posted
*sigh* oh well. Thanks Elizabeth. I always forget things like that. Well, they have ice skating, which I suppose is like the Winterized version of gymnastics. That's always fun.
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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As far as I've understood it, the winter games include all the sports that inherently involve ice and/or snow (or maybe just being cold), and the summer games are everything else. There might be exceptions to that rule, but that's how I remember which sports are when.
The opening ceremony is on February 10, and the closing ceremony is on the 26th.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Chad Hedrick brings home Olympic gold in the Men's 5000M speed skating event!
Tomorrow is more speed skating, featuring Apollo Anton Ohno, Men's Halfpipe snowboarding, which the US Men swept in 2002, and downhill skiing, with much anticipated US skiers Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves.
Also US Women's ice hockey play Germany, a day after shutting out the Swiss 6-0.
Stay tuned tomorrow night for your daily Lyrhawn Olympic Update to learn the medal winners and the next day's events. If anyone wants to know more than just the US winners, let me know and I'll include information for whatever country you want in the update. Night all.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I caught Jennifer Heil win gold in the women's moguls, which I always enjoy watching. It reminds me of when I first tried going over moguls, and it was like a small bomb went off as skis and poles went rocketing off in different directions. Kari Traa had a solid run as well, with some tough jumps, but Heil was the cleaner of the two.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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My biggest problem with the winter games is that there are fewer team sports. I don't have much experience with the sports that are named. I mean, I've never skied. Ever. I've only once been next to people with skies on.
I'm an old track athlete, so I like watching track. But I also like watching volleyball, basketball, water polo.
My second issue with winter sports is that participation in many of the events is prohibitively expensive, leading to an over-representation of Ivy League guys. I don't have a TV so I'll have to keep contact through the paper. I'll miss hockey and figure skating(a lot), and the special they'll have about curling. And the spectacle of Louge, skeleton and bobsled. My most vivid winter Olympic memory was '92 when there was a US Hockey goalie named LeBlanc who came up big. I don't know much about Hockey, but every time that guy took the Ice, I felt proud to be an American.
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The lack of team sports doesn't really bother me. The original olympics didn't have teams anyway, to my knowledge. It was all individuals in individual sports.
As far as the expense goes, ALL Olympic sports are expensive. I'd imagine the Olympic rowers in the Summer games aren't inner city kids. But that's beside the point. What sports are you referring to when you think that only Ivy League kids can do? Anyone living near a mountain in the north can ski, or ice skate, play hockey or snowboard.
I don't know, I guess I just don't see that marked a difference to where I can say that the Winter Olympics suffer soley from those deficiencies while the Summer Olympics are sporty, team efforted sports for the everyman.
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posted
I've been skimming the Olympics all day. They keep mentioning someone who is the Harry Potter athlete or something. Who are they referring to, and why? I keep missing that part.
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I don't know his name, but supposedly he looks exactly like Harry Potter, from what I've heard anyway.
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I caught Team Canada vs. Team Italy women's hockey. I have to give the Italians respect for playing their hardest when they were that outclassed. Their goaltender was actually pretty good considering how many clean shots she was facing/how little help there was for her.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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What about Michele Kwan pulling out last minute and her alternate not being able to catch a flight out of NYC because of poor weather flight cancellations?
Kind of bugs me that she petitioned to even be able to go to the Olympics in the first place and then to just not compete last minute... Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
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"But that's beside the point. What sports are you referring to when you think that only Ivy League kids can do? Anyone living near a mountain in the north can ski, or ice skate, play hockey or snowboard."
Nope, Irami has an excellent point. While the participants may not be Ivy League, you will not see many inner city kids who make it out to the slopes, or whose parents can afford the prohibitive cost of hockey. The equipment alone, even used, runs about 200-300 dollars. Skates themselves can run 300 dollars, and better skates are easier to skate faster on, as better skis make you ski faster. (when you are at that level of performance)
Children who grow up in climates where there is actually ice on ponds, such as Canada and Minnesota, might have a better chance of finding a league that is less expensive. An hour of ice time on the rink costs about 200 dollars, and this cost is spread out among the teammates.
Add to that, travel. When my dad was young and playing, they had team members in other towns who would adopt a player, and this was reciprocated when the other team came to your town. Now, it is all about hotel rooms, and restaurant food.
