2006 Turin Winter Olympics Blog

The Turin Olympics has a surprise for the Opening Ceremonies. Opera star Luciano Pavarotti will be singing. This was kept a secret until yesterday. Pavarotti has performed at major sporting events in the past, but this is his first Olympics appearance.

The BBC ran a piece today on six international athletes to watch at the upcoming Turin Olympics. The article names Fritz Strobl, Janica Kostelic, Irina Slutskaya, Armin Zoeggeler, Anni Friesinger and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. They are from Austria, Croatia, Russia, Italy, Germany and Norway competing in skiing, skating (figure and speed), luge and biathlon. To learn more about these six to watch, read the BBC article.

Today and tomorrow and then the games begin. Are you wondering when and where to view the Olympics on television? There are several places you can see the television schedule for the Turin Olympics. NBC, of course, has a schedule. Yahoo also has a schedule that you can view online.

I was recently asked this question by a reader. The answer is— nothing. Unlike a special event that could not be predicted, NBC knew about the Olympics when they planned their Spring schedule. So, just like any other special that they might plan during the season, they simply planned to show your favorite shows some other week. Your favorite series should pick up right where they left off.

You’ve never heard of Chad Hedrick? Well, I predict that soon he will be a household name, just like Mary Lou Retton or Bruce Jenner. Chad Hedrick is the former inline skating champion who is competing in the Turin Olympics next week. He has a chance to win five gold medals. If he does, then he will tie Eric Heiden’s Olympic record. You can read a great article on Chad here.

I can hardly believe it. When I started this blog back in December, it seemed so far off, and now it’s here! Tomorrow the real fun starts. Will Michelle Kwan win gold? Will Chad Hedrick tie Eric Heiden’s record? How many luge athletes will crash? Soon, we’ll know the answers to all these questions and more.

Some of you may recall my previous post on Grandma Luge, luger Anne Abernathy, who will compete in her 6th Olympics in Turin. When I last posted, I was unsure whether she would qualify and be able to compete in next week’s Olympics. I am happy to report that Grandma Luge will be sliding for six in Turin. You can send her note of good luck on her web site.

Chris Witty has many accomplishments as a speedskater, including gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals, as well as a world record. Tomorrow night, she will have a new honor. She has been selected to carry the U.S. flag in the Olympic Opening Ceremony parade of nations.

Witty also competed in the Summer Olympics in Sydney, as a track cycler. She was the 9th U.S. athlete to compete in both the Winter and Summer Games.

Yahoo ran a list of medal predictions by AP writers this morning. They predict some gold medals for the U.S., but some of their predictions were surprising to me. For example, they predict that the highest figure skating medal will be a bronze for Sasha Cohen (sorry Michelle Kwan fans).

Apolo Ohno is predicted to take gold in the 1500, and Chad Hedrick is predicted to fall short of five gold medals, winning only three, according to the AP writers. Bode Miller is predicted to come home with a few medals, himself. Read the predictions and let me know what you agree with— or what you don’t agree with.

I was asked yesterday in the comment section whether the Jamaican bobsled team will be making an appearance in the Turin Olympics. This is a really difficult question to answer. Half the sites I consulted said that Jamaica will have two bobsled teams in the Turin Olympics— a 2 man team and a 4 man team. Other sites say they failed to qualify. The official Turin site did nothing to clear up my confusion. The Jamaican bobsledders are listed. But when you look up bobsleigh, Jamaica is not listed as one of the competing teams. After looking up the World Cup points, I think it is highly unlikely that they qualified, but don’t be surprised if I’m mistaken.

Whether Jamaica competes, or not, there are other unlikely countries to field Winter Olympians. Other warm countries with representatives in the Turin Olympics include Algeria, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Greece, Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States Virgin Islands.

After a 62 day relay and over 10,000 kilometers, the Olympic Flame has reached Turin. The official cauldron will be lit at the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow night.

The Olympics start tonight. What will you be watching 24 hours from now? Be sure to check back here often for medal counts, human interest stories and updates on the latest Olympic happenings.

Eight cross-country skiers, including two Americans, have been suspended for five days, pending new blood tests, after their initial blood tests revealed high hemoglobin levels. This is not considered a disciplinary suspension, but a health suspension. Initially, it looks like none of the skiers will miss their scheduled events.

Generally, this kind of problem is caused by acclimation to high altitudes or improper hydration. While there have been cases of athletes using illicit transfusions or other means to achieve high hemoglobin levels, this is unlikely to be the case here. It is much more likely that the athletes simply did not drink enough water in their recent travelling and settling in to the athlete’s village.

Hemoglobin is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to all cells. Because it increases the oxygen in the muscles, it can be considered a performance enhancer.

UPDATE: Four more cross-country skiers received five-day suspensions Friday for testing positive for high levels of hemoglobin in their blood, bringing the total to 12 in two days.

In a sad turn of events, Zach Lund, America’s best chance for a skeleton medal has received a one year suspension from the World Anti-Doping Agency. This will prevent Lund from competing in the Olympics. Lund received a public warning from the US Anti-Doping Agency, but was still allowed to compete in the Olympics, following a positive test for finasteride – a banned substance often used as a steroid-masking agent – at a World Cup race in November. The World Anti-Doping Agency wanted stronger penalties for Lund’s positive test and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Lund had admitted to using an anti-baldness medication, which contains finasteride, but until 2005, it was not on the banned list. Lund failed to check the 2005 list when it was posted and so did not know that the status had changed.

The World Anti-Doping Agency had asked that Lund be banned for two years but the Court of Arbitration for Sport chose to give him a one-year suspension – the minimum for drugs offences.

“The panel has declared that it was entirely satisfied that Mr Lund was not a cheat,” CAS said in a statement. “He regularly checked the prohibited list in the past years but, unfortunately, in 2005, he made a mistake and failed to do so.”

The U.S. will still have three sliders competing in the men’s skeleton event on Feb. 17. Eric Bernotas and Kevin Ellis will now be joined by Chris Soule, who was seventh at the Salt Lake Olympics four years ago. Soule will be traveling in from Lake Placid, N.Y.

It looks like we may have to wait until the actual Opening Ceremonies to discover who will be carrying the final Olympic torch to light the Olympic flame in Turin. It will probably be one of two Italian Olympic heroes: cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo or skier Alberto “La Bomba” Tomba. It is traditional for the identity of the final torch bearer to be kept a secret.