The Favorites: A Novel(121)
Veronika Volkova: The medal ceremony was delayed for weeks.
A perfunctory ceremony is conducted for the remaining ice dance medalists. Francesca Gaskell and Evan Kovalenko are given the gold, while Yelena Volkova and Dmitri Kipriyanov are bumped up from bronze to silver.
Francesca Gaskell: That wasn’t how I wanted to win. Believe me.
As soon as the ceremony ends, Yelena throws her medal at her aunt’s feet and storms off.
Veronika Volkova: It was an emotional time for us all.
The image freezes on Yelena’s retreating figure and fades to black and white. Superimposed text reads: “In the aftermath of the Sochi Games, Yelena Volkova abruptly quit the sport. We attempted to contact her before production began, but her current whereabouts are unknown.”
Ellis Dean: So after all that, little Frannie Gaskell got to be Olympic champion.
Francesca Gaskell: Would I have agreed to this interview if I had anything to hide?
Ellis Dean: And the next season, the Gaskells tripled their usual annual donation to U.S. Figure Skating. Totally aboveboard and not infuriatingly corrupt at all.
Francesca Gaskell: The question you should be asking is: if Kat and Heath are so innocent, why did they refuse to talk to you? Why am I here, and they aren’t, huh?
Jane Currer: We may never know the truth for certain. We made the best decision we could, given the circumstances.
Inez Acton: Kat and Heath were robbed. I don’t care what anyone says.
Francesca Gaskell: I for one would love to know what they have to say for themselves. Since apparently I’ll be spending my entire life defending my accomplishments.
Ellis Dean: I know what really went down in Sochi. The rest of the world deserves Shaw and Rocha’s true story too.
Francesca Gaskell: I’m an Olympic champion. I’m a philanthropist. I’m a good person.
Producer (Offscreen): No one said you weren’t, Ms. Gaskell. But back to my question: how would you define your relationship with Dmitri Kipriyanov?
Francesca Gaskell: You know what? (She starts to remove her mic.) That’s enough.
Producer (Offscreen): Ms. Gaskell, please, we—
Francesca Gaskell: I should have known you people weren’t interested in the truth.
Ellis Dean: But I guess that’s up to you now, huh? (He winks at the camera.)
Back to Francesca’s interview, as she stands up and walks out of frame, leaving an empty chair in front of a row of rosebushes. The shot zooms in tight on a golden yellow cluster of blooms.
Garrett Lin: I don’t think Kat and Heath cared about the medals anymore. That’s the truth.
Kirk Lockwood: A few days after the hearing, Heath’s doctors determined it would be safe for him to travel back to the United States.
Security camera footage shows Katarina and Heath arriving incognito at Logan International Airport in Boston. Heath appears thin and weak, and Katarina pushes him in a wheelchair.
Kirk Lockwood: They got back just in time for the birth.
Candid snapshots from the hospital show Bella and Heath cradling their infant daughter. Garrett, Andre, and Kirk take turns holding her too. Finally, the baby is placed in Katarina’s arms. Katarina looks stiff and uncomfortable, but she smiles at Heath.
Garrett Lin: She was so freaking tiny! The most beautiful baby I’d ever seen, and it’s not even close. Bella and Heath decided to name her after our mother. Not the name everyone knew her by, but her given name. Her real name.
A Kiss & Cry post announces the birth of Mei Lin-Rocha and wishes the family well.
Garrett Lin: I figured we’d all go back to California. But when my sister told us what she had in mind, she shocked everyone.
Kirk Lockwood: Bella didn’t want her baby raised in the Hollywood limelight like she and Garrett had been. So she decided to move to Illinois and start a new skating school there.
Garrett Lin: There had never been some great romance between Bella and Heath, but they turned out to be great co-parents. And Kat was a surprisingly excellent stepmom.
Ellis Dean: I’m not saying they were a throuple, but it seemed like they were a throuple.
Garrett Lin: As for Kat and Heath…I won’t claim they lived happily ever after. I’d say they’d proven, though, to themselves and everyone else, nothing could keep them apart for long.
Producer (Offscreen): So what do you think is the true legacy of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha?
Jane Currer: They had such promise, and it’s a shame they never lived up to it.
Kirk Lockwood: I’ve noticed definite changes in ice dance over the past ten years. More skaters taking creative control, asserting agency, pushing the limits of the sport. I can’t say it was all due to Shaw and Rocha’s influence, but they certainly had an impact.
Inez Acton: Katarina Shaw set an example for women—not only female athletes, women everywhere—that you can speak your mind, do things your own way, and win on your terms.
Ellis Dean: Kat and Heath were themselves, always. Whether you loved them or hated them, you sure as hell couldn’t ignore them.
Nicole Bradford: Even as children, they were so intense. That was their greatest strength, and their greatest weakness. But they loved each other, and they loved skating. I think that’s what people will remember most: their love.
Garrett Lin: I don’t like that question. You’re making it sound like they’re dead or something. As far as I’m concerned, if you think Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha are done, you don’t know them at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re just getting started.