Official page Results! Reports!

Since I happened to be alert to a great opportunity to see Alexei off the ice at Worlds, I thought I had best post a report of that very special evening. It was the night of the men's long programs, after the medal ceremony. Alexei had put up an incredible battle, and had taken the silver medal.    Skate Canada (the governing body of Canadian figure skating) had authorized an exhibit to take place very near to GM Place during Worlds. All four disciplines were to have their medallists appear at this exhibit, called SkateFest, the nights of their wins. We knew what time they were to appear, and in Canada, events take place on time LOL.    With about twenty minutes to go, Anna, her Greek skating friends and I dashed out of the Hyatt bar and onto the Skytrain, which took us very near to where we had to be. But we had to walk in a hurry because we could hear the free band concert winding up as we neared the band shell, and as soon as they were finished, the roadies had the stage cleared, and podiums brought out for the winners.    Then right on time, the Canadian ice dancers Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe came out to introduce the three men. First out was Todd Eldredge. He was tired but happy! I don't recall what he said, but it was gracious. Then Alexei came out, wearing a grayish green jacket and olive green pants, and was greeted by loud cheering and screaming. His face lit up, and he didn't stop smiling the whole time.    The men were expected to say a few words of course, and Alexei was very brave...he was responding to the love he could feel from his fans who were right there. He was about 20 feet away from us, pretty close! He said, "these were the best Worlds ever in Vancouver...the results don't matter......I feel like a hero in Canada..."("you are a hero!" we screamed) He was holding a small Canadian flag, and when he clapped (politely when Plush was introduced LOL), he put the flag in his teeth!    Plush thanked his parents, his coach and God.    Then the men were given their official Worlds jackets, and each was helped into the jacket by Megan and Aaron. The jackets had saddle brown leather collars and sleeves, with black cashmere fronts and backs, and of course the Worlds emblem over the heart. (They had a retail price of $300 in the arena shop.)    Once they were all jacketed, the next item on the agenda was the playing of the Russian national anthem    For the first 15 or 20 seconds of the 5-minute long anthem, Alexei looked appropriately reverent, but soon that imp that lives inside him got the better of him and he began to interact with his fans. He started to make kissing gestures, mouth "isn't this a long song?", pretend to yawn, steal surreptitious glances at his watch, and just generally cracked us up. This went on and on, and we loved it, couldn't get enough! If Plushy was aware of what Alexei was doing, he didn't let on at all, just gazed straight ahead, probably thinking about his exhibition program LOL. Todd being the great good sport that he is, just kept smiling. He seemed to enjoy the whole thing too.    And when it was over, it was over LOL. The men took their final bows, and walked off the stage into the vans that were waiting to take them back to the Hyatt.    We all hiked back to the station, caught the Skytrain, and returned to the bar, where our loyal friends had valiantly sacrificed that fun excursion so they could hold our table . Julie , lovin' the memory.