Alina Zagitova won the gold medal in the womens singles figure skating competition at the Olympics on Thursday.
That gave Russia its first gold of the 2018 Winter Games.
Except Russia doesnt really have a team at these Olympics.
Credit: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Some of Russias Olympians were allowed to compete at the 2018 Olympics.
I caught their showdown almost by accident.
I love the Olympics, but I try not to plan out my viewing schedule with any precision.
You want to just accidentally watch curling, and not understand it, and be hypnotized.
I turned onto NBC on Thursday just in time to watch the women skate live.
The coverage didnt even feign much interest in the American skaters, who fell out of medal contention early.
Instead, the production set up the Zagitova-Medvedeva skate-off as the event of the night.
They kept cutting to the two Russians, warming up in a gym, walking down corridors.
It was refreshing: In the context NBC was creating, you could only really feel excited about Russia.
Savvier sports-loving friends of mine complain about NBCs fixation on the USA athletes.
But I dont really mind NBCs coverage at all.
I enjoy the old nostalgic falsehood that everything important happens in prime.
Anyhow, the American athletes have so many other opportunities for stardom, outside the sport itself.
A few days ago, I watched Maia Shibutani and her brother Alex skate.
It was a Minute Maid commercial, their lifes journey repackaged with the slogan, Greatness starts with goodness.
Many of the athletes mentioned in that last paragraph had a disappointing Olympics.
(Wagner didnt even compete.)
So their constant presence in the commercials was… kind of charming?
Because, who cares!
More to life than winning.
For a lot of people, Kenworthy will always be world-historic because he kissed his boyfriend on international television.
Why should they suffer for being merely stupendous?
The best things in life dont need to bethe best.
And yet… why tune into the Olympics if not to witness complete, total, absolute greatness?
Younger than we ever were, better than we ever were!
She looked untroubled by her own greatness.
I know thats part of the performance, that nobody wins without a struggle.
The camera cut to Medvedeva, preparing for her time on the ice.
She had an air of Bogart cool, earphones and a turquoise prepvest.
She looked deadcertainabout her impending skate, more certain than youve ever been about anything.
When she took the ice, her program had an Anna Karenina theme.
I never readAnna Karenina, just sat through that horrible Keira Knightley movie.
But I remember someone in Russia telling me that every Russian schoolkid has to readlots of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
So, did Medvedeva readAnna Karenina?
Was her brilliant performance charged with the power of history, personal and national?
Was she crying because she thought she won?
Was she crying because she knew she lost?
Was she crying because she knew shed done her absolute best?
Was she just crying because it was, finally, all over?
Zagitova took gold, and I was happy for her.
This is the real joy of watching the Olympics, I think.
Its nice when your team wins.
But its better when you remember, for a brief moment, that youre on everybodys team.
