Forever doomed to be second. Will she be back for another Olympics? I wish she would just have skated a clean program. Rats. I do have great respect for the fact that she didn’t try to blame it on her wrapped leg.
Here are the results, in case you missed them:
Gold Shizuka Arakawa Japan
Silver Sasha Cohen United States
Bronze Irina Slutskaya Russia
Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes finished 6th and 7th. They could really be formidable in 4 years.
Biathlon, Women’s 4×6km Relay
Gold Russia
Silver Germany
Bronze France
It should come as no surprise that the USA did not win a medal in this. I’m sure our biathlon athletes work just as hard as our figure skaters, snowboarders, speedskaters and other more decorated athletes, but they just don’t ever seem to even come close. I wonder why that is… Incidentally, the Americans finished over 9 minutes back, in 15th place.
Because, let’s face it, yesterday was not a good day for American competitors and, as much as I like Canada and Italy and Germany, in particular— I really wanted to see the little Stars and Stripes flag next to some results. This morning, my wish was granted. Thank goodness for American snowboarders!
Snowboarding, Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom
Gold Daniela Meuli Switzerland
Silver Amelie Kober Germany
Bronze Rosey Fletcher United States
Yesterday, Sasha Cohen made the somewhat unusual decision to skip her practice sessions yesterday, but she was back on the ice today. Her coach said she didn’t get much sleep Tuesday night. She isn’t suffering any injuries. Hopefully, the extra rest will pay off tonight, and she can stick those landings and bring home a gold. The competition is really close right now. This will not be a “sure thing” like the men’s gold. It’s really anyone’s competition to win or lose for the top skaters.
Short Track, Women’s 3000m relay
Gold South Korea
Silver Canada
Bronze Italy
I have to say I’ve been really impressed by Italy in short track and speed skating. Who knew they would be such a force?
Freestyle skiing, women’s aerials
Gold Evelyne Leu Switzerland
Silver Nina Li China
Bronze Alisa Camplin Australia
Congratulations to Alisa! Not bad for someone they didn’t even think would be able to compete.
Downhill skiing, women’s slalom
Gold Anja Paerson Sweden
Silver Nicole Hosp Austria
Bronze Marlie Schild Austria
What a surprise! Austria won medals in downhill skiing.
Speed skating, women’s 1500m
Gold Cindy Klassen Canada
Silver Kristina Groves Canada
Bronze Ireen Wust Netherlands
By the way, this win made Cindy Klassen the most decorated Canadian woman at a single Olympics.
In other news, U.S. men’s curling and hockey lost today. The men’s curling team will now play Great Britain for the bronze.
Bode Miller hurt his ankle playing basketball with teammates on Tuesday. Despite this injury, which is described as mnor, he will still be racing in Saturday’s slalom race.
Germany (22) 9 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze (biathlon, Nordic combined, luge, speedskating, cross country, bobsled)
Austria (19) 8 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze (downhill, Nordic combined, luge, ski jumping, snowboard)
USA (18) 7 gold, 7 silver, 4 bronze (snowboard, speed skating, downhill, freestyle, short track, ice dancing, hockey, bobsled)
Canada (18) 5 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze (freestyle, speed skating, x country, short track, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, hockey)
Norway (18) 2 gold, 8 silver, 8 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, freestyle, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding, downhill)
Russia (16) 7 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, figure skating, luge, speed skating, ice dancing)
Switzerland (11) 3 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze (downhill, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, cross country, freestyle)
Sweden (10) 3 gold, 2 Sivler, 4 bronze (xcountry, downhill, biathlon, hockey, snowboard)
Italy (10) 4 gold, 6 bronze (xcountry, luge, speed skating, bobsled)
South Korea(8) 4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze (short track, speed skating)
France (8) 3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze (downhill, freestyle, biathlon, snowboarding, xcountry)
China (8) 1 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze (figure skating, short track, speed skating, freestyle)
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)
Bulgaria (1) 1 silver (short track)
Great Britain (1) 1 silver (skeleton)
Slovakia (1) 1 silver (snowboarding)
Latvia(1) 1 bronze (luge)
Cross-Country Skiing, Women’s Sprint
Gold Chandra Crawford Canada
Silver Claudia Kuenzel Germany
Bronze Alena Sidko Russia
Cross-Country Skiing, Men’s Sprint
Gold Bjoern Lind Sweden
Silver Roddy Darragon France
Bronze Thobias Fredriksson Sweden
If bullock cart racing gets added to the Olympics, I may have to quit watching. I’ve accepted snowboarding, but pulling a tractor with your teeth? There must be a limit. 
