2010 ceremonies begin with flying snowboarder

at 22:42 on February 12, 2010, EDT.
By Stephanie Levitz, THE CANADIAN PRESS


A snowboarder flies through the Olympic rings at the beginning of the opening ceremonies for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Friday, Feb. 12, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The dreams of a nation took flight Friday with a snowboarder's leap through a giant set of Olympic rings.

With that, the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games began, its bold opening moments reflecting the bold goals Vancouver organizers have set for these Games: changing not just the way the world thinks about Canada but how Canada thinks of itself.

Beaming speedskater Clara Hughes carried the flag for Canada into BC Place stadium with her teammates following behind as the audience of 60,600 people roared support and aboriginal dancers bounced and twirled.

As athletes prepare for their own starting lines in the next 16 days, Canada's First Nations see the Games as the start of a story that places them not behind Canadians but beside them.

The spectators, dignitaries and athletes under the white-domed roof of BC Place stadium Friday night were helping tell that story, clad in ponchos, grasping flashlights and electric candles, all part of the show and its theme of a landscape of a dream.

But as the 10-year dream to have the Olympics come to Vancouver and Whistler, B.C became reality, the dreams of a young athlete cruelly came to an end.

In the moments before the lights darkened and the show began, organizers dedicated Friday's show to the memory of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who died in a horrific crash during an Olympic training run earlier in the day.

The 21-year-old lost control of his sled on the final turn, went over the track wall and rocketed into a support pole near the finish line at the Whistler Sliding Centre. He subsequently died in hospital.

As they entered the stadium during the athletes parade, pain visible on their faces, black bands on their uniforms, the Georgian team received a standing ovation from the crowd and from dignitaries.

"The loss for the Georgian team is devastating for us, for Georgian athletes, the Georgian delegation and the Georgian people," Nikolas Rurua, Georgia's culture and sports minister has said earlier in the day.

"Our sportsmen and our athletes decided to be loyal to the spirit of the Olympic Games and they will compete and dedicate their performance to their fallen comrade."

Though it had been a hard day for athletes, walking into the ceremonies was a pure moment of delight.

"I feel like I want to explode," said David Morris, an Austrailian freestyle skier.

"I want to run around and hug everyone."

It was in many ways a typical Vancouver welcome to the Games: the final leg of the Olympic torch relay's slow march to the opening ceremonies on Friday saw the flame jogged along the picturesque waterfront of English Bay, brush with superstardom and meet the city's entrenched protest culture.

The cross-country relay's final day played out in a collection of interconnected scenes, woven together by the dozens of torchbearers carrying the flame home, thousands of spectators lining the streets, and the protesters whose anti-Olympic chants mixed with the sounds of cowbells, noisemakers and bagpipes.

"I think that the torch needs to be run right off the road," said one of the protesters, Lauren Gill, after the torch disappeared around a corner.

"We're basically standing up and saying, 'No, we're not going to accept this, we're not going to accept that torch coming through here and the Games being held in our city."

In the hours before the opening ceremonies, the flame burned at the aboriginal pavilion staged by the Four Host First Nations, a collection of native bands who have endorsed the Games in exchange for millions of dollars in government cash and land.

The band leaders are all being treated as heads of state during the ceremonies, getting VIP seats and access.

Four welcome poles - representing the Squamish, Tseil-Waututh, Lil'wat and Muqueam - inflated from the floor of the stadium and reached their arms out to the crowd as representatives of each band circled a massive drum.

With minutes, the entire floor of the stadium was covered in whirling, singing aboriginal groups, representing all of Canada's First Nations people.

Having death cast a cloud over their proudest moments is something Vancouver organizers have seen before.

On the day before the Olympic flame was lit for the 2010 Winter Games in ancient Olympia, the chairman of the Olympic board of directors, Jack Poole, died of cancer.

It is believed that an external cauldron has been built for these Games and will burn in a plaza bearing his name.


©The Canadian Press, 2010

Olympic officials heartbroken after Georgian luger dies in crash on eve of Games

at 22:40 on February 12, 2010, EDT.
By Dean Bennett And Bruce Cheadle, THE CANADIAN PRESS


Track volunteers and medical workers gather around as an ambulance carries Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili to medical attention following his crash during men's luge training, Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in Whistler, B.C.. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

WHISTLER, B.C. - Higher. Faster. Stronger. And for Nodar Kumaritashvili, deadly.

