I haven't been really able to watch the Winter Olympics as much as I'd want but I did make time for these:
Seth Wescott -- what a comeback to win the Snowboard Cross as he rallied at the final turn to temporarily overtake erstwhile leader Mike Robertson of Canada while in the air then a final burst of speed to win by two feet! As I understand it, Wescott, who also won the event in the 2006 Winter Olympiad in Turin, Italy, the first time snowboarding became an Olympic sport. Lots of drama here as Wescott didn't do well in the time trials. As it was in Turin, he brought along the American flag that was given to him by his grandfather who was a serviceman during World War II. He tucked inside his vest during competition and brought it out after narrowly beating Robertson.
The Russians pairs in figure skating. Russians have brought home the gold since 1964 but massive errors by Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov, Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, and their final bets, Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov all fell apart. One mistake is all it took especially for Kavaguti who lost her balance early in their program. The Chinese on the other hand were darn good and near flawless. They had their near spills but not as bad as the Russians or even the German pair of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy.
Now I'm waiting for Ice Dancing and the US pair of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.
Caught only on the internet snippets of Team USA's 3-1 win over Switzerland in Men's Ice Hockey. The Americans are darkhorse contenders in the tournament. What I'm really looking forward to is the match between Canada and Russia. Sidney Crosby and Scott Niedermayer versus Alex Ovechkin and Alex Radulov. Although both teams didn't figure much in Turin, they are much better this time around. And they've been at it in the last two World Hockey Championships. Canada may not win the overall medal haul but this is the one event they hope to land a gold and anything else is a disaster of epic proportions. Bring it on, guys!
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