Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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This is The Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it.
I am Steve Stromberg, an editor in New York Times Opinion and a huge Olympics fan. I'm joined today by two fellow Olympics devotees, the Times contributing writer Issam Akali and writer and podcast host Kelly Corrigan. And also with us is Olympics royalty. We've got Sasha Cohen, a figure skater who won silver in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Thank you for being here.
Oh, thanks for having us. Thank you for having us. Yeah. Great to be here. Thank you.
The games aren't over, but I want to hear some of your superlatives of the Winter Olympics so far. What has been your favorite, most outrageous, most inspiring, or most unexpected moment of the games? And I should note that we were recording this on Wednesday morning, and it's probable that some amazing new things will happen by the time people hear this.
We already heard this morning that Michaela Schifrin won gold in the slalom, so her drought is over. Esau, why don't you start?
My favorite story for this Olympics so far has been Frederica, I think it's Brignone, I guess that's how you say her name. She's an Italian skier, and she broke her tibia, fibula, and she had a complete knee disc location 10 months ago. And she just returned to gentle skiing in November, and she won two gold medals. She talked about how she thought that she may never ski or walk normally again.
For her to come back and to win two gold medals, that's been my favorite story from the Olympics so far.
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Chapter 2: What are the highlights of the Winter Olympics so far?
Did you see the conversation? I think it was with a skier. I don't remember her name. Forgive me. And she won the silver.
Do you see these as two silvers gained or two goals lost?
I'm the most decorated female free skier in history. I think that's an answer in and of itself.
The way that she kind of reset and allowed us to understand the actual pressure of an athlete and how those of us who are watching the sports can kind of be excessively critical. I don't know how you felt. Did you see that interview, Sasha, and how did you feel about it?
I think I saw a headline that referenced it, but I didn't see the actual interview. And I think it's so true. One statistic I remember reading is that those that win third place and first place are the happiest. And second and fourth are the most disappointed. You either just missed the podium or just missed gold. But I think a lot of it depends on the color of maybe how you won the silver.
Did you... defy expectations and move from fifth to second? Or were you leading the competition and make a mistake and drop down to second? So I think that really colors how an individual athlete might think about the color of their medal. And then I think it's wonderful. to reframe, right? I'm the most decorated skier in Olympic history.
It was something like that to say, this is all that I've done and it's icing on the cake. And it reminds me of Lindsey Vonn.
Oh my goodness, no!
Even though the games did not go as we wanted and that she wanted, she showed us that so much of it was about showing up and the attitude that you walk through life with. And despite the adversity and your body falling apart, you choose to show up and compete. And that in itself is going to be so memorable for her and everyone watching.
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Chapter 3: Who are the standout athletes and inspiring stories from the Games?
And so I think reframing is very important, especially as athletes. are older and are further along in their careers and it's their third or fourth Olympics because they realize how special it is just to have a spot at the Games and get to do this for a living with the world watching.
You know, I'm sort of fascinated by behavioral psychology, and I feel like this is the golden age of the layperson understanding mental health. And I feel like that's very evident in this games. I repeatedly have this sensation of like, oh, that kid, these young, young people is either balanced or striving for balance in a way that you didn't hear 20 years ago.
Yeah, so a lot of gratitude we're hearing from the men's skaters. Kelly, you mentioned Ilya Malinin, the quad god. The quad god. You know, if your household was anything like mine, your four-year-old daughter screamed quad god every time he appeared on screen, you know, in a promo, in an ad, anytime. So pretty much constantly.
And expectations for Malinin were so high that it would have been hard to meet him, even for the best of the best. But... It's hard not to feel for him. You know, did he have a bad night? Was he unprepared mentally? It just sort of seems like there's something about Olympics competitions that makes the stakes feel higher than others, right? I mean, Sasha, you're the expert on this.
How do you see this?
He is the creme de la creme of men's figure skating, and he has set the bar so high that the point lead that he typically has over his nearest competitor is 20, 30 points. It's such cushion that everyone thought he can fall two or three times and still win. And so I think it really took the spectators by surprise.
But then I also know what it's like getting onto the ice, skating last, and knowing that this is your time and you're four minutes away from securing your dream. And that can be very rattling and frustrating.
It's almost like your system short circuits where you're trying to process so much information coming in and everything's compressed into a few minutes and then it's compressed into each jumping pass. And it can be just an extraordinary amount of like energy and intensity and nerves just bouncing around in your body, not to mention every thought that's going through your head, because
I find the interesting juxtaposition here is that as an athlete, what we should do is train our body, trust our body, and tell our mind to be quiet. And so you have different ways to do this. Like, okay, just breathe in, out, arm goes left, right, out. But then your mind wants to be involved. Like, hey, this moment's too important. I can't let the body just do it by itself.
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Chapter 4: How do athletes cope with the pressure of Olympic competition?
But I couldn't watch for a while. Every time I saw the Olympic rings or heard that music and saw other skaters warming up backstage or about to take the ice, I would relive my own programs and disappointments and And, you know, if somebody fell, it would remind me of my own mistakes. If someone skated perfectly, I would say like, that was a program I wish I could have done.
And it was just, it was a lot. And so I think I needed space to develop as a person and have other outside interests. And you wait long enough. And then, you know, I realized that, hey, no matter what I do, skating is always such an integral part of who I am. It defined me.
The people that I love, that I trained with, that I competed with, the way that we have moved through life and have oriented our goals and dreams around like a moment in the Olympic Games and Making crazy decisions and, you know, sacrificing so much because the Olympics is such a big dream. It was a homecoming to come back. But now it's so exciting.
So I've been watching at home with my kids and they're like, Mom, you were in the Olympics. Like, were you better than her? Are you better than her? You know, I was like, oh, 20 years ago. And I'm really enjoying watching that. That is such a gift that I can watch the Olympic Games again because that's how it all started.
I remember cheering you on in Torino and just being so happy and proud when you won. So it always blows my mind when you hear about the silver medalists being disappointed. You got a silver medal. You did amazing. We're all so proud of you.
In the entire world, like, you know, there's one person who did slightly better. I just can't imagine. I mean, I understand it's the nature of the sport, but I'm not the top three of any particular thing. Like, nothing. So it's amazing. It's amazing.
20 years later, I have the perspective where I can appreciate the silver medal. And yes, I want to go back in time and skate my personal best. But not training and being injured, I wasn't able to prepare. And so now, 20 years later, it's just another reminder. You know, the human body does not always do when you want it to do, whether...
As a normal person with your health or as an athlete, being able to prevent injuries and be at your best at the moment when it is the most important. And so I think I've given myself some grace and understanding of, you know, not only like the life cycle, but the strength and the frailty of the human body and also how much we can't control even when we try to control everything.
So we all love figure skating. There are a few other sports in the Winter Olympics. Kelly, any big stories out of some of the other events that have stuck out to you that you've been interested in, proud of, sad about?
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