Beach volleyball on ice

Lately the TVs in Seminar House 4 have been playing constant Winter Olympics coverage, which is at least a change from the American students' constant watching of either MTV or CNN. (Insert gratuitous anti-Americanism here - I frankly can't be bothered.) Japan's big hope for a gold medal in the Games is figure skater Miki Ando. In the run-up to the opening they kept replaying footage of her tearful triumph in a domestic figure-skating event, which I remember seeing on TV at some point last semester. The whole nation is behind her, and I for one can't blame them (see picture, and yes I am that shallow). Figure skating is the one event in the games where providing eye candy for the spectators is an integral part of the competition. It's the beach volleyball of the Winter Olympics. (Incidentally, at the last Olympics the beach volleyball was won by the Swiss. How the hell did that happen?)

UPDATE: Well, Japan won their first gold in the Games for figure skating, which actually went to Shizuka Arakawa (she doesn't look too bad either). As I left Seminar House on Friday morning I saw Ando blubbing on TV, but that could have meant anything - she cries when she wins, and she cries when she loses. I found out later, as the hotel's TV was replaying Arakawa-san's victory over and over again. It's a good weekend for eye candy. More on the onsen trip later.