2006 Turin Winter Olympics Blog

Well, it’s a good thing Bode didn’t care about medals because today’s elimination meant the end of his Olympic experience— at least for this year. Will Bode be back in 2010? I just can’t even begin to guess what Bode will do. The fun of watching Bode ski, though, in my opinion is that you just never know what will happen. Will he win gold? Will he make it to bottom of the hill? Will he ski into a tree? Will he come hurtling down the hill in a giant snowball, arms and legs all akimbo, ala the cartoons? One just never knows.

Bode wasn’t the only one who had a rough day skiing today in the men’s slalom. 9 out of 29 of today’s contestants were eliminated for straddling a gate or skiing off course. In the end, it was the Austrians’ day to shine— again.

Gold Benjamin Raich Austria
Silver Reinfried Herbst Austria
Bronze Rainer Schoenfelder Austria

A busy day in short track. Apolo managed to skate two races and win two medals, one gold and one bronze. Way to go, Apolo! South Korea, as usual, had a very strong showing.

Men’s 5000m relay

Gold South Korea
Silver Canada
Bronze USA

Men’s 500m

Gold Apolo Anton Ohno United States
Silver Francois-Louis Tremblay Canada
Bronze Hyun-Soo Ahn South Korea

Women’s 1000m

Gold Sun-Yu Jin South Korea
Silver Meng Wang China
Bronze Yang Yang (A) China

Tonight they ran a “special” on the news about how disappointing this year’s Olympic team is. They hit the points I could agree with (childish behavior on the part of some), but then went on to talk about how they were supposed to be such big winners but had fallen so short.

Well, the last time I looked, the U.S. was in second place in the medal count. Sure, there were some medals they “should” have won, but there were some medals they won that they weren’t supposed to win. So, I think it pretty much evens out.

They talked about how brave Sasha Cohen was to come back from her falls early in her program to win silver, but turned right around and said how disappointed the crowd was that she hadn’t won gold (the crowd, or the media?)

I am sick, sick, sick of this attitude about these kids— and that’s what many of them are. Kids in their teens or just barely out. And if any dare to say it’s not about the medals, it’s about having a good time. Woe to them. The media will eat them alive.

I absolutely wish that the U.S. team, as a whole, had exhibited more national pride and “team” attitude. But when the crowds back home (or at least the media representation of the crowd back home) is so critical, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when athletes don’t give a thought to representing the United States and focus, instead, on endorsements to come at the end of it all.

Okay, that’s my rant for today. I feel a little bit like Andy Rooney.

The United States has chosen gold medal winning speedskater Joey Cheek to carry the national flag in the Olympic closing ceremonies this weekend. As you know, we just adore Joey, who has displayed a real humanity and grace in this Olympics, donating the money he received for his medals to charity. I am proud to have him represent the United States in this way. In an interview, he sounded like this would be really meaningful to him, so I’m glad he’ll have this opportunity.

Well, he may not be thrilled with the results, but Chad Hedrick will be going home with a full collection of medals— gold, silver, and bronze. In today’s 10000m, he won silver, finishing almost 4 seconds behind Bob De Jong of the Netherlands. De Jong was joined on the podium by countryman Carl Verheijen.

So, the “loudmouthed Texan” lives up to the hype somewhat. I mean, three medals is three medals. It’s not a record, but it’s still pretty good. I wonder if he’ll be back in Vancouver, or if he’s done with speed skating.

I don’t know all that Emily Hughes has planned, other than more training. But she will also be taking some time to give back, by serving as one of the guest judges for Entenmann’s mini-hero essay contest. Hughes will join her sister and other noteable sports figures to judge the essays about children who do charity work in their communities.

Joey Cheek will be continuing his humanitarian efforts after the Olympics. Not content to just donate, money he will be heading to Zambia to promote healthier living. What a guy! Thanks, Joey, for showing us what it means to be a real hero!

