Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (02/21/2010 @ 1:35 pm)
Even though one of the most anticipated events of the 2010 Winter Olympics takes place in a few hours, I get the impression that many don’t know when it actually takes place. Olympic hockey is always entertaining, but watching the United States take on Canada in Vancouver is going to be pure bliss. Is the game going to be on NBC? Of course it’s not — they’re broadcasting the Czech Republic/Russia game instead. Whatever. The U.S./Canada game is scheduled to air live on MSNBC at 7 PM ET, so sit down with loved ones and remind yourself how great the Olympics can be.
While many of the pre-race favorites struggled with a sharp right turn midway down, Vonn made it through that section without a problem. But then she lost nearly half a second on the bottom section of the course.
“Once I got past those difficult sections, I kind of backed off the gas pedal,” Vonn said. “I felt like I just didn’t ski as aggressively as I could have, and I think that’s where I lost the race.”
Johanna Schnarf of Italy finished fourth and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria fifth. Super-combined winner Maria Riesch of Germany was eighth and Swedish standout Anja Paerson was 11th.
It’s the first Alpine victory at these games for Austria, which entered the race with only Goergl’s downhill bronze. At the 2006 Turin Games, Austria won 14 medals — four of them gold.
Fischbacher was reduced to tears after placing fourth in the downhill, finishing only three-hundredths of a second behind Goergl.
This was the third of Vonn’s five events at the Winter Olympics. She previously won gold in the downhill, but fared poorly in the super-combined after crashing. Here next race is giant slalom on Wednesday.
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (02/19/2010 @ 7:27 pm)
There are many things I hate about the 2010 Winter Olympics. I hate that, even though I live in the same time zone as Vancouver, I don’t have the option of seeing the marquee events live. I hate that, even though I resign myself to watching the preempted coverage, the events can go until midnight. I hate that the live coverage I do get on the USA Network, MSNBC, and CNBC is treated with little care, as commercials are thrown in willy and nilly and events are cut short by other programming. I hate that Brian Williams tells me to look away from the screen because NBC — the network that is counting on us from the West Coast to stick around — is going to show the results from events that happened earlier in the day.
The Olympics owed me one, and they came through. Because I could, I put on women’s curling on USA this morning. The United States was taking on Russia and I had no idea what was happening on my screen. Now, I expected hulks of women to fill the teams, but this was not the case. Both boasted rather attractive athletes, especially Russia. In my opinion, even though the U.S. took the match, the real winners were the men everywhere who got to witness Russia’s skip, Ludmila Privivkova, handle a stick. (Sorry.)
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (02/18/2010 @ 9:27 pm)
After Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer won the gold medal in the men’s 5000 meters on Monday, an unprepared NBC reporter asked him to identify himself. This is what happened.
With tickets going for a premium and people wanting to attend Games, Vanoc’s ticketing vice-president Caley Denton said there is no reason why there should be empty seats during the 2010 Winter Olympics. But at a number of competitions this weekend there were conspicuous blocks of empty seats, irritating spectators and prompting a few to complain to the media.
Getting people into as many seats as possible was one of the major promises Vanoc made after the 2006 Turin Games, which suffered from a high degree of absenteeism. Cameras panned over large blocks of empty seats set aside for sponsors and International Olympic Committee guests, leaving the impression the events were poorly attended.
In the years since, Vanoc has carefully controlled access to that seating, whittling down numbers and telling sponsors and IOC groups that they have to make sure they use the seats allocated for them.
Wow. Even those with primo seats don’t know when they’re supposed to watch the Olympics.
The women will ski the bottom section later Monday, following the conclusion of the men’s downhill race — the first Alpine competition at the Vancouver Games. Vonn finished in 1 minute, 30.75 seconds, which was 0.39 seconds faster than teammate Julia Mancuso.
Vonn bruised her right shin during practice in Austria on Feb. 2. She stayed off skis for more than a week, but tested the injury — with encouraging results — in an unofficial slalom training run Sunday.
The shin was a little tender Monday morning, but that was to be expected. And it didn’t seem to hurt her skiing.
“After skiing four runs of pretty good intensity slalom on salted snow, with the conditions the way they are here now, I think even if you had healthy shins, you’d probably have a sore shin today,” said Thomas Vonn, who serves as a coach and adviser to his wife. “She’s happy to be where she’s at, as opposed to where she was a couple of days ago.”
