*****OFFICIAL 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Discussion Thread*****

Mavric said:
Figure skating isn't really my thing anyway but I'm not sure about this new team competition. Considering both the gold and silver medals were locked up after two of the four stages. And the US would have to have a disaster not to win the bronze. So much for competition.
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It's a good event, but the scoring could use some tweaking. Mainly that when you go to the final five, you shouldn't keep the same scoring scheme from before. The reason is, a bad routine when you've only got five left may only mean a difference of a few points, whereas the same thing in the first round can potentially cost you six or more points (as we saw with the US early on).

But in this Olympics, in all honesty, it was never going to turn out any different than it did with the teams. Nobody was going to beat Russia, and we were not going to beat Canada. Although the event scoring could use some tweaking, it main problem was just a coincidence of the teams and the outcome being almost predetrmined from the very start barring some complete disaster from one of the big three.

 
Quick Olympic recap from Sunday -

USA gets two more medals and is now up to a total of four (two Gold and two Bronze). Jamie Anderson wins Gold in the Slopestyle Snowboarding event and the U.S.' figure skating team won Bronze in the Olympics' first ever team event thanks to two 1st place finishes by Meryl Davis and Charlie White in both the short and free dance events. 18-year-old Gracie Gold also had an outstanding performance (finishing second in the free skate), but was perhaps overshadowed by Russia's 15-year-old prodigy Adelina Sotnikova. Additionally, Bode Miller fell short of winning his sixth Olympic medal and finished eighth in the downhill, despite being the favorite.
What to look for on Monday - Men's 1500m short-track speed skating (watch J.R. Celski who is the current World Cup champion in this event- he won Bronze in 2010 Olympics), Men's 500m speed skating final (hope for Americans Shani Davis and Tucker Fredericks to medal here), Men's moguls final (hope for either Patrick Deneen or Bradley Wilson to medal here), Women's normal hill individual final (American Sarah Hendrickson is one of the heavy favorites) and Julia Mancuso (2010 Silver medalist) races in the super-combined downhill skiing event (she is not expected to medal).

 
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U.S. luger Kate Hansen pre-race warmup.

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GM_Tood said:
U.S. luger Kate Hansen pre-race warmup.

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I was just reading about her and how the one NBC announcer didn't like that she was dancing to get warmed up and need to do something more "sport specific."

I say "F U NBC DOUSCHEBAG"

 
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Monday Olympic recap:

Julia Mancuso won the US' only medal of the day with a Bronze in the Super-Combined. Mancuso defied doubters, which projected her not to medal in the event, and earned her fourth Olympic medal of her career. With her medal, the US now has total five medals in Sochi (two Golds and three Bronzes) and is tied for fourth in the total medal count. Canada, the Netherlands and Norway are all tied for first with seven medals. In less happy news today, American J.R. Celski (2010 Bronze medalist) fell short of medaling in his best event – the 1500 m. Celski had a strong chance to medal until Britain’s Jack Whelbourne bumped him with three laps left in the final. After being bumped, Celski lost a significant amount of momentum and fell to fourth. US’ Men’s freestyle skier Patrick Deneen also fell short of medaling (first time since 1994 that we didn’t medal in the event). Our women’s hockey team is 2-0 now after a win against Switzerland.

Two non-American side-notes: It was awesome to see Alex Bilodeau, Canadian freestyle skier, win his second straight Gold in the Men’s Moguls. Alex dedicated his win to his brother Frederic, who has cerebral palsy. They had a touching, hugging moment after Alex’s final run. Also, the Dutch’s Speedskating team further established their dominance by sweeping the Men's 500-meter. One interesting thing to note here was a timing confusion which announced the wrong athlete, Jan Smeekens, as a Gold medalist. The situation was quickly resolved and Michel Mulder was declared the winner and Smeekens as the Silver medalist.
What to watch for on Tuesday: SHAUN WHITE in the Men's Halfpipe! Other events include: the Women’s Ski Slopestyle final (can the US’ Devin Logan and/or Keri Herman medal?), Women’s 500m Speed Skating final (hope for American Heather Richardson to medal), Women's Singles Luge final (American Erin Hamlin is currently in third), Women’s Individual Ski Jumping (2013 world champion Sarah Hendrickson is America’s best shot to medal in this, but she is currently fighting through a knee injury and has struggled in Sochi.

 
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Strange day in the Olympics, to say the least. Several great highs and several disappointing lows.

And the women's curling team right now is just shameful. They're capable of far better and need to get their sh#t together. While the men's team hasn't been doing great, I feel like they're confident and on the edge of making, and properly executing, the correct decisions in the big moments. The women's team, on the other hand, is showing no signs of anything but frustration, confusion, and an inability to compete on the level you should be at the Olympics.

 
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Tuesday Olympic recap: Two more medals for the US today. Devin Logan won the US’ first Silver of the 2014 Games with her standout performance in the Women’s Ski Slopestyle event. Meanwhile, Erin Hamlin won the US’ first ever individual Luge medal (Bronze). We are now up to seven total medals (2 G, 1 S, 3 B) and are fifth in the current medal count. Norway currently leads with 11. We will be in a tight race with them and maybe Canada to win to 2014 medal count. On a sadder note, the Men’s Half-Pipe team had a horrible day. I’m sure everyone heard White didn’t medal, but it’s important to note that no American won a medal is this event despite the fact the we had three of the four podium favorites.

What to watch for on Wednesday: With already one bronze these Games, Julia Mancuso will fight for her fifth overall career medal as she completes in the Women's Downhill. Next, in Speedskating, Shani Davis competes in his best event the Men's 1000m. He is the heavy favorite. Can he win his third straight Gold in this event? Another big one to watch will be the Women's Halfpipe Final. The pipe has been heavily criticized by athletes and journalists, so it will definitely be something to remember as you watch this event. Watch Kelly Clark (a four-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medalist), Arielle Gold and Hannah Teter. All have a good chance to medal. Also, our Women’s Hockey Team (currently 2-0) gets a rematch game with Canada, who beat the US in the gold medal round in the Vancouver Games. Finally, American Bill Demong (two-time Olympic medalist in Vancouver) will race in the Nordic Combined Individual Normal Hill. Demong won bronze in the World Championships in the list event last year.

Side note: Men’s hockey begins today. The Czechs play the Swedes (what a great first game matchup!) on NBC LiveExtra Online. US plays Slovakia (a good first game challenge) on Thursday.

 
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EbylHusker said:
Hardly anyone had a good day on the half pipe, especially in the finals. The pipe was in terrible shape.
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How much value can you really place on the medals in some of these competitions when the facilities and conditions are such a total crapshoot?

I don't care how good of a basketball player you are - anyone can beat you if you play on a 15 foot hoop with a rock instead of a ball.

 
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