Skiing? If you live near a mountain you can ski?
Not unless you can fork over about a hundred dollars a person for lift tickets. Ski clubs are available, but again, travel, equipment, and other costs are prohibitive to many families.
Speed skating? Good luck finding a speed skating oval in the town nearest you.
Curling?
Ice time, again.
Figure skating?
Extremely expensive.
Cross country skiing is something anyone can do as long as there is snow, but you still need to have good coaches if you are good enough to compete, and travel is part of that as well.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Theaca, were you talking to me? What untrue facts?
I think it's too bad for the alternate to not be able to have the whole Olympic experience when Kwan knew she was injured (she couldn't compete at the trials) and realistically (IMO) couldn't really compete for the gold.
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There is a little bit of me who considers the winter games the old money games. Its not a knock on the athletes as much as its a sad condition of the nature of the sports. The summer games has equestrian, where the costs are outstanding, it just seems that the winter games has a higher percentage of sports that are equestrian-like, and I think it's too bad.
I'm a classical musician, dealing with a similar problems. I, personally, think that the stakes are higher- and hence, the situation sadder- in music because we dealing with a more sacred art, than say, moguls.
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I think you're wrong about Michelle Kwan; she truly believed that she could compete in the Olympics, and was approved to go by the US skating board to go. She didn't have to, and yet she gave the skating board the opportunity to reject her for the Olympic team if they found that she was not healthy enough. They did. It was in practice session that Kwan was re-injured, and it was a wonderful move on her part to withdraw so that Emily Hughes could go.
She is a wonderful skater, and I only feel sorry that she won't be able to realize her dreams of Olympic gold. She has done so much for the sport, and she will always remain a champion for me and many others.
Posts: 155 | Registered: Apr 2005
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And keep in mind that we wouldn't have even been able to send three skaters had Michelle not competed at worlds and come in 4th. That secured our third USA spot. So, Emily still would not have been able to go had it not been for Michelle.
I actually admire her for making the decision now, when there is time to get Emily over here. Michelle is a wonderful skater, and has always struck me as having a lot of class.
There is no such thing as an inexpensive Olympic sport, summer or winter. Even track, which you might think isn't expensive because it's just running, requires money to get to the world-class level. You have to have access to a track, you have to have a coach, shoes, equipment - none of that is free.
Gymnastics isn't inexpensive, trust me I have first hand knowledge of how much it costs even at a local level. Swimming? You must have access to an Olympic sized pool, and coaching.
Maybe basketball. Places to play are readily available, the balls are cheap. To get to the Olympics you would have had to have had an excellent college career (and then made it to the pros now that we send professionals) and that doesn't require money it just requires a lot of talent - and getting recognized by college recruiters.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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"There is no such thing as an inexpensive Olympic sport, summer or winter. Even track, which you might think isn't expensive because it's just running, requires money to get to the world-class level. You have to have access to a track, you have to have a coach, shoes, equipment - none of that is free."
Well, I disagree with that, Belle, simply because track tends to be a high school sport at so many high schools. An athlete would have more of a chance of trying out in their regular sneakers, and getting noticed. No one is going to notice the potential downhill skiier. Do you know what I mean? I am not trying to be contentious.
But you are correct that it is all expensive when it gets to "that level."
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Belle, I didn't understand the part about why Emily wouldn't have been able to go if Michelle hadn't gone...perhaps I don't understand how the sport works.
I just kept hearing for years and years about how Kwan is "going for the elusive gold" and while I admire the determination, it seemed to me that she was blinded to her physical limitations in her desire to compete. (Understandably so--she's worked hard, there's no doubt there, I'm just sayin')
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Considering you don't know that much about figure skating or follow it outside the Olympics, I don't think you're in the position to judge Michelle Kwan's physical ability. The last two times she went to the Olympics, she went as the US National Champion. She's won 9 Nationals, and 5 Worlds, which means that she has been one of the best figure skaters in the world for the last decade. It is the pressure of the Olympics that leads to her making mistakes, and so she doesn't claim the gold medal.
The IOC determines how many ladies from each country gets to go the Olympics by how they have placed in the previous year's World Championships. Because Michelle Kwan has consistently placed very high, the US is able to send three. Otherwise, Emily Hughes, who placed third in Nationals, wouldn't get to go at all.
