Olympic Fever - Page 2

Stinger · #11 (**permalink**) 02-14-2010, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by off the porch

Silver and bronze for Americans in 1500 short track!! Ohno gets his 6th medal in short track equaling Bonnie Blair's record 6 medals.

Great race!!!

mlurp · #12 (**permalink**) 02-15-2010, 02:14 PM

Certain events I will watch. I will see the luge runs. Not hoping for anymore accidents. But at 90 MPH and the most dangerous course it might happen again.

Ski Jumps, skiing and pairs ice Skating..

The Olympics are a lot of sports in one show... Worth the time spent watching IMHO...

team_barlo · #13 (**permalink**) 02-15-2010, 07:07 PM

I LOVE the Olympics! I hope the curling event is as exciting this time as last

Seriously--I enjoy seeing some different sports for a change. Love the figure skating and Ice Dancing.

MrLiberty · #14 (**permalink**) 02-16-2010, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by team_barlo

I LOVE the Olympics! I hope the curling event is as exciting this time as last

Seriously--I enjoy seeing some different sports for a change. Love the figure skating and Ice Dancing.

I love curling as well. When I was in Canada I would go to London and curl with my cousins.

Here is a little history of curling.

The History of Curling - Canadian Curling Association

My favorite Canadian Women Curling Team!

http://www.teamjenniferjones.com/

mlurp · #15 (**permalink**) 02-16-2010, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLiberty

I love curling as well. When I was in Canada I would go to London and curl with my cousins.

Here is a little history of curling.

The History of Curling - Canadian Curling Association

My favorite Canadian Women Curling Team!

TeamJenniferJones.com - Home

I knew there would be women in this.... Curling as in cudling up..

You go man...

I got to see some of the USA wins. Snowboarding, some skiing, them mogals would kill me. back when I skied I misss
ed a trail and found myself looking at them coming up fast. I hit the first one head on and up and away I went.

...The pairs skaters were great, beauty in motion. Except for the blunders... But the added info and history before the event was lost time for me.
But man they have commercials galore.

mlurp · #16 (**permalink**) 02-16-2010, 12:47 PM

Just an update... Why the beef over the Support The troops decals? Anyway there are plenty of links at the site..

Quote:

Great comebacks by Wescott, Miller & Vonn

By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
8 hours, 58 minutes ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—Comebacks make for great Olympics stories, and they come in many forms. Just look at what Seth Wescott, Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn pulled off Monday.

Wescott came to the Winter Olympics as the reigning champion in snowboardcross, yet also as damaged goods. He hurt his leg and pelvis two months ago and it showed in the races since. The American opened Monday’s event by finishing 17th of the 32 riders in qualifying, but found his stride to reach the finals.

Then he found himself way back with five jumps left—only to make it up with a thrilling finish that snatched a gold from the host country.

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Miller completes the Men's downhill.

(Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Miller is America’s most decorated Alpine skier and the guy who let everyone down in 2006, failing to finish higher than fifth. He didn’t earn a medal at the two world championships since then and considered retiring before deciding to give the Olympics one more try. After several days of weather delays, he was one of the first guys down the mountain. The result: a terrific time good enough for bronze, just nine-hundredths of a second behind the winner and only the third-ever downhill medal for the United States.

Vonn was the headliner coming into Vancouver, then all the hype seemed for naught when she revealed a shin injury that made it painful to even wear a ski boot. But the bad weather was a blessing for her recovery and in her first training run early Monday, on the upper section of the course, she had the fastest time in the field.

Then there was a downturn. A bumpy afternoon run on the lower section left her hobbling again and hoping for more weather delays.

With Wescott’s in-race rally and Miller’s career redemption, the United States upped its medal collection to eight, three more than any other country. Americans have won two golds, topped only by Switzerland’s three.

Men’s downhill

Miller’s nine-hundredths of a second behind winner Didier Defago of Switzerland was the smallest margin between gold and bronze in the history of an event that began in 1948.

“It’s such a relief to get a medal,” Miller said. “The fact that those other guys beat me to the hundredth of a second doesn’t bother me.”

The only other Americans to win a medal in the event were golds by Tommy Moe in 1994 and Bill Johnson in ’84.

Miller won silver medals in the giant slalom and the combined events in 2002, then went into the 2006 Winter Olympics as one of the headliners, only to make the wrong kind of history. A fifth-place finish in the downhill started his demise; it turned out to be his best finish. A rebellious, couldn’t-care-less attitude made things worse. This time, the big grin he flashed at the end of his run showed how much this meant to him.

“I was psyched,” Miller said. “I skied hard.”

Lindsey Vonn

The most important thing about Vonn’s training run wasn’t her time. It was simply finishing, which fulfilled the requirement of running the course on the same day at least once.

With a starting spot waiting for her, Vonn will turn her attention to being there. The race is scheduled for Wednesday and there’s another training session Tuesday, although she’s now eligible to skip it.

“The course here is just so bumpy,” Vonn said. “It was a fight just to make it down the whole way.”

Snowboardcross

When Wescott crossed the finish line ahead of Canada’s Mike Robertson, fans gasped and cheered while the 33-year-old champion fell to the ground, exhausted and exhilarated.

Tony Ramoin of France won the bronze.

American Nate Holland, a five-time Winter X Games champ, spun out early in the final foursome.

Figure skating

That Russian-Soviet hold on the pairs figure skating gold? Nyet. Big time.

The Russian duo of Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov finished fourth. It’s the first time since 1960 their countrymen haven’t won this event, much less come home empty-handed.

