Let's Run

“Tatyana Petrov, skating for her home country of Russia.” I took a deep breath as I skated out onto the ice. I skated around the Sochi logo with a small smile, going over every move in my head before stopping in my place and waiting for the music to start.

As soon as the music started, I blocked out the sounds of the world around me and began to skate. Before I knew it I was finished, breathing heavily back where I started with my arms poised gracefully in the air. I grinned happily and bowed and then skated off of the ice.

Nikolay and Vera waited for me impatiently. As soon as I stepped onto the mat Vera’s arms were around me. I laughed and hugged her back. Nikolay handed guards to me. I walked over to the bench to await my score and dried off my skates quickly. I pushed the guards on to my blades and accepted the jacket Vera handed over to me. I pushed my arms through it and waited patiently for my scores.

“You were amazing.” I smiled brightly at Nikolay’s praise and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

I couldn’t believe it when a 145.46 was called out after my name, making my total 221.71. I gasped and threw my hands over my mouth. I glanced over at Nikolay who threw his arms into the air. I laughed happily and turned to hug Vera closely.

I watched as my name appeared at the top of the list. I shook my head as tears quickly began to fall from my eyes. I was moved from the bench as the next skater came out and waited for the results. Vera stood nearby, reassuring me that I had nothing to worry about. My results were only a few points lower than the world record. I nervously chewed on my lip and kept my head down, staying in the performance zone.

Nikolay handed over his phone a few minutes later with a wide grin. I smiled back and took it.

“Hello?” I answered, waiting for whomever it was that needed to speak with me.

“Baby!” I wasn’t surprised at all to hear my mother’s voice shrieking at me excitedly.

I laughed in delight, “Mama!”

I could hear the crowd behind her as she spoke happily about what I’d done. I laughed and glanced down at my skates, waiting to find out if I had won the gold or not.

My mother hung up a few moments later, leaving me in almost complete silence. I chewed on my bottom lip anxiously and waited.

I watched in silence as the final skater finished her performance and moved over to the bench. I shook my hands and waited impatiently. I choked on nothing when she scored a final of 210.87, almost eleven points lower than me. I shrieked and threw my hands up in excitement. I reached out and hugged Vera closely, laughing in delight the whole time.

I was quickly ushered over to a camera crew. An American woman smiled happily at me as we waited for the camera to begin to roll.

“And here we have gold medalist, Tatyana Petrov!” I smiled brightly and waved at the camera. “Tatyana, how does it feel to receive a gold medal in your last Olympic performance?” she turned the microphone towards me.

“It feels amazing.” I answered in near perfect English; I’d been practicing my English a lot since my first appearance in the Olympics and had managed to avoid the stereotypical thick Russian accent when I spoke. “Everyone’s been working really diligently for the last four years for this moment and I couldn’t be happier.”

“Thank you, Tatyana.” The woman smiled brightly at me and turned back to the camera.

I smiled and then ran off to celebrate with my fellow Russian figure skaters.

After receiving my medal and taking countless photos and giving countless interviews, I was finally able to leave the arena and head back to the village.

I strolled proudly displaying my gold medal as my older brother cheered and shouted with his arm thrown over my shoulders. I blushed at the attention, not wanting Viktor to cause too much trouble with the other athletes.

A group of men were exiting the building when Viktor let out one of his loudest victory yells yet.

“Viktor!” I scolded him with a wide grin and shoved him away from me, laughing all the while.

“My baby sister just won a gold medal!” he yelled again, throwing his arms in the air. “Whoo!”

“Tatyana?” I turned quickly and smiled at my fellow Russian athlete, Evgeni Malkin. “You won?” he excitedly asked.

I nodded, showing off the gold medal around my neck proudly. Evgeni cheered and threw his arms around me, spinning me around as if I weighed nothing and compared to him, I did. I laughed and held onto his broad shoulders tightly.

“You see,” Evgeni let me down, but continued to hold me close to him. “So much better than silly Canadians.” He grinned, gesturing towards my medal. “This our year!”

Evgeni’s broken English was adorable. I smiled widely up at him and then looked back to the group of men he was bragging to. I recognized one or two of them from Team Russia, but most were members of Team Canada.

“Home team advantage.” I shrugged with a grin. A few of the guys chuckled and nodded their heads.

“Whatever, Geno.” A tall man, just a bit shorter than Evgeni but a giant compared to me, smirked. “Just you wait until we kick your butt on the ice.”

“Are you headed back to America after the closing ceremony?” It was funny to watch Evgeni’s friends’ reaction to him turning and speaking fluent Russian with me.

“Yeah, I am. I’m actually headed to Pittsburgh.” I grinned impishly.

Evgeni’s teammates from the Penguins perked up at hearing me say something about their town. Evgeni’s reaction must have alerted them even more as he cheered and wrapped his arms around me yet again.

“There’s a lot of hugging going on right now.” I turned to see Viktor grinning at me and Evgeni from my other side. Almost immediately the giant Russian dropped his arms from around me and leaped towards my brother.

I sighed and watched as they happily chattered away and hugged four more times.

“They’re pretty close, eh?” I smiled brightly at the man from before and nodded. “I’m Sidney, by the way.” He introduced, holding his hand out.

I gently took it in my own and shook it. “I’m Tatyana Petrov. Evgeni and I grew up together.” I nodded towards my brother. “That’s my older brother, Viktor.”

“Your English is amazing.” I turned to smile at another man, who peaked over Sidney’s shoulder. “I’m Chris Kuntiz; all the boys call me Kuni.” He reached his arm around Sidney. I laughed and shook his hand as well.

“I practice a lot.” I told them. “I live half the year in New York and half in Moscow, so it’s easier for me to pick up on certain things.”

“Doesn’t explain Geno.” Kuni nodded over to Evgeni and Viktor who were now practically shouting at each other about the score of a game of hockey they’d played almost ten years ago.

“He’s stubborn.” I replied. “When I call him, I speak only in English just to force him to practice.” I smirked. “He refuses to get rid of the accent, though.” I shrugged.

“How tall are you?” I laughed at the blatant questions.

“I’m 5’1.” I replied with a nod, gazing up at the men before me.

To be successful in figure skating, much like gymnastics, it was easier to be smaller. If I was closer to the ground, I could get more momentum and jump higher. Not weighing any more than 120 pounds helped me jump higher and skate faster, which was extremely beneficial. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how the men before me could skate as quickly as they did and weigh almost one hundred pounds more than me.

“Tatyana,” I glanced over to see Evgeni looking at me expectantly. I raised an eyebrow in response, asking him silently to repeat his question. “Are you going to the game tomorrow?” he asked me.

“Have I ever missed you playing in the Olympics?” I asked with a smirk.

Evgeni grinned and winked at me.