Saturday, February 8, 2014

XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 1)



After some early-morning calisthenics, we're back to action in Sochi. Comments, as warranted.

Previous reports:

36 comments:

  1. Medal count:

    Netherlands 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
    Norway 1, 0, 1
    Finland 0, 1, 0
    Afghanistan 0, 0, 0
    Albania 0, 0, 0
    Andorra 0, 0, 0
    Argentina 0, 0, 0
    Armenia 0, 0, 0
    Australia 0, 0, 0
    Austria 0, 0, 0
    Azerbaijan 0, 0, 0
    Belarus 0, 0, 0
    Belgium 0, 0, 0
    Bermuda 0, 0, 0
    Bosnia and Herzegovina 0, 0, 0
    Brazil 0, 0, 0
    Bulgaria 0, 0, 0
    Canada 0, 0, 0
    Cayman Islands 0, 0, 0
    Chile 0, 0, 0
    China 0, 0, 0
    Chinese Taipei 0, 0, 0
    Croatia 0, 0, 0
    Cyprus 0, 0, 0
    Czech Republic 0, 0, 0
    Denmark 0, 0, 0
    Dominica 0, 0, 0
    Estonia 0, 0, 0
    France 0, 0, 0
    Georgia 0, 0, 0
    Germany 0, 0, 0
    Great Britain 0, 0, 0
    Greece 0, 0, 0
    Hong Kong (China) 0, 0, 0
    Hungary 0, 0, 0
    Iceland 0, 0, 0
    Independent Olympic participant 0, 0, 0
    IR Iran 0, 0, 0
    Ireland 0, 0, 0
    Israel 0, 0, 0
    Italy 0, 0, 0
    Jamaica 0, 0, 0
    Japan 0, 0, 0
    Kazakhstan 0, 0, 0
    Korea 0, 0, 0
    Kyrgyzstan 0, 0, 0
    Latvia 0, 0, 0
    Lebanon 0, 0, 0
    Liechtenstein 0, 0, 0
    Lithuania 0, 0, 0
    Luxembourg 0, 0, 0
    Malta 0, 0, 0
    Mexico 0, 0, 0
    Monaco 0, 0, 0
    Mongolia 0, 0, 0
    Montenegro 0, 0, 0
    Morocco 0, 0, 0
    Nepal 0, 0, 0
    New Zealand 0, 0, 0
    Pakistan 0, 0, 0
    Paraguay 0, 0, 0
    Peru 0, 0, 0
    Philippines 0, 0, 0
    Poland 0, 0, 0
    Portugal 0, 0, 0
    Republic of Moldova 0, 0, 0
    Romania 0, 0, 0
    Russian Federation 0, 0, 0
    San Marino 0, 0, 0
    Serbia 0, 0, 0
    Slovakia 0, 0, 0
    Slovenia 0, 0, 0
    Spain 0, 0, 0
    Sweden 0, 0, 0
    Switzerland 0, 0, 0
    Tajikistan 0, 0, 0
    Thailand 0, 0, 0
    The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 0, 0, 0
    Timor-Leste 0, 0, 0
    Togo 0, 0, 0
    Tonga 0, 0, 0
    Turkey 0, 0, 0
    Ukraine 0, 0, 0
    United States 0, 0, 0
    Uzbekistan 0, 0, 0
    Venezuela 0, 0, 0
    Virgin Islands (British) 0, 0, 0
    Virgin Islands (U.S.) 0, 0, 0
    Zimbabwe 0, 0, 0

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  2. So I stirred with a cold way too early this morning and flipped on the TV to find Norway's Marit Bjørgen skiing across the finish Ladies' Skiathlon 7.5 km Classic + 7.5 km Free for what I believe was the first medal of the 22nd Winter Olympics. Bjørgen is a 33-year-old who started winning Olympic medals at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. This was the eighth of her career and fourth gold.

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  3. Oh, good ... NBC is doing a replay of the skiathlon final. "Few things are more beautiful than a mass start in cross-country skiing," says Al Trautwig, and I agree.

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  4. The digital feed for the NBC Sports channel keeps breaking up, and so it's kind of like watching the Olympics on WSIL on a snowy day in 1976.