Posts: 155 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
How many athletes you send is determined by how you finish at worlds. We did very well, with both Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan last year. That's what I meant that without Michelle, Emily still wouldn't have gone.
If Michelle Kwan had not competed at Worlds and finished where she did, we would have only been allowed to send 2 skaters to the Olympics. We were able to send three solely because of Kwan's 4th place finish.
If she thought she was able to compete at that level, then she deserved to go. She's a world class athlete and knows what her body can and cannot do. She thought she could skate competitively. Now she knows she cannot. So, pulling out was the right thing to do. But she didn't know that until she was injured in practice. She let the US team know as soon as she knew, and there is time to get Emily here. What Michelle did was classy, and consistent with her reputation as a true American champion.
Elizabeth, you may be right. My school didn't have enough money to field a track team, so I didn't consider track as a high school sport. Any sport that is subsidised by school money and community support is going to be easier to excel in from a monetary point of view. I guess I look at it as since track is considered a luxury for many schools, only the wealthier districts even have it. So, still we're looking at something many inner city kids will never have access to.
It may be different in other parts of the country. But in Alabama, if your school has a track team, it's most likely a school in a wealthy suburb, not an inner city school where poverty-stricken kids attend.
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Belle, all extracurricular sports are going the way of the dinosaurs these days, one by one. It breaks my heart.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Except for football around here, and I'm sure basketball in the ACC part of the country and the midwest.
We can get plenty of money to build a new field house for our football team but not enough to buy books for the high school library. It's frustrating.
Nowadays it seems as if parents just expect they will have to foot the bill for their kids athletics themselves. Even cheerleading, which used to be just an adjunct to football, has private cheerleading clubs now and parents pay big bucks for their kids to attend. Gymnastics used to be offered at a lot of schools but is almost exclusively private clubs now.
I agree, it's sad. I think sports offers so much for children, but it's getting to where only the well-off can afford to let their kids' compete.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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jh, I realize I didn't say it in the post (I edited it so many times), I wasn't trying to judge Kwan's "ability" as a skater, I was merely commenting on her injuries and ability to discern, in the midst of that extreme desire to fulfill a dream, her own health as it appeared to me. I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers and sorry if I did so.
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I agree that the winter sports are costly for younger people to start in and train in, I just fail to see how most summer sports are any cheaper. Basketball is made up entirely of NBA players, so unless you want to be in the NBA, there's no point in even trying anyway.
Swimming costs money for the trainer, coach, and olympic size pool time.
Track requires equipment, trainers, and coaching.
Tennis is played almost entirely by US Open contenders, those kind of players, and they require a full time devotion to the sport, money for court time, money for equipment, trainers, and coaching.
Shooting, rowing, sailing, canoeing all have high costs. And are more niche sports that say "Ivy League" to me than any of the winter sports do. To say nothing of Fencing and Equestrian. Which are also tagged, in my mind, as more Ivy League type sports. There's nowhere around my house to even casually learn these sports, let alone train to be an Olympic contender.
Boxing, you have to pay for gym time, training time, coaching time. And gym time is very expensive, and it's the same story for gymnastics. There are plenty of afterschool programs for gymnasts, but once you get above the 7th grade afterschool level, costs are incredible.
I just don't see the difference to the point where anyone can declare Winter Sports as more inaccesible for the everyman than Summer.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Anyway, here's your Olympic Report for February 12th.
The US picked up two more medals today, a gold and silver in snowboarding men's halfpipe. Shaun White and Danny Kass picked up the medals, with Mason Aguierre missing the bronze by a point and a half, which would have been yet another medal sweep for US Men's halfpipe.
Downhill Alpine didn't go as well for US men as they would have hoped. Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves both missed a medal, with Bode finishing in fifth, and Rahlves in 10th. A Frenchman, Antoine Deneriaz upset the Austrians and pulled out a stunning Gold Medal run.
US Women's hockey beat Germany 5-0 today, continuing their shutout win streak to 2-0. The Canadian women's team iced Russia 12-0, continuing their path of destruction for a second day.
Tony Benshoof just missed a bronze medal in the Men's Singles Luge.
