2010 Winter Olympics

[tony hipchest]

US mens and womens curling team finally breaks through with a win, and they do it in dramatic fashion with the final toss of the rock in the 10th end.

ladies defeated russia when the american team had the final throw and had it perfectly placed to break the tie.

france had a longshot miracle attempt on the final throw of the match to defeat the men, but came up inches short.

fwiw, the denmark team the ladies played are 10X scarier than the german team (plus they wear long skirts over pants). the russian ladies team is pretty damn attractive with one definite hottie. the american team isnt to hard on the eyes either.

USA network is kicking ass with the constant hockey and curling coverage.

[Shea]

I wouldn't mind curling so much if it didn't seem to be the one event that always cuts into the hockey coverage. It always seems to run over and wipe out a major portion of the first periods of games.

I'm also starting to wonder why the main coverage on NBC during the night starts so late. It's sometimes hard to stay up - due to a long day - and they always save the most interesting events to show at the end.

Those sneaky network bastards.

[Shea]

Looks like this picture of Lago caused enough discern from Olympic officials that he had to pack his bags and leave Vancouver to go back home and he'll miss the closing ceremonies.



Not the best image of the games you'd want out for the world to see, but does it merit him having to leave?

Personally I say no, but I'm curious as to what others think.

Besides, after watching the snowboarding competition, what other than this would people expect from these guys?? They are definitely the party "dudes" and after watching them they are so obviously the stoners among these games.

I say par-tay boys!

Or am I getting this wrong?

[Killer]

They gave out 100,000 condoms for a reason.

Party on

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by Shea

Looks like this picture of Lago caused enough discern from Olympic officials that he had to pack his bags and leave Vancouver to go back home and he'll miss the closing ceremonies.



Not the best image of the games you'd want out for the world to see, but does it merit him having to leave?

Personally I say no, but I'm curious as to what others think.

Besides, after watching the snowboarding competition, what other than this would people expect from these guys?? They are definitely the party "dudes" and after watching them they are so obviously the stoners among these games.

I say par-tay boys!

Or am I getting this wrong?

I think Lago could have used a little better judgment knowing that as an Olympic athlete he is held to a little higher standard while he is in Vancouver representing his country, not to mention he had to have known that the teenie boppers and groupies would be photoging his every move. After the Games are over and he is back to some normalcy in his life, it isn't a big deal imho.

[HometownGal]

One of my favorite Olympians is now the most decorated Olympian in the Winter Games with a total of 7 medals (2 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze) in men's speedskating. Had to admit, though, after he slipped in last night's 1,000m, I was worried, but he turned the jets on in the last lap and won the Bronze!

He also has something those South Koreans don't have - a Dancing With the Stars Mirrorball trophy.

http://olympics.fanhouse.com/2010/02...er-olympian%2F

Ohno Wins Bronze to Become Most Decorated US Winter Olympian

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Trailing the South Koreans and a pair of Canadian brothers, Apolo Anton Ohno had to rally on the last lap to make history.

With the gold and silver out of reach, Ohno scooted furiously past Charles and Francois Hamelin to earn a bronze in the short track 1,000-meter final Saturday night, making him the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian.

"I really had to fight," he said. "I can't wait to watch the tape and see how I came back from last place to win bronze."

Lee Jung-su of South Korea won his second gold in Vancouver and teammate Lee Ho-suk earned the silver. The Koreans claimed four of the six short track medals awarded.

"Once I advanced to the front, all I could think of was just staying there," Lee Jung-su said.

Ohno's seventh career medal broke a tie with long-track speedskater Bonnie Blair. He now has two gold, two silver and three bronze medals in his three Olympic appearances. The skater from Seattle already earned a silver in the 1,500 last weekend.

"I'm very happy for Apolo's accomplishment," Blair said in a statement from Pacific Coliseum, where she was on hand to watch the race.

"It's a great feat for him, US Speedskating, and the United States of America. We hope that more kids will see his accomplishments and want to try our great sport that has been so good to us and taught us so much about what it takes to be successful in life."

Also attending was the star of the Beijing Olympics, swimmer Michael Phelps, who won a total of 14 gold medals over two Summer Games.

Ohno wasn't quite ready to brand himself the most decorated American in Winter Games history.

