Vancouver '10 Games

LooseCannon said:
You mean explaining Norway's failure :P
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No, by no means. The only one we had really big expectations to, who failed, was Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and he screwed up by disastrous prone shooting - before the weather became bad.

And  by the way, congratulations on Canada's first gold in these games!

Tonight I've got expectations, with women's 10 km and men's 15 km cross-country skiing. We also have hopes for the men's downhill with Aksel Lund Svindal returning to form since Christmas. I now we have some okay snowboarders as well, but I'm not well updated on their chances for success.
 
Yesterday's catch:
  • Bronze medal for Marit Bjørgen in the women's 10 km cross country (free). Not bad, not bad - she's on her way back to the top now!
  • Silver for Aksel Lund Svindal in the men's downhill. Great! And what an exciting race it was. Many of those who started just after Svindal were faster than him in the upper part of the track, but all but one were beaten by his great skiing in the middle part. Only Didier Defago managed to beat him, after a superb finish.
  • The worst result of all times in an Olympic cross-country skiing event came in the men's 15 km free. 28th place as best ... I think "abysmal performance" was just redefined.
 
national acrobat said:
Why were the British team wearing berets at the opening ceremony?  :huh:
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An Iranian friend of mine would say "to remind the world of who's really in charge."  :innocent:
 
Canada picked up a silver in Men's Snowboard Cross. It was a hell of a race too, he only lost by a quarter board length!
 
I am sure you guys must have noticed: The ice.

Dutch Olympic skaters outraged over poor ice quality

The Dutch skating squad at the Vancouver Winter Olympics has reacted with dismay at the technical troubles overshadowing Monday's races.

The mobile ice resurfacing trucks which polish the rink after each race actually ruined the ice. "This ice is dangerous at these speeds," Dutch trainer Wopke de Vegt commented. Skater Jan Bos said after his race: "This [ice] is not of Olympic quality. It is laughable."

Races interrupted
The 500-metre races had to be interrupted for 90 minutes after two of the resurfacers developed faults and began leaking hot water. A third machine, wheeled onto the ice by Vancouver's ice-making supremo Mark Messner, turned out to be unprepared and had to be cleaned and adjusted before it was allowed onto the surface. After the machine had been repaired, the ice could be treated to a certain extent, but it still looked lumpy and was riddled with ridges. ....
 
The problem was is that the zambonis they are using are "green zambonis". First of a kind…and they are terrible. This ice is supposed to be fantastic, and it is everywhere else - it is great at CH Place, it is great at the curling rink. It is only at the oval that it is terrible.  The Canadians and Americans were not pleased either, Foro.
 
Worse news: Annette Gerritsen, the best Dutch female on the 500m fell in the first bend....
She opened very strong, and there was a nice prospect since the others were not that excellent.
The 2nd heat is too late for me to watch. I'll check the results tomorrow. :)
 
Watching the second heat now as I wait for the moment I have waited for these last four years....puck drop. Team Canada.
 
Okay, after having taped the hockey match and watched it now in the morning (remember, it's now 10 am in Europe) I must say I'm quite pleased with the first half of the game, but I think we gave in to easily after Canada's 4th goal. Had we just taken advantage of that 5 against 3 situation and avoided the soft 3rd goal, I think we could have kept the match close - but after 3-0 it was mainly a question of how much Canada would win. Hats off, you are a much better teeam and we all knew that already.

The other events yesterday, that I feel like commenting on: The curling went fairly OK for Norway, with one defeat (against Canada) and one win (against USA). The women's snowboard cross was a disappointment as our entrant in the final fell from what looked like a certain medal.

The biathlon pursuit events - well, the women did good, both of them gained ground (with Tora Berger advancing to a 5th place from her mundane 33rd place after the sprint), but the men disappointed again. Emil Hegle Svendsen was unable to defend his silver, and finished 8th - he was actually beat by Ole Einar Bjørndalen who started as number 17 (and who was only one more hit away from fighting for medals, not bad when starting that far behind).

These games have started quite rubbish for Norway. Not a single gold medal yey. New hopes tonight with the cross-country sprint. We have a good sprint team, I'll cross my fingers.
 
It's amazing how much these games have been decided by poor conditions and luck rather than athletic ability... though one could argue it takes athletic ability to compete in poor conditions and take advantage of others' bad luck, but still... that should not be the norm.

In reading a bit of history about the games I found it odd how one of the consistent issues has been weather, it is never cold enough.... Snow is always brought in from elsewhere.

Another interesting note, in 1964, the first Olympics to have Luge, a Luger was killed in a pre-Olympic training run...
 
Onhell said:
It's amazing how much these games have been decided by poor conditions and luck rather than athletic ability... though one could argue it takes athletic ability to compete in poor conditions and take advantage of others' bad luck, but still... that should not be the norm.

In reading a bit of history about the games I found it odd how one of the consistent issues has been weather, it is never cold enough.... Snow is always brought in from elsewhere.

Another interesting note, in 1964, the first Olympics to have Luge, a Luger was killed in a pre-Olympic training run...
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Which other competitions than the men's biathlon sprint have been decided by the weather conditions? Some events (mainly alpine skiing events) have been postponed, and I know there was some discussion about the ice in the speed skating track deteriorating too quickly between breaks, but events that have been decided by the conditions? That has passed me by.

About the snow being brought in from elsewhere - which games does that apply to? These ones are the first I can recall in some time.
 
I thought Norway put up a valiant fight, EW, I think you guys should be proud. You hung with Canada for two periods, and that's quite a lot. Once your starter was pulled that's when we blew it open. I have high hopes for Norway eeking out a surprise win against the Swiss this year.

And I was quite sad when your lady in snowboard cross fell - I thought of you - but I was much happier about 40 seconds later. Norway will get some golds!

And the curling match between Canada and Norway was a nailbiter, I think both rinks accredited themselves very well.
 
LooseCannon said:
I thought Norway put up a valiant fight, EW, I think you guys should be proud. You hung with Canada for two periods, and that's quite a lot. Once your starter was pulled that's when we blew it open. I have high hopes for Norway eeking out a surprise win against the Swiss this year.

And I was quite sad when your lady in snowboard cross fell - I thought of you - but I was much happier about 40 seconds later. Norway will get some golds!

And the curling match between Canada and Norway was a nailbiter, I think both rinks accredited themselves very well.
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If we can put up the same workrate against Switzerland as we did in the first half of the match against your team, we might very well beat them.

As for the curling, maybe yesterday's game was a preview of the final?
 
It could be - UK rink is very strong as well, and the Americans might be able to make it. They have become a first class curling country in the last few years. Still, I have hopes for Canada to sweep the two curling golds.
 
@Wingman, congrats with that first golden medal for Norway! That was a great race to watch. She beat the Polish girl in that important bend.

Plus congrats with that bronze medal. Man, those two Russian dudes had some close finish!
 
1-2 finish in Women's Downhill puts America back at the top of the medal count.  :ok:  Good for Lindsay Vonn -- not sure if the rest of the world pays any attention, but she's the biggest celebrity in the U.S. among all the Olympians, as well she should be:  best in the world at her sport, and pretty hot to boot. 
 
1-3 finish for the US in longtrack, 1000m, Shani Davis showed why he is the best at that distance for sure.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Which other competitions than the men's biathlon sprint have been decided by the weather conditions? Some events (mainly alpine skiing events) have been postponed, and I know there was some discussion about the ice in the speed skating track deteriorating too quickly between breaks, but events that have been decided by the conditions? That has passed me by.

About the snow being brought in from elsewhere - which games does that apply to? These ones are the first I can recall in some time.
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From the snowboarders to the skiers have complained about less than acceptable snow... the ice was the other... In 1964 the Austrian Army had to bring in truckloads of snow... and that just one of many incidents, you can look up the rest yourself.

As far as deciding the event, I not only mentioned weather, but dumb luck as well. In a closer look it is athletes just being careless... the snowboard cross comes to mind.
 
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