The 2010 Winter Olympics opened on a tragic note Friday with the death of the Georgian luger in a horrific training run crash.

The first Olympian to die at the Games since 1992, the 21-year-old lost control of his sled on the final turn at the Whistler Sliding Centre, went over the track wall and rocketed into a support pole near the finish line. Despite the frantic efforts of medical help on site, he subsequently died in hospital.

The horrific crash cast a pall over the Games' opening ceremonies in Vancouver and dampened spirits in rain-sodden Whistler.

It also raised questions about the safety of an unforgiving track that has been described as the fastest in the world - and whose proclivities were eerily foreshadowed on the eve of Kumaritashvili's death.

"I think they are pushing it a little too much," Australia's Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. "To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we're crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives."

The investigation into the death is being conducted by the RCMP and the Coroners Service of British Columbia.

"The track remains closed while both agencies conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of this tragedy," the B.C. government said in a statement. "It is unknown at this time how long the run will be shut down."

The women's lugers are scheduled to train at the track Saturday morning, nine hours before the men's two-day competition is set to begin.

Another probe is being conducted by FIL, the world governing body of luge.

Flags will fly at half-mast at Games venues Saturday and for the entire Olympics at the Sliding Cen

A shaken Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said Friday was a time for mourning, not looking for causes of the crash. That will come later, when an investigation is complete.

"Sorry, it's a bit difficult to remain composed. This is a very sad day," he told a packed news conference in Vancouver, pausing to take off his glasses and control his emotions. "The IOC's in deep mourning."

Georgian Sport Minister Nikolos Rurua said Kumaritashvili's teammates will persevere, noting his country was invaded by Russia during the 2008 Beijing Games and yet the athletes continued to perform.

"So our sportsmen and our athletes decided to be loyal to the spirit of Olympic Games and they will compete and dedicate their performance to their fallen comrade," said the tearful minister.

"We are heartbroken beyond words to be sitting here," said VANOC CEO John Furlong, also struggling to hold back his emotions.

With the fastest lugers hitting speeds in excess of 150 km/h, the crash prompted immediate questions about safety on the Whistler course.

Rurua was also asked whether the Georgians had been given enough training runs on the track, given Canada's hardball stance about limiting foreign access to the facilities in the run-up to the Games. The Georgian acknowledged there will be "speculation whether there was sufficient practice time."

Kumaritashvili was coming around the final 270-degree turn on the stomach-churning course when he flipped off his sled and was hurled like a missile into one of the thick metal pillars. The stanchions support the canopy around parts of the course that helps keep the sun off and the track cool.

The slider, a blur in his black-and-blue racing suit and white helmet went high in the corner, banking left. His sled swooped out from under him, hit the inside wall and the Georgian flew through the air, turning backwards as he launched into the square pillar on the outside of the track.

There was a collective gasp on the finish dock from officials and athletes as the crash was beamed on the large-screen TVs.

The screens were immediately turned off as crews raced down the track to the stricken racer.

The graphic footage was shown on host broadcaster CTV, although it said it was doing so "with discretion" and with a warning to viewers. On some occasions, it stopped short of showing the final impact.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who will be in Whistler on Saturday for the start of the downhill events, issued a statement saying "all Canadians were deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death . . . . His competitive spirit and dedication to sports excellence will be remembered and honoured during the Games."

In Whistler, a rowdy ski town where a significant proportion of the young population appears in arm slings or on crutches due to the mountain's furious appetite, the death took its toll.

Michelle Ostafew, an Olympic volunteer from Vernon, B.C., said the crash has deeply affected locals whose opinion of having the Games plopped in their laps has steadily evolved.

"Before this, everybody was a little angry about the Olympics, and when it started happening people started being excited about it, and I think this will affect people," said Ostafew. "I know I have a girlfriend that was affected very personally and she was like, 'I don't even know the guy.'

"It will certainly create more respect for the sport. You realize how serious it is."

Luge is considered the most dangerous of the sliding sports. Lying on their back on a spartan sled, athletes rocket down a twisting course like a cylinder in a pneumatic tube. There is little margin for error.

The Whistler track, designed with the guidance of Canadian officials and representatives from the international sliding sports organizations, was not intentionally designed to be the fastest ever, but was built to challenge the sliders, said Craig Lehto, the general manager of the centre, in a recent interview.

