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!