Italy’s 1st gold of the games
Guiliano Razzoli was the last skier down the mountain. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia waited at the bottom, hoping his combined time of 1:39.48 would get him gold. Olympic gold medalist and bon vivant Alberto Tomba also waited with obvious tense nerves. He had advised his friend and student to approach today’s slalom differently, and worried Italy [...]
More sloppy weather for women’s snowboarding & skiing
Women’s Parallel Giant Snowboard Slalom was closer to surfing than snowboarding today. It was wet, wet, wet, and there were tons of wipeouts. But through it all Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands managed to make it down the hill all ten runs in one piece and with the best final time, winning the first gold [...]
Fog plays a part in Women’s Giant Slalom results
The fog that plagued the first run of the giant slalom and delayed the second run until today returned, giving Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany the edge she needed to win the gold medal. You wouldn’t normally think finishing 6th in the first run would be an advantage, but it enabled her to ski before the [...]
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, [...]
Giant Slalom disappoints USA
Ted Ligety, the US’s best bet for medalling in giant slalom finished a disappointing 9th today. Bode Miller’s risky style didn’t work for him at all; he clipped a gate then ran off course completely. Of course, Miller hasn’t won a giant slalom since December 2005. Plus, he started the season late, so he is [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Vonn takes Bronze
Lindsey Vonn may not be disappointed, but I am. I don’t know, I just expected a bigger finish for her this year. Vonn even did well in the middle of the Super G course, which gave the majority trouble, but slowed down at the bottom. Maybe it was the bruised shins from the super-combined wipeout, [...]
Two US Skiers get the Podium
The trick about Super G is that while it’s the same course as downhill, the start is lower down and the turns crisper. Plus, the skiers don’t get a warm-up run, just an inspection of the course. In a way, they have to remember how they skied during the downhill competition and adapt their style [...]
Another bad crash
Swede Patrik Järbyn crashed during the Super G and had to be stretchered off of the hill. No further information is currently available. We’ll update as soon as possible.
Another alpine medal for the American women
No, not Lyndsey Vonn. Today it was teammate Julia Mancuso. She became the first American woman to win three alpine medals. She would be my daughter’s favorite skier, since she’s always wearing a pretty tiara. Who doesn’t love a princess tiara?
No win situation?
I was listening to Jim Rome today in the car because 1. that’s what my husband was listening to the last time he was in the car, so it was on when I got in and 2. he was talking about the Olympics. Specifically, he was talking about Lyndsey Vonn and her discussions about [...]
Today’s events 2/18
This is going to be a very brief rundown of today’s events:
Women’s Super Combined— potentially more medals for Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Vonn.
Biathlon— Could there be a medal for American Tim Burke? Will Norway be happier with their results today?
Men’s Figure Skating—Who’s getting the gold? Evan Lysacek, Evgeni Plushenko, or someone else entirely?
Snowboarding— [...]
Lindsey Vonn finally wins gold
Wow, there were incredible crashes in today’s women’s downhill. Two of them wiped out on the final jump of the race. I can’t believe you can hit the ground at 70+ mph and get up and walk away. Unbelievable.
But at the end of it all Lindsey Vonn walked away with the gold, [...]
Today’s events 2/17
Did you miss me? My “real” job kept me busy this morning, so I’m just now getting around to posting what’s going on today. Fortunately, due to the wonders of tape delay (ha-ha), you won’t be able to see most of these events until ten tonight, anyway.
First up, after days of delays, women’s [...]
What are all these Alpine Skiing events?
Alpine skiing has so many variations: downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Super Combined. If you’re not a skier, this can be confusing.
Downhill is the longest, fastest race. There is a path that skiers need to stay on, but it doesn’t require the precision of slalom. Speeds reach about 90 mph.
Slalom [...]
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 [...]
Bode Miller wins bronze!!
American Bode Miller won bronze today, marking only the third time that an American has won ANY medal in downhill. It was an amazingly tight race, with Bode only .02 seconds behind Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, who won silver, and .09 seconds behind Didier Defago of Switzerland, who took gold. That amounts to [...]
Olympic Downhill– Do you want to know? (no results included in this post)
I’ve already seen the results of the the men’s downhill, which won’t be televised until sometime between 7 and 11 tonight. So, dear readers, the question is— do you want results posted before they’ve been televised? I can post them with a spoiler alert in the subject line, or I can wait to [...]
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. [...]
Will There Be Snow for Vancouver?
As Americans watch the Northeast get buried under record snowfall, Canadians must be wondering, “Why not Vancouver?” With the Olympic games just days away and athletes already arriving for practice sessions, officials are scrambling to make Vancouver’s Cypress Mountain suitable for use. Whistler’s slopes have plenty of snow and will pose no problem, but Cypress [...]
Lindsey Vonn may be out for the 2010 Olympics
Lindsey Vonn, one of the most successful female downhill skiers for the U.S., appears to have broken her arm during the Women’s World Cup giant Slalom, in Lienz, Austria, Monday, Dec. 28, 2009. She was heading into this competition in first place in the World Cup standings. Vonn was considered a threat to [...]
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 [...]