For some athletes, it's too fast.

Kumaritashvili, a relatively inexperienced luger, had competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.

He had already crashed once earlier during training for the Vancouver Games, and he failed to finish his second of six practice runs.

More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training.

Defending Olympic champion Armin Zoeggeler of Italy lost control on the lower part of the track Friday. He didn't appear to be injured. On Thursday, Romania's Violeta Stramaturaru crashed and had to be airlifted out.

After Friday's training was cancelled, members of the International Luge Federation and individual team captains were called for a briefing.

"This is a terrible accident," said Josef Fendt, president of the International Luge Federation. "This is the very gravest thing that can happen in sport, and our thoughts and those of the luge family, are naturally with those touched by this event."

Added B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell: "The loss of a gifted, talented young athlete training for the opening of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is heartbreaking for people around the globe. We all want to see athletes compete hard and succeed in their chosen sports, but at the same time our paramount concern is always for their safety and health."

Medics were seen performing mouth-to-mouth on the Georgian, his helmet still on, face up on the cement beside the track and an ambulance. Track officials then ordered all bystanders away.

Video of the crash was soon posted on YouTube - and pulled down for TV rights violation.

CTV and its sister stations initially aired the footage of the crash "with discretion," then stopped altogether.

The Whistler track is used by sliders in all three of the Olympic sliding sports. Bobsledders, skeleton racers and men's singles luge sliders all start from the top. Female luge sliders and the men's doubles start 252 metres lower down the course.

Luge is a century-old sport, originating in Europe, and became an official Olympic sport in 1964. The sliders push off from the start handles at the top, paddle on the ice with spiked gloves to pick up speed, then lie on their backs, guiding the sleds with their legs and shoulders, keeping their heads slightly tilted up to see where they're going.

The top speeds from male lugers reach 150 km/h and higher, the fastest among the sliders and equivalent in speed only to the massive four-man bobsleds. But unlike bobsledders, lugers are precariously exposed. The only protection is a helmet and light padding under skin-tight speedsuits. With their arms tightly tucked in at their sides they cannot brace easily for impact when the sled goes out from under them, as happened with Kumaritashvili.

Kumaritashvili's death was an eerie echo of an event that marred his sport's introduction to the Olympic Games at the Innsbruck Olympics in 1964.

There had been opposition to including luge in the Games, with some arguing it put participants in too much danger. Their point was proved two weeks before the Games began when a British luger - Polish-born Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski - died in a crash during a practice run on the Olympic track.

Kay-Skrzypeski was not the only athlete to die in the lead-up to the 1964 Olympics. Ross Milne, 19, an Australian downhill skier, was killed after careering off the course and smashing into a tree during a training run.

In the 1992 Albertville Games, Swiss speed skier Nicholas Bochatay died in training for the demonstration sport.

The Albertville fatality echoed a tragedy which occurred at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. The chief doctor of the Austrian team, Jorg Oberhammer, was killed during a break in competition when he collided with another skier and was knocked into the path of a snow-clearing machine.

-With files from The Associated Press


©The Canadian Press, 2010


Dayum Nodar

The Canadian flag and the Olympic flag were put at 1/2 mast during the opening ceremonies with a 1 minute of silence.

On the news they showed the entire accident.

luv4u said:

i noticed the flags flying half mast...a great sign of respect

watching the replay(i didnt see the start earlier today)

the Aussies got a huge cheer

I love the Olympics! Can't wait for the ski jump!

And the flubbed finale of the Opening Ceremony. 'Not Beijing' indeed! (Very happy that didn't happen on U.S. soil. )

SUPRMAN said:

Yeah, I heard they fracked it up. Another board I visit was goofing non stop.

How bad was it?

joseph8 said:

Bad enough to clearly embarrass the dignitaries participating and more obvious on television I think than in the arena. They were just waiting and waiting but at home you could see they had a problem. Then they lit the same feature outdoors so you saw what you missed indoors.
The Opening Ceremony seemed like an ode to Canadian inclusion . . . They need a First Nations' Month, A French Speaking Month . . . lol. I think I would have preferred a more cohesive presentation than one that looked to be designed by committee.
The light, laser, video show throughout was the best this side of 'Avatar.' Major props for that!

SUPRMAN said:

the animated whales where an effect I've never seen before..it was well done, imho

I totally want to try ski jumping. Must be amazing to be able to pretty much fly.

mynameisnotsusan said:

id be to scared of the landing

i'll stick to ski jumping on the wii

k.d. lang nuff said.

