The Numbers Don't Lie

You spend hours convincing yourself that all the hard work is paying off. That you are, indeed, better than you were the day before.
But still, you need the extra something that puts it all in real perspective for you. It's called validation and in figure skating, at least, the ultimate example of that lies on the scoresheet.
Consider Joannie Rochette fully validated, at least for this day.
The four-time Canadian champion from Ile-Dupas, Que., has never been better in a short program than she was Friday afternoon at HomeSense Skate Canada International. The numbers on the scoreboard at Scotiabank Place didn't lie: 64.74 points, an impressive 4.7 better than her previous high (at the 2008 Four Continents Championship in Korea).
That put Rochette on top of the heap heading in Saturday's free skate final, nearly seven points ahead of Japan's Fumie Suguri.
"I can't explain how I'm feeling," said Rochette, who has spoken at length about the gains she's made since the world championships last March in Gothenburg, Sweden, where she placed a career-best fifth. "It's just different and I hope I can keep it the rest of the season."
Then the analytical side of this introspective young woman took over.
"My first goal tonight was to improve my program component score, my artistic mark," she said. "We achieved that (28.04 points). I think my best before was 25, 26.
"I'm really happy the judges saw the difference in me."
While it's just the beginning of the long road to the 2009 worlds in Los Angeles — not to mention the Vancouver Olympics a year later — Rochette admitted "it's really important to come to the first competition of the year and make an impact and give a new look to yourself, and I think we achieved that."
In the background, Rochette's coach, Manon Perron, couldn't stop smiling as she gave her own nod of approval. But we've all been there — that's the kind of support we all crave and need from the people around us who matter the most.
In this sport, though, there's another group of people whose opinion happens to count for more than anybody else's.
"I was happy with the score and I can say 'mission accomplished,' " said Rochette. "It's one thing if people around you tell you that you are better but it's another to see it reflected in the mark. We're just so, so happy with that."