You know, these days I consider myself to be going
at a pretty good speed if the 70 year old ladies
don't walk faster than me on the way into the
grocery store.
We normally don't think of it that way, but I
guess even speed is relative.
Anyway, there's a lot to cover from yesterday
so I had better get started.
Holy…crap! Andrea Fischbacher pushes
the envelope.
In the Women's Super-G downhill, Austrian Andrea
Fischbacher won out in a mad race against stiff
competition from the likes of Lindsey Vonn, who
had been trying for another Gold medal. Looks
like Lindsey will have to try again — she will
still compete in the Slalom and Giant Slalom
events.
Jung-Su Lee.
Brothers Jung-Su Lee and Ho-Suk Lee of South Korea
took Gold and Silver in the Men's 1000 m speed skating
event. Apolo Ohno of the U.S. won the Bronze. You
have to be impressed by the South Korean team in
speed skating this year.
Before the games it was speculated that Ohno might
win multiple gold. So far he has won a Silver and
last night's Bronze. Which seemed to be a disappoint-
ment both for himself and for viewers. He has one
more event to try for it — the 500 m to be held
Wednesday (Feb. 24th).
Simon Amman hits some air.
Simon Ammann of Switzerland took his second Gold of
the Olympics in the Long-Run Ski Jumping event.
You notice I didn't say "Men's" Long Run. That is
because I didn't have to — women don't compete in
any ski jumping event. The other day I was talking
about the real and perceived differences between men's
and women's Olympic sports. Well in this one there
isn't any doubt — it is just plain genderism. Unless
there is some complex bio-physical reason that I don't
know about as to why women can't ski jump, the IOC
really needs to revise its thinking and book women's
events in ski jumping.
Perhaps no event shouts "Olympics" like ski jumping.
And you know, in all the Olympics I've watched across
the years I never noticed that women don't ski jump.
Talk about "selective seeing." I'm guilty also.
Marcus Hellner.
Marcus Hellner of Sweden won the Men's 30 km
Pursuit cross-country skiing event.
I really can't get into watching the cross country
events. It seems like a bunch of people moving their
arms and legs over and over in the snow — about as
interesting as watching a crowd of people make snow
angels for a solid hour.
But as my mind wandered during the event I got to
wondering how the 30 km Pursuit would compare to
the Olympic Marathon in terms of speed.
So I did some research and found that the world
record for the marathon is 2:06 for the 42 km run.
Using a ratio, that means that a marathoner running
the same over a 30 km race would finish in 1:30.
But yesterday, Hellner did his 30 km in 1:15. And
that was on skis over ice and snow. Pretty damn
impressive. And it occurred to me that these cross-
country skiers must be the most physically fit
people in the world. They must have the cardiovas-
cular systems of a thoroughbred race horse.
As far as other information I finally got curious
as to whether Whistler, B.C., the site of the skiing
and sledding events for the Olympics, was named after
a historical personage named Whistler or whether it
was named after the regional nickname for the marmot.
Turns out, it was named for the marmot. 🙂
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Wow, the photos are fabulous. Watching the skiers, I find it amazing how they remain upright when making the turns. They are leaning so close to the ground! That is very curious why no women do the ski jumps. I never noticed it either.
@ PamYeah I didn't know about the cross-country either. In fact it never even occurred to me given that there are tons of women up here in the Pacific Northwest who do the cross-country stuff. @ Linda You would think that being more evenly balanced would make them better at it, yeah?
Pam all the photos are off the Vancouver site. You can't right click and copy them, though; so I had to use the Snipping Tool (same as the old screen shot) and then fix them up in Photoshop. BTW I just found this interesting article on women and the ski jump. "The I.O.C. has argued that women’s ski jumping does not yet have enough elite female competitors to warrant inclusion."What a load of crap.
Very interesting. I was surprised to also read that women are not allowed in the cross country skiing. I'd really like to know their reasoning behind this. It especially makes no sense with the cross country. With regards to jumping, the president of the International Ski Federation said it "seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view."
Maybe it's because women have a lower center of gravity and it has to do with their balance while jumping. Otherwise, I haven't a clue unless it is just tradition. (Or outright sexism)
Eddie ,another amazing post ! thanks !I wanted to make a post on it but you became our sourse of info and entertainment and I love the way you do it!I might simply add one "goodbye" entry to honor the athletes that give up so much for the games!I wonder if they even have intimate moments these days, or so many hundreds of them athletes are virgins like us? :p1,000 points for informing and entertaining!PSwomen are balanced inside out! instant winners in my books! :heart:
One medal winner was asked what he was going to do that evening after he had won his second medal and he basically said he was going to celebrate — and from the smile on his face you knew he meant CELEBRATE!!!! :pNext in 2014 Angeliki you will have to do the coverage for Opera. I will show you how to "appropriate" photos with the Snipping Tool! 😆
You will be a shady lady in sunglasses running around like Jackie O. 🙂
with a teacher like you,I know I will learn! :yes:I will be posting from Greece in four years :happy:
Well I don't want to confuse you any further, but…http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463948/:pHave fun!
:lol::Eddie my sunglasses collection is a very rich one! you got that right! :up:I am looking forward to a winter without the need of wearing a coat! I was talking to my daddy yesterday , he was telling me that he was in the garden without a sweater! :eyes: now either he is a hot blooded senior, or Europe does experience the global warming more than the East Coast…
Hate to tell you this after the bad weather you've had, but they voted last week to open the golf courses here in town.Took my walk today in just my raincoat. And didn't really need the raincoat. :p Just call it Santorini, Washington!
:doh: you confuse this Greek and the numbers now seem "fuzzy" :p
:bomb: you don't have to rub it on!hmmmmmmmmmmmm now Spokane is more economical to live in and my dollar will go further than comparing to Euro………..*takes notes and thinks things over ..:p *
Well I should probably tell you that last year we had 93" of snow before you go packing your suitcases. 😆
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
Agreed.Women are just smarter than that.:devil::lol:
Star, what could possibly be not smart about riding a thin pair of skis down an icy hill and then jumping off a cliff?I don't see anything wrong with that. :p
"You know, these days I consider myself to be going at a pretty good speed if the 70 year old ladies don't walk faster than me on the way into the grocery store.":lol: Sort of Pursuit cross-country? 😀
Angeliki, you are going to Greece in 4 years? Permanently?
:lol:That's it! Especially when they manage to get to the carts first and block me.
😆 😆
Originally posted by L2D2:
part time,I have a beautiful house there that i want to enjoy the great weather and my two sisters (they both live in Athens but we all get together at my house in Alexandroupolis), also spend a few months in Pennsylvania, I love the mountain and enjoy the kids in New York …when you have kids in America, every other country it's just a tourist destination, even if you were born in it 🙂