Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Fans get big finale

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Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedev gave figure skating fans one more show in South Korea. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir gave them one more on Olympic ice. The Russian teenagers, who dueled so memorably in the women’s event

during the Pyeongchan­g Games, and the Canadian ice dance couple that became figure skating’s most decorated Olympians highlighte­d the traditiona­l curtain-closing exhibition gala today. After years spent grinding toward competitio­n, the gala is an opportunit­y for skaters to finally let down their hair, have a little fun and do what they enjoy most: entertain. So you had Zagitova, the 15-year-old jumping jack who edged Medvedev for gold, performing to the jazz standard “Afro Blue” by American singer Jazzmeia Horn. And her close friend Medvedev, whose graciousne­ss in settling for silver struck a chord for the Olympic movement, performed to a song from Battle of

Sevastopol, the biographic­al war film set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. “I wanted to project the feelings inside of me when I am anxious,” Medvedev explained. South Korean pairs skaters Yura Min and

Alex Gamelin opened the gala with

a flashy, colorful hip-hop program to “Lollipop” — and tossed candy into the crowd. There also was a performanc­e by the North Korean pair of Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik, who had the crowd clapping along. Just about every medalist from the Pyeongchan­g Games performed, including men’s gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who finished off the gala to “Notte Stellata” by Il Volo.

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