Olympic Opines

Alpine Skiing - Ladies Slalom:

• After the first run of two, a pair of German sisters were in 2nd and 4th and hoping to both end on the podium. Unfortunately, the one in 4th place DNF'd on her second run but her sister ended with the gold!
• The Americans did not have a great showing here, Lindsey Vonn DNF'd very shortly after starting her first run.

Short Track Speed Skating - Men's 500m:

• Apolo Ohno's descriptions of this event are much better than anything I can come up with. It really is forty seconds of all out sprint craziness. This race definitely lived up to that on the last turn with 2 racers going down, the winner staggering across the finish line and ultimately spinning around, and the other getting disqualified.
• The final consisted of two Canadians, a South Korean, and American Apolo. Unfortunately, Apolo was in fourth place immediately off the start and had a difficult time just trying to keep up with the sprinting pack.
• On the last turn, Apolo tried to cut to the inside and put his hand up so as not to run into one of the Canadian skaters who ultimately fell. Not sure the reasoning other than because Apolo's hand was on him when he fell, Apolo got disqualified and the Canadian was given bronze. Kendall said using the laws of physics and watching the slow motion replay it isn't possible that Apolo made him fall.
• Ok fine I'll be gracious like Apolo and acknowledge that I have to accept what the referee calls but I have a large "BUT". My issue is twofold. First, why is the referee a Canadian when there were two Canadians in the final, the referee should be from a country NOT represented in the final. Secondly, the other Canadian that got gold made contact with the South Korean when he fell but was not disqualified for what looked to me to be a very similar situation to Apolo's. Also, the South Korean grabbed the Canadian's skate when he fell probably not on purpose but nonetheless why was that not a cause for being disqualified as well.
• Anyway, it was a spectacular finish with the gold medal Canadian crossing the finish line first but very off balance. Apolo crossed second but was DSQ'd. After falling, the South Korean slid his feet across the finish line in third. The final Canadian got up and crossed the line in fourth so it would be considered that he finished the race.
• Fun to watch but I don't agree with the outcome. But, must say I have great respect for how Apolo handles himself. He did not sugarcoat his disagreeing opinion but he accepted the outcome anyway.

Short Track Speed Skating - Women's 1000m:

• The lone American in the final here is named Catherine so I was routing extra for her! =) Turns out she is really good too and finished with a silver. Yay Catherine and team USA!

Short Track Speed Skating - Men's 5000m Relay:

• On the same night and probably within an hour of the men's 500m final, Apolo is back on the ice with the rest of the U.S. four man relay team.
• The organized chaos was very close throughout the entire race with U.S. holding down 4th place until...Apolo. He's my speed skating hero lol! Apolo made a pass near the very end to secure bronze and pushed his foot way forward and around another skater when crossing the line in an attempt for silver. Alas, it wasn't quite far enough but the U.S. earned the bronze and Apolo earned his record 8th medal. The most medals for a Winter Olympian! The Michael Phelps of the Winter Olympics perhaps?!?

Alpine Skiing - Men's Slalom:

• Bode did pretty much the exact same thing Lindsey did in this event and DNF'd near the very top of the course on his first run.
• If anything else monumental happened, I've forgotten it!

Snowboarding - Men's Parallel Giant Slalom:

• Didn't know this snowboarding event existed, not to mention it's also an Olympic sport!
• The snowboards used in this event are a slightly different shape than the ones you typically see on the slopes. Longer and narrower I believe.
• The course is two slalom courses side by side that are mirror images of each other. Two snowboarders compete at the same time then switch courses and the times are added together.
• For the second race, there is a delayed start corresponding to the amount of time the slower snowboarder was behind in the previous race. One racer attempted to time his gate opening and failed causing him to fall spectacularly and be delayed even further in his start while he got back up. Needless to say, he did not advance.

Long Track Speed Skating - Men's Team Pursuit:

• There are two teams of three skaters on opposite ends of the ice competing at the same time. The skaters on each team stay together and take turns leading and drafting off each other.
• The American team of one veteran and two relative unknowns unexpectedly found themselves in the gold medal race with the Canadian team but ultimately ended up with the silver.

Bobsled - Men's Four Man Team:

• It had been 60+ years since the U.S. got the gold in this event and now the U.S. and the four man "Night Train" team have earned gold for the U.S. once again.

Figure Skating - Exhibition Gala:

• Probably the only exhibition of the Games allowed from any sport but I think it's partly monetary motivated and I love it and I'm glad they do it. The top 5 of each discipline got to perform.
• Not much to say but it is really worth watching the entire thing if you want to see the best of the best skate in a much more relaxed atmosphere while still doing difficult and creative skills!

Ice Hockey - Men's:

• Well I didn't really watch this entire gold medal game, only saw clips of it. But, I feel like this summary of the Olympics would be incomplete without mentioning its supposed epic-ness.
• The Canadians and Americans were in the gold medal game on Canadian soil. Both teams had decimated the competition leading up to this game and the U.S. had already beat Canada once in an earlier meeting during the Olympics. The U.S. tied the game at 2-2 in the final seconds of the game causing it to go into overtime. Eventually, the Canadians scored the game winning goal and the host country could not have been more ecstatic!

