Summary of Olympic results 2/16
Women’s luge awarded medals today. Tatjana Huefner, of Germany, won gold. Austrian Nina Reithmayer won silver. Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger took the bronze.
American Erin Hamlin went into the Olympics a world champion, but finished in 16th. American Julia Clukey was 17th, and Megan Sweeney was 22nd.
In women’s 500m speed skating Korea’s Sang-Hwa [...]
Men’s figure skating short program
It was a great night for Yevgeny Plushenko and Evan Lysacek. An okay night for Johnny Weir. And a terribly miserable night for Jeremy Abbott.
Less than a point separated Plushenko and Lysacek, setting up quite a showdown tomorrow night. In third and fourth were Japanese skaters Daisuke Takahashi and Nobunari Oda. [...]
Olympic Schedule 2/16
So, what’s on today’s schedule?
Today was supposed to be Super Combined in men’s downhill, but due to poor weather conditions (blowing now and low visibility), that event has been pushed to Friday. At this rate, Alpine skiing will finish up sometime in March or April.
Presumably, the snow won’t stop biathlon (it’s still on the [...]
Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo take gold
After 18 years of skating together, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo finally have a gold medal. The Chinese couple came out of retirement just to pursue this honor. It wasn’t the most beautiful performance ever, filled with several mistakes small and large, but it was enough to keep them in first place.
This marked [...]
Men’s 500m speed skating sees ice problems
There was an hour delay between the first group of skaters and the second in today’s 500m race. The ice resurfacing machines caused the ice to be so bumpy that coaches refused to let their racers compete until the ice was fixed.
After the first round, American Shani Davis withdrew to concentrate on Wednesday’s 1000m [...]
Olympic Schedule 2/15
Today’s schedule is another busy one.
Pairs figure skating finishes up today with the free skate. No Americans are in serious contention, so the sentimental favorites are the Chinese pair of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao. The three time World Champions and real life married couple came out of retirement to pursue Olympic gold. [...]
Medals 2/14
So, here are the medals we didn’t cover today:
Men’s single luge 4th run concluded with gold going to Germany’s Felix Loch, silver to David Moller, also German and bronze to Armin Zoeggeler of Italy. Times were still very good and the track was fast despite the efforts made to slow it down.
In Women’s 3000m speed skating [...]
Pairs Figure Skating short program
Olympics figure skating kicked off tonight with the pairs short program. As expected, the night ended with China’s Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao on top with a world record 76.66. In second was Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany and Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Aleksandr Smirnov were in third. American pair [...]
Johnny Weir
If you follow figure skating at all, I’m sure you know who Johnny Weir is. Even if you don’t, you may have seen the recent viral email with him singing karaoke to “Before He Cheats”. I’d include the video here, but 1) it’s not available on YouTube and 2) it was REALLY terrible!
Anyway, [...]
Olympic schedule 2/14
Are you wondering what events to cuddle up and watch with your special someone today?
Here are my favorites for the day— figure skating pairs short program and men’s moguls.
In pairs figure skating, Americans face an uphill battle. The last figure skating pairs medal was a bronze in 1988, and the U.S. has never won [...]
Ohno Ties Blair
The men’s 1500m short track final ended with a shocking surprise. Just when it looked like the three South Korean competitiors had the podium locked up, two of the skaters got tangled and crashed into the side of the rink. South Korean Lee Jung-Su captured gold, but Apolo Ohno was able to slide into silver and tie Bonnie [...]
Yea, Apolo Ohno!!!
And J.R. Celski, too. Apolo Ohno finished second in his first Vancouver Olympic race. J.R. Celski, who nearly bled to death after a race in September, finished third. Korea’s Jung-Su Lee took the gold.
Here’s an interview with Apolo. I’ll be posting the other parts of this interview over the coming days. [...]
J.R. Celski
J.R. Celski is a young member of the U.S. Olympic short track skating team. He made the team back in September, but had a horrible accident at the trials. So, not only has he needed to prepare for the Vancouver Olympics, he also had to learn to walk. The Washington Post ran [...]
Americans shut out in 5000m speed skating
Defending his gold from Torino, Chad Hedrick finished 11th, and Shani Davis finished 12th in today’s first speed skating medal competition. Sven Kramer of The Netherlands took first; Seung-Hoon Lee of Korea took the silver; and Ivan Skobrev won bronze. Hopefully, Hedrick and Davis will do better in upcoming races.
US Figure Skating Team
The US now has an official figure skating team for the Olympics.
The women’s team, which has only two members this year for only the second time since the 1920s, consists of Rachael Flatt, 17, and Mirai Nagasu, 16. There’s a lot of weight on those two young shoulders. If either medals, it will [...]
Will Sasha Cohen Compete in Vancouver Olympics?
It certainly looks like Sasha Cohen is going to try to be a member of the 2010 Olympic figure skating team. That’s pretty amazing considering she hasn’t skated competitively since right after the last Winter Olympics. But she has stated that she intends to skate at U.S. Nationals later this month in a [...]
Davis to Compete in 5 Events
Based on his comments earlier this month, it was assumed Shani Davis would skip the 10,000m individual and compete in team pursuit in 2010. However, he missed the Dec. 24th cutoff date and instead is entered in all 5 individual events, something not attempted by an American since Eric Heiden in 1980. You can’t help [...]
Top 10 Things To Look For In The Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada is just around the corner. For those who haven’t been keeping up on all the winter sports since the last Olympics, here’s a top ten list (in no particular order) of the possible highlights. Just remember, it isn’t just the sports that make the Olympics worth watching!
1. The [...]
List of Sports at the 2010 Olympics
Just a quick list of the sports to be contested at the Vancouver Olympics: Biathlon, Bobsled (or bobsleigh to those nutty Canadians), Curling, Figure Skating, Hockey, Luge, Short-Track Speed Skating,
Skeleton, Alpine Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Ski Jumping, Cross-country Ski Racing, Nordic Combined, Snowboard, and Speed Skating. Each of those sports have multiple events that [...]
Evan Lysacek Eyes a Medal in Vancouver
It’s still over two years until the Vancouver Olympics, but when you’re a world class skater, that time hardly seems like enough. Evan Lysacek hopes that it’s enough time to prepare him to win a gold in Vancouver in 2010. You can read more in his recent interview here.
Apolo Ohno on Dancing With the Stars
If you’re a fan of Apolo Ohno, and you haven’t been watching Dancing With the Stars, you should be. I’ve been really impressed by Apolo’s dance skills. And he and his partner are just as cute as can be. So, tune in on Monday nights to see Apolo showcasing a whole different [...]
Nice feel good skating story
12 year old Stephanie Orton has had a rough life. After being removed from her parents for neglect and living in foster care, her grandmother was finally able to adopt her. To help her build confidence, her grandmother enrolled the 7 year old in skating lessons. Since then Stephanie has flourished, in [...]
