| 17 Days of Glory |
| By Sally Haase February 24, 2014 Another Olympic Games is in the history books and for all the worry surrounding the 2014 Sochi games, it all went off without a hitch. At first there was some talk about the United States boycotting the games because Russia offered asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, then there were calls for a boycott about Russia’s civil rights policies, then there was the huge worry of a possible terrorist attack during the run of the games. Thankfully, there were no boycotts by the United States or other countries, no one got arrested for speaking out against Russia’s laws, and the terrorists were kept out; allowing the focus, as it should be, on the athletes. Here are some of my most memorable moments, some good, some not, from the Sochi games. 1. The producers of the opening and closing ceremonies have a sense of humor. During the opening ceremony, there were five computer generated snowflakes that expanded out to create the Olympic rings, but the fifth snowflake refused to open, making it the only noticeable glitch during the spectacular opening ceremony. During the closing ceremony there were human snowflakes expanding to make the Olympic rings, the fifth snowflake had a little trouble expanding until it eventually did, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd. 2. The Netherlands speed skating team. Of the 24 total medals won by the Dutch, 23 were for speed skating creating a new king of the ice. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the United States had a terrible showing on the speed skating track, Shani Davis failed to medal and J R Celski managed one in the team relay, the team switched body suits thinking that the discomfort with the new suits was the problem, it wasn’t. Whether the problem was the suits, coaching or the high altitude or a combination of the three, Team USA needs to figure it out and get speed skating back on track. 3. The resurgence of Russian and US figure skating. After both had a poor showing in 2010, both came back with force. Russia came out swinging with the first of its kind team event with Evgeny Plyushchenko skating in his fourth Olympics and helping lead the Russian team to gold. The team event was also the debut of 15 years old sensation Yulia Lipnitskaya, who dazzled the home crowd with her spins and Gumby-like flexibility. Lipnitskaya was the front runner to take home the gold in the ladies event, but fell victim to falls in both her short program and free skate. Her teammate Adelina Sotnikova came out of nowhere to win the gold, stopping Yuna Kim’s possible gold medal repeat. And you know it’s not an Olympics unless we have some sort of figure skating controversy and it happened once again in the ladies program. Sotnikova had a more difficult program therefore had more chances to earn points, giving her the win. Kim’s performance may have been more pleasing to the eye for some, but it was not as difficult. And for those of you saying nasty things about Sotnikova, knock it off. You cannot fault the skater for what was in the hands of the judges. She may be an ice water in her veins figure skater, but she is still a teenage girl and those words can have a lasting effect on her. The United States took home two medals in figure skating with the team bronze and gold for the first time for ice dancing for Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Davis and White along with Gracie Gold pretty much carried the team to its bronze finish. The ladies program featured three USA women, Gold, Ashley Wagner, and Polina Edmunds; all three finished top ten with Gold in fourth, Wagner in seventh and Edmunds in ninth. The men have another exciting teenager in Jason Brown, 2018 is shaping up to be a good year for US figure skating provided Brown, Edmunds and Gold all stay healthy and continue to improve. 4. Mikaela Shiffrin: Shiffrin became the youngest alpine skier to win a medal and it was gold in the slalom. Things got a little scary on her second run when she nearly lost control of her skis, but Shiffrin got back on track by blazing through the rest of the slalom. If Shiffrin is already this good at 18, imagine how great she will be in 2018. 5. Lauryn Williams: Before Williams won the silver in the two women bobsled, there were only four other Olympians to win medals of any color in the winter and Summer games. Williams entered the record books as the fifth in these games. Her 2014 silver medal will look good with her 2004 silver. 6. Hockey: First off the United States and Russia played in an instant classic that had nothing on the line. But the atmosphere was like a gold medal game. The game was won in the eighth shootout round by the United States and it left a lot of hockey fans hoping for a rematch between these two teams in the gold medal game. It was not meant to be, Russia got knocked out before the medal rounds and the US lost the bronze medal game to Finland. The US and Canadian women put on one heck of a show in the gold medal game, the US had the game until 74 seconds away from victory when Canada tied it up and won in overtime. The US women can hold their heads high about their silver medal victory; they fought until the bitter end. Right now the NHL is dragging its feet on committing to the 2018 Olympics and maybe they need to go back to college players, the best of the best college players will be in the NHL soon, why not give them some good international experience and at least the college players will play like they have something to prove. There you have it, it was a wonderful 17 days full of great athletes, new stars and lots of high flying action. |
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