Germany (24) 9 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze (biathlon, Nordic combined, luge, speedskating, cross country, bobsled, snowboarding)
USA (23) 8 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze (snowboard, speed skating, downhill, freestyle, short track, ice dancing, hockey, bobsled, figure skating, curling)
Russia (20) 8 gold, 4 silver, 8 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, figure skating, luge, speed skating, ice dancing, freestly skiing, downhill)
Austria (19) 8 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze (downhill, Nordic combined, luge, ski jumping, snowboard)
Canada (20) 6 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze (freestyle, speed skating, x country, short track, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, hockey, curling)
Norway (18) 2 gold, 8 silver, 8 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, freestyle, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding, downhill)
Switzerland (13) 4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze (downhill, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, cross country, freestyle, curling)
Sweden (12) 4 gold, 2 Sivler, 5 bronze (xcountry, downhill, biathlon, hockey, snowboard, curling)
Italy (10) 4 gold, 6 bronze (xcountry, luge, speed skating, bobsled)
France (9) 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (downhill, freestyle, biathlon, snowboarding, xcountry)
China (9) 2 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze (figure skating, short track, speed skating, freestyle)
South Korea(8) 4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze (short track, speed skating)
Netherlands (9) 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (speed skating)
Finland (7) 5 silver, 3 bronze (ski jumping, snowboarding, x country, freestyle, nordic combined, downhill, curling)
Estonia (3) 3 gold (xcountry)
Czech Republic (3) 1 gold, 2 silver (x country)
Croatia (2) 1 gold, 1 silver (downhill)
Australia (2) 1 gold (freestyle)
Ukraine (2) 2 bronze (biathlon, ice dancing)
Japan (1) 1 gold (figure skating)
Belarus (1) 1 silver (freestly skiing)
Bulgaria (1) 1 silver (short track)
Great Britain (1) 1 silver (skeleton)
Slovakia (1) 1 silver (snowboarding)
Latvia(1) 1 bronze (luge)
Poland (1) 1 bronze (xcountry)

USA takes home the bronze! Yippee! It was really an exciting end to the match. I think it’s the first time this whole Olympics we’ve actually cheered. Of course, some of that may be because it was live, so I didn’t know how it was going to end.

Canada won the gold, and Finland won the bronze in this afternoon’s match.

Cross-Country Skiing, Women’s 30km Freestyle

Gold Katerina Neumannova Czech Republic
Silver Yulia Tchepalova Russia
Bronze Justyna Kowalczyk Poland

Woohoo! Finally, a gold medal for the U.S. women’s Olympic downhill team. Julia Mancuso won the giant slalom today. Julia had an interesting childhood, with a father who was in and out of prison on drug charges. The Italians love her because of her Italian heritage and often wave Italian flags while she is skiing.

Gold Julia Mancuso USA
Silver Tanja Poutiainen Finland
Bronze Anna Ottosson Sweden

Germany (24) 9 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze (biathlon, Nordic combined, luge, speedskating, cross country, bobsled, snowboarding)
USA (20) 7 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze (snowboard, speed skating, downhill, freestyle, short track, ice dancing, hockey, bobsled, figure skating)
Austria (19) 8 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze (downhill, Nordic combined, luge, ski jumping, snowboard)
Russia (19) 8 gold, 3 silver, 8 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, figure skating, luge, speed skating, ice dancing, freestly skiing)
Canada (19) 5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze (freestyle, speed skating, x country, short track, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, hockey, curling)
Norway (18) 2 gold, 8 silver, 8 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, freestyle, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding, downhill)
Switzerland (13) 4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze (downhill, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, cross country, freestyle, curling)
Sweden (11) 4 gold, 2 Sivler, 4 bronze (xcountry, downhill, biathlon, hockey, snowboard, curling)
Italy (10) 4 gold, 6 bronze (xcountry, luge, speed skating, bobsled)
France (9) 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (downhill, freestyle, biathlon, snowboarding, xcountry)
China (9) 2 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze (figure skating, short track, speed skating, freestyle)
South Korea(8) 4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze (short track, speed skating)
Netherlands (7) 2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze (speed skating)
Finland (5) 2 silver, 3 bronze (ski jumping, snowboarding, x country, freestyle, nordic combined)
Estonia (3) 3 gold (xcountry)
Croatia (2) 1 gold, 1 silver (downhill)
Australia (2) 1 gold (freestyle)
Czech Republic (2) 2 silver (x country)
Ukraine (2) 2 bronze (biathlon, ice dancing)
Japan (1) 1 gold (figure skating)
Belarus (1) 1 silver (freestly skiing)
Bulgaria (1) 1 silver (short track)
Great Britain (1) 1 silver (skeleton)
Slovakia (1) 1 silver (snowboarding)
Latvia(1) 1 bronze (luge)

Gold Han Xiaopeng China
Silver Dmitry Dashinski Belarus
Bronze Vladimir Lebedev Russia

Gold Sweden
Silver Switzerland
Bronze Canada

Well, it looks like 96% of us were wrong. I wonder how many of the 4% voted BEFORE tonight. Hmmm?

Who do you think will win the gold in ladies figure skating?
Sasha Cohen: 50% (332)
Kimmie Meissner: 5% (36)
Emily Hughes: 9% (60)
Irina Slutskaya: 23% (153)
Carolina Kostner: 0% (3)
Joannie Rochette: 3% (17)
Shizuka Arakawa: 4% (27)
Fumie Suguri: 2% (10)
other: 3% (21)
Total Votes : 659