“Few skaters in the world handle pressure better than Dean Foster.”
“The U.S. team remains firmly in medal contention, but tonight’s men’s short program could reshape the standings entirely.”
“Foster has built his reputation on consistency under pressure rather than unpredictability or flash.”
“If Team USA wants momentum heading into the free skate, they need a huge performance tonight.”
Comments
“Dean in Olympic mode is genuinely terrifying”
“this man always peaks at exactly the right time”
“i’m stressed and i’m not even competing”
“foster looks way too calm right now”
“bro skates like his pulse never goes above 60”
“the most Dean Foster thing imaginable would be casually dropping a huge score and acting like nothing happened”
“he’s the human embodiment of ‘business as usual’”
“everybody keeps talking about momentum and he’s probably thinking about lunch”
“if Velkarya keeps climbing this gets really interesting really fast”
“team event suddenly got spicy”
“manifesting chaos and personal bests”
“Dean Foster’s greatest enemy remains Dean Foster deciding to be ambitious”
“that man is either winning a medal or reducing his coach’s lifespan by ten years”
Chapter Twenty
February 7
Dean
The music cut off sharply,but adrenaline roared through me.
I stayed exactly where I was at center ice, my chest heaving, the lights blazing down hard enough to make the whole arena shimmer around the edges. Then the crowd hit me all at once, the sound crashing through the space in a wave so loud it felt physical.
I laughed before I could stop myself, a noise of pure relief and exhilaration.
It wasn’t perfect. It didn’t need to be.
I’d left everything on the ice and knew it.
I turned toward the Team USA section as applause thundered around the arena, my heart pounding when I saw the joy on my teammates’ faces, then I skated hard toward the exit, my pulse still rapid.
The second I came through the gate, Mark grabbed my shoulder.
“I told you not to think about beating someone else,” he said roughly over the noise. “I told you to go out there and skate the best you could.”
I was still trying to catch my breath.
