They’re not supposed to sob anymore when they finish competing, even in the kiss-and-cry area. That old custom is now considered trite, weak or too practiced.
But then Joannie Rochette skated Tuesday night, and nobody anywhere would deny her the tears. She had performed a wonderful short program before an expectant, empathetic home crowd, somehow, less than three days after her mother, Therese, died here of a heart attack at the age of 55. That in itself was impossible, horrible and glorious, all at once.
Full story: Skater Joannie Rochette enjoys great Olympic triumph after mother dies less than three days earlier