Mandatory Credit: Photo by David J. Phillip/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9435454lf)
Gold medalist Alina Zagitova, left, of the Olympic Athletes of Russia and compatriot and silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva, right, are embraced by coach Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze at the women's free figure skating final in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Olympics Figure Skating Women, Gangneung, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
This photo is AMAZING. It truly says it all. Alina is, rightfully, blissfully happy that she just won a gold medal! Evgenia is using all her willpower not to scream and just hold that disappointed thousand-yard stare. Their coach is like, "as soon as I did this, I realized it was awkward."
Alina Zagitova short program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9428735j)
Alina Zagitova of Russia competing in free dance at Gangneung Ice Arena , Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Day 13, Gangneung, USA - 21 Feb 2018
Alina LOVES a tutu, but also there is something AMAZING about the fact that she's chasing Medvedeva (not numerically; in the sense that she's the younger skater on the squad and working under their shared coach) and someone literally decided she should skate to Black Swan. It's like their coach is using her to eff with Medvedeva's head. My own dirty little secret is that I LOVE a Black Swan program (I LOVED Ashley Wagner's.) All things being equal -- by which I mean, throw out the scoring rules that helped Alina win this (which is not her fault! She just took advantage of them and so should she have!), I think Medvedeva is the better skater, and probably should have won. But Medvedeva's long program is, I think, challenging, and Zagitova was one of the few women who didn't show up for the short looking REALLY tight. So....you know. It's a coin toss
Alina Zagitova Long Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Aflo/REX/Shutterstock (9435690n)
Alina Zagitova (OAR) - Figure Skating : Women's Free Skating at Gangneung Ice Arena
PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Figure Skating, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
This costume is very appropriate for her skate, but I wish she'd tuck her tights into her skates (for one thing, I feel like her body is all Formal Ballet, and her tights are Rehearsal Ballet, and say what you will about Alina, her legs definitely showed up ready for opening night.)
Evgenia Medvedeva Short Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9428735al)
Evgenia Medvedeva of  Russia competing in free dance at Gangneung Ice Arena , Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Day 13, Gangneung, USA - 21 Feb 2018
This costume is GORGEOUS.
Evgenia Medvedeva long program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Petr David Josek/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9435454jx)
Evgenia Medvedeva of the Olympic Athletes of Russia performs during the women's free figure skating final in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Olympics Figure Skating Women, Gangneung, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
However, I do not like this costume at all. I get it, but I think it's fussy and unflattering to her coloring, and I also think the music for this program is BAD -- her step sequence is so discordant-feeling -- and the use of train sound effects for a skate about a character who threw herself under one is really on the nose. But she skates with great feeling and skill, and I think the program's choreography is more aesthetically pleasing. So it's kind of a toss up? I'll be interested to hear what you think.
Kaetlyn Osmond Short Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by HOW HWEE YOUNG/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (9428269nr)
Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada in action during the Women Single Short Program of the Figure Skating competition at the Gangneung Ice Arena during the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, South Korea, 21 February 2018.
Figure Skating - PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, Gangneung, Korea - 21 Feb 2018
CONGRATS, CANADA! Kaetlyn skated SO WELL and I was really nervous that she was going to tank it in the long program, as basically all her fellow North Americans did...
Kaetlyn Osmond Free Skate
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa/REX/Shutterstock (9435838y)
Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada performs during the Ladies Single Skating Free Skating at the Gangneung Ice Arena
PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Figure Skating, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
...but she NAILED IT. (I also prefer this Black Swan costume to Alina's, but it's also a more mature one.) I feel like I watched this whole program through my fingers.
Satoko Miyahara Short Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9428735ad)
Satoko Miyahara of  Japan competing in free dance at Gangneung Ice Arena , Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Day 13, Gangneung, USA - 21 Feb 2018
But I feel SO bad for Miyahara, who skated SO well, and who basically had Johnny yelping "HER COACH HAS TO WATCH HER LIKE A HAWK OR SHE'LL GET AN EATING DISORDER" every time she stepped onto the ice.