Closing Ceremonies:

• Loved how the beginning poked fun at the malfunction of the torch in the Opening Ceremonies. A very appropriate way to address and acknowledge what had happened.
• Overall I was a bit disappointed that the Closing Ceremony festivities because they did not live up to the entertainment of the Opening Ceremonies. There seemed to be more speeches, "boring" singing, and the props just seemed cheap like from a parade. It wasn't bad but it just wasn't up to what I was expecting.

Other Notes:

• The U.S. won the most medals of the Olympics with 37. This is a record for any country in a Winter Olympics. It's also the first time the U.S. finished the Winter Olympics with the most medals.
• Canada won the most gold medals with 14! This is more than the silver and bronze medals they won combined.
• I'm glad they changed the Summer and Winter Olympics back in the early 1990's to have one be every two years instead of in the same year.

Up next...Sochi, Russia 2014!

Olympic Opines

Alpine Skiing - Ladies Giant Slalom:

• The course was VERY foggy, I'm sure the cameras made it appear worse than it really was but still it was bad enough they postponed the second run until the following day.
• Lindsey Vonn crashed half way down the course so DNF'd. She broke her finger! This girl is either awesome or gets injured, seems to be no in between for her. She literally goes for broke, ok that was a bad pun LOL.
• Apparently, more than one skier can be on the course at a time. Reminds me a bit how they run autocrosses. Fellow American Julia Mancuso was following Lindsey so got yellow flagged to stop due to the safety issue with Lindsey's crash. Julia did get a re-run but it did not go as well as she hoped putting her in 18th. She was quite upset and as the defending Olympic champ I'm sure that's not the run she'd been hoping for.

Cross Country Skiing - Men's 4x10km Relay:

• Much more exciting to watch than I anticipated. It's a lot like any other kind of race but with different scenery and footwear. The sport in general looks grueling or maybe just an excellent workout!

Long Track Speed Skating - Ladies 5000m:

• The Czech woman that won the first gold for her country (either in this sport or Winter Olympics in general, I can't remember which) in an earlier event during this Olympics earned a second gold in this event!

Bobsledding - Women's Two Man (Final 2 Heats):

• The U.S. sled #2 managed 2 more clean runs to stay on the podium and finish with a bronze. The gold and silver went to two Canada teams.
• There were a few scary crashes during this event. If I had to slide down an ice track I would definitely choose bobsled because at least you have some kind of protection. Kendall proposes a lid or hatch for the top so when they flip there's more protection than just a helmet as well as it being more aerodynamic lol.

Short Track Speed Skating - Men's 500m Qualifications:

• The Americans are doing well at crashing just before qualifying so they don't get to advance. I suggest lessons from Apolo Ohno. However, Apolo does advance along with one other American.

Short Track Speed Skating - Ladies 3000m Relay:

• There are four teams in the final with all 16 athletes on the ice at once. Definitely organized chaos! When they tag the next person to go they give them a push. Each teammate must do 1.5 laps I think and after that, it's totally up to them when they trade off. That's my basic understanding but I could be wrong!
• The U.S. trailed behind after a number of laps and ended in 4th. However, a sketchy pass made by a South Korean caused them to be disqualified so the Chinese were moved into first and USA got the bronze! The South Koreans at the rink and around the world were not happy and the judge had to later be pulled from the competition for his safety! Yikes people, it's a sport, not life and death!

Freestyle Skiing - Ladies Aerials:

• The Chinese gymnastics background is so very helpful. Heard a coach say they already know how to do the tricks properly, just have to teach them how to ski! Several of them finished near the top.
• But, it was an Aussie that came away with the gold! They're pretty decent at gymnastics too.

Alpine Skiing - Ladies Giant Slalom:

• Julia redeems herself on the second run of the slalom but still no medal and finished in 8th.

Nordic Combined - Men's Large Hill/10km CC:

• This was an individual event. There were two U.S. men in the top 3 along with an Austrian all battling for gold. Everyone else trailed a fair distance behind.
• The U.S. men managed to finish gold and silver, first ever medals for the U.S. in this event and they got two!

Freestyle Skiing - Men's Aerials:

• Craziness after watching the women because they do even more flips and twists.
• Noticeably different from the women was a ton more crashes on the landings. Nothing scary, they just didn't stay vertical after landing.
• One American did a trick he calls the "Hurricane": 3 flips and 5 twists! It helped earn him the silver medal.

Figure Skating - Women's Long Program:

• Excellent job to the top ladies especially for giving it their best. Made it very enjoyable to watch.
• I was very glad Joannie Rochette of Canada turned in another great skate and held on to the bronze medal. So touching and impressive to see someone perform that well under those kind of circumstances.
• Most impressive to me was American Mirai Nagasu. If she continues to compete like this, the future of American figure skating is definitely bright! She improved from 6th to 4th!
• Rachael Flatt also skated really well but didn't score as highly as I expected and dropped from 5th to 7th which kind of surprised me.
• The Japanese did really well too, they're fun to watch. The silver medalist competed two triple axels with one in combination with another jump making her the first woman to ever land three triple axels in a competition!!
• Kim Yu-Na of South Korea is in such a category of her own and deservedly won the gold!