The United States could only send one giant slalom snowboarder to this year’s Olympics, and Tyler Jewell won the contested spot. At times, Tyler Jewell has lived in a tent, showered at the YMCA and eaten his meals at a hospital to be able to afford following his snowboard dreams. But Tyler finished 9th in the Olympics, so you probably won’t hear anything about him.
This is the side of the Olympics that many of us forget about— the many athletes who have put their lives on hold, just to compete in the Olympics, even when they know they have very little chance of winning. Why do they do it? Is it just for personal glory? Do they do it for love of country? I don’t know, but I’d rather see a profile on Tyler Jewell than a lot of the nonsense that gets media airtime.
Okay, so americans and snowboard giant slalom apparently don’t mix— at least not well enough to bring home a medal. But there’s a neat story here, anyway. The winners of gold and silver are Swiss brothers Philipp (gold) and Simon (silver) Schoch.
Siegfried Grabner, of Austria, won the bronze.
I’m loathe to even mention this, as I really don’t like all the brouhaha, but I said I would comment after watching, so I will share a few observations.
1. I think the media truly is making more of this than it is.
That being said…
2. After watching the interview with them, I would say there are a lot of hurt feelings and hurt pride on both sides. I think Shani Davis was truly hurt and offended when Chad snubbed him after the 1000, and I think that may have contributed to the infamous “interview”. At the time that it happened, my husband actually said he would probably act like that if his teammates ignored him after the race. So, looks like he was right. On the other hand, I think Hedrick was really offended that Shani Davis made the decision to sit out the team pursuit without even giving him a chance to plead his case or talk to him about it.
3. They’ve both had their say. It’s time to move on. It would be nice if the skating federation had any teeth and could make them sit down in a room together and hash it out. I don’t think it’s good for speedskating, and I don’t think it’s good for America’s image.
They both look a bit like spoiled children, spatting on the playground. “He took my rock, and he won’t give it back.” “Oh, yeah, well he kicked dust on my shoes.”
At the beginning of the Olympics, I was thrilled any time they talked to Chad Hedrick. Now, it just makes me uncomfortable because I don’t like all the controversy. Of course, chances are the media will not let this lie, so Chad is going to have to develop a really good, convincing “no comment” and quit yapping everytime they yank his chain. (I single out Chad here because he still has races remaining, and he is more talkative than Davis.) Does he want to be remembered as the guy who won a bunch of medals or the guy who had a feud with Shani Davis? What kind of Olympic legacy is that?
I was so pleased to see Sasha Cohen skate a clean program. In the past I always enjoyed figure skating. Now, with the emphasis on bigger jumps, a lot of times it just makes me nervous. I remember when it was really rare to see someone fall. Now, it’s increasingly rare to see someone skate a program without a fall. Maybe that’s more exciting, but it definitely makes me more nervous. All of the Americans are in the top seven, which is just great. Hopefully, Sasha will be able to hold it together in the long program and hold off Irina Slutskaya, currently in second, and Shizuka Arakawa, in third. Of course, this is the Olympics, so there’s no guarantee that the short program reflects who will be the overall winners, especially under the new system.
The Americans have not fared well in this Olympic’s aerials competition. Jeret “Speedy” Peterson was the only U.S. man to qualify for the finals. Now, neither of the women from the United States have qualified. Emily Cook was hoping for a comeback, after an accident injured her feet, and doctors told her she would never walk normally again. She finished 19th today. Jana Lindsey also failed to qualify.
On the other hand, there will be more than one comeback kid in the finals. Alisa Camplin qualified for the finals, placing 10th. Jacqui Cooper, also of Australia, missed the last Olympics because of a knee injury. She finished first in today’s qualifying round.
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