This should quell any fears that Vonn won’t compete. The United States is currently atop the leader board with eight total medals (two gold, two silver, four bronze) and Vonn’s presence should add to that count.
The women’s downhill race is scheduled for Wednesday.
“There were questions being asked about this place,” President Mikheil Saakashvili said. “There were suggestions that the wall should have been higher there.”
Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed when he lost control of his sled at about 80 mph, flipped over the lip of the track and slammed into an unpadded roof support post. Saakashvili reacted to suggestions that the 21-year-old athlete lacked the necessary experience to handle the course.
“They said that what happened yesterday was because of human error,” the president said. “Well, with all due respect … one thing I know for sure, that no sports mistake is supposed to lead to a death.”
Even some veteran lugers had previously commented on the difficulty of the Whistler track. Officials are now extending the wall along the lip, Saakashvili said.
“But I think the best news would be if, in the future, they listen more to the grievances of sportsmen,” he said. “And we don’t have to do things in the aftermath.”
The International Luge Federation and the Vancouver Olympic Committe are the ones who refuse to take responsibility for the tragic accident. They are morons. You see all the crying and the mourning from these guys in their suits, but their deep-seeded insensitivity is just disappointing. All they had to do was express regret for not taking the proper precautions. That’s it.
Many in the tennis world were surprised by the return of Lindsay Davenport to the WTA tour last year after the birth of her son. Her critics felt she had lost the desire to play professionally, and that her legacy would be tarnished by her ill-fated return.
This couldn’t be further from the truth; Davenport’s comeback has produced two victories in her first year back on tour, and there is no question that she can compete with the world’s top players again. But don’t count out her winning a fourth Grand Slam title. A right knee injury has forced her to default from Wimbledon and the Olympic singles tournament. This was a setback for Davenport, as her comeback was primarily motivated by the opportunity to play in Beijing.
At 32, Davenport is the fifth-oldest woman at the U.S. Open. Her short-term motivation is that she can still walk out on a court and rip a ground stroke as hard as any player competing at Flushing this week. And it is this stroke that will mask Davenport’s lack of lateral quickness. Also, the extra day of rest between rounds will help her recoup the strength needed to advance at the U.S. Open.
She is approaching one match at a time and is downplaying her chances of winning the Open, which makes sense since has only played eight tournaments this season.
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (08/27/2008 @ 5:27 pm)
In a recent Los Angeles Times article, columnist Barbara Demick examines China’s methods for cultivating Olympic athletes. It’s a very interesting read as it contrasts the American sentiment of fun and good sportsmanship to the Chinese attitude of duty and dominance.
The only mother on China’s team, Xian Dongmei, told reporters after she won her gold medal in judo that she had not seen her 18-month-old daughter in one year, monitoring the girl’s growth only by webcam. Another gold medalist, weightlifter Cao Lei, was kept in such seclusion training for the Olympics that she wasn’t told her mother was dying. She found out only after she had missed the funeral.
Chen Ruolin, a 15-year-old diver, was ordered to skip dinner for one year to keep her body sharp as a razor slicing into the water. The girl weighs 66 pounds.
“To achieve Olympic glory for the motherland is the sacred mission assigned by the Communist Party central,” is how Chinese Sports Minister Liu Peng put it at the beginning of the Games.
“You have no control over your own life. Coaches are with you all the time. People are always watching you, the doctors, even the chefs in the cafeteria. You have no choice but to train so as not to let the others down,” gymnast Chen Yibing told Chinese reporters last week after winning a gold medal on the rings. He said he could count the amount of time he’d spent with his parents “by hours . . . very few hours.”
After Beijing was chosen in 2001 to host this summer’s Games, China’s sports authorities launched Project 119 (after the number of medals available in track and field, canoeing, sailing, rowing and swimming that were not Chinese strengths) and assigned promising young athletes to focus exclusively on these sports, some of which they’d never heard of.
