“In case you had not heard, the Olympics are going on right now. OK, well maybe not at the exact second you are reading this. Still, you get the idea. When I was back in middle school, I remember the hype and buzz that surrounded the games. It seemed as if there was constant talk of who would win an event or about the rivalry between two competitors.”
“

In case you had not heard, the Olympics are going on right now.

OK, well maybe not at the exact second you are reading this.

Still, you get the idea.

When I was back in middle school, I remember the hype and buzz that surrounded the games. It seemed as if there was constant talk of who would win an event or about the rivalry between two competitors.

This was one of the highlights of the games for me.

Figure skating has seen the biggest decline of buzz in recent years.

Now, I was a figure skater for the better part of 13 years and thoroughly enjoyed my time in the sport.

As a young girl I could not get away from the gossip of who will win — Michelle Kwan or Tara Lipinski for the women and Illia Kulik or Elvis Stojko for the men in 1998. It was truly a battle of the best and a competition not to be missed. Everyone knew it would be a tight competition and that one error could cost him or her the gold.

That is not the case this year, at least not in all figure skating competitions.

The pairs competition saw the first team outside of the former Soviet Union to win the gold since 1960.

It was a good competition but not as good as the competitions I remember watching as a kid.

The disappointment however lets up with the men’s competition, as it is bound to be a battle between Russia’s Evegeni Plushenko and USA’s Evan Lysacek. With Lysacek .55 points behind Plushenko, it’s almost guaranteed to be one of the best competitions of the year.

This is the kind of competition that I remember watching as I sat on the edge of my seat and dreamed that one day I would be in their skates.
To be completely honest, the only events I will make sure I see are the men’s short and long program. Everything else is just not what it use to be.

Of course there are other events and other stars that are worth watching, snowboarder Shaun White, for example, always puts on a good show.

This year, the Olympics just are not what they used to be. It’s just another day and another competition.

A bit sad if you ask me.

“