Kaetlyn Osmond stunned by stumble in short program
SOCHI, Russia – After falling when trying to land a double axel at Skate Canada competition last year, Kaetlyn Osmond made a concerted effort to rebuild her technique on the jump. It worked. She hadn't stumbled in over six weeks of training or competition, she said.
Then, out of nowhere, at the worst possible time, trouble returned. She stumbled while trying to land the double axel during her short program here Wednesday on the opening night of the Sochi Games' ladies figure skating competition.
[Photos: Ladies' figure skating individual competition]
"It was really a shocker to me," Osmond said. "I was going in like it was just another jump and then it wasn't there. So that shocked me."
She recovered enough to deliver a satisfying, albeit not spectacular, program rallying with excellent spins and compulsory techniques. She was given a score of 56.18, which she was pleased enough with even though it was well below the 62.54 she earned last week doing the same program cleanly during the team competition.
"I'm really happy with that program," Osmond said. "Of course, it wasn't perfect and definitely wasn't the program I wanted to do here. The team event went really well for me in the short. And not so well here."
"I was really excited I could come back from the mistakes on the jumps and still pull it together for the components and the other aspects of the program," she continued. "It was actually the best I've done the spins."
[Photos: How old were female figure skaters when they won Olympic gold?]
The 18-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alberta, said she was eager to get back Thursday for the long program, where there are more jumps and more opportunities to show the Olympic judges what she can do.
"I know tomorrow I could make up for the mistakes on the jumps," she said.
Regardless, she made sure to appreciate the moment of simply being at the Olympics, the culmination of years of hard work and dreams.
"It felt great," Osmond said. "I know at the team event I was a little nervous. To come here this time I felt refreshed and it felt great to lay out a program and just to be here is exciting enough."
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