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  5. Oh, I mis-saw that skiathlon finish in my sleepiness early this morning. It was Sweden, not Finland, that finished for silver. The Swedish skiier actually took the lead with about a minute left in the race, but then Bjørgen won pulling away at the end.

    Per the Google's translation of Bjørgen's hometown newspaper, Adresseavisen of Trondheim, Norway, "With the current gold , she is up for four Olympic gold medals in total. Thus she is the most successful Norwegian winter Olympian . Bjoergen plans to go all six distances in Sochi . If she wins all , she is the most successful Winter Olympian , regardless of gender."

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  6. Corrected Medal count:

    Netherlands 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
    Norway 1, 0, 1
    Sweden 0, 1, 0
    Afghanistan 0, 0, 0
    Albania 0, 0, 0
    Andorra 0, 0, 0
    Argentina 0, 0, 0
    Armenia 0, 0, 0
    Australia 0, 0, 0
    Austria 0, 0, 0
    Azerbaijan 0, 0, 0
    Belarus 0, 0, 0
    Belgium 0, 0, 0
    Bermuda 0, 0, 0
    Bosnia and Herzegovina 0, 0, 0
    Brazil 0, 0, 0
    Bulgaria 0, 0, 0
    Canada 0, 0, 0
    Cayman Islands 0, 0, 0
    Chile 0, 0, 0
    China 0, 0, 0
    Chinese Taipei 0, 0, 0
    Croatia 0, 0, 0
    Cyprus 0, 0, 0
    Czech Republic 0, 0, 0
    Denmark 0, 0, 0
    Dominica 0, 0, 0
    Estonia 0, 0, 0
    Finland 0, 0, 0
    France 0, 0, 0
    Georgia 0, 0, 0
    Germany 0, 0, 0
    Great Britain 0, 0, 0
    Greece 0, 0, 0
    Hong Kong (China) 0, 0, 0
    Hungary 0, 0, 0
    Iceland 0, 0, 0
    Independent Olympic participant 0, 0, 0
    IR Iran 0, 0, 0
    Ireland 0, 0, 0
    Israel 0, 0, 0
    Italy 0, 0, 0
    Jamaica 0, 0, 0
    Japan 0, 0, 0
    Kazakhstan 0, 0, 0
    Korea 0, 0, 0
    Kyrgyzstan 0, 0, 0
    Latvia 0, 0, 0
    Lebanon 0, 0, 0
    Liechtenstein 0, 0, 0
    Lithuania 0, 0, 0
    Luxembourg 0, 0, 0
    Malta 0, 0, 0
    Mexico 0, 0, 0
    Monaco 0, 0, 0
    Mongolia 0, 0, 0
    Montenegro 0, 0, 0
    Morocco 0, 0, 0
    Nepal 0, 0, 0
    New Zealand 0, 0, 0
    Pakistan 0, 0, 0
    Paraguay 0, 0, 0
    Peru 0, 0, 0
    Philippines 0, 0, 0
    Poland 0, 0, 0
    Portugal 0, 0, 0
    Republic of Moldova 0, 0, 0
    Romania 0, 0, 0
    Russian Federation 0, 0, 0
    San Marino 0, 0, 0
    Serbia 0, 0, 0
    Slovakia 0, 0, 0
    Slovenia 0, 0, 0
    Spain 0, 0, 0
    Switzerland 0, 0, 0
    Tajikistan 0, 0, 0
    Thailand 0, 0, 0
    The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 0, 0, 0
    Timor-Leste 0, 0, 0
    Togo 0, 0, 0
    Tonga 0, 0, 0
    Turkey 0, 0, 0
    Ukraine 0, 0, 0
    United States 0, 0, 0
    Uzbekistan 0, 0, 0
    Venezuela 0, 0, 0
    Virgin Islands (British) 0, 0, 0
    Virgin Islands (U.S.) 0, 0, 0
    Zimbabwe 0, 0, 0

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  7. The three Dutch medals are the result of a clean sweep in men's 5,000-meter speed skating. The gold-medal winner was Sven Kramer, who also won this event in 2010 in Vancouver. Despite that gold four years ago, it turned out to be a pretty disappointing XXI Olympic Winter Games for Kramer that featured an infamous tantrum after his coach misdirected him into the wrong lane in the last moments of what would've been a gold-medal skate in the 10,000-meter event. But back in the Olympics again is a reportedly less-single-minded Kramer at age 27; he's even back with the same coach who steered him wrong in Vancouver. He's 1-for-1 so far in Sochi.

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  8. The top U.S. performer in this event was a 17-year-old from Oak Park, Ill., Emery Lehman. He finished 16th. Dan Jansen expects him to be a big deal, and, sort of like John Henry or the UK football recruiting class, his exploits are hailed in song.

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  9. @SvenKramer86 has 119,000 followers on Twitter.

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  10. The top U.S. performer in the women's skiathlon was a 22-year-old from Afton, Minn, Jessica Diggins. She finished eighth.

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  11. They just showed a replay of the men's 5,000-meter race on NBC, and they came back to the studio for Al Michaels to report that Kramer did not watch the last three pairs of skaters after his skate in the event. "He said he couldn't handle the tension," Michaels said. "Whatever."

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  12. Now we've got the men's 10-kilometer sprint biathlon on Channel 6.

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  13. Matthew of biathlon during the Vancouver 2010 games: "did you see where our junior team recently won the world championships. the thinking is in about 2 more olympics we'll dominate."

    Go Heath: "I'll believe it when I see it."

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  14. So far, Go Heath still needn't believe. Tim Burke, the great American hope, finished 19th in the men's 10-kilometer biathlon today.

    Tim Burke ‏@tb_burke 3h
    Considering the past few weeks, this was not a bad start for me. Now hoping to feel better with each race! #TeamUSA #Sochi2014
    1:02 PM - 8 Feb 2014


    Indeed, the 32-year-old from Paul Smiths, N.Y., finished 47th in this event at Vancouver 2010 and 35th at Torino 2006, so 19th today could be a hopeful sign for Burke. He went 18th in the 15-kilometer mass start event in Vancouver, and he's entered for that event in Sochi on Feb. 16.

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  15. The 10-kilometer sprint medals go to Norway, Austria and the Czech Republic. Ole Einar Bjørndalen takes claims the gold--his seventh gold and 12th overall over six Olympics, starting with Lillehammer 1994. Last summer, the 40-year-old from Modum, Norway, announced he would retire after Sochi 2014. He is scheduled to participate in two more events, so Bjørndalen could surpass his hero, fellow Norwegian Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie, who won a Olympic Winter Games-record eight gold medals during his cross-country skiing career.

    Bjørndalen's victory today must've driven the home crowd nuts in Sochi.

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  16. Medal leaders:

    Norway 2 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze
    Netherlands 1, 1, 1
    Austria 0, 1, 0
    Sweden 0, 1, 0
    Czech Republic 0, 0, 1

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  17. Every Winter Games, the first Saturday night is dominated by figure skating, and I think, What a bore. Then Scott Hamilton gets on there and starts getting excited, and I catch his enthusiasm, and I'm hooked.

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  18. Yeoman Tom Hammond just mentioned that the Japanese 23-year-old who is skating on NBC right now--Vancouver 2010 silver medalist Yao Asada--does commercials back in her home country. Indeed: "More Smiley ZOOM."

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  19. The Russian 9-year-old was really good, but I think the Italian woman who skated to "Ave Maria" was as good as anyone I've ever seen.

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  20. Now we've moved on to one of these events where they ski down a bumpy hill at night. NBC's positioning of this footage here at the end of the night suggests to me good news for Team USA ...

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  21. "Close to out of control is where you want to be," comments the commentator.

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  22. OK, we've two American women into the six-person "super finals" of bumpy night skiing ... U! S! A! ...

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  23. One of the two U.S. women has been eliminated from medal contention by the first of two Canadian sisters in the superfinals.

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  24. And now we're down to just the second American, with the Canadian sisters occupying the top two slots at the moment ...

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  25. Nope ... the Canadian sisters take gold and silver; American Hannah Kearney of some Hanover takes bronze, and she's sad about it.

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  26. OK, NBC closed with the National Anthem being played for some man. This was weird. I missed a gold medal for Team USA somewhere! That's outstanding news.

