Thursday, February 20, 2014

러시아는 "여자피겨스케이팅의 아름다움"을 장송곡으로 전세계를 울게 했다.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1969257-olympic-figure-skating-controversy-judging-system-is-most-to-blame-for-uproar

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1966345-sochi-olympics-in-ladies-figure-skating-everyone-is-chasing-the-queen

http://www.joovideo.com/ViewMedia.aspx?Num=726425170606293006

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/sports/olympics/russian-is-upset-winner-in-womens-figure-skating.html?ref=international&_r=0

http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/adelina-sotnikova-yuna-kim-figure-skating-sochi.html

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/winter-olympics/26069667

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-sochi-figure-skating-plaschke-20140221,0,688713,full.column

오늘 이루어진 여자 피겨스케이팅 자유형 실황중계를 나는 일부러 보지 않았다. 세계의 이목이 집중된, 그리고 동계올림픽의 꽃이라 불리는 이번 피겨 스케이팅의 금매달은 당연히 고국의 딸 김연아가 목에 걸게 될것이라는 전세계 유명 미디아들이 한치의 의심도 없이 자연스럽게 보고한것을 보았기 때문이다.

어제 거행된 피겨스케이팅, Short Program에서 심판관들의 편파적인 채점속에서도 선두를 달렸고, 이를 CNN, CBC등의 세계 유명 방송사들이 "은반의 스케이팅의 여왕"이라는 칭호를 아낌없이 사용하며 그의 금매달 획득은 당연한 것으로 보도 했었다.




오늘 실황중계가 끝난후 결과를 보고 깜짝 놀랐다.  어제 2위에 올라있던 러시아의 Adelina Sotmikova가 금내달을 땄고, 김연아는 은매달에 그쳤다는것이다.  프리스케이팅은 긴장감이  Short Program보다 덜요구되는 자유형이기에 더 멋진 묘기를 보여 줌으로써 모두가 김연아가 올림픽 2연패의 영광을 누리는데 세계의 언론들은 아무런 의심을 품지 않았었다.

CBC방송국 본사빌딩안에서 Sushi Bar를 경영하고 있는, 아끼는 후배가 Lunar와 50년지기 친구,S 여사가 토론토를 방문한 소식을 듣고 Lunar는 물론 S여사 그리고 나를 점심 대접 하겠다고 초청을 해서 점심시간 조금 지난뒤에 그곳에 가서 정성껏 대접해준 Sushi와 생선회를 맛있게 먹고 있으면서 김연아 피겨스케이팅에 대한 얘기를 나누었다. 나역시 금매달은 당연히 피겨퀸 김연아가 차지하는것으로 생각하면서 점심을 즐기고 있었다.  Smart Phone을 통해 피겨 스케이팅 Performance에 대한 뉴스를 보면서 깜짝 놀랐다.  맛있게 먹고 있었던 생선회맛과 Sushi 맛이 확달아나 버린것 같았다.  CBC 빌딩의 넓은 Hall에 마련된 실황실로 다시 자리를 옮겨 혹시 피겨스케이팅 재방송을 볼수 있을까 해서 자리를 하고 앉아 있었다.

드디어 CBC에서 오후 4시경에 재방송을 해주기에 TV에 눈을 고정 시키고 지켜 보았었다. 전부 4명에 대한 묘기만을 재편집하여 보여 주었는데 우선 4등에 오른 선수의 묘기 다음에 3등에 오른 이태리선수의 묘기를 보여 주었고, 곧이어 금매달을 획득한 러시아의 Adelina Sotonikova의 묘기가 방영됐다.  그점이 이상하게 보였다. 정상적이었다면 당연히 은매달 수상자인  김연아의 묘기가 방영 됐어야 했었다.  CBC가 그렇게 하지 않고 금매달 수상자의 연기가 끝난후 마지막 네번째로 김연아의 연기를 보여 주는것을 보면서, CBC 캐나다 국영 방송이 이번 판정에 항의 표시로 실제로는 금매달 수상을 했어야 하는 김연아의 묘기를 보여준것임을 금방 느낄수 있었다. 그리고는 TV Monitor는 다른 종목 Halfpipe로 바뀌었다.

금매달 수상자인 Adelina Sotnikova의 점수는 149.95를 획득했다고 했는데, 이점수는 만점에 가까운 점수이다.  그녀의 Performance중 Triple 액셀 점프를 연속 3번 하는 마지막 회전에서 그녀는 착지가 불안정해 하마트면 넘어질번한 실수를 분명히 했는데, 심판들은 만점에 가까운 149.95를 그녀에게 준것이다. 그순간 심판들은 똑같이 눈을 감았었나 보다. 눈감은 그순간 장송곡 부를 연습을 했었거나.....

Gallery에서 관전중이던 러시아인들의 편파적인 응원이 심판들의 판정에 일부분 영향을 미친것은 틀림 없었을것으로 나는 이해했다.

많은 네티즌들의 댓글은 김연아가 "피겨스케이팅 여왕"임을 항변하는 글을 올렸었고,
편파심판을 심하게 힐란하는 그들을 많이 봤었다.

다음에 이어진 김연아는 3연속 Triple 액셀 점프를 말끔히 소화하면서 피겨스케이팅의 여왕답게 그녀의 모든 묘기를 보는 모든이들이 탄성을 지르는 소리가 들리기도 했었다. 묘기가 끝난후 조용히 벤치에 앉아 점수 나오기를 기다리고 있는사이 점수 발표가 있었다.
김연아 144.19라는 전광판 표시가 나오자, 중계를 하던 CBC의 여성 해설자는 "Shock"라는 한마디로 부당함을 표현했다.  또 다른 해설자는 "no equal in this women game"이라는 말로 표현하면서 편파판정을 빗대어 조롱하는 말을 했었다.

미국과 러시아의 심판들이 피겨스케이팅 판점에 담합을 했었다는 폭로를 한 러시아의 코치의 말이 생각났다.  그런 담합의 결과가 김연아에게 적용될중이야......본인의 참담한 심정을 충분히 이해할수 있을것 같다.

한국의 피겨스케이팅 꿈나무들을 포함한 전세계의 여자 피겨스케이팅 꿈나무들이 오늘의 판정을 보면서 어떤 생각을 하게 될까?   어른들의 양심을 돈 몇푼에 팔아먹는 행동과 판정으로 그들의 꿈이 깨지지 않았으면 하는 바램이다.

공정함과 지구촌의 친목 그리고 축제인 올림픽이 이런 일부 몰지각한 심판때문에 참신한 올림픽 이미지에 먹칠을 해서는 절대로 안된다. 제대로 판정을 했었다면 Adelina는 3등 정도에 머물렀어야 했다.

러시아는 오늘 동계올림픽의 꽃인 피겨스케이팅의 좋은 이미지에 대못질을 하는 "장송곡"을 불러주는 슬픔을 온세계에 울려 퍼지게 했다.  장송곡을 부른 러시아를 제외하고 전세계가 그슬픈 리듬에 오열을 하고 있다는것을 알아야 하며, 전세계의 네티즌들로 부터 쏟아져 들어올 비난에 현명한 해명을 해줄 의무가 있음을 터득해야 한다.





Sochi Olympics 2014: In Ladies' Figure Skating, Everyone Is Chasing the Queen






Sochi Olympics 2014: In Ladies' Figure Skating, Everyone Is Chasing the Queen
AP Images
In figure skating circles, defending Olympic champion Yuna Kim of Korea is simply known as "The Queen." During Wednesday's short program, she performed like royalty.
The 23-year-old Kim is a grizzled veteran in the world of ladies' figure skating, and while she came into the Sochi Games as one of the favorites, she has been relatively out of practice, essentially retiring after winning gold in Vancouver before coming back four years later as if she never missed a day.
Terry Gannon, calling the event for NBCSN with Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, asked, "How do you step away, then come back like Michael Jordan did, and not lose a step?"
It was incredible. To be away from competitive skating at this level like Kim has only made her short program that much more impressive. She was essentially flawless, scoring a 74.64 to set a mark none of the skaters to follow her were able to match.
They did, however, come close.

Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press
Adelina Sotnikova of Russia stomped her skates on the ice after her impeccable short program performance, celebrating in front of an electrified home crowd. She was as perfect as she could have been, and it was still only good enough for second place.
"That was very, very, very generous by the judges," Weir said afterSotnikova's score of 74.64 was announced, suggesting that perhaps the home crowd and raucous reaction to her skate influenced the judges.
After the event completed, however, Weir backpedaled a bit, suggesting that Kim's effort in the short program would have separated her from the pack four years ago, but taking that much time away from competition has allowed other skaters to get better and closer to her level of dominance.
The 17-year-old Sotnikova, for example, actually scored better in the technical elements than Kim, falling behind only slightly on the components score. It may have been a generous score by the judges, but upon closer review, it looked warranted.

Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press
Ten years Sotnikova's elder and four years older than Kim is CarolinaKostner, who has as good of a chance at gold on Thursday as the two just ahead of her in the scoring. Kostner skated elegantly to Ave Maria, recording the highest components score of the three leaders but falling back on her technical elements, which were not scored as high as the other two ahead of her.
"How in the world Sotnikova ended up ahead of Kostner, whose poise and lyricism is light years ahead of the Russian's, is anyone's guess," was columnist Christine Brennan's review of the situation in USA Today.
It really looked like both Sotnikova and Kostner skated as well as they possibly could, not just on that night, but also on any night of their respective careers, and they still weren't good enough to catch The Queen.
They were close, but Kim still beat them. And Kim had to complete her program earlier in the night, placed in a group with other skaters who were not scoring anywhere near what she accomplished. On Thursday, Kim will be with the medal contenders, giving her every advantage to defend her gold.
"This … is different compared to the previous season. The rules and how they give me the score are all different," Kim told Nancy Armour of USA Today through an interpreter. "So I did the best I could, and I didn't think about anything else. But after I showed my program, all my nerves, they went away. That's why I smiled."

Darron Cummings/Associated Press
One skater who was expected to be with the medal contenders but will perform much earlier in the night during the free skate is MaoAsada, the silver medalist in Vancouver and Kim's archrival in the figure skating world. Asada skated last in the short program but fell on her attempted triple axle—she was the only competitor to attempt the jump—which made the rest of her program fall apart, as she never seemed to recover from the gaffe. By her standards, Asada had a disastrous short program and sits in 16th place after one night, far out of medal contention.
There was more drama on Wednesday than just Asada falling. YuliaLipnitskaya, the 15-year-old Russian phenom who helped her country win a gold medal in the team skating event last week, fell on a triple flip midway through her program. Lipnitskaya has become the darling of the Russian skating program—it was Sotnikova until very recently, creating a bit of a rivalry between the two compatriots in Sochi—and there was an audible gasp from the crowd when she hit the ice.
"She never misses," Lipinski said at the end of Lipnitskaya's program. "I am so shocked."
"And when she did," Gannon added, "the reaction in here was like the Russian hockey team being scored on again."

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
That was the second-best line of the night—the best coming from Johnny Weir, who said the final group warm-up was so chaotic: "It's the mall in Paramus at Christmas time." But neither the shock from the crowd nor the fall managed to derail the teenager from putting down an otherwise stellar performance. She is in fifth after the short program, a bit back from medal contention and needing a lot of help.
Lipnitskaya is also behind American Gracie Gold, who was very solid in her own right during the short program on Wednesday.
Gold's technical elements were actually on par with the leaders, but she looked stiff—dare I say nervous—during her jumps, which had to hurt the overall judging, putting her in an incredibly respectable fourth place heading into the free skate. Her 68.63 has her less than five-and-a-half points behind Kostner, needing some help in the free skate, but she's an absolute medal contender for America.

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Gold gave a nod of her head when her score hit the board, as she knew it wasn't her best performance.
She knew it wouldn't be good enough to dethrone The Queen.
Two other American contenders are right behind Gold andLipnitskaya, as Ashley Wagner and Polina Edmunds sit in sixth and seventh place, respectively, after the short program.
Both will have to skate the programs of their lives and hope for a lot of things to go their way—which is the polite way to say they hope at least three or four other skaters fall, a lot—for either to medal. Still, the Americans having three of the top seven skaters heading into the free skate is something for which to be very proud.
As it turns out, the free skate will give all these other skaters an opportunity to do what Kim did to them on Wednesday: post a big number early.
Lipnitskaya will skate sixth to last, with Kostner following her.Sotnikova will go next, with Americans Gold and Wagner following her.
Then, The Queen skates last, giving her the opportunity to make a final bow in what could be another Olympic coronation.

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