Be it Day 5 or 4, Feb. 10 churned out a great day of Olympic action!
--The men's 500m speed-skating final was certainly something. First, the Netherlands' Ronald Mulder posted the fastest time in the medal run. Then, his identical twin brother, Michel, bested his time, leaving Ronald to sulk on the bench with his head down in his hands. Right after that, fellow countryman Jan Smeekers topped his time, and Michel was left to sulk on the bench with his head down in his hands. Ten seconds later, however, Michel's time was adjusted, and instead of hitting the time he needed exactly, Smeekers was now off by 1/100th of a second, leaving him the silver medal-winner and a re-delighted Michel Mulder the gold medalist (with Ronald still with the bronze).
Understandably, Smeekers was dejected, a moment made even worse by his exuberant celebration over the then-victory. Time adjustments are apparently no stranger to the sport and Smeekers, ever the good sports- and countryman, understood as much and made no complaints about it. Yet, despite the Netherlands finally winning the last speed-skating event on the men's side that had long eluded them, I don't think I've ever seen such despair between three people in such a short period of time, especially in sweeping an event for their country. At least they were in better spirits afterwards (well, Michel, at the very least).
--What can't be missed is this silver-lining: Michel & Ronald's parents must've been very pleased to see both of their sons medal in the same event from the stands. Twin medalists all the way…
--Nice to see Charles Hamelin win the 1500m in short-track speed-skating, but not as good to see J.R. Celski come up short due to a competitor's fall, which disrupted his then-impressive skate. Special mention goes to the bronze medalist, the-skater-formerly-known-as-Ahn-Hyun-Soo, a.k.a Victor An, who left his competitively-crowded South Korea to remake a niche for himself in Russia, where he held dual-citizenship. Despite everything, he showed he is still quite potent (which speaks volumes about his former country's depth)
--I wonder if I was the only one who had Future Diary/Mirai Nikki flashbacks whenever Victor Ahn~ was mentioned…
--Dequan Chen (China). So it actually is an "actual" actual name…
--Watching Alex Bilodeau (Canada) repeat as mogul's champion (well-earned and -deserved), and his older brother, who has cerebral palsy, enthusiastically cheering him on once again was one of the best feel-good and emotional moments of the Olympics, thus far, as they were last time. The most affecting was seeing Bilodeau talk glowingly about how much more capable his brother would've been compared to himself, which always makes…
--I thought the revamped pooling in women's hockey was supposed to lower the number of blowouts?
--Those luge suits are a little, *ahem*, tight on the females…What, it's right there…
--I thought everyone wore something under them? Isn't anyone cold? I mean, you're sliding over 80 mph in the cold down in that direction…but then again, it is a bit warmer and…You know what? I'll be quiet right now…
--If there is one thing that has been pleasing about the Sochi Games, thus far, it has to be the genuine jubilation and appreciation expressed by the younger athletes. They understand the importance and prestige, but are also laid back and just having fun out there, which is vitally important for the future of the Olympics in terms of it staying fresh and inviting for them. Just watch Sage Kotsenburg's late-night interview with Bob Costas or any Kate Hansen featurette…
--Speaking of Costas, it was all levels of hilarious watching him and Mary Carillo get instantly torn upon downing those small shots of vodka. And now you know why live consumption of alcohol is frowned upon by, even for a news story…But don't let that get in the way of a good story…
Day 6? Or Perhaps 5?
Thought that day was great? Feb. 11 was even better!!
--Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (Russia) gave a short program worthy of a record-breaking score. Sure, it was basically the same one they did in the team competition, but the caliber of execution and difficulty was high, and they and the crowd were having a blast with it. And that was only the seventh time they broke it…
--I like that NBC is not playing dumb and still showing what would be tape-delayed primetime events live on TV. That was not the case before and at London, and it was a foolhardy decision that earn them a lot of flack, I'd say it was even more foolhardy in Vancouver, which was in the Pacific time zone, but the practice wasn't done to the extent as with the still-manageable London.
--I know NBC uses different commentators between the live and primetime coverages for at least figure skating, but I didn't think they'd also change the camera angles (or, at least, use zoom in key shots). I prefer the live work, instead, and don't get why the primetime version doesn't list what music some skaters are using, either, which they do for everyone in the live coverage. Weird…
--Big congrats to Erin Hamlin for pulling in the US' first individual luge medal (bronze). However the color, her and her hometown of Remsen, NY (if not the country, too) are celebrating it like it was gold. It was very warming to see how much they appreciate her, particularly after that impromptu late-night parade they had in honor of her podium finish. I'm very proud of her, too…
--Teammate Kate Hansen may have placed 10th, but she managed to place 1st as the Olympic's best dancer. And she's a pretty darn good luger-in-the-making, too,…
--First false start, OK, but the second one seemed so ticky-tack for Judith Hesse (Germany), who was disqualified after a microscopic flinch. I guess that's how it is in speed-skating, but I still felt so bad for her, who never got a chance to even show what she had…
--Neat to see Olga Fatkulina from Chelyabinsk, Russia win the silver medal in a strong 500m event. Ironic that happens nearly a year to the day of the widely-recorded asteroid explosion over the city, which caused damage to the speed-skating facility she uses, among many other buildings.
--In other news, Sang Hwa Lee (South Korea) is a baaaaaaaaaaaaaad woman…
--The scores in men's snowboarding halfpipe were exactly how I had them (not to the one-hundredths, but "90.xx"). The right person (Iouri Podladtchikov) won and Shaun White, thankfully, did not get a "champion/legend's break" and awarded an inflated score to preserve/signify his status. He got beat, no doubt, and did not perform as well as the others did. The two Japanese riders, Ayumu Hirano and Taku Hiraoka did better, too (Hirano being particularly impressive), and White was not on his game the whole day. I'm not sure how much I would've been satisfied with his victory if was just going to do the same YOLO Flip as I-Pod, but with an added element, especially when he was the one who created it. It would hardly be a novel, gold-worthy venture, at least, in my eyes. I'd rather see a totally different trick than a "I can do the same thing, but with THIS!"-sort of move.
—One of a -very- few blogs that discusses about anime, boxing, and a little bit of randomness…
No comments:
Post a Comment