In her sparkling silver dress, Czech snowboarder Eliska Bryzinova jumped three times and danced to the Eurythmics song “Sweet Dreams”, moving across the ice with the confidence of someone who’s been practicing the sport for a long time. Because she has.
Brezinova, 25, is the sister of four-time Olympian Michel Brezina, and skating was a family business. Both were trained by their father, and both made it to the Beijing Olympics. Brezina trains with two US Olympic athletes: Maria Bell, who skied earlier on Tuesday, and gold medalist Nathan Chen. They are all good friends.
While Brezina failed to advance to the men’s free skating event after a disappointing short program, his sister had better luck and will move to the women’s free skating on Thursday. Bryzhinova had the best skate in her life, only when it was very important. Lutz’s triple-fingered ring combination was a gorgeous highlight, and it landed gracefully.
Briznova’s score was so good on Tuesday that it surprised her – best 64.31 points of the season. After seeing her, she buried her face in her hands and laughed with her coaches in surprise. She is currently in third place overall.
Unlike Brezinova’s metallic dress, Eva-Lotta Kiibus of Estonia wore a dress of different colors that would make Mondrian proud. The outfit stands out, because many of the others here are the same ethereal-looking or princess-inspired dresses that have been a staple of the sport for years. I’d give the Kiibus very high marks for its originality in fashion, but its skate shoe only scored 59.55 points, ninth overall.
At the end of this round, Georgian Anastasia Gubanova leads with 65.40 points, and Bell remains in second place with 65.38 points. But the top contenders are yet to come.