Satoko Miyahara Long Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa/REX/Shutterstock (9435838w)
Satoko Miyahara of Japan performs during the Ladies Single Skating Free Skating at the Gangneung Ice Arena
PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Figure Skating, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
This costume is SO pretty; Johnny also noted that she has a really warm aura around her skate and it's true. Both of the Japanese women performed really well at this Olympics.
Carolina Kostner short program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9428735k)
Carolina Kostner of  Italy competing in free dance at Gangneung Ice Arena , Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Day 13, Gangneung, USA - 21 Feb 2018
As I joked on Twitter, when you get to a certain age, you just automatically root for the oldest person in the competition because you too are old.
Carolina Kostner Long Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Aflo/REX/Shutterstock (9435690v)
Carolina Kostner (ITA) - Figure Skating : Women's Free Skating at Gangneung Ice Arena
PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Figure Skating, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
I know some of you didn't like this lewk, but I sort of enjoyed it; the cut of the skirt reminded me of a tennis skirt or a golf skort and it gave her a sporty feeling.
Kaori Sakamoto short program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9428735ck)
Kaori Sakamoto of  Japan competing in free dance at Gangneung Ice Arena , Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Day 13, Gangneung, USA - 21 Feb 2018
Who doesn't like a good ombre skate skirt?
Kaori Sakamoto Long Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Aflo/REX/Shutterstock (9435690t)
Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) - Figure Skating : Women's Free Skating at Gangneung Ice Arena
PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Figure Skating, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
She is 17, but something about her comes off as very young and fresh-faced.
Choi Dabin Short Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9428735bd)
Choi Dabin of  South Korea competing in free dance at Gangneung Ice Arena , Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Day 13, Gangneung, USA - 21 Feb 2018
It was hard not to cheer for South Korea to somehow break onto the medal stand at their own Olympics...
Choi Dabin long program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Petr David Josek/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9435454gb)
Choi Dabin of South Korea performs during the women's free figure skating final in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Olympics Figure Skating Women, Gangneung, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
...and this costume is INCREDIBLY pretty.
Maria Sotskova short program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9428735d)
Maria Sotskova of  Russia competing in free dance at Gangneung Ice Arena , Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Day 13, Gangneung, USA - 21 Feb 2018
This is also a pretty costume, but she had a rough short program. It must be interesting to always be the Russian lagging behind the top two. It might be nice to not have THAT kind of pressure on you the whole time.
Maria Sotskova long program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Petr David Josek/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9435454eq)
Maria Sotskova of the Olympic Athletes of Russia performs during the women's free figure skating final in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea
Pyeongchang Olympics Figure Skating Women, Gangneung, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
And this was really elegant.
Gabrielle Daleman Short Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by HOW HWEE YOUNG/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (9428269li)
Gabrielle Daleman of Canada in action during the Women Single Short Program of the Figure Skating competition at the Gangneung Ice Arena during the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, South Korea, 21 February 2018.
Figure Skating - PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, Gangneung, Korea - 21 Feb 2018
Oh, guys, Gabby Daleman. I don't even remember her short program because the long was SUCH a disaster. (I'm really only including her because we have so many Canadian readers and you might want to sympathe; I also always cheer for you as our neighbors.)
Gabrielle Daleman Long Program
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa/REX/Shutterstock (9435838b)
Gabrielle Daleman of Canada performs during the Ladies Single Skating Free Skating at the Gangneung Ice Arena
PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Figure Skating, South Korea - 23 Feb 2018
This is a GORGEOUS program and a gorgeous costume and she just...fell apart. It was the most disasterous skate I've seen in a very long time. Apparently, afterward, Mirai was comforting her by reminding her that she DOES have a gold in the team event; I assume that after Mirai lost her triple axel, Gabby returned the favor and pointed out that Mirai has a team bronze and DID land her triple axel in the Olympics. Gosh, figure-skating can be a heartbreaker, can't it?
