Sochi 2014 - XXII Olympic Winter Games

[trojanchick99]

Slept through it, though for the sake of my nerves, that was likely for the best. Saw the highlights on NBCSports, dayum. I'd not have survived that. Loved hearing Chris Collinsworth talk about watching the game next to Al Michaels.

PS. Canada wins the gold medal in Skeleton helmet design.

 

[corianderstem]

So I'm not the only person to wonder this? Were they like, man, I really loved sledding as a kid, how can I take that and turn it into world-recognized athletic prestige? I just don't get where/how one finds luge/bobsled coaches/teams/places to practice and get their foot in the door. But then again, I've never seen a drive thru liquor store either, and people have assured me they exist in their parts of the world.

I can imagine it as such: random dude walks into the extreme sledding pro shop, and says, "hey I wanna slide down an icy tube really fast, possibly in the Olympic, can you help me with my dream?" And then random dude is given an aptitude test consisting of questions like, do you prefer to compete solo or as a team? like sliding on your back or stomach? How much disregard for possible personal injury/death do you have?

Ha ha haaaa. Exactly.

 

[trojanchick99]

That final skeleton run brought some drama. Felt awful for John Daly with that start. Then of course to add insult to injury they have to stick a microphone in his face. He handled that very well though. Happy for Antoine with another medal for the US!

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

So, what's the deal with Plushenko retiring before the Men's free? That's really lame, if I'm understanding the situation right...he prevented someone else from going to this Olympics by nabbing the last spot on the team, didn't he?

He had a great performance in the team portion, and was a big part in helping Russia get the Gold there. So no he definitely deserved to be there, and earned his spot. He just injured his back doing warmups like a minute or two before he had to do his short program. I've rooted against the guy for years, but the way he handled himself and his genuine emotional reaction when he had to retire definitely made me like him more.

He spoke in his broken English, something to the effect of: "I am just human like you, I am not robot." It was sad, really.

 

[bono_212]

Ok, thank you. I was sincerely asking if something had happened the articles I was reading yesterday didn't talk about any of that.

 

[bono_212]

Btw, luge and skeleton do run in reverse order on the last run, Cobbler.

 

[Hewson]

. Felt awful for John Daly with that start. Then of course to add insult to injury they have to stick a microphone in his face. He handled that very well though!

Spoiler

 

[powerhour24]

Yup, US speed skating still outside of medal contention. What's that? The athletes win and lose races? Not the suits? No way. We've lost our competitiveness in both long and short track. The US won a lot of medals from 2002-2010 vs the chief rivals in the sports (Korea/Canada/China in short, Netherlands in long) and so far we've got nothing.

 

[cobl04]

The snowboard cross is fucking awesome. Reminds me a lot of skateboard scamper from Mario Party.

 

[trojanchick99]

I can't wait to watch the replay of that. One of my favorite competitions.

Currently watching bobsled. Americans doing well in the first run.

ETA: The Jamaican Bobsled team released this video. It is supposed to sync with their run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r71JHunY8rI#t=89

ETA2: that was awesome.

 

[bono_212]

My God, it was almost perfect

 

[cobl04]

 

[trojanchick99]

Who said curling wasn't dangerous?

 

[bonocomet]

Ha! They just showed a Bono Matryoshka doll on the special segment about the traditional Russian folk art.

 

[corianderstem]

Ah, yes. Very traditional, that Bono.

 

[bonocomet]

Yep. Well he was in the company of Elvis and Obama too.

 

[bono_212]

 

[powerhour24]

When Jorien Ter Mors stepped up for the 1,500m I was really hoping she could medal (despite Netherlands fatigue/jealousy, not to begrudge them their success in their national sport) as she's a short tracker competing in long track in the same games, I didn't think she would, but I certainly didn't expect her to set an Olympic record! And at sea level for that matter. What a performance.


And what a race in the Super G, never had there been an alpine skiing tie to the hundredth of a second and it happened for the second time in these games today. Congrats to Bode for pushing through all the pressure in the world and making history (bad form on the NBC interviewer who kept paraphrasing the same second to provoke an emotional reaction from him, like a bully child poking a wild animal at a zoo, because we're not used to seeing him so raw), and what a story for Andrew Weibrecht, read about him here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/s...ller-and-weibrecht-win-medals-in-super-g.html

 

[powerhour24]

Snowboard cross, Lindsey Jacobelis continues to be a choke artist in the Olympics, and the best we got is 4th. But I was really pulling for Torah Bright, how awesome can you get? Gold in halfpipe 4 years ago, 4th in slopestyle and silver in halfpipe this year and competing in racing snowboarding too for good measure. Too bad she didn't make it into the semis.

 

[trojanchick99]

Wow. Did NBC tell that reporter not to leave until she got Bode to cry? Just awful.

 

[bono_212]

Guess I'm glad I missed that one.

 

[IWasBored]

We had a language lesson this morning at work, where I explained that the ч in Сочи is the ch and that it's one letter in the Cyrillic alphabet.

 

[cobl04]

Torah Bright is a mormon, I discovered yesterday.

 

[cobl04]

"Chumpy" is wearing on me mighty quickly...

 

[Axver]

Torah Bright is a mormon, I discovered yesterday.

Well that just ruined everything.

 

[cobl04]

I had that exact argument with someone on Twitter yesterday. I can think of worse religions, and if Mofo was one, they're ok with me. Plus, she's really, really hot.

Norway's curling team have the best pants ever.

 

[bono_212]

USA! USA! USA!

Etc.

 

[U2girl]

Bode Miller.

 

[corianderstem]

I watched a little bit of the women's snowboard racing (yeah, I don't even know what it's called). That was fun to watch.

 

[LemonMelon]

Watching some events online that I missed. Biathlon is the funniest shit on earth. It's the ultimate measurement of one's ability to shoot targets/people/wild game/people on skis.

I also love the Lap of Shame. That one Czech girl who missed three targets and spent like an hour skiing in circles