Exciting final another disappointment for USA hockey
Given the hoopla surrounding the previous USA-Canada match-up, I, like many fans, looked forward to another exceptional game and some great Olympic hockey. I was not disappointed. It almost made up for missing the first game.
Canada must have been completely surprised and humiliated by the 5-3 beating they took in the preliminaries, because after a [...]
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 [...]
“Night Train” steams to gold in 4-man bobsleigh
Steve Holcomb and USA-1 came through with the win in the 4-man bobsleigh. Night Train certainly lived up to the hype of “fastest sled in the world.” Holcomb wasn’t joking when he said the 2-man was just a warm-up for 4-man. I don’t think USA-1 fell behind at any point, they always ended the run [...]
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 [...]
Patriotic crowd cheers Canada’s curlers to victory
Donald Sutherland looked on, standing and cheering with the rest of the mainly Canadian crowd, as the home team took gold in this afternoon’s men’s curling final. Though it was not quite as exciting as the women’s final, there was still plenty of great shots and surprise steals. Canada took the lead early in the [...]
Team pursuit speed skating results
The USA men’s pursuit team did us proud today, finishing 21 hundredths of a second behind the Canadian team. Team leader Chad Hedrick was hoping for gold, as he plans on retiring after this Olympics, but they weren’t expected to make it this far, so he shouldn’t be too disappointed. Teammates Brian Hansen and Johnathan [...]
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 [...]
Men’s biathlon relay results
Norway won gold in the men’s biathlon relay today. Anchoring the 4-man team was Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, giving him his 6th gold medal, 11 in total. Bjoerndalen is has the most medals of any biathlete in history, and he says he plans to be at the next Olympics, competing at age 40. If he does [...]
Two great opportunities for USA gold
The first 2 heats of men’s 4-man bobsled were completed today. Steve Holcomb drove the much talked about “Night Train” sled to back-to-back record speeds on the challenging track. The USA-1 team finished in 1st place with a nice .4 second lead (doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, that’s good.) Tomorrows racing should be [...]
Women’s 1000m short track and men’s relay results
Heart pounding short track racing continued this evening with some great outcomes for the US and tons of excitement for those watching.
The final four in the women’s short track were Katherine Reutter of the US, Wang Meng and Zhou Yang of China, and Park Seung-Hi of South Korea. There were no false starts and no [...]
Crazy finish to men’s 500m short track
The final race for the 500m short track had an explosive ending. I swear, it looked more like roller derby than short track. Apolo Ohno started behind, struggling to pass, the other skaters holding in a tight formation. All of a sudden, just a few feet before the finish line Ohno touched Francois-Louis Tremblay of [...]
Intense women’s curling final
If you still don’t think curling can be exciting, you weren’t watching the women’s final between Canada and Sweden this afternoon. Of course, the majority of the crowd was Canadian, and you’ve never heard such a ruckus. They’ve been very vocal throughout the whole tournament; ringing cowbells, cheering, and donning outrageous outfits. You’d have thought [...]
USA whips Finland; headed for final!
It was no contest this afternoon when team USA took on Finland in the semi-final hockey round. Ryan Malone scored at 2 minutes 4 seconds in the first period and it was downhill for Finland from there. All 6 of the USA’s goals were made in that first period, and Finland never seemed to recover [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Speedy Peterson lands the “Hurricane” for silver
Alexsei Grishin of Belrus made it look very easy, spinning through the air with incredible control and precision on the landing. There is no question he deserved the gold for his performance.
There was a feeling of deja vu when you saw Jaret “Speedy” Peterson at the top of the hill preparing for his final run [...]
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 [...]
Canada wins hockey battle
I can’t get too upset with Canada’s win over team USA today in the gold match. I finally got to see a really good game played by the women. It was obvious why everyone was saying the final match-up would be between these two, great teams. You can see the training and dedication on both sides that makes [...]
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, [...]
