i need an olympics icon
Today was a pretty slow day olympics wise. Well...in speaking about things i was interested in watching. Watching the downhill was crazy. These guys are going so fast down the mountain at these crazy speeds while navigating this course with these little jumps that launch them. Then you see them totally wipe out and when that happens, you don't think they're getting up. I don't think there is such a thing as a small fall in downhill. They're going way too fast. A small fall turns into this huge thing. They must be tired and get the wind knocked out of them when it happens because they always just lay there for a few seconds and you kinda think they're knocked out. Intense. This one guy actually saved himself from falling only to wipe out later down the mountain.
While watching the snowboard cross, i have re-realized my intense love of snowboarding. I would marry a snowboard cross athlete. They're crazy awesome. They have to go as fast as possible without making a mistake that will cause them to wipe out, get the lines just right around the curves, get the right angle on their board as they traverse this course, and worry about landing the jumps. Then, after they've made it into the quarter finals, they have to do all this with 3 other people next to them. It's insane really. I LOVE it. It's a sexy insane. It's 2 americans (including the defending gold medalist), a canadian, and a french guy in the finals. Can't WAIT.
Figure skating does not hold the same appeal for me now as it used to when i was a kid. I still keep it on in the background, but I'm not glued to it like i am when i watch some of the other sports. Right now, China is in first. The Zhangs. They completed a really good free skate and i hope they win.
There was some drama with the speed skating track because the track was bumpy and none of the coaches were going to let their skaters on that track. It wasn't just one country's coach complaing, i think all of them were. The whole track had to be resurfaced and it set them back like an hour.
OH MY GOD!!!! Did you see that race?!?!? AHHHHHHH!!! That was crazy!! Canada was in front and Nate Holland (US) was the one challenging for 1st and Wescott (previous gold medalist) was in 4th. I was like, "NO!" because i wanted Seth Wescott to get at least silver since that was what he was aiming for and Holland was favorite for gold contention. Then Holland wipes. out. I was very much screaming "NOOOOOO!!!" because it looked like the US was going to lose gold then Wescott starts creeping up and he passes France on the inside turn and starts speeding up and closing the gap between him and canada and i'm like, "oh snap!!" because this could happen. Then at the very end, he passes Canada in an air jump and I'm like, "WHAT!!!" and they are like neck and neck over that last jump and then Wescott edges forward and takes the gold! WHOOOOOOOO! Could not believe it! Back to back gold! So excited. Out of the qualifier he was something like 23 after wiping out on one of his runs and then doing better on his second run. Then to pull this off? Incredible. Just incredible. Yay US.
I keep trying to figure out how the scoring works in figure skating, but i'm just not getting it because it just seems that the later you skate, the higher your score is. These people are falling on their asses and making all these bobbles and mistakes and they're still getting higher scores than the other guys that have flawless performances so i don't get it. My Chinese team is out so i don't care anymore. I take it back. My other favorite Chinese pair, the ones that have been to 4 olympics, are still in it. They're married, 31 and 36 and super contenders. THEY DID IT!!! YAY!!! Finally after 18 years of skating together. I'm so happy for them. All their hard work and all they gave up for this. They really deserved it. They came out of retirement and put off their wedding celebration for this. Go them. It's also kinda crazy that China has knocked off Russia's figure skating dynasty. Russia has won the last 12 olympics figure skating titles and now, this year, China is 1 and 2 with Russia in 4. Just crazy crazy crazy.
While watching the snowboard cross, i have re-realized my intense love of snowboarding. I would marry a snowboard cross athlete. They're crazy awesome. They have to go as fast as possible without making a mistake that will cause them to wipe out, get the lines just right around the curves, get the right angle on their board as they traverse this course, and worry about landing the jumps. Then, after they've made it into the quarter finals, they have to do all this with 3 other people next to them. It's insane really. I LOVE it. It's a sexy insane. It's 2 americans (including the defending gold medalist), a canadian, and a french guy in the finals. Can't WAIT.
Figure skating does not hold the same appeal for me now as it used to when i was a kid. I still keep it on in the background, but I'm not glued to it like i am when i watch some of the other sports. Right now, China is in first. The Zhangs. They completed a really good free skate and i hope they win.
There was some drama with the speed skating track because the track was bumpy and none of the coaches were going to let their skaters on that track. It wasn't just one country's coach complaing, i think all of them were. The whole track had to be resurfaced and it set them back like an hour.
OH MY GOD!!!! Did you see that race?!?!? AHHHHHHH!!! That was crazy!! Canada was in front and Nate Holland (US) was the one challenging for 1st and Wescott (previous gold medalist) was in 4th. I was like, "NO!" because i wanted Seth Wescott to get at least silver since that was what he was aiming for and Holland was favorite for gold contention. Then Holland wipes. out. I was very much screaming "NOOOOOO!!!" because it looked like the US was going to lose gold then Wescott starts creeping up and he passes France on the inside turn and starts speeding up and closing the gap between him and canada and i'm like, "oh snap!!" because this could happen. Then at the very end, he passes Canada in an air jump and I'm like, "WHAT!!!" and they are like neck and neck over that last jump and then Wescott edges forward and takes the gold! WHOOOOOOOO! Could not believe it! Back to back gold! So excited. Out of the qualifier he was something like 23 after wiping out on one of his runs and then doing better on his second run. Then to pull this off? Incredible. Just incredible. Yay US.
I keep trying to figure out how the scoring works in figure skating, but i'm just not getting it because it just seems that the later you skate, the higher your score is. These people are falling on their asses and making all these bobbles and mistakes and they're still getting higher scores than the other guys that have flawless performances so i don't get it. My Chinese team is out so i don't care anymore. I take it back. My other favorite Chinese pair, the ones that have been to 4 olympics, are still in it. They're married, 31 and 36 and super contenders. THEY DID IT!!! YAY!!! Finally after 18 years of skating together. I'm so happy for them. All their hard work and all they gave up for this. They really deserved it. They came out of retirement and put off their wedding celebration for this. Go them. It's also kinda crazy that China has knocked off Russia's figure skating dynasty. Russia has won the last 12 olympics figure skating titles and now, this year, China is 1 and 2 with Russia in 4. Just crazy crazy crazy.