Winter Olympics News » Ski Jumping

Austrian Jumpers Soar

Sherry — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:17:26 +0000

Earlier we reported that the US men’s ski jump team failed to qualify for the eight team final round. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference if we’d gotten in, Austria was so far above everyone else there was no contest. They earned 1107.9 points, 72.1 ahead of the silver placing team from Germany. Norway’s bronze team was a reasonable 5.5 points behind Germany.

The win was so strong the last Austrian jumper, Gregor Schlierenzauer, went for showboat broke and landed at an incredible 146.5 meters. A little shaky, but the points taken from the landing made no difference whatsoever.

Olympic record set on large hill

Jill Manty — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:40:30 +0000

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 won silver, and Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer (a mere baby at the age of 20) took the bronze.

I’m really trying hard to figure out ski jumping. There are some obvious parts. Jump far, land well—walk away with a medal. There are various heats, and you have to continue to qualify to continue moving on. But I don’t really understand yet how the judge’s scoring works. And even the qualifying is a bit confusing.

As I’ve reported earlier, American ski jumpers do not have a lot of financial support. One reason is because it’s simply not very popular here in the United States. But I’m trying to figure out why that is, and I think one reason is because most viewers are nor unlike me. They just don’t necessarily get it. And it’s hard to enjoy what you just don’t understand.

Today’s Olympic schedule 2/19

Jill Manty — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:44:50 +0000

It’s Super G day for the men. The U.S. has only won a medal once in this event, way back in the days of Tommy Moe. America’s best shot at a medal is Bode Miller.

Figure skating moves on to ice dancing today. Torino silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto hope to upgrade that medal to gold, but they have stiff competition in fellow Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White who won the national championship in January. Traditionally, ice dancing has not been an American strong suit. Will this year change that?

Skeleton awards medals today in the men’s and women’s individual competition. Noelle Pikus-Pace, currently in fifth, is in decent position to compete for a medal. Teammate Katie Uhlaender is slightly farther back in ninth place. A couple of the American men also stand a chance to reach the podium. Zach Lund is currently in eight place. Eric Bernotas and John Daly are in 14th and 18th place at the beginning of today’s runs.

Curling has been a pretty big disappointment for the Americans this year. The men need to go undefeated to reach the podium. Today’s challenge? France. The women are looking for their first win as they face Russia.

Ski jumping continues today with the qualifying round for the 125m hill event. The U.S. has a very young team and is not favored to end the 86 year drought since they last medaled in ski jumping. Two time Olympian Anders Johnson is only 20. His teammates, Nick Alexander and Peter Frenette, are making their first trips to the Olympics. You have to really feel for these young guys. They essentially pay their own way to the Olympics. I’ll be writing more about this in the coming week.

Women’s cross country pursuit races today. America has never won a medal in women’s cross-country skiing, and that probably won’t change today. Americans Liz Stephen and Morgan Arritola make their Olympic debut here.

Medals for 2/13

Jill Manty — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:21:44 +0000

I’ve already talked about medals won in several sports, including short track and moguls, but there are several sports that I haven’t mentioned yet.

Women’s Biathlon 7.5km Sprint was today. The winners were Anastazia Kuzmina, of Slovakia; Magdalena Neuner, of Germany; and Marie Dorin, of France. Frankly, this is a sport that I find interesting in theory, but when I actually watch it, it’s not all that exciting. I’m sure this is because I just don’t know enough about it.

Another sport that I have a hard time getting into is the Individual Normal Hill Ski Jumping. I have to admit after ski jumping on Wii Fit, I do have somewhat of a greater appreciation. Today’s event saw the following winners: Simon Ammann, of Switzerland; Adam Malysz, of Poland; and Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer.

It wasn’t a medal game, but I just have to mention that the Canadian women beat Slovakia in hockey EIGHTEEN to nothing! Don’t they have some sort of mercy/pull the plug rule? Maybe they should!

List of Sports at the 2010 Olympics

Jill Manty — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:18:41 +0000

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 fall under them. Check back regularly for a discussion of the different events.

Vancouver may have a ski jumping first

Jill Manty — Wed, 31 May 2006 15:51:01 +0000

If things continue along the current path, Vancouver will be the site of the very first women’s ski jumping Olympic medal. Currently, there are no Olympic events for women in the area of ski jumping, but this could all change soon. The International Ski Federation voted Friday to include an individual women’s event in the 2009 World Championships. This is the first step towards allowing the women to compete in the Olympics.