Now, that said…
Day 13/12/Feb.18
--Paul-Henri de le Rue (France) may have up short for the bronze, but knowing that he was in an induced coma a month ago, fourth in an Olympic final in an unpredictable event like snowboard cross must still be some slice of victory, however thin…
--Without context, you'd likely think that Alex Deibold (USA) earned the ire of some upset snowboarders. Funny…
--Nate Holland failed in his bid for that elusive Olympic medal from the first go, but that did not stop him from being a total team player and good sport rushing Deibold (a wax technician for Team USA in the last Olympics(!)) as he crossed the line for bronze. That might have said more to be about him than any gold medal-winning effort…
--It's official: Tina Maze (Slovenia, giant slalom) is back.
--I like the giant slalom than the slalom by a lot. I never really got the regular version (Is there a pattern you are supposed to follow? Why are there other poles out there if you aren't going/don't have to hit them) and I find it to be kind of dull…
--"Small Finals" and "B Finals/ Finals B"? How bittersweet are those? "Congratulations on winning the Small/B Finals! Here are no medals for you!!"
--For me: Downhill>Super G> Giant Slalom>Super Combination>Slalom
--I'm sure Kathrin Zettel (Austria) wanted a medal, not a course flag…
--Snow, rain, & fog--all on the same day, sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs, other times on the very same course (snow atop, fog in the middle, rain at the finish at the giant slalom)…welcome to the Sochi Olympics
--Chiseled Scandinavian looks can overcome any questionable fashion statement.
--Sven Kramer (The Netherlands) still can't catch a break in the 10000m speedskate at the Olympics…
--Almost no nation seems to be able to catch a break from The Netherlands in speedskating at these Olympics…
--Probably no nation has as many perfect-looking people and such ridiculously perfect, steel-tearing teeth than The Netherlands. I mean, just look at this guy. He's so perfect-looking, it doesn't even make sense. He's like one of those guys you make in the character creation mode of a video game…
--As skeevy as the Korean short track skaters have been, their women's squad has been the better behaved of the two sexes. See what the nice ladies did in the 3000m, guys?
--A family man at 23 and a real good guy by all accounts, David Wise (USA) surely made his wife and young daughter proud with the freestyle skiing halfpipe gold he scored in an entertaining competition. Seem to be a lot nice people in these Olympics. Even Bode Miller's cracked a few smiles…
--Speaking of…since Miller likes skiing with abandon and all-out, I wonder why he has never taken a shot at ski cross. That event has him written all over it…
--Nordic Combined provides an interesting way of setting up the starts of a cross-country race. I can see why it is its own sport, but it seems more heavily weighted towards the CC portion than the ski jumping, making it more of a subsection of the former…
Day
--Ted Ligety's the 1st American to win the giant slalom? The more you watch these events, the more surprised you are at who or which country hasn't won or medaled in it, yet…
--I was expecting a Yuna-Yulia bloodbath battle royale, but instead, we got a tight 3 way battle for gold between Yuna Kim (South Korea), surprise contender Adelina Sotnikova (Russia) and Carolina Kostner (Italy), with Lipnitskaya falling in her short and being in 5th place…
--(*sniff* She's still "Kim Yu-na" to me, darn it!)
--She looked fine, but also felt a step or two behind the music. You could see the fall coming the moment she jumped, too, but she also showed how strong a girl she was to get right back into her routine, which is very impressive for someone her age.
-Ashley Wagner (USA) made darn sure to everyone that she belonged in Sochi. "Little Miss Sass" was all-in-your-face with it…
--Mae Berenice Meite (France) again brought it & had that commanding, very strong, and charismatic feel to her, but she also lacks the complexity to her components and her artistry is still in its budding stage. Certain one I'd like to see grow in the future, as she is only 19…
--Of course she was going to skate to "The Question of U" by Prince…
--Sotnoikova had the most impressive big moves & flare, but lacked the artistic coordination with her music. Not really that deserving of being so close to Yuna's score, outside of her big tricks, but them's the points…
--Actually, I don't believe the performances from any of the top three matched their--dare I say--inflated scores. Kim skated very well and clean, but it was perfunctory and I've seen better from her. Meanwhile, Kostner's performance was solid, but not that much more standout than those below her.
--Tsk tsk, Mao Asada (Japan)…
--Great music, generally excellent short program with some big (good) surprises, including the unexpectedly tight top three, which did not include Lipnitskaya or even Gold. It was transparent coming in that it was going to be a highly-competitive top field, even if that came true in a very unlikely way. Barring a men's program-esque falling out, the Americans have (and probably had) no real chance of medaling (Gold needed a closer point gap with 3rd, the comp. was just too tight for Wagner to factor in, and Polina Edmund's just getting started).
--Since the Russians conked out in the men's hockey quarterfinals 3-1 vs. Finland, where does that leave the (over-)vaunted U.S. win over them in the prelims? Again, that was not the gold medal game and now, there will be no magical rematch on the way to an actual medal for either squad (NOTE: Of course, there is a slice of irony here that will be addressed for Feb. 22's coverage…).
--There have been few times in these Olympics that I have been very upset over an outcome, whether I was rooting for someone or not, but I was smarting over Lauryn Williams missing out on history being only the second person and first female to win gold in both the Summer (4x100m relay in track & field) and Winter Olympics by 0.10 seconds. Being only the fifth to medal in both is still an incredible and cool accomplishment, but to be that close was almost deflating to watch. Still very happy and proud of her and all three of Team USA's women's bobsled pairs.
--Oh, Lolo…better luck next Games (in this case, Rio, I suppose). I hope she and Williams keep doing bobsledding. They've got something going good there. Never turn down a medal, championship, or historic opportunity…
--A few years and Olympiads ago, there was nary a person of color in bobsledding. Now, you had a returning Canadian silver and bronze medalist (Lascelles Brown) (along with two others) and a U.S. women's squad where all but one person was black--and that's not including the ever-popular Jamaican two-man team.
Let's just acknowledge the elephant in the room: there have never been a whole lot of people of color to be found in the Winter Olympics or winter sports in general, due to a variety of aspects (geographically, culturally, financially, etc.). That has changed with the spread of globalization, the advances in technology and communication, and the changes in both times and culture, and seeing what is happening in bobsledding, the international growth in figure skating, Shani Davis' success in speedskating, and the outreach of skiers to inner city children is very encouraging and with NBC going out of its way to point people towards a "road map" (or "Gold Map") to sports they might be interested in joining should help continue that advancement and maybe help provide that last bit of impetus for that little boy or girl (or those a bit older) who may have once thought that a sport was out of their league because of where they lived or who they were.
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