The winners were China’s Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a married couple that had won bronze twice.

Americans Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig were 10th.

Speedskating

Problems with ice-resurfacing machines caused a delay of about an hour during the men’s 500 meters. But that’s not why American Shani Davis dropped out.

Davis finished 18th in the first race, then withdrew, skipping the second heat to save his energy for the 1,000 on Wednesday night. He’s the defending champion and the world record-holder at that distance.

Gold went to Mo Tae-bum of South Korea, a country better known for its short track speedskaters. Tucker Fredricks was the top American, finishing 12th.

Cross country skiing

Switzerland’s Dario Cologna collapsed across the finish line after winning the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle cross country race. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla led from start to finish to win the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle race.

In the men’s race, Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer won the silver and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic took bronze. James Southam was the top American finisher at 48th.

In the women’s event, Kristina Smigun-Vaehi of Estonia, who won two golds in 2006 but has struggled this season, took silver and Marit Bjoergen of Norway got the bronze. Caitlin Compton finished 30th, the best by an American since 1984.

Luge

A brief, private memorial service was held at a Vancouver funeral home for the Georgian luger killed in a crash during training, then his casket was flown home for burial.

Three Georgian athletes, including figure skater Otar Japaridze, wearing a black armband on his red team jacket, filed past the open casket to touch the body of their fallen teammate, Nodar Kumaritashvili. His uncle and coach, Felix Kumaritashvili, broke into tears outside the funeral home.

The president of Georgia’s Olympic Committee was accompanying the body back to Georgia, where the casket would be received by a spiritual leader.

Kumaritashvili’s father told The Associated Press in Georgia that shortly before the fatal run he spoke to his 21-year-old son, who said he was worried about the track’s speed.

“He told me, ‘I will either win or die,”’ David Kumaritashvili said. “But that was youthful bravado, he couldn’t be seriously talking about death.”

Women’s luge

Reigning world champion Erin Hamlin of the United States came out of the first two runs in 15th place, but came away insisting, “It’s still a race.”

There are two more runs Tuesday. Germany’s Tatjana Huefner is the leader so far.

Bobsled/Skeleton

The head of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is OK with the track at the Whistler Sliding Center.

American skeleton athletes trained on the track Monday for the first time since Kumaritashvili’s death. They were among the majority of competitors who started at the top of the track, bypassing the option of starting from a lower spot. Luge events were moved down the track to make races slower and safer, and indeed there wasn’t a single wreck in the finals. ^Figure skating

Johnny Weir already has decided to drop fur from his costume. Now he’s thinking about adding a quadruple jump to his program.

“What do I have to lose?” Weir said. “I’m not a favorite for a medal here. If I feel like doing it, I will do it.”

The flamboyant three-time U.S. champion has rarely used the four-revolution jump. Urged to do it by his coach, Galina Zmievskaya, Weir pulled off a good one during practice Monday.

Men’s hockey

Attention, Canada: Roberto Luongo will be starting in goal against Norway in the Olympics opener Tuesday, and Martin Brodeur will start Thursday against Switzerland.

The Canadians were upset by the Swiss in 2006, on their way to finishing seventh.

Luongo has won eight of his last 12 starts for Vancouver, and will be playing in his home arena. Brodeur has lost three of his last four starts for the New Jersey Devils and has permitted 25 goals in his last eight games.

Canada also decided to keep Ryan Getzlaf on the roster, deciding his sprained left ankle won’t be a problem.

Women’s hockey

Slovakia scored! Twice! Alas, they still lost.

Sweden beat Slovakia 6-2, which wasn’t as painful as the 18-0 beating by Canada in the opener. The Canadians won, too, also less harshly—10-1 over Switzerland.

U.S. forward Erika Lawler skipped practice Monday after getting the good news that she didn’t break any bones or sprain any ligaments when she crashed into the boards Sunday. Coach Mark Johnson is optimistic Lawler will play Tuesday against Russia.

Great comebacks by Wescott, Miller & Vonn - 2010 Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

off the porch · #17 (**permalink**) 02-18-2010, 05:17 PM

The exuberance of these athletes in their victories over adversities, injuries, and burn-out, whether they are medal winners or not, is just so inspiring to me. They do their personal best and they are fulfilled.

Although I was certainly never an olympic level athlete, I did compete in a sport from the time I was young and on into college. I remember certain victories and I remember certain "personal best" days that I lost against a better opponent, but played extremely well. Many of my "personal best" days were my favorite days.

I see that joy in these athletes on TV. It reminds me of the joy I felt in competition.

Stinger · #18 (**permalink**) 02-18-2010, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlurp

Why the beef over the Support The troops decals?

Because it is the International Olympics and nothing that in any way shape or manner can be construed to be a political statement is allowed. You check all that at the door. Remember the "Black Power" salute?

mlurp · #19 (**permalink**) 02-19-2010, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLiberty

I love curling as well. When I was in Canada I would go to London and curl with my cousins.

Here is a little history of curling.

The History of Curling - Canadian Curling Association

My favorite Canadian Women Curling Team!

TeamJenniferJones.com - Home

I never watched curling B-4 but enjoyed it the other evening.. Go USA.

Really enjoyed the pairs skating teams. Saw Vonn push herself to hard and nailed the pole with her ski...

The mens long program on skates wasn't my favorite. But was worth the watch.
I'm looking forward to the ski jumping... And back the women who want this chance to do it...

saltwn · #20 (**permalink**) 02-24-2010, 05:00 PM

Here are some beautiful pictures posted at my regional newspaper website:

Idaho Statesman | gallery-asset-image

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