Figure Skating Police (2014 Sochi Olympics Variety)

Figure skating saw a lot of historic firsts during the 2014 Olympics including its very first Olympic team competition.  I like the addition of the team event and fully support its continuation mostly because I just can't enough of the Figure Skating events at a Winter Olympics.

One thing that hasn't changed is the controversy - allegations of unfair judging and fixed results, mostly by skaters who didn't do as well as they thought they should have and their countries.

So as I present Rip's Figure Skating Awards (2014 Sochi Olympics variety) please know that the FSA's (just like life and international ice dance competition judging) are entirely subjective and based upon absolutely nothing but my opinions.

Breakout Stars- Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski - Both fine skaters in their own right (Lipinski stole...er, I mean won...an Olympic Gold Medal over Michelle Kwan, and Weir was a National Champion and a Bronze Medalist at Worlds), they made their mark here as commentators of the live coverage of the Figure Skating events.  Johnny is as fabulous as always in this role, knowledgable but with a special flair (for instance, describing European pair skaters to penguins because they both partner for life).  They wowed everyone out of the commentators' box as well with their cutting edge fashions and general panache.

Nonetheless, my favorite skater-commentator of all time remains the one and only Scott Hamilton.  He combines thorough understanding of the sport with always enthusiastic reporting, celebrating a skater's victories and bemoaning their defeats on the ice without regard to nationality.  

Favorite Newcomer- Jason Brown  This 19-year-old American is spectacular, somehow making the team without a quad and routinely turning in engaging routines full of personality and technical excellence that wildly excite his audiences.  Terry Gannon said that he had a connection to his audiences that was "unprecedented" but that is ludicrous and false as many skaters have been able to enrapture their audiences with their routines, none more so than Scott Hamilton, who was sitting right there when he made this statement. Despite not medaling in the individual competition, Jason was photographed thoroughly enjoying his Olympic experience - taking selfies with friends and doing on-the-street interviews with the Sochi locals for a newsmagazine.

Sweetest Victory-  Meryl Davis and Charlie White  This was especially gratifying - not only were they the first American team to get the Gold in Ice Dancing, they did it with the highest-ever recorded score in ice dancing competitions.

Worst Kept Secret -- Charlie White is Dating Tanith Belbin  Both Charlie and Tanith were interviewed and talked about their relationship, which they have tried to keep quiet because Charlie didn't want to ruin the mystique of his on-ice relationship with partner Meryl Davis, especially while Tanith was still competing against him with her then-partner Ben Agosto.  I think I already knew they were dating back then, even before they started talking about it in publicized interviews.

Sourest Grapes--- Ashley Wagner and the entire country of Canada

Ashley Wagner complained about her finish in the Olympics when she skated without falling in the Free Skate while two women who outscored her fell in their programs, decrying the skating hierarchy and saying that the judging is unfair.  Is this the same Ashley Wagner who fell twice in the Free Skate at Nationals, legitimately coming in fourth, but was chosen over the Bronze Medalist to represent the US at the Olympics by the US Figure Skating hierarchy?  Did she question the fairness of her selection to even be skating at the Olympics?  

The Canadians are saying that their ice dancing team of Virtue and Moir, who share a coach and training space with Davis and White and who beat them for the Gold Medal in the last Olympics, was better and deserved to win.  Both couples skated beautiful and clean routines.

I don't know, Ashley, maybe your routine lacked in other elements, or you didn't skate an entirely clean routine, or whatever.  Maybe it isn't all about staying on your feet after the jumps, and maybe the other elements count too.  In any case you should have been grateful and humble to be skating in the Olympics at all.

As for you Canadians, I know you're still angry about what what down during the War of 1812 but that was 200 years ago.  The United States is not your enemy anymore, so you can move on.  These two ice dancing teams are clearly on the same competitive level, and the judges thought that Davis and White skated better than Virtue and Moir this time.

Oh, and Ashley?  About what you said about figure skating losing audiences if the judging doesn't go your way?  I wouldn't worry about that.  I've been watching since Peggy Fleming was America's figure skating sweetheart, and I have stuck around through some actual controversies in the sport.  Long after you've hung up your skates for good, the audience will still be there.