"In my mind, that's a hard question. How do you answer that? I don't put labels on myself," he said. "I consider myself an athlete on my third Olympic Games, working my heart out. My goal was to come out and put my heart and soul into the Olympic Games and I've done that."

Ohno, whose medals are the most of any short track skater, appeared relieved as he crossed the finish line, having skated near the back of the pack early in the nine-lap race. He briefly moved up to second, then dropped to last after slipping in the turn with three laps to go, forcing his rally near the end.

"When I moved up into second place, in my head I thought that the race was mine and I felt great," he said. "Then I slipped and lost all my speed again. I saw everybody flying by me and I'm like, 'Oh boy, there's not a lot of time. I'm going to have to kind of crank it up."'

Ohno was up against the powerful South Koreans and the Canadian brothers, who led the early laps. Working together, neither duo gave an inch and Ohno was left to rely on his experience to force his way onto the podium in the last lap.

Ohno grabbed an American flag and skated around, then patted his longtime South Korean rivals on their shoulders.

He has two more events-the 500 and 5,000 relay-to add more medals to his cache.

The 1,000 lacked the drama of Ohno's first race, the 1,500, in which he claimed silver and teammate J.R. Celski took bronze after Koreans Lee Ho-suk and Sung Si-bak crashed in the final turn. Lee Jung-su won that race, too.

On the podium, a smiling Ohno put his right arm around Lee Jung-su as they posed for photos, no hint of the animosity the Koreans felt toward Ohno after the 1,500.

Ohno believed there should have been a disqualification after he and Sung tangled, an insinuation that infuriated Lee Jung-su.

This time, short track failed to live up to its reputation for thrills and spills.

Ohno made it safely through the quarterfinals and semifinals without any drama. Francois Hamelin advanced to the final after Celski was disqualified for causing Hamelin to crash in their heat.

"I made a risky pass and I got called for it," Celski said.

Ohno clearly had the crowd support, with fans holding up red-white-and-blue signs reading, "U.S.A.4A.A.O" and "Oh No."

Sung won the consolation final.

In the women's 1,500 final, Zhou Yang of China easily won the gold medal.

Zhou breezed to the finish line well ahead of Lee Eun-byul of South Korea, who earned the silver. Park Seung-hi of South Korea took the bronze.

American Katherine Reutter was fourth.

[OneForTheToe]

Note, Spoiler ahead for for Men's combined:



Highlight to read: Congratulations to Bode Miller. We Americans love redemption. Actually, we like to build people up to unattainable heights, rip them apart when they fail and then heap praise on them when they redeem themselves. Anyway, congrats to Bode for winning a gold in the Combined.

Canada can have their podium back next week.

[OneForTheToe]

On a sad note on our friends to the north.:

{Joannie} Rochette's mother dies in Vancouver

ANCOUVER, British Columbia -- A few hours after learning of her mother's sudden death, Canadian figure skating star Joannie Rochette was back on the ice.

Dressed in black tights and a black Canadian team hoodie, Rochette appeared in the runway as the rest of the skaters in her practice session took the ice Sunday afternoon. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping on the ice, then gave a little wave at the only spectators who were allowed in the building -- cleared about 45 minutes earlier for the security sweep before the original dance.

Therese Rochette, 55, had a massive heart attack after arriving in Vancouver on Saturday and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Vancouver, said David Baden, Rochette's agent. .....

http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/w...ory?id=4933538

How horribly sad. My heart goes out to her. To lose a parent at the biggest time of your life. Not that it will make it better, but I hope she wins a medal.


With her coach this morning:

[Shea]

Bode finally got his gold.

Originally Posted by OneForTheToe

On a sad note on our friends to the north.:

{Joannie} Rochette's mother dies in Vancouver



http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/w...ory?id=4933538

How horribly sad. My heart goes out to her. To lose a parent at the biggest time of your life. Not that it will make it better, but I hope she wins a medal.


With her coach this morning:

I hope she succeeds when she hits the ice. Such a sad circumstance. I don't know how you can breathe let alone skate for a metal so soon after such a personal tragedy. Hopefully, she will find the way to do just that, if not then who cares?

Bless her and her family.

[steelpinstripe72]

There are 12 Olympians from my hometown and the surrounding area. One of them, Billy Demong, snagged the first gold in Olympic history for the US in the nordic combined today.