Any event that brings the whole world onto one stage always interests me and being a huge sports fan what other event is bigger than the Olympics, the only other sporting event which could come close is the FIFA World cup.
I have been waiting for this years Winter Olympics for many a reasons, (A) They are being conducted in Canada and (B) They are being conducted in Vancouver. I have never been there but for reason Vancouver has been one of my favorite cities in the world for a while now. I so wanted to visit these Olympics, but hey not everything goes according to plan in life, right?
2010 Olympics began on a sad note with the death of a Georgian luger, Nodar KUMARITASHVILI during a practice run. But as always, we got through it, the athletes found the strength to continue and go on with the competitions.
The Opening ceremony was one to remember for a long, long time for more reasons than one. Let it be the snow boarded who jumped through the Olympic rings into the stadium, let it be that for the first time ever not one but four different athletes lit the Cauldron at the same time (or atleast that was the initial idea.A small mechanical failure decreased the count to 3 only to make the closing ceremony a good spoof and a very funny cover-up.) , let it be that The Great One (Wayne GRETZKY) lit the second outdoor Cauldron or let it be the tens of projectors showing the story of Canada and the First nations in 3D.
The Host nation began this Olympics with never winning a gold at home. The pressure was on when the Moguls tournament began and Canadian Jennifer HEIL was the favorite. After her second run Heil was leading with only one skier to come down and in comes American Hannah Kearney with a picture perfect run to spoil Canada's hopes. But Canada din't have to wait much longer, Alexandre BILODEAU won gold in the men's moguls competition ending the drought.
One of the much heard names in these Olympics was that of the American Alpine skier Lyndsey VONN-KIDLOW.
Vonn had a very disappointing Torino Olympics without any podium finishes. But ever since she has pretty much
been the number one skier in almost all the event she participated. During a practice run here at Whistler
Vonn got injured and her whole competition was in doubt. But like any other true champion she fought back
and came up with a Gold in the Down Hill competition. Though there were a few other crashes for Von during
the games, she ended up with 2 medals in all. Julia Mancuso, another equally talented skier and gold medalist
at Torino once again proved herself with two silver medals. We cannot mention about Alpine skiing without
mentioning the name of Maria REISCH, a close friend and competitor of Vonn. Reisch finished the games
with two golds. It's too bad that we din't get to see Reisch and Vonn on the podium at the same time. But I am
so expecting that to happen at the World Championships this month.
In the Men's Alpine skiing american Bode MILLER after missing out on most of the early 2010 season and
hinting retirement before that came back to win 3 medals and became the most decorated american
alpine skier of all time. A very inspiring story is that of Askel Lund SWINDEL who after suffering from a major
crash before Torino and missing it completely came back with a bang and won gold here.
If there is one event which makes us drop our jaws its the Half-Pipe event in snow boarding with the high jumping, twisting, turning, rotating, corking. Defending gold medalist American Hannah TETER started out as favorite with only to end up with silver where the Australia with a cute smile Torah BRIGHT came up on top with gold. On the men's side the title favorite and defending champion Shaun WHITE won the gold comfortably. Though White came up with gold, he has a lot to learn from Teter, not on the pipe but off the pipe in the field being humble, social service and charity work and how NOT to be cocky, arrogant and be on the ground once in a while.
Speed skating is one fun event to watch at the games especially the short track with all the bumping, pushing, crashing etc. The event which is very much dominated by Koreans, much watched American Appolo Ohno began the games with much hopes, jumped over some obstacles, dealt with some bad fortune and ended with 3 medals to become most decorated american winter olympian of all time. But as mentioned and expected the Koreans really dominated this event. In the Long track Shani DAVIS did something which was never done before. He won back to back gold in the 1000m event and slightly missed out in the 1500m and had to settle with a silver. Another worth mentioning incident occurred during the men's 10K event when Sven KRAMER of Netherlands was accidentally directed by his coach into the wrong lane in the last turn while he was on a Olympic record time only to be dis-qualified and end up without a medal. Kramer though showed some frustration immediately after the race, he pulled himself together well and was back on track for the team pursuit couple of days later.
