Before the games began there were questions about whether the city and the venues were ready and then there were numerous weather concerns over whether the warmest olympic host city in history would have enough snow to even contest some of the events, and if not for today's technology that might well have been the case. Helicopters flew in snow, that hundreds of volunteers raked and sculpted on the various slopes. Dry ice was placed under the various jumps and mounds, that were made out of wood, in order to maintain their integrity.
However just hours prior to the opening ceremony, an unimaginable tragedy struck as a Georgian (the former Soviet state) luger died during his final training run. This somber cloud hung over not only the opening ceremony but also the first several days. The Georgian team stayed to compete, but obviously did so with heavy hearts and without the passion that they would have otherwise, as suddenly there were more important things in life than just competing in the games. At least one Georgian athlete even withdrew from his event because he lacked the focus and drive to even compete after losing a countryman, teammate, and friend. Several of the other competitors in both luge and bobsled (they run on the same track) verbally expressed fear in sliding down the track after this athlete's death and traveling at speeds of near 100 mph, on what is considered the fastest track in the world.
Many writers, athletes, fans, and even the IOC themselves wondered if these games could shake the image of death. And while that will still be a major part of the storyline of these games, many memorable moments unfolded that in my opinion will be remembered at least as much if not more than this death when we look back on these games in the future. The following are my top 10 moments of the Vancouver games:
10. Two of the events I was looking forward to watching prior to the games were new additions that arose out of the popularity of the X-Games and a younger generation of athletes. These events, ski cross and snowboard cross, did not disappoint! The action was incredible as 4 racers skied down a course full of jumps and turns, jockeying for that first position. Not only was the racing itself exciting but also crashes were just spectacular, as skiers wiped each other out and on one occasion I saw them collide in mid air. I certainly hope that these events remain part of the Olympic schedule for years to come, because they have definitely gained a new fan in me!
9. Unlike the summer games, I personally have never even attempted any of the events and therefore do not have a great understanding of the skill required to succeed at such a high level. I have only been skiing once in my life and have only ice skated maybe 2 or 3 times at most. So needless to say my chance at being a winter olympian is basically less than zero, since every event either requires you to skate or ski. Every event that is but one, curling. At last there is an olympic sport that any old, unathletic person can compete in at the highest level. Although this was not the first olympics I have ever watched it in, I did begin to enjoy it more and more as I watched during my lunch break each day. In fact I even found out that Raleigh has its very own curling club! I'm tempted to go give it a try. I know it is harder than it looks, but seriously I think with a little practice anyone could get fairly good.
8. The most talked about injury coming into the games, was the shin injury to US skier Lindsey Vonn. Questions abounded on whether she could even compete, but you knew she was going to give it go after spending 4 years training of this moment. She then went out in her first run and proved all the skeptics wrong as she put in the run of her life, winning gold in the downhill. The highlight for me though was watching her elation upon crossing the finish line and realizing she had accomplished her dream. Her interview was priceless as she couldn't contain her emotions; she smiled, shouted, and cried all in the same interview. She went on to win one more medal as well as have a couple of crashes, however she got the gold she came for and she is now the face of the US ski team and will most definitely earn a lot of money for her accomplishments and looks over the next few years. As a side note, I give a shout out to the rest of the US ski team including Julia Mancuso and Bode Miller as they both won multiple medals also.
7. Honestly the figure skating is probably one of my least favorite Olympic events. In fact the following thought crossed my mind, if you are a young boy who likes to skate why would you take up figure skating instead of say ice hockey or speed skating. Then beyond that if you decide to be a figure skater why would you choose to do singles instead of pairs where at least you get to twirl around some pretty girl all the time. I honestly do not understand. With all that said, I did stay up one night to watch the men's figure skating finals out of curiosity to see how American Evan Lysacek would do. I have absolutely no clue the difference in a triple toe loop vs. a triple lutz vs. a triple saokow (or however you spell it) vs. a triple flip vs. whatever other kind of jump they do. Pretty much all I know is that if you don't fall then you've got a shot to win. So as I watched Lysacek skate well I thought he had at least a shot to beat the defending champion, Russian Evgeni Plushenko, and then it was a memorable moment when he actually did. However what I'll remember most is the war of words that occurred afterwards as Plushenko said he had no doubt that his performance won gold and that he should have since he landed a quad jump and Lysacek did not. This continued to the point where Plushenko actually awarded himself (whether actual or not I'm not sure) a platinum medal, which was supposedly to be higher than the gold, for his performance. Seriously? What a terrible show of sportsmanship on his part. Perhaps I enjoyed this American gold more than any other even if it did come from a man wearing a sequined outfit.
