Tiggie's Beijing Report
Let me begin by saying The Great Wall does not compare to The Great Apolo! In fact, visiting The Great Wall on Monday was anticlimactic after witnessing Apolo's awesome performances on Sunday!
I arrived in Beijing the evening of Wednesday, March 9. Esteemed photojournalist Pablo Galvez and I shared a taxi from the airport, feeling lucky to have survived what we later became accustomed to as a typical Beijing commute, full of impeding, blocking, cross-tracking, honking horns, near misses with cars, cyclists, and pedestrians.
Thursday morning, I did some sightseeing, taking in The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, barely making it back in time for the USA practice session at 1:00 PM. There were no shuttles to the Capital Gymnasium--everyone (including skaters and coaches) walked since it was a short distance from the hotel. If not for the big blue and white banner out front, you would think the arena was just a big office building. Seeing Apolo on the ice always fills me with such absolute joy! I loved watching him squeegee the ice, and it was funny to see Apolo, Shani, & Alex having their "who has the biggest biceps" contest! I think I was the only non-credentialed person in attendance, so I tried to be inconspicuous, and refrained from radiating too much happiness!
Friday morning I visited The Temple of Heaven, making it back in plenty of time for the competition which was scheduled to begin at 3:35 PM. We all arrived early and were seated before warmups. Some athletes were jogging around the upper levels of the arena. At one point, we saw Apolo come down, stepping over seats, and he walked down the empty row directly in front of us. Junko and I were paralyzed with awe as we silently and respectfully watched him approach. As he passed by, he glanced up, gave a little smile, and quietly said, "Hi." In that split second, my heart and mind were a rush of thoughts and feeings that I longed to express, like, OMG, it is such an honor and privilege to watch you skate...you are forever the Olympic hero who so moved and inspired us...your brilliance on the ice is unparalleled...good luck, be safe...we love you...but all I could manage was a barely audible, "Hi."
I have to mention the heartbreaking outrage of the men's 1500m semi final in which Apolo was wrongly DQ'd. Thank goodness the accident which Turcotte caused, bringing down Apolo, did not result in serious injury. As horrified as we were, it was a wonder to see Apolo's amazing reflexes after the fall, as he was able to right himself and put his arms up as he slammed into the wall. There was an extended delay while referees reviewed the race. When they finally announced that Apolo had been DQ'd, I let out a great big loud "BOOOOO!!" I apologize for not being a good sport, but this call was clearly unjust and unfair. Another testament to the greatness of Apolo is his unflagging sportsmanship and philosophical acceptance of often inaccurate, subjective calls. He never complains, but with quiet resolve, always moves onward and upward. It was heartwarming to hear that one of the Japanese coaches expressed his sympathy and support to Junko.
Unfortunately, the competition was marred by a number of bad calls and uncalled offenses by skaters of one country who repeatedly resorted to such tactics as putting their arms out and/or pushing other skaters. This was clearly evident in the video replays on the jumbotron, even to the untrained eye, yet the referees failed to DQ the offending skaters. From what I saw, both Apolo and Terao (Japan) were victims of the illegal arm maneuvers in separate incidents, and had the skaters who committed the offenses been DQ'd, the outcome would have been different.
A near riot broke out on Sunday following the women's relay final when very aggressive pushing by the team of one country resulted in a crash for another country. At the conclusion of the race, when no DQs were called, the crowd was in an uproar, and at one point started throwing empty plastic water bottles onto the ice! What I find particularly appalling is that it was only after this public protest that the judges decided to review the race. After an extensive delay, the team which did the pushing was DQ'd (as well as another team), and the crowd was jubilant!
The USA men's relay team did an amazing job winning bronze! We are so proud of you! And what more can I say about Apolo's performances in the 1000m and 3000m? No words. He was AWESOME! Apolo proved once again that no one skates with his technical precision, ingenious strategy, strength, power, stamina, grace. No one even comes close, and it was thrilling to see him shine--shine with blinding brilliance!
CONGRATULATIONS, APOLO!!! CONGRATULATIONS, TEAM USA!!! We are so happy for you, and proud of all your awesome accomplishments at Worlds! Thank you for a thrilling short track experience! I also must applaud CCTV for their outstanding coverage--they had tons of cameras, some mounted on moving cranes--and they put Junko and I on the jumbotron on Sunday! Thanks also to everyone who made my visit to Beijing an exciting and wonderfully fun adventure, with special mention for being so kind and helpful to: Jan and Kimo, Yang Yang (S), Mr. Baver, Pablo, Junko, Sonia, Jennifer G., Anna, and Ruthie.
