Olympic Digest - Day 10: We are all figure skating experts

Subjective. Unfair. Fixed. Robbery.

The escalation of accusations was almost as quick as the footwork of the figure skaters participating in Monday's free dance. Ice dancing, it turns out, is beautiful, but those following the sport on a temporary basis during the Olympics were quick to reveal their ugly side.

It began a little more than a week ago when a report was published in L'EQUIPE suggesting that an agreement between American and Russian figure skating judges had been reached to ensure that Russia won the team event, America won the ice dance, and Canada won neither.

A week later, the results: Russia won the team event, Canada was second. The United States won the ice dance, Canada was second.

Sacrebleu!

There are two things Canadians would do well to understand: 1) A rumor of a fix doesn't guarantee there is a fix; and 2) Learning about a potential fix doesn't make you a better judge of figure skating.

If you can watch the respective performances of Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, and "know" with anything approaching certainty which pair skated better, I have the utmost confidence that you're deluding yourself.

It's maddening from the perspective of the team coming in second, but suggesting that ice dance judging is flawed doesn't make the pair you wanted to win any more justified as winners than the pair that actually did. In this sense, viewers almost have to resign themselves to trusting the actual judges - no matter how flawed, or possibly corrupt - almost as part of an agreement if they're going to watch the event with any rooting interest at all. 

Sometimes - like today - that's tough.

The Final We Need, Not The Final We Deserve

Both Canada and the United States won their semi-final matchups in the women's ice hockey tournament on Monday to set up the final that we all expected. The two best female ice hockey playing nations in the world will take each other on, in what will undoubtedly be a closely contested affair with tonnes of intensity.

We don't deserve this game. And by we, I mostly mean me, but probably also mean you. After all, how many minutes of this tournament will you have watched prior to the gold medal game? 

Nonetheless, we'll tune in, get incredible excited, and walk away promising ourselves to watch more women's hockey in the future. A promise we'll be unlikely to fulfill. 

So much is made of the fact that the women's game is truly a contest of two that it's become a crutch to avoid watching it. Sadly, it's a very effective and true crutch. That doesn't mean I'm in favor of eliminating it from the Olympics. I'm not really sure what it means. 

For now, it translates into a severe lack of interest unless the U.S. and Canada are playing each other. And that feeling resonates, despite my faith that in time, women's hockey will become more competitive and much more watchable. It's just not there yet.

Long Time Sledding

Steven Holcomb and Steven Langton earned bronze in the two-man bobsled Monday, marking the first two-man medal for a U.S. team since 1952. Gold in the event went to the Russia-1 team of Alexander Zubkov and Alexey Voevoda, who dominated the competition in all four of their runs. 

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Injured Russian Skier Moved To German Hospital

Russian freestyle skier Maria Komissarova - after being visited by Russian president Vladimir Putin - was transferred to a hospital in Munich after doctors performed emergency surgery for six-and-a-half hours on her fractured and dislocated spine. According to Mikhail Verzhba, a Russian freestyle ski official, Komissarova is conscious, but it remains too early to tell the extent of her injuries. He also added that the skier would likely need a second operation in about two weeks.

Domracheva's Third Gold

Belarus' Darya Domracheva won her third gold medal of the Sochi Olympics with another dominating performance in the women's 12.5 km biathlon mass start event. Domracheva finished more than 20 seconds ahead of silver medalist Gabriela Soukalova of the Czech Republic. The 27-year-old added today's gold medal to her wins in the 10 km biathlon pursuit and the 15 km biathlon individual competition. 

Curling Playoffs Are Set (Almost)

The final session of men's round robin curling wrapped up on Monday, but the fourth and final spot in the semi-finals has yet to be determined. Great Britain and Norway will meet for a tiebreaker game Tuesday to decide who goes on to meet China, Sweden and Canada in the playoff round. 

In the women's draw, both semi-finals will take place Wednesday. Great Britain (5-4) will take on Canada (9-0), and Sweden (7-2) will battle Switzerland (5-4).

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