SOCHI, Russia – Japan figure skaters Mao Asada and Akiko Suzuki headed to Armenia to train after the team event at the Sochi Olympics.
It was a quick trip. The place was too cold.
These are the Winter Olympics. It's supposed to be chilly. But it has seemed more like the Spring Games most of the way as temperatures soared in Sochi.
The Japanese left on Feb. 10 and returned on the 15th, before previous plans to come back. They chose Armenia because there is a direct flight from Sochi and the Japanese federation held a camp in last September there. Suzuki and some other skaters visited and practiced there.
Because the rink was so cold, however, they were back in Sochi pretty soon.
The skaters didn't comment on the conditions in Armenia, but five-time world champion Michelle Kwan, a double Olympic medalist, noted that cold conditions definitely affect skaters.
"You can't get your work done," Kwan said. "It makes it really hard to train."
What if a rink is too warm? Kwan smiled. "Never happens."
— By Barry Wilner — Twitter http://twitter.com/wilner88
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Associated Press reporters are filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
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