Justyna Kowalczyk wins gold for Poland
Poland got their first gold medal of the Vancouver Olympics when Justyna Kowalczyk finished first in women’s 30km mass start. Marit Bjørgen, of Norway, gave her a run for her money, hoping for her fourth gold medal. Bjørgen had to settle for the silver, her fifth medal out of five events. [...]
Another gold for Canada
Canada added yet another gold medal to their haul from the Vancouver Olympics. This one was from Jasey Jay Anderson in Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom. This was his fourth Olympics, so he was certainly due.
It was a race in yet another messy, sloppy foggy day on the mountains surrounding Vancouver. All of [...]
A great night of skating in Vancouver
Women’s figure skating is always interesting to watch. You just never can tell. Coming into tonight, this certainly seemed like Kim Yu-Na’s event to lose. But Mao Asada was determined to give her a run for it. And then bronze seemed pretty much up for grabs. Joannie Rochette, who skated [...]
U.S. Nordic Combined Power House?
For a country that had never won a medal in Nordic Combined, the Americans have really had a HUGE Olympics.
The Americans were definitely helped by the weather today. I’m beginning to learn a bit more about ski jumping. A tiny bit. Enough to know that a tail wind is not a good thing. [...]
Queen of the Vancouver Games
Marit Bjoergen now has three gold medals in Vancouver, as she helped lead the Norwegians to a gold in the women’s cross country 4X5 km race. She still has one more race to ski. Oh, and by the way, she has a bronze, as well. That’s not really someone you want to [...]
Kristi Yamaguchi’s advice to young athletes and their parents
I had the pleasure of talking with Kristi Yamaguchi on the phone today. Yes, she really is as nice as she seems. I asked her some questions about the current Olympics and the newish scoring system, but I also wanted to talk to her about advice for young athletes and their families.
I first [...]
Women’s speedskating and aerials results
The women skated the 5000m tonight. The Czech Republic’s Martina Sablikova took her second gold, followed by Germany’s Stephanie Beckert and Canada’s 37 year old Clara Hughes (who carried the Canadian flag at the Opening Ceremonies).
Women’s aerials also awarded medals tonight. The Chinese are coming on strong as aerialists, coming in second [...]
Lots of short track today
Short track is the best sport if you have a short attention span.
Take the 500m qualifying races today. Generally, you’re looking at 40-45 seconds. Come on, you can pay attention for 40 seconds.
The women’s 3000m relay on the other hand requires you to pay attention for about five minutes. The Americans were [...]
Woohoo! for North American women bobsledders
It was a North American sweep for the women’s bobsledders. Canada took the top two places, followed by the American team in third. Americans were also in the running in fifth and sixth place. It was Canada’s seventh gold of the Vancouver Games. Not bad for a country that hadn’t ever [...]
Women’s giant slalom was impeded by poor visibility
I don’t know if you caught Giant Slalom tonight, but the fog was INSANE. Coaches reported that the skiers could only see about 4 gates ahead. I wonder if the fog contributed to Lindsey Vonn’s crash where she broke her finger. Lindsey Vonn’s crash definitely contributed to problems for teammate Julia Mancuso, [...]
Sweden hangs on to gold in cross country
Sweden went into the final leg of the relay with a 37.5 second lead over Norway’s Petter Northug. France and the Czech Republic were in second and third. When it was all over Sweden was still in first, but Norway was in second, the Czech Republic had passed France for the bronze. [...]
Women’s Biathlon relay results
I didn’t manage to watch this today. The Americans, as expected, were far back in the pack. Russia came in first, France second and Germany was third.
Nordic Combined U.S. Team makes it two!
Two medals in one Olympics for the U.S. Nordic Combined team. Johnny Spillane won silver last Sunday in the Individual Normal Hill event. Now the U.S. took silver in the Team Large Hill. This is a real step forward for the Nordic Combined program here in the United States. Austria took [...]
Olympic events 2/23
Plenty of events to choose from today. What will I be watching?
Men’s Giant Slalom, even though I already know something that I didn’t want to know. Ugh. It’s really difficult to avoid spoilers. Anyway, men’s giant slalom provides another golden opportunity for Ted Ligety and Bode Miller.
Ladies figure skating short program. [...]
Platinum medal for poor sportsmanship?
Evgeni Plushenko has reached an all-time high (or would that be low) in bad sportsmanship. His official website currently has a picture of the medals he’s won, including his “platinum” medal from the Vancouver games. Yep, no picture of the silver (that he ought to be stripped of, frankly, since it means so [...]
Cross country results
In the women’s team sprint, German snagged the gold, Sweden the silver and Russia the bronze. Germans Claudia Nystad and Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle are veterans and quite a bit older, but that didn’t slow them down today. This was the fourth Oympics for both. Somewhat surprisingly, the American team finished 6th. That’s [...]
Julia Mancuso
Wondering about Julia Mancuso, the skier with the tiara? If so, you’re not alone. Lots of people are searching for her since her wins earlier this week in alpine skiing.
So, here are the basics about Julia. 25 year old Julia is a native of Lake Tahoe, California, she’s always been quite [...]
A really slow Olympics day
It’s an oddly slow day for the Olympics today. Men’s and women’s team sprint in cross country. Ice dancing free dance and the determination of the medal in that event. Team large hill in ski jumping. Then there’s the seemingly ever present curling and hockey, as well as a qualifier in [...]
German team wins gold and sets record
The German team of Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske won the two man bobsled gold medal. That made Andre Lange the recipient of four bobsled gold medals, a record. German teammates Thomas Florschuetz and Richard Adjei brought home the silver, and Russian team Alexsandr Zubkov and Alexey Voevoda won bronze.
The Germans seem to [...]
Bode Miller Wins Gold!!!
I’m so happy for Bode. I’m also sick of hearing what a disappointment he was in Torino and how he must have been sitting around hanging his head in shame for the past four years. But now commentators can just shut up and leave him alone. He skied a good downhill and [...]
Americans fail to qualify for quarterfinals of ski cross
Huge bummer. Ski cross debuted today at the Olympics. Unfortunately, Casey Puckett and Darren Rahlves failed to qualify for the quarterfinals. I was so looking forward to ski cross, too. And, yes, I’m one of those viewers who has a hard time enjoying once “my” team is out of it.
Michael Schmid, [...]
Three HOURS of Russia vs CZE Hockey???
Really? There are no words. Is nothing else happening at the Olympics right now? This is the only thing that NBC could find to broadcast?
What are you watching today?
There are six medals being awarded today. Which contests will you be watching?
In alpine skiing, you can watch Men’s Super Combined, which combines one downhill run with one slalom run. American Ted Ligety is the defending Olympic champion, but look for Americans Bode Miller and Andrew Weibrecht to give him a run for [...]
Disappointment and record for Apolo Ohno
It was an exciting evening of short track skating. J.R. Celski failed to make the finals after getting tangled up with a Canadian skater and being disqualified in the semifinal. As an aside, that was a weird one for me, as it sure looked like he was grabbed by the Canadian, but I [...]
Olympic record set on large hill
Simon Ammann, of Switzerland, became the first Olympic ski jumper to win four individual titles. His bindings had been in dispute, but the powers that be ruled that they did not violate the rules. Some complained that they made him more aerodynamic and, thus, allowed him to jump farther. Poland’s Adam Malysz [...]
