2006 Turin Winter Olympics Blog

Want to watch the creation of the 2006 Turin Olympics figure skating team? Check out the televised championships on television this weekend.

Tonight from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.* (set your Tivo) on ESPN 2, you can watch pairs and ice dance competition.

Tomorrow, from 4-6 p.m., ABC will televise the Men’s program. This will be followed from 8-11 p.m. by the Ladies program, also on ABC. This will be particularly exciting, but will it mean that the three winners are going to Turin? Or will Michelle Kwan bump one of the ladies and attend the Olympics in her stead?

If you miss those broadcasts, you can see the rebroadcast on Sunday on ESPN 2. Men’s and ladies programs can be seen from 1-2:30 p.m. Ice dancing and pairs will air from 2:30-4 p.m.

And, finally, the U.S. Championships Exhibition will air on ABC on Sunday from 4-6 p.m.

For more rebroadcast times, as well as broadcast times of other Championship events, visit the U.S. Figure Skating’s official site.

*All times Eastern time zone. Check your local listings for local air times.

The Olympics are often full of comeback stories. Over the next few blog posts, I will be telling some of the stories of Olympians who will be competing in Turin against the odds. Look for stories about a skier who will be skiing in the 2006 Olympics, thanks to tissue donation from a dead man; a curler whose personal life almost caused her to quit; a singles skater who hopes to make a comeback in pairs skating. If you know of a comeback story that we should cover, tell us about it in the commets section.

By the time this post is read, the pairs teams to compete in the Turin Olympics will already be known. One of the hopefuls is Naomi Nari Nam, along with her partner, Themistocles Leftheris.

In 1997, as an 11 year old, Nam won the novice division in ladies skating. Two years later, at her first senior nationals, she finished second to Kwan. She was expected to compete in the Salt Lake City Olympics and, possibly, to medal.

But injuries prevented her from competing in the 2001 nationals. She thought she was suffering from a stress fracture in her hip. It wasn’t a stress fracture. She had popped the hip out of its socket and tore cartilage—an injury like the one Tara Lipinski suffered.

After having the same surgery Lipinski had, Nam found herself faced with a dilemna— what to do abou skating. While she still loved skating, she was unsure whether her body could handle the rigors of singles skating anymore. So, her thoughts turned to pairs.

She has been with her partner since only June. After Wednesday’s short program, they were in third. The top two pairs teams will go to the Olympics in Turin. After this weekend, we’ll update you on whether Naomi Nari Nam and Themistocles Leftheris will be packing their bags to compete for Olympic gold.

Update— Naomi Nari Nam and Themistocles Leftheris barely placed fifth, overall. Considering they’ve only been skating together for a few months, I would say that their chances of doing well in future events is good.

Alisa Camplin is a long-shot for a medal in Turin. Freestyle aerialist Camplin, who was a gold medalist at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City four years ago, had radical knee surgery in October. Her knee was repaired with a patella tendon from a donor cadaver.

This week in Deer Valley, Utah, she will be competing in her first competition just 12 weeks after the surgery. It is fitting that she is making her comeback in Deer Valley, since that is the site of her Olympic medal performance.

Camplin has already qualified for the Turin Olympics and will perform only basic aerial tricks in her comeback. While the team doctor says that it is unlikely that she will medal in Turin, the fact that she will be competing at all is pretty remarkable.

Sasha Cohen has a solid lead in the U.S. Championships after the short program. Behind Cohen are Emily Hughes and Bebe Liang. Liang, in third, is a surprise contender for the third place on the Olympic team. The person who wins third may be moot, as far as a place on the Olympic team is concerned, if Michelle Kwan wins her bid for the third spot. Whoever wins, it will be the first time in the past eight years that Michelle Kwan has not been the National Champion.

I could not believe this story when I saw it. Now, I think anyone who competes in luge is really brave, or a bit crazy. But a woman in her 50s will be competing in her 6th Olympics if she raises the funding to make it the Turin Olympics next month. Anne Abernathy, or Grandma Luge, as she’s known to fellow competitors has qualified for her 6th consecutive Olympics berth in the sport of luge.

If that isn’t remarkable enough, before the Salt Lake City Olympics, she suffered what could have been a career-ending accident. Suffering severe head trauma, Abernathy underwent a new treatment that involved using video games to retrain the brain.

Look for Grandma Luge at the upcoming Olympics in Turin.

Rhona Martin was a hero when she lead her team to gold in curling at the Salt Lake City Olympics. But in the last year, after losing her home and her marriage, she seriously considered leaving the sport.

Her children encouraged her to reconsider. And so, one game away from being completely eliminated from any hope of competing the Olympics, Martin decided to fight for a place onthe team. Next month, she will compete in the Turin Olympics.