Cross-country skiing (or walking for those who don't know how difficult it is) is and also has been dominated by the Scandinavian countries and this year's games were no different. A very inspiring story is that of Slovakian Petra MAJDIC who suffered a horrible crash during a practise run was taken to the hospital. But she came back to contest in the heats, finished well within the qualifying limit, contested in the quarters, semis and finals and ended up with a Bronze all on the same day. After she was done, it was found that she had three broken bones in her chest and a punctured lung. Now that is what I call as determination.
2002 double gold medalist Simon AMMAN of Switzerland had a horrible Torino performance with not even finishing in the top 10 in either categories of the Ski-Jumping event. With all the media craze and pressure his performance disappointed many people. But not in Vancouver. He came on top in both the events and proved once in for all why he is considered one of the best Ski Jumpers ever.
People who watch it just for a minute and judge it not as a sport don't really know what Curling is all about. It takes skill, precision, technique, strategy and some very good sweeping (just kidding) to excel at this sport. It's kinda funny to watch but there is more to it. The host nation made it to the final in both men's and women's division but came out with a gold only in the men's division.
I decided not to watch the Figure skating event during this games because my favorite and previous medalist Sasha Cohen was not in Team USA, but being an un-partial sports fan i did it anyway and let me tell you it was worth it. The competition between Evan LYSACEK and Yvegeny PLUSHENKO was one to look for. Plushenko lead the line-up after the short program and was very closely followed by Lysacek. But after the free skate Lysacek came on top. The humble and soft spoken Lysacek very much deserved the gold. Another tragedy stuck these games when canada's Joannie ROCHETTE's mother passed away during the games. But she got over it, and not only competed but won a bronze. You have to admire her strength and courage.
Though the representation for India was very very minor in these games Bollywood was a part of it. USA's Ice dancing couple of Meryl DAVIS and Charlie WHITE performed for a parody of bollywood songs in the original dance section and over all they came in second to Canada's Tessa VIRTUE and Scott MOIR.
I left the best for the last. The event that matters the most for a nation which treats the sport like a religion and no I am not talking about Cricket and India. I am talking about Hockey(Ice Hockey) and Canada, the country which has pictures of Hockey stars on their currency. Olympic Hockey Gold is the most coveted medal for the host nation. In the Men's division Canada lost to Team USA in the group match, but both teams managed to meet again in the Gold medal game where Canada lead almost the entire match but team USA managed a final minute goal to equalize and force and over time where the dramatic finish came from the stick or none other than Sidney CROSBY for Canada to win the gold. In the Women's division it's again USA vs Canada and Canada came on top in that match-up as well. Disappointment for team USA in this sport in both the divisions.
All in all the host nation which began the games with never have being won a gold on home soil ended the games with breaking the record for highest number of golds (14) at a winter winter olympic games. Norway crossed the 300 medal mark and team USA ended up with a record breaking 37 medals in all.
The closing ceremony at the games was one of the funniest I have ever seen. The mechanical problem during the opening ceremony was "fixed", Katherine O'Hara brought a smile and tear on everyone's cheek at the same time and the Nation which spends most part of the year covered by snow and in the darkness said goodbye in it's own special way.
If you really know me, it's very much unlike me to to write such a long blog and not to mention a few names which made an impression on my heart (wink). They would be the High jumping Australian Snow boarder Torah BRIGHT who is soon to be married (snob snob), Canadian Ice Dancing Queen Tessa VIRTUE and the hot Swiss curler Carmer SCHAFER.
Thank you all for reading this really long blog. I hope you can wait for 2 years for my next Olympic Stories.
P.S. Sorry for not putting any pictures..... i wanted to but, i have been having some editing issues... i promise pictures next time....