Of course, a federal government having its hand in athletic development is nothing new; the Soviet Union and East Germany are just two examples. However, with these Olympics being the most widely watched in history and its minute-by-minute coverage being scrutinized by a host of international columnists and bloggers on the Internet, even the smallest off-color story can cause a worldwide ripple. China, for all its faults, hosted the most sensational Olympics in recent years. We will never forget the impossibly beautiful opening and closing ceremonies, the money and effort they spent conforming the architecture of their capital, and the hospitality they showed to each athlete. Still, it’s the performances that matter, and China proved their dominance in more events than any other country – even the United States.
As this article shows, this success was planned and expected. While reading, I was not in awe of the methods employed by the Chinese government, but was surprised by the “what-can-you-do” attitude of its athletes.
Everyone watches the Olympics differently. I rooted for Michael Phelps to break Mark Spitz’s record; I followed the Redeem Team to their gold-medal success; I cheered Nastia Liukin on in the all-around gymnastics competition. What I noticed was that I was throwing my support around specific athletes and teams based just as much on their individual stories as on their American nationality. For some reason, the medal count never felt important. I’ve always assumed that Americans would dominate in some sports and other nations would dominate in others—seemed like a fairly rational outlook. Yet, upon hearing rumors of China’s totalitarian policy towards its athletes and its submission of underage female gymnasts, the medal race suddenly became a huge issue. I found myself taking interest in sports I’d never cared for: rhythm gymnastics, shot put, rowing. I wanted to know the odds and needed to see where we could edge China.
This acute and misdirected patriotism gradually waned, however, with the arrival of Usain Bolt. Watching him run, I couldn’t have cared less which nation he represented. A gold (or three) would go to Jamaica, not the United States or China, and so be it. Those races were about Bolt and Bolt only. We now know who the fastest man in the world is. (To think, at one point I thought it was Ricky Henderson.)
I loved watching these Olympics. Aside from the events, I appreciated that NBC’s coverage focused on China’s culture and just how much they cherished hosting these Games. You got the sense that its citizens were familiar with each athlete, and that they cheered and rejoiced each individual triumph.
Obviously, we live in a country where its government doesn’t delegate the path of its athletes – our constitution practically forbids it. Most Americans watch the Olympics because of an ideal, not because of a medal count. I love the fact that athletes I’ve never heard of will perform unprecedented feats in front of an international audience. If one of them happened to be an American, then I’d be proud; if they happened to be a foreigner, then I’d be congratulatory.
Here’s something to chew on in the aftermath of these Olympics: competition in sport can be an antidote for inhumane catastrophe. Relating this theory to European soccer, American novelist Paul Auster wrote:
“Passions among the spectators run high. They wave their country’s flag, they sing patriotic songs, they insult the supporters of the other team. Americans might look at these antics and think they’re all in good fun, but they’re not. They’re serious business. But at least the mock battles waged by the surrogate armies in short pants do not threaten to increase the population of widows and fatherless children…As long as countries square off against each other on the playing field, we will be able to count the casualties on the fingers of our two hands. A generation ago, they were tallied in the millions.”
I believe this mindset is similar to that of the Olympics. Competition that takes place in the Olympic arena can be viewed as a substitute for political or martial strife. As is witnessed in this article, countries will choose to go about this in different ways. China has a heavy-handed approach while the United States utilizes a free-market system; these are vastly different, but equally successful. Even in sports, these tactics are representative of these nations as a whole. Either way, we should be thankful that these “winners” are determined in athletics rather than on the battlefield.
- The Aaron Rodgers era officially begins Monday Night in Green Bay when the Packers take on the Bengals in their first preseason game. Don’t expect him to play much, but it’ll be interesting to see how he handles his first series as the number one guy. The game airs on ESPN at 8:00 PM Eastern.
- The New York Yankees, fresh off of getting swept in Anaheim this past weekend, head to Minnesota to face the Twins. The Twins are just a half game back of the White Sox in the AL Central, and the Yankees need to get their act together before it’s too late and they miss out on the playoffs. This is definitely an important series for both teams.
- The Olympics can be seen throughout the week on NBC, USA, CNBC, MSNBC, and The Oxygen Channel. There’s enough activity going on to the point where something’s always on.
- Team USA’s basketball team looks to build off their dominating performance yesterday when they take on Angola Tuesday at 8:00 AM Eastern. The game will be aired on the USA network. That’s damn early for those of us on the West coast!