In a stunning upset, Apollo Anton Ohno fell during his semi qualifying heat for the Men's 1500M Short Track race. He did not move on, and the race was eventually carried by two South Koreans. Ohno won the Gold Medal in Salt Lake City four years ago.
Tomorrow, look for the US Men's Curling team to play Norway, and Finland, while the Women also take on Norway.
Also look for the figure skating pairs Free Skate program. The United States' Rena Inoue and John Baldwin are currently in sixth place, after landing the first ever throw triple axle in international competition. Their chances of a medal are slim, but who doesn't love an underdog?
And the two big events of Monday night. The Women's Snowboarding halfpipe. The US Women's team also has a chance of sweeping the medals. Kelly Clark, the defending gold medalist, is a medal favorite, but even more so are Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler. SLC Silver Medalist Doriane Vidal of France is a favorite to be in contention for a medal, and is perhaps the Europeans' best hope of stopping an American halfpipe triumvirate.
The other medal favorite event for America is the 500M speed skate race. FitzRandolph and Carpenter of the US both medaled (Gold and Bronze) in 2002 and are strong contenders this year. Joey Cheek is also a strong contender for a Bronze. But the Japanese are hot on their heels, and are also medal contenders.
Should be a great day of Olympic action!
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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The US Men's curling team upset the defending gold medal Norweigan team! Great match. They lost to Finland though, just barely.
Rena Inoue and John Baldwin failed to land their throw triple axle, and in general John Baldwin was off his game and didn't match Rena very well. They ended up in sixth place, with the Russians carrying the gold.
The big events turned out well for the Americans. The US Women's team narrowly missed a sweep of the medals. Hannah Teter captured Olympic gold with an awesome run, and Gretchen Bleiler the silver. Kelly Clark missed a medal with a fall at the end of her second run. It was sad to see, she had some wicked air during the entire run, and had a HUGE 900 at the end but just couldn't hold the landing together. She might have gotten the gold away from Teter if she had landed it, but the Norweigan Kjersti Buaas got herself a bronze.
500M speed skating saw both FitzRandolph and Carpenter making minor slip ups and ending near the middle of the pack. But Joey Cheek (from Greensboro, NC btw), the favorite for gold in the 1000M, took gold in the 500M with some amazing speed.
Also, after two runs in women's singles luge, Courtney Zablocki is in contention for a bronze medal.
Lyndsay Kildow, America's greatest hope for a women's downhill medal suffered a major crash in practice today. As did the defending gold medalist, Carole Montillet-Carles, and a Canadian skier. Amazingly, Kildow still plans to ski Wednesday morning after suffering a severe contusion to the lower back in what looked like a very painful fall.
Tomorrow, look for Women's 500M speedskating. Four US women are competing, but none have medaled before in the 500M in international competition.
Men's combined downhill alpine skiing will show a talent packed day of skiing. Bode Miller will look for a medal in his second of five events. But the competition is very stiff, Austria and Norway could run the table if the Americans can pull a rabbit out of their collective ski hats.
Men's short program in singles figure skating is tomorrow night. Yevgeny Plushenko is still the man to beat in men's singles, but American Johnny Weir could give him a run for his money. Weir is practicing a quad-triple-triple toe combination in his warm ups, which Plushenko hasn't even attempted in competition. But it's shakey, and he may not attempt it in competition. America Evan Lysacek is committed to attempting a quad toe, but has been shakey in practices.
US women's hockey plays Finland. And look for the third and fourth runs of women's luge, to see if Courtney Zablocki can hold onto her bronze position.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Are there any men in skimpy clothing for me to ogle?
Seriously, I've been wondering something. How does an Olympic athlete maintain amateur status while still endorsing products like Visa and such? I don't understand the whole process.
posted
I think - and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong - it has to do with earning money in the sport itself, not through other non-related means.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
But I seem to remember some years back that it was a big deal that someone or other decided to be on the Wheaties box because it meant she was no longer an amateur or something.
posted
Yeah, I still don't understand that either, ph. But I do remember that one year they let a bunch of professional skaters go back into competition, didn't they? It was a huge deal. Maybe that's when they changed the rules?
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
In regards to speed skating, does anyone know what happened to those nifty scissor skates they had last games? Did they get banned or something?