Six years ago, Kris Freeman was told he would have to leave the sport that he had loved since he was a child. Freeman was diagnosed with diabetes and told that he would have to quit cross country skiing. He rejected that recommendation and has been skiing competitively the whole time since his diagnosis. He placed 14th in one-day pursuit and helped the U.S. team finish 5th, overall.

Next month, he will again be representing the United States in the Turin Olympics. If he medals, it will be the first time since 1976.

In addition to pursuing training as a world class athlete, Freeman has become a national spokesperson for diabetes awareness.

Be sure to read the story where he tells about wrestling an electrolyte drink away from a Russian when his own drink was dropped by one of his coaches.

In all my Olympics readings, I keep seeing articles about a Scottish band, the Porridge Men. “Porridge Men,” I say to myself, “What does that have to do with the Olympics?” So, after a bit of research I can tell you what the Porridge Men and the 2006 Turin Olympics have in common.

Sinead and John Kerr, British ice dancers, have chosen to use a song called Planet Porridge by the Porridge Men for their ice dancing routine which they will perform in Turin. I’m not sure why this is so newsworthy, but since I keep seeing it come up, I must conclude that there is cultural significance to Scottish ice dancers choosing to skate to music from a Scottish Celtic band at the Olympics.

We just put up our third weekly winter olympics trivia quiz. Click here to take it now.

Let the Olympic controversy begin!

The U.S. Olympic Figure Skating team was named last night. Many of the names will come as no surprise, as they are the top finishers at Nationals.

Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Meissner took gold and silver at Nationals, assuring themselves of a spot on the Olympic team. Emily Hughes (yes, she is Sarah’s sister) came in third but, in a move that is sure to prove controversial, the Olympic team placed her in an alternate position in order to allow Michelle Kwan the third place on the team. Kwan was not at Nationals due to an injury. Also placed in an alternate position was Katy Taylor, a relative unknown.

The men’s team was a little more straightforward. Johnny Weir, Evan Lysacek and Matt Savoie took gold, silver, and bronze and all three will be attending the Olympics. It will be the first time since 1976 that three newcomers will be representing the United States at an Olympics. Weir is already stirring things up after using a drug reference in an analogy comparing his performace to that of a competitor.

Rena Inoue and John Baldwin will lead the pairs figure skating team in Turin, after completing the world’s first throw triple axel. They are still considered longshots at next month’s Olympics. Inoe is a two-time Olympian in singles and pairs for Japan. They will be joined by Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parchem.

Tanith Belbin, who was granted U.S. citizenship to allow her to attend the Olympics, and her partner, Ben Agosto were the top ice dancers. Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov and Jamie Silverstein and Ryan O’Meara will round out the ice dancing team.

Melissa Gregory and Denis Pethkhov are a nice story. Petukhov was born in Russian but came to the United States to skate with Gregory, who is now his wife. He became an American citizen last February. His mother, Luba, was with them at nationals, one of the few times she’s seen her son and daughter-in-law skate. I particularly like this story because when I was growing up I thought all pairs skaters and ice dancers were married. Torville and Dean? Married. Tai and Randy? Married. So, it’s nice to know that, for once, my romantic ideal matches up with reality.

So, let us know what you think about the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. Thrilled about Michelle Kwan attending? Outraged? Think Tanith Belbin should have had to wait? Think Johnny Weir ought to wear less flamboyant costumes? Leave us a comment and let us know what you’re thinking.

Wondering what the closing ceremonies will be like? It looks like viewers can expect a Fellini-inspired extraveganza. Clowns, acrobats, and highwire acts are some of the activities we can expect to see. There will also be aspects of Italy’s Winter Carnival.

It sounds like a lot of fun. I hope you all plan to be watching.

The Olympic flame today detoured through the canals of Venice today to avoid protesters. The protests had nothing to do with the Olympics. They were protesting a plan to save the city from sinking.

The flame is due to arrive in Turin in time for the Olympic opening ceremonies.

Now, onto an interesting geography fact about Italy— Venice, in particular. This summer I watched a History show with my 12 year old about Venice, Italy. I never realized that it is essentially a series of islands in a saltwater marsh. Just thought I’d share that little piece of trivia, not that it has anything to do with the Olympics.

Think all luge competitors are a bit crazy? How about the skeleton athletes (you know, the sport kind of like the luge, except you go head first, instead of feet first because when you’re going down a mountain at 75 miles per hour, you want to see it)? It seems that a lot of athletes who compete in the thrill-seeking Olympic sports seek their thrills outside their given sports, as well. I just read this really interesting article about Olympians who also bridge jump, mountain bike, and even golf. Golf? Well, you’ll just have to read the article for yourself.

Have you ever wondered what the luge is? How about the Nordic combined? The truth is—I don’t really know, either. So, now that I’ve finished my series on Olympic comebacks, I thought I’d start a new series called “What’s that Olympic sport?” It’s always a lot more interesting to watch a sport in the Olympics when you know what it is. So, check back daily for exciting entries like “What is the luge?” and “What is curling?”