UNITED STATES 1 1 2 4
2 KOREA 1 1 0 2
3 NETHERLANDS 1 0 0 1
3 SLOVAKIA 1 0 0 1
3 SWITZERLAND 1 0 0 1
6 CANADA 0 0 1 1
6 GERMANY 0 1 0 1
6 POLAND 0 0 1 1
9 AUSTRIA 0 0 1 1
9 FRANCE 0 0 1 1
9 RUSSIA 0 0 1 1

SUPRMAN said:

that's wrong. both Canada and Poland have a silver not a bronze

http://seattletimes.nwsou...track.html



Ohno ties Blair for most U.S. medals | Ohno survives chaotic finish for 6th Olympic medal | Seattle

Boxed out by the South Koreans, with all hope of a medal appearing lost, Apolo Anton Ohno could only count on the freakishness of short track to pull it out.

lazycrockett said:

so does that mean you enjoyed her ?

I thought she did a nice job

Ohno says he was impeded, might have won gold
By ART THIEL
SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COM


VANCOUVER, B.C. -- After reviewing the video of his silver-medal-winning performance, Apolo Anton Ohno said Sunday the outcome of the men's 1,500-meter race would have been different if he hadn't been held momentarily by one of his Korean rivals.

"I definitely don't think it's typical, not in my sport," he said on a conference call wth reporters. "I've never had anyone hold on to my leg or arm that long.

"If it weren't for that, the outcome would have been much different, given that I didn't get impeded on."

With about a lap and a half to go near the head of the pack, one of the three Korean skaters in the final reached across Ohno's body, although no foul was called.

"I started to pass one of the Korean skaters on the inside and he put his left hand over and blocked me," Ohno said. "That's when I lost a lot of my speed."

The rivalry between Ohno and the Koreans goes back to his first Olympics in 2002, when he was awarded a gold medal when a Korean who finished ahead of him was disqualified.

In the final lap Saturday night at Pacific Coliseum, the three Koreans eventually passed Ohno in the final lap. As Jung-Su Lee edged ahead to an unbeatable lead, teammates Lee Ho-Suk and Sung Si-Bak packed in tightly in front of Ohno, bumped and knocked each other down and out of the race just before the final straightaway.

Jung-Su Lee won easily, Ohno cruised into second followed by teammate J.R. Celski, who was from Ohno's hometown of Federal Way.

"The (earlier) bump allowed the others to catch up," said Ohno, who didn't offer up a complaint about the non-call. "That's short track. When I saw those two guys lining up to pass on the final lap, I knew something was going to happen. It was a mistake on their part, and worked in my favor.

"Everyone wants to win, and gets caught up in the emotions. All three of those Korean skaters are tough and strong. It was one of the hardest races I've skated in."

Ohno will face the same Koreans in the 500, 1,000 and the 5,000-meter relay, so don't expect the last has been heard in this rivalry.

Mach said:

Hell Yeah, I've been a fan of kd since her early cow punk 80's stuff. She was flawless @ the ceremony.

matthewgrant said:

You are right. I had to reformat the chart when I copied it.

lazycrockett said:

CANADA FINALLY GOT OLYMPIC GOLD AT HOME!!


great job Alexandre Bilodeau
[Edited 2/14/10 18:32pm]
[Edited 2/14/10 18:32pm]

1 UNITED STATES 1 2 3 6
2 GERMANY 1 3 0 4
3 FRANCE 2 0 1 3
3 CANADA 1 1 1 3
5 KOREA 1 1 0 2
5 ITALY 0 0 2 2
7 CZECH REPUBLIC 1 0 0 1
7 NETHERLANDS 1 0 0 1
7 SWITZERLAND 1 0 0 1
7 SLOVAKIA 1 0 0 1
7 AUSTRALIA 0 1 0 1
7 NORWAY 0 1 0 1
7 POLAND 0 1 0 1
7 AUSTRIA 0 0 1 1
7 CROATIA 0 0 1 1
7 RUSSIA 0 0 1 1

^ N this is why I hate the Olympics.

lazycrockett said:

k.d. Lang rocked

My mom loves her singing

matthewgrant said:

'Bout fucking time!!

I was watching the moguls

Moguls man Bilodeau gives Canada its first-ever