Move over, Justine Henin-Hardenne

Because the title of Worst Sportswoman is no longer yours. It now has to go to Russian figure skater Tatiana Totmianina, who, with her partner, Maxim Marinim, won the gold medal in pairs yesterday. After Chinese skater Zhang Dan took a terrible spill and yet somehow went on to skate beautifully and complete her program, the camera went to Totmianina, who--unlike everyone else--showed no expression of either sympathy or wonder. I figured that she was just one of those people with little affect, but then I heard her interview.

When asked what she was thinking when she saw Zhang Dan take the terrible fall, she said "nothing special" went through her mind. She added that Zhang and Zhang had been "very aggressive" during the warmup and had consequently "eaten themselves up" in the warmup.

There is probably some truth--maybe a lot of truth--in Totmianina's statement, and there is nothing wrong with her making such an observation. But to not express any sympathy, especially when Totmianina herself took a very frightening fall in 2004, is strange. And to not give Zhang Dan any credit for going back on the ice and skating her heart out is inappropriate by anyone's standards.