Posts: 298 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by quidscribis: I think - and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong - it has to do with earning money in the sport itself, not through other non-related means.
I seem to recall some of the members of the basketball "Dream Team" making a professional appearance somewhere. Perhaps the NBA?
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Yeah, they seem to let an awful lot of pros in now. It kinda bothers me because I don't understand why.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Amateur status is no longer a requirement. It hasn't been for a while.
The reason the 1980 Miracle Hockey team was such a miracle was because it was a bunch of real amateurs(recent college grads) against the Russian Soviet team, who were really professionals, in the sense that it was their job to be hockey players under the Soviet regime.
So, when the Olympics went professional, it evened the playing field. Sort of.
I miss the old days.
And I am an old fart. Snowboarding is NOT an Olympic sport, darn it.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
signal, I think I heard them talking about the scissor skeat the other night. Are they the ones that separate when they turn or something?
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Curling is so a great winter Olympic sport!
And I am wrong.
The amateur status is still required for some sport, but not for others. I am trying to find a list.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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"In the 1980s, amateurism regulations were relaxed, and completely abolished in the 1990s. This switch was perhaps best exemplified by the American Dream Team, composed of well-paid NBA stars, which won the Olympic gold medal in basketball in 1992. As of 2004, the only sport in which no professionals compete is boxing; in men's football (soccer), the number of players over 23 years of age is limited to three per team.
Advertisement regulations are still very strict, at least on the actual playing field, although "Official Olympic Sponsors" are common. Athletes are only allowed to have the names of clothing and equipment manufacturers on their outfits. The sizes of these markings are limited."
Interestingly, the reason that pros were not allowed at first was not because they were better, but because they were not consideed "gentlemen."
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Hey all, here's your Olympic Report for February 14th.
Women's 500M speedskating didn't go well for the US. Russia took gold, with China snapping up both silver and bronze.
Men's alpine combined was a surprise for all. Bode Miller, a favorite to win the gold was first after the downhill element, but was disqualified in the first run of the slalom. Ted Ligety, 34th going into the first run of the slalom came back with a vengeance and took home the gold for America in a stunning upset.
The Men's short program in singles figure skating was notable mostly because of it's failures. Many of the medal favorites were unable to complete a smooth run. Evgeni Plushenko broke 90pts, a first in the new scoring system, and sailed into a 10pt lead in first place. American Johnny Weir is in second place with 80pts, but others are nipping at his heels. Matt Savoie is in contention in 8th place, but he'll need a lot of luck, both in his own skills and in the failings of others if he hopes to medal.
The US Women beat Finland 3-7 in hockey.
In women's singles luge, Courtney Zablocki finished fifth, as the German women swept the medals.
Tomorrow, look for the 500M final in women's short track. America has two possible medal contenders who finished well this year on the world cup circuit. Watch for Allison Baver and Halie Kim to shoot for a bronze or silver.
Men's hockey prelims start today. Here's where some of the real fun will be for the next couple days for hockey fans. Today's matchups aren't that great, but on Thursday, Russia vs. Sweden would provide a lot of entertainment for hockey fans.
Men's moguls will also start and finish today, and the US men's team has a strong chance at more than one medal. Jeremy Bloom won the World Cup last year, Travis Cabral won the World Cup in 2002-2003, Travis Mayer won the Silver medal at Salt Lake City, and Toby Dawson took the bronze at the World Championships in 2003. It's a strong quartet, and at least one medal isn't out of the question.
Perhaps the biggest event of the day is the start of Women's alpine skiing, with the downhill race starting the pack. The US has four skiers, and amazingly Lyndsay Kildow WILL race after the spectacular crash she suffered in training yesterday. She is the best hope for a medal for the US in women's alpine, and may race in all five alpine events. She was second on the World Cup tour to Dorfmeister of Austria.
US women's hockey plays Finland. And look for the third and fourth runs of women's luge, to see if Courtney Zablocki can hold onto her bronze position.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Isn't the Men's 1000M short track tomorrow as well? (By "tomorrow," I mean "after I wake up in a few hours") Or am I off by a day?
I need to say this again: I really love speed skating.
And skeleton seems like the best way to die. Ever. Who wouldn't want to dress up like a sperm and go shooting headfirst down an ice tube at speeds approaching 80 miles/hour? Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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