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  27. Well, I've got to get caught up. Back to Hannah of Hanover ... her bronze came in ladies' moguls freestyle skiing. The Canadian sisters who won gold and silver, respectively, were 19-year-old Justine and 22-year-old Chloe Dufour-Lapointe. They have an older sister, Maxime, who also competes in this sport, so, obviously, the Dufour-Lapointes of Montreal are the French-Canadian/woman/freestyle-skiing Mannings.

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  28. And, OK, here we go ... U! S! A! U! S! A! ... men's slopestyle snowboarding gold goes to Team USA!

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  29. Norway takes silver, and Canada, bronze.

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  30. And that's it. That's all the medals for today. Being surprised by that gold at the end of NBC's prime-time show tonight was kind of like waking up to nothing on the ground after a night when snow was forecast and then getting in the shower and getting ready for school, only to find that snow is now falling and they're turning around the buses. Hooray!

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  31. Medal count:

    Norway 2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
    Canada 1, 1, 1
    Netherlands 1, 1, 1
    United States 1, 0, 1
    Austria 0, 1, 0
    Sweden 0, 1, 0
    Czech Republic 0, 0, 1
    Afghanistan 0, 0, 0
    Albania 0, 0, 0
    Andorra 0, 0, 0
    Argentina 0, 0, 0
    Armenia 0, 0, 0
    Australia 0, 0, 0
    Azerbaijan 0, 0, 0
    Belarus 0, 0, 0
    Belgium 0, 0, 0
    Bermuda 0, 0, 0
    Bosnia and Herzegovina 0, 0, 0
    Brazil 0, 0, 0
    Bulgaria 0, 0, 0
    Cayman Islands 0, 0, 0
    Chile 0, 0, 0
    China 0, 0, 0
    Chinese Taipei 0, 0, 0
    Croatia 0, 0, 0
    Cyprus 0, 0, 0
    Denmark 0, 0, 0
    Dominica 0, 0, 0
    Estonia 0, 0, 0
    Finland 0, 0, 0
    France 0, 0, 0
    Georgia 0, 0, 0
    Germany 0, 0, 0
    Great Britain 0, 0, 0
    Greece 0, 0, 0
    Hong Kong (China) 0, 0, 0
    Hungary 0, 0, 0
    Iceland 0, 0, 0
    Independent Olympic participant 0, 0, 0
    IR Iran 0, 0, 0
    Ireland 0, 0, 0
    Israel 0, 0, 0
    Italy 0, 0, 0
    Jamaica 0, 0, 0
    Japan 0, 0, 0
    Kazakhstan 0, 0, 0
    Korea 0, 0, 0
    Kyrgyzstan 0, 0, 0
    Latvia 0, 0, 0
    Lebanon 0, 0, 0
    Liechtenstein 0, 0, 0
    Lithuania 0, 0, 0
    Luxembourg 0, 0, 0
    Malta 0, 0, 0
    Mexico 0, 0, 0
    Monaco 0, 0, 0
    Mongolia 0, 0, 0
    Montenegro 0, 0, 0
    Morocco 0, 0, 0
    Nepal 0, 0, 0
    New Zealand 0, 0, 0
    Pakistan 0, 0, 0
    Paraguay 0, 0, 0
    Peru 0, 0, 0
    Philippines 0, 0, 0
    Poland 0, 0, 0
    Portugal 0, 0, 0
    Republic of Moldova 0, 0, 0
    Romania 0, 0, 0
    Russian Federation 0, 0, 0
    San Marino 0, 0, 0
    Serbia 0, 0, 0
    Slovakia 0, 0, 0
    Slovenia 0, 0, 0
    Spain 0, 0, 0
    Switzerland 0, 0, 0
    Tajikistan 0, 0, 0
    Thailand 0, 0, 0
    The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 0, 0, 0
    Timor-Leste 0, 0, 0
    Togo 0, 0, 0
    Tonga 0, 0, 0
    Turkey 0, 0, 0
    Ukraine 0, 0, 0
    Uzbekistan 0, 0, 0
    Venezuela 0, 0, 0
    Virgin Islands (British) 0, 0, 0
    Virgin Islands (U.S.) 0, 0, 0
    Zimbabwe 0, 0, 0

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