6. Unbelievable is the best word I can use to describe Shaun White's gold winning performance in the halfpipe. Even for someone who knows nothing about the sport it was evident he was the best. He went so much higher than his competitors, his spins and flips looked cleaner, and he just did it with so much ease. He was so good that he didn't even need to complete his final run because he already had the gold medal wrapped up. But what did he do for his last run? Put on a show, that bettered his previous score and included his new signature move, the double mctwist. What exactly is that? No it's not the new burger at McDonalds. It is like a 1260 with 2 flips or something like that, I don't exactly remember. All I know is that he's the only one to ever try it and land it so that's pretty cool. I can't wait to see what he'll try in 4 years!
5. The US hockey team entered these games as underdogs and they were not expected to contend for a medal. However when they went through pool play undefeated including a 5-3 beatdown of the vaunted Canadian team, the whole world took notice that this team was much better than anticipated. They continued their strong play all the way to the gold medal final, behind the stellar play of goalie Ryan Miller and a group of young first time olympians. The comparisons were inevitable to the "Miracle on Ice" of 1980, the last US team to win gold. In my opinion that was a bit of stretch as this team was comprised of all professional hockey players, however they seemed to have destiny on their side. They faced the Canadians in the final, in what was perhaps the most anticipated and watched hockey game in history. When the Americans tied the game with only seconds remained in regulation I believed it really was their destiny to win, however that didn't take place and the US team settled for the silver medal, but it was nonetheless a remarkable run and truly gave the US hockey program some respect around the world and with such a young team, they have to be considered early medal contenders for 2014.
4. Coming into these games Bonnie Blair held the record for total medals won by a US winter olympic athlete. As the games end that title now belongs to Apolo Anton Ohno with 8 total medals. Short Track speedskating once again showed why it is a favorite of mine with the speed, the crashes, the disqualifications, and the relays which are as close to chaotic as any sport can possibly get. Ohno proved himself once again as one of the greatest US winter olympians of all time in winning 3 medals during the games and will forever be remembered in olympic history. Perhaps even be known more for his athletic feats than winning "dancing with the stars". Congrats to Ohno as the most decorated US winter olympian ever!
3. Only once before had the US won the total medal count at a winter olympic games. Now you can make that twice as they not only won the total medal count but also did so in record form by winning 37 medals which set a new winter olympic record also. Granted there are more medal events today than there were in previous years, however that takes nothing away from the greatest medal haul in US history and olympic history. This was truly a historic olympics for the Americans in many ways, and it had to be encouraging and exciting for the USOC to see all the money and hard work put in by all of their employees in building the US team pay off. They even won medals in events that typically have had poor US showings and based on that they have to be considered favorites looking forward to 4 years from now.
2. If I were to mention Nordic Combined to most of you, you would have no clue as to what that was. Well you may be surprised to learn that it is an olympic event, in fact there are 3 Nordic Combined events. These events have been competed in since the very first winter olympic games, and the US had never won a medal of any kind. That is a pretty incredible streak of futility, one even the Chicago Cubs could understand. The Nordic Combined is a mixture of ski jumping and cross country skiing and they do what they call the normal hill, the large hill, and the team event. With incredible performances, the US medaled in all 3 events, winning 3 silvers and a gold. In my opinion this was truly the biggest surprise of the games, and I was so impressed that I actually looked up their names, so mad props to the US Nordic Combined team of Todd Lodwick, Bill Demong, and Johnny Spillane.
The US team also had one more major breakthrough at these games in winning their first gold medal in bobsled since 1948. The US 4-man team led from the first run to the last in winning the gold fairly easily in just another highlight for the US team in these games.
1. As I stated earlier I don't care that much for figure skating, but this story completely stole my heart and is without a doubt the greatest story of these olympic games. I'm sure most of you have heard the story of Canadian skater Joannie Rochette, but for those who have not...She was considered a medal contender coming into the olympics and then just days before she was to skate, her mother, while at the games suffered a massive heart attack and died. Rochette decided that her mom's wish would be for her to continue to compete. Oh and compete she did. As she skated the short program on home ice just like 2 days after her mother's death, I can't even comprehend the emotions she must have been feeling. But she skated the performance of her life, and upon finishing received a standing ovation from the arena and then broke out into tears. I have to say that in watching it, I cried along with her when she finished. While she did not get the gold that most of the world would have loved to see, she did win a bronze and once again I cried as she did. WOW! Thats all I can say!
So those are my 2010 Olympic memories, it was truly a great 2 weeks of sports and reminded me once again why I am proud to be an American and why I love sports. I look forward to watching again in 2012 in London and 2014 in Sochi!
