This past Saturday night was lagging a little bit. I did a little homework, overindulged in Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia and half-watched NBC’s coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. For the majority of the night, the Olympics acted as mere background noise while I made at attempt at homework. No disrespect to women’s cross-country skiing, but I found my vocabulary workbook slightly more entertaining at that moment. However, my head did pick up once NBC switched over to women’s ice dancing. After intently watching a few programs, I went back to vocab. And then there was fifteen year old, Russian skater, Yulia Lipnitskaya. Her performance turned it around, her elegance and composure was mesmerizing.

Succeeding American skater Ashley Wagner, who laid down a near perfect performance, Yulia rose to the occasion. In silencing all critics and erasing any doubt of her being named to the Russian National Olympic team, the baby-faced high schooler earned a score of 72.90. For those unfamiliar with the International Skating Union’s scoring system, skaters are judged on the difficulty of the “elements” included in their program as well as on “technicality,” the execution of these aforementioned elements. Not only was Yulia’s score unheard of, but it also propelled Team Russia to win an easy gold in the Team Skating competition.

In order to truly appreciate the magnitude of this accomplishment, it is important to grasp how young she really is. In order to be eligible for the 2014 games, athletes must not only qualify in their respective sports but additionally, turn fifteen years of age by the International Olympic Committee’s deadline of June 31th, 2013. Yulia made that deadline by just twenty six days. In other words, she’s the same age as most Nazareth freshmen. On that note, please take a moment to compare the lives of our very own Nazareth students with those of an Olympian of the same age.

Average Day in the Life of a Nazareth Student (All are approximate estimates in terms of hours):

6:30 AM: Wake-up

7:50 AM: School Day Begins

12:00 PM: Lunch

12:30 PM: School Day Resumes

3:00 PM: School Day Ends, Athletic Practices, Games/ After School Activities Begin

5:00 PM: Athletic Practices, Games/ After School Activities End

6:00 PM: Homework

10:00 PM: Bedtime

Average Day in the Life of Yulia Lipnitskaya:

4:00 AM: Wakeup

5:00 AM: Morning Skate Begins

7:00 AM: Private Tutoring at Ice Rink Begins

10:00 AM: Off-Ice Training Begins

1:00 PM: Lunch

2:00 PM: Afternoon Skate Begins

5:00 PM: Private Tutoring Continues

7:00 PM: Nightly Conditioning

8:00 PM: Homework

10:00 PM: Bedtime

Clearly, the end goals are a little different. While Naz students are working for college acceptance or athletic success, Lipnitskaya is working towards possible gold medals and even the approval of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who applauded her with a rare standing ovation. In looking at her every day schedule, combined with her extremely young age, her dedication and commitment becomes obvious and Yulia becomes that much more impressive. It is incredibly difficult to fathom someone so close to our age competing in the Olympics, nonetheless winning gold, which is why I believe she deserves all of our support. Overall, this early success is foreshadowing of a long and promising career and Yulia, who will still be in her prime come the 2018 Winter Games at only 19 years old, has certainly earned her status as the sweetheart of these Sochi Olympics.