And the awesomeness just keeps coming...
14) The South Korean women finished first in the 3k Meter Relay on the short track. HOWEVER, they were disqualified by the judges after the race, which gave China the gold and bumped the United States into bronze. Does it get any better than that?! YES! The Chinese were also credited with a world record time, even though they crossed the finish line in second! I should probably apologize for the inappropriate joy I feel at this whacked out turn of events... but I won't.
15) Speaking of whacked out: Lindsey Vonn crashed on the Giant Slalom, which hurt because she was in the lead by over half a second (that's like a 20 pt. lead in an NBA game--huge, but not impossible to beat). However, since the weather was so poopy, race officials had already sent the next skier down the hill. Standard procedure, and they got her stopped in time, but by random chance that second skier was defending gold medalist Julie Mancuso. Aaaggh! No way ANYBODY get jacked up like that in the middle of a run and comes back to repeat the same quality of performance. Julie finished the run in 18th and wept profusely. Sad day for U.S. Ski Team. AND, it looks like Ms. Vonn may have broken a finger, which seriously effects her chances in the slalom. "Oh no, we suck again!"
16) Silver for the United States in Nordic Combined Team?! NO WAY! But it did happen.
17) Job opening! Dutch speed skating coach Gerard Kemkers pulled an All-Time Olympic blunder in the Men's 10,000 meters race when he yelled at Sven Kramer to switch lanes with eight laps left to go. Kramer is the world-record holder and 3-time defending world champion at that distance. The only person he was competing with for gold was himself. Thanks to Kemkers advice however, he was DQ'd. Not a lot of love lost between athlete and coach afterwards. This might not have been so bad, but speed skating is to Holland what television is to America.
18) Women's Ski Cross? Seriously, wasn't the men's event embarrassing enough? In the 7 heats they showed in prime time there was exactly ONE lead change past the first 50m. There were only about 3 position changes in the back of the races, and only once in the competition did the leading qualifier in each race NOT win. (YAWN!) Where's curling when you really need it?
I am a ski fanatic. I have no problem following other freestyle events, alpine, biathlon, Nordic combined, jumping or cross country races, but ski cross--AND I REALLY HOPE THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE IS READING THIS--SKI CROSS HAS TO GO!
19) This is what makes the Olympics great: Marjan Kalhor. Marjan Kalhor is the first woman from Islamic Republic of Iran (the official Olympic designation of that country) to compete in a Winter Olympiad. She will finish dead last in the women's Giant Slalom and has to wear a head scarf under her helmet to comply with Islamic dress code, but she's there. Kudos to her and all the other athletes like her. And kudos to Iran for allowing her to compete. There is always a group of athletes that come from nations sending only a small handful of representatives (often as few as one), who's biggest victory is marching in the opening ceremonies, and I wish them all the best. I hope their Olympic experience is everything the rest of us dream about.
