Team Rainbow Review and Weekend What To Watch, Feb 17 - Feb 20: The Point of The Olympics
This is another story in our continued coverage of the upcoming Olympics. You can read the introduction to this series here; the first part of the preview is here, and the second part is here. The first “What to Watch” is here. The first part of the preview and the intro are provided without charge, but the rest of the pieces, including this one, will be behind the Wide Left paywall, with proceeds going to Minnesota Direct Relief.
What You Missed
Team Rainbow has contended admirably in multiple competitions, although medals have been few and far between. Lara Wolf landed an incredible 93.25 in Women’s Free Skiing Big Air, the best scoring jump in the contest, only to finish just off the podium in 5th place. In the same competition, Mathilde Gremaud was favored but had to pull out due to an injury sustained in training.
Kim Meylemans made up ground after initial stumbles in Women’s Skeleton, finishing in 6th place; her girlfriend Nicole Silveira came in 11th. Kévin Aymoz shone in his short program at Men’s Singles figure skating, culminating in 11th place after his Free Skate. Bruce Mouat is 4-3 in the Men’s Curling Round Robin, tied in third with a good chance to make the medal round.
Hockey-wise, Canadian Marie-Philip Poulin became the world’s all-time women’s Olympics goal-scoring leader after notching a snipe during Canada’s semifinal win against Switzerland. She has fought through injury to lead the red and white to the gold medal game against their continental rivals. American Hilary Knight is tied at the top for most points AND most goals for an American woman at the Olympics. The two North American titans will square off in the gold medal match, while Switzerland and Sweden will contend for bronze. For Team Rainbow’s purposes, this guarantees a medal sweep in the sport, which should boost the overall count by the next update.
The big news of this past week, however, was Ilia Malinin’s surprising eighth place in Men’s Singles figure skating. In a competition where multiple potential medalists fell, Malinin ended his routine with tears in his eyes after stumbling to the ice twice. It was tough to watch.
Sometimes, I feel like we all get caught up in the medal count, myself included. It’s fun to see who comes in first, second, and third. The moment with Malinin, though, caused me to take a bit of a step back in terms of how I was consuming the Olympics. It made me better appreciate those athletes who were coming in 5th, 10th, 50th place. Every single person who is competing in Milan deserves our time, attention, and fandom.
Namely, it made me think about Martina Sablikova. Sablikova is an absolute warrior. She still holds the World Record in the Women’s 3000m, already has three gold medals, and is an international-caliber cyclist as well. When she took to the ice in the Women’s 5000m, it was clear something was not right from the start of the race. She ended up in 11th place out of 12 skaters, over 20 seconds behind Italian champion Francesca Lollobrigida.
And yet, in that moment, I was ecstatic for her just being there.
This Olympic Games, I’ve enjoyed watching not only our Team Rainbow athletes but also the unexpected stories that have unfolded. I’ve loudly cheered on the skeleton racer from Puerto Rico who may have finished in second-to-last place, but managed to have her best career run in the process.
I’ve been inspired by halfpipe snowboarders going for broke, falling on their faces, and hugging their friends afterwards with a smile. I’ve loved the musicality and self-expression exhibited by ice dancers and figure skaters, whether they had the highest amount of quad axels or triple loops. Yes, even the competitor who dressed up as a minion made me smile.
I’m promising from here on out to celebrate all athletes more, regardless of what place they finish. Getting here is enough. It is an achievement in itself, and the members of Team Rainbow tell us that queer people can aspire to the highest heights in sports, despite preconceived notions and stereotypes.
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