Page 140 of Chasing Gold, Catching Her

Alisa suddenly accelerated again for the final seconds of the program, emotion completely overtaking her. Tears blurred her vision as she dropped to her knees and slid across the ice, arching her back and spreading her arms outward as though surrendering herself completely to the moment. Like a fallen angel.

She continued gliding on her knees until finally collapsing fully onto the ice, tears streaming freely down her face.

And then the music stopped.

Everything stopped.

It was over.

Her Olympic program.

Her performance.

Finished.

And underneath the exhaustion, beneath the adrenaline and emotion, her heart was racing with fear.

Slowly, Alisa pushed herself back to her feet, wiping tears from her cheeks before waving weakly toward the audience. She bowed deeply.

The applause didn’t end.

It rolled through the arena endlessly, echoing beneath the ceiling of the stadium, but somehow Alisa felt that it wasn’t entirely for her. It was for the moment itself. The final women’s skate of the Olympics. The end of something magical that the audience didn’t want to let go of yet.

Alisa skated one slow lap around the rink, waving to every section of the crowd, the upper stands, the middle rows, then finally the lower seats nearest the ice.

She carefully avoided looking toward Tora.

She passed that side of the rink quickly, refusing even a single glance.

As she approached the exit, plush toys began raining onto the ice, it was a long-standing tradition for skaters after emotional performances. Alisa bent down and picked up a small white cat plushie, clutching it tightly against her chest as though it might keep her from falling apart completely.

The moment she stepped off the ice, Arkadiy wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“It was not that bad,” he said firmly, patting her back. “Not as planned with the quadruples fully… what happened?”

Alisa only shook her head faintly in disappointment.

Together they walked toward the Kiss & Cry area, Arkadiy’s hand squeezing her shoulders encouragingly the entire way. He draped a white team jacket over her shoulders to keep her warm.

“Nothing… it’s nothing…” Alisa whispered repeatedly under her breath. “I did it. I did it…”

She was trembling violently now.

She held the white plush cat tighter against her chest while Arkadiy kept her close beside him, trying to calm her down as the adrenaline finally crashed over her all at once.

The scores were announced, but Alisa already knew.

Unfortunately, she understood everything before the numbers even appeared.

She stared at the final scoreboard, barely breathing, already having calculated every point in her head during the performance. Tears streamed silently down her cheeks as the results flashed across the giant screen above the arena.

1 — Tora Møller — 209.90

2 — Alisa Voronkova — 202.50

The world around her blurred instantly.

Her breathing slowed, turning heavy and painful, as though the air itself had become poisonous. A sharp ringing filled her ears, drowning out the arena around her, and suddenly she couldn’t hold herself together anymore.