Hello world. I’m Beau Dure, and I’ll be your conduit of Olympic news and commentary until midnight Eastern time.
A question I’m pondering is what we expect from Olympic athletes. It’s a question worth considering when we wonder what has happened with Mikaela Shiffrin and whether she is suffering from the weight of expectations and no longer has her father to help her cope with it.
Also consider Lindsey Jacobellis,
In 2006, she was a national villain. She had lost a sure gold medal by showboating on the final jump of the snowboardcross final, and fans and pundits piled on the vitriol.
Most of those people don’t know the rest of her career. Five individual world championships and one team. Ten X Games wins. I had interviewed her and bumped into her when we were on the same plane to Europe for the Games, and I couldn’t believe that she would ever be a national scapegoat.
Yesterday, she gave a textbook example of shrugging off pressure. She flew through the final as if in a Zen state of complete control.
Maybe it’s time for a few hundred people to apologize.
Today, two more Americans grapple with expectations. Chloe Kim is up in the women’s halfpipe, and Nathan Chen goes in men’s figure skating. It’ll be exciting. But maybe we can give them a break if they don’t do exactly what everyone wants?
Rant over. Let’s have some fun and see what surprises us today …