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The Olympics are one of my favorite times. It seems like there's always something exciting to watch on TV, and even the enormous time change (12 ½ hours for me) couldn't stop me from watching my favorite events. The morning of the men's short program, my parents even let me stay home from school so that I could watch it!

The figure skating events seem to get tougher every year. With all these young Russians coming up, the field is very strong. Ilia Kulik skated very well in both his short and long program, and I thought he deserved the gold medal. This is something I don't usually admit (I'm a faithful Elvis fan). Elvis did skate very well too though. If it hadn't been for the triple toe which was supposed to be a quad, I'm not sure who would have won. It would have been very close. Elvis' unbelievable courage should be a lesson to us all. Not many people would be able to keep a cold and a severe groin injury quiet, and still go out and perform as he did. He may not have a gold medal, but he definitly is "Canada's Champion". Candelaro also skated very well. He definitly is a crowd-pleaser and everyone will always love his "original" ways.

As for the pairs event, I thought it went very well. I thought the medals were all awarded as they were more or less deserved. Sargeant and Wirtz of Canada skated fairly well, but unfortunaly weren't "on". We all know they can skate better and will in the future. Savard-Gagnon and Bradet were also very good. With Marie-Claude's illness, I thought they were amazing! I felt so bad for them when they had to stop for a second to regain their energy. Even though they weren't pleased with their preformance, in the long run I'm sure they'll be glad they didn't withdrawl.

As for the women's event, I'm so proud of Tara! She was absolutely amazing. I thought Michelle deserved top marks in the short program, but Tara definitly deserved the long. I wasn't expecting either of them to look so relaxed as they took the ice. The media has been on their backs so much lately that I guess I was expecting at least one of them to bomb under pressure. They didn't though, and I thought they both skated personal bests. Michelle was a bit wobbly on two of her landings, but she still skated very strong. The difference definitly was Tara's triple loop - triple loop. I totally agree with Sandra Bezic, who said that the battle between Tara and Michelle was very similar to the "Battle of the Brians" in Calgary, 1988. As for Surya Bonaly, I thought her marks should have been higher, in the short program anyway. You could tell she was skating for herself, and not for the judges. If she had cared about medals or placings, she wouldn't have done the back-flip. Lu Chen also skated very well. She definitly deserved the bronze.

That brings us to the dance event. What can I say about the dance. One word comes to mind - DISGRACEFUL! I'm sure you've all heard about the bloc judging. I don't understand why it's happening. Why hasn't the ISU stepped in? I've heard they don't even realize it's a problem. Where have they been? Three feet under the ground? The judging is definitly disgusting. The judges are embarassing the athletes, the ISU, and figure skating in general. I feel bad for the atheletes. It must be hard knowing where you're going to place before you even skate. Sometimes I think if Grishuk and Platov had just sat in the middle of the ice, they would have won anyway. Bloc judging is absolutely cruel as well. How can somebody decide to just bloc out the North American Teams? This whole protocol thing with a Russian always winning is pathetic. As for Grishuk and Platov, it's not possible for one team to go four whole years without losing a competition. Especially not with all the falls and slips they've had. As you can see, Grishuk and Platov are not my favorite skaters. The ones I feel bad for are Krylova and Ovsienakov (I'm sorry I don't know how to spell it!). They deserved so many gold medals throughout the years, and are always being robbed by Grishuk and Platov. Bourne and Kraatz definitly deserved to be in the medals. Riverdance is far better than any of the other free dances around the world. Their compulsory's could use a bit more work, but their placing in that was a direct result of bloc judging. I definitly like the Grease Litening OD much better than their old one. I'm not sure what I think of the french team. I've heard they had something to do with the bloc judging, so they're not exactly my favorite team either. I am not only saying these about bloc judging because it took a medal away from Canada. I thought Punsalen and Swallow from the US deserved a lot higher too. I hope the ISU changes something fast before dance is taken out of the Olympics.