Charlie McAvoy was late to turn his TV on Friday. After dinner he wanted to see Ilia Malinin’s Olympics figure skating performance. But by the time the Bruins defenseman got situated, he was seconds too late.
The highly-favored, heavily-publicized American figure skater had just finished his disappointing free skate that cost him, not only the gold he’d been expected to win, but any medal at all.
As a person, McAvoy felt bad, knowing how hard the “Quad God” had worked and how much pressure he’s been under.
But as an athlete, McAvoy saw an important lesson to be taken from the situation and he wrote about it in an entry for his Olympic Diary in The Athletic:
“I felt so bad for him. He’s such a talented kid and you work so hard for this. For him, obviously there’s stuff in the meantime, but it’s not the Olympics,” McAvoy wrote. “I hate to say it like this, but it’s a wake-up call for us. We know we’ve talked a lot about not letting this opportunity get away from us every four years. So I feel terrible for him that he didn’t have his best day on the biggest day, but he’ll get another chance. I think he’s really young, and a great competitor, and to bring it back to us, we came here for one reason.”
This is McAvoy’s first Olympics, and second time playing for Team USA in best-on-best international competition. Last year he suffered a shoulder injury in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off that ended his tournament and eventually his season prematurely.
He was sidelined when the Americans lost to Canada in the finals in overtime, leaving him wondering if he could have made a difference. That added to his motivation to not just play, but succeed in the Olympics. He wrote:
“We know we have to bring our best every single day. To represent our country with pride and try our best to achieve the ultimate.”
