.
Remember this is Plushenko you were bashing, the critics only makes him stronger. He will recover from all these and become even stronger than before. He does not need to prove himself anymore, but this gives him motivation, he will feel the need to prove that he is better than this.
I am looking forward to his next battle, because his competition history has that pattern: he would reborn to a higher level. plush48
It is a pleasure to have chance meeting so many Plushy fans. Cekoni, Dimi, Sara, Lelo, Dalila, Mania, Wachiko, Maolmi, Olga, Karen, and all other girls, I love you :ki_ss: