I really like figure skater Evgeny Plushenko. When you watch his performance, you forget that figure skating is an incredibly difficult sport.
I know that figure skating begins at the age of five, or even earlier. Day after day, year after year, children master all these elements in heavy training. It is impossible to count how many there have been since Zhenya Plushenko first started skating.
We only see the dizzying quad jumps, but we don't see how much sweat he sheds in training. We don't feel how painful it is for a figure skater when he gets injured, and figure skating is among the most traumatic sports.
No, we are just admiring the beautiful and technical ice dance, rejoicing in its victories. Probably, it is necessary.
That's why I love figure skating in general and Evgeni Plushenko in particular: for this lightness. The fact that it is actually oh so difficult is given - it passes by the viewer.
