The Best Sport in the World

In the spirit of finishing long-delayed posts, I bring you an update on the unarguably most amazing sport ever invented.

[If you haven't been paying attention to previous ramblings, I'm talking about figure skating.]

Way back in December, some exciting things happened. Mostly at Russian Nationals. That let to a month of me freaking out before the European Championships.

More freaking out occurred when I realized how beautifully Russia was doing.

The only problem with being concerned with European competitions is they aren't broadcast in the U.S. It's a tragic, tragic fate for poor American me. I have to content myself with relentlessly checking the live score updates. Pluschenko was a beast in qualifying, which reassured me. I missed the first half of the short program, but was rewarded for my diligence with this lovely gem.

My skaters, in FIRST, SECOND, FOURTH and FIFTH.

Now, this weekend happened to be the same weekend I was visiting family. So when I could tear myself apart from my newborn and toddler cousins, I got on the Internet to check scores. At one point, I decided to see if my aunt and uncle's TV had a channel that was showing the competition [they have some fancy Italian channels so it was a possibility]. That's when I discovered that the U.S. Nationals were going on at the same time. So I got to watch a bit of the ladies and ice dancers, even though I don't particularly follow any American skaters.

Although this beautiful man might be un-retiring which makes me endlessly happy.

The minute I got back from my lovely trip, I was checking final scores. And then freaking out.

My three absolute favorites, on the podium together ♥

Russian skaters also went 1-2-3 in Pairs and 2-3 in Ice Dance.

ALL THE RUSSIANS!

The ladies didn't do as well. Relatively: a 15 year old who was only 7th at Nationals placed 4th and the two I've been watching were 6th and 7th. But the amazing Elene Gedevanishvili from Georgia took the bronze, so I am completely okay with that.

Alas, the only podium with no Russians.

I really don't know how this post didn't get written sooner. Gushing about figure skating is in my Top-10-Favorite-Things-To-Do list, along with list making and reading magical books and watching figure skating.