People in this province wanting to catch live coverage of figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond skating her short program at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea might want to consider a pre-competition nap or keeping a pot of coffee handy or both.
The short program begins 10 a.m. Wednesday morning in PyeongChang or 9:30 o’clock tonight in St. John’s (South Korea is 12 ½ hours ahead of Newfoundland time).
However, as a result of a draw held Monday, Osmond is in the final flight of six skaters in the 40-skater competition. The 22-year-old Marystown native is not scheduled to hit the ice at the Gangneung Ice Arena until 2:01 p.m. Korean time, or 1:31 a.m. (Wednesday) in Newfoundland, three-and-a-half hours after American Bradie Tennell, the first skater in the field.
Just over six-and-a-half minutes are allotted for each skater’s session. There is also time set aside for ice cleaning.
Osmond, the 2017 world silver medallist, will skate her short program to "Sous le ciel de Paris (Under the Skies of Paris), the theme song from a 1951 French film of the same name and made famous by Edith Piaf.
She will do so as part of a star-studded group that will finish up the short program competition. Others in the final flight include three skaters from Russia — two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva, Grand Prix Final champion Maria Sotskova and Grand Prix runner-up Alina Zagitova, the reigning Russian champion — along with 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Carolina Kostner of Italy and 2015 world silver medallist Satoko Miyahara, the Japanese champion.
Reigning Canadian women’s champ Gabrielle Daleman (Osmond finished second in the 2018 nationals) is in the second-last flight.
This short program will be Osmond’s sixth skate in the Olympics. She skated four times at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi — performing the women’s short and long program in the team event as Canada won silver, then doing them again in individual competition, where she was 13th. Earlier in these Games, Osmond skated the women’s short program to help Canada claim the gold medal in the team event; Daleman performed the women’s long program in that competition.
With more than a week between the end of the team event and the start of the ladies’ singles, Osmond, Daleman and fellow Canadian Larkyn Austman left the Olympic village at PyeongChang for Incheon, just outside of the South Korean capital of Seoul, in order to secure more and better practice time. They returned to PyeongChang on Sunday.
The women’s long program (free skate) — the last event in figure skating at these Olympics — is set to begin Friday morning in Korea/Thursday night in Newfoundland.
If Osmond is in medal contention, that will mean another late night for folks in these parts.
Twitter: @telybrendan
