I was going to write my first olympic entry about how annoyed I was that the only news coming out of Sochi was more about toilets and small beds than the actual Olympics.
Not that this was a surprise. A heavy anti-russian attitude has been a growing feeling among western culture months leading up to the games and I was afraid this was going to translate into reports being more motivated to make Sochi olympics look like a joke and forget the main purpose of why they were there.
But Canada has had great success in the first 3 days, our greatest start ever to an olympics and these early medals have turned suspect photos of constructions which may or may not actually be related to the Olympics into images of great success and pride of course shiny gold, silver and bronze. And not a moment too soon. I've seen of enough shitter pics. If I wanted to see a Russian toilet, I would go to Russia.
The point of the Olympics is to celebrate sport in it's last true form. When it's not about millions of dollars or sponsors and we get to see the culmination of 4 years of training and dedication.
Now onto the highlights of the first 3 days.
1. Moguls of moguls.
4 of the 7 medals won by Canada have come on the moguls. Men's competition featured a dominant Canadian performance. Not only did Alex Bilodeau become the first back to back mogul gold medallist ever but also the rise of the next great Canadian mogul skier in Mikael Kingsbury who will be 26 for the 2018 games. We also saw a 4th place finish by Marc-Antoine Gagnon and just shy of all 4 Canadians making the 6 person final. We own moguls and were so close to sweeping the podium.
Aside from the Canadian performance the whole competition featured huge jumps, some good spills and about 20 guys flying down a course of ice bumps as fast as the could. In fact I would question if they were turning or just being bounced from mogul to mogul, the way most of us ski moguls, but don't stay on our feet.
The course made me think that the future of moguls will be a course were moguls pop up out of the hill trying to surprise a skier like a mine field. Maybe in the 2044 games.
2. Charles Hamelin
The short track skater started his attempt to become the most decorated Canadian Olympian ever with a gold in the 1500 m race. He has the potential to finish with 7 medals in his career and about 20 over the board kisses with his girlfriend. I bet she makes him wear his medals at home.
As much as I'm looking forward of rest Hamelin's races, I'm more looking forward to how he reacts when his girlfriend races. In true dude fashion it will be a fraction of the emotion.
3. JP Le Guellec near miss.
I was going to title this entry as "The Haves and the Almost Haves" but I do want to recognize JP's efforts in the biathlon. Not only has biathlon become my early favorite sport of these games, but JP is probably the best Canadian biathlete since Myriam Bedard was a double gold medallist. About time the sport with a gun got some recognition. JP had a great first race in the 10km sprint (nothing 10 km long should ever be called a sprint), but today he was in first place and looking strong before a fall on the toughest part of the track in tough conditions took him out of contention. But his efforts should be acknowledged and in a sport that Canada doesn't have a strong tradition in, you have to love how close he came.
Why don't regular cross country skiers switch to biathlon? It's just adding shooting a gun to the sport. If you ever find yourself in Whistler, B.C. Go to Callahan (whistler olympic park) where the 2010 biathlon was held. You can try the range and see how you do. For full experience ski 5 kms first.
Those are the 3 highlights of the first 3 fays for me.
Now there has been some questions around judging. Whether it's figure skating collusion (it's been 12 years since a good figure skating scandal, we're due) to the mysterious judging in slopestyle and even moguls. Not quite sure how Hanna Kearney took the bronze on an obvious mistake. It's been the one flaw in he games. To a regular viewer, it shouldn't be a mystery as to why one person wins and another doesn't. CBC, maybe you can help with this.
1 thing I learned so far.
In speed skating if you lift your foot off the ice to extend past the finish line, you're disqualified. You must keep contact with the ice with at least a piece of your blade.
1 event to watch coming up.
X-country skiing sprint. 4-6 skiers race a 3+km course much like ski-cross and it results in some great finishes. Format is equivent to short track speed skating with top two racers moving on from quarters to semis to finals all in one day.
Overall through 3 days, I'm fully caught up in olympic spirit and have taken to sleeping on a futon in front of my TV. I don't plan on going back to my regular bed until Feb. 23.
Until day 6 or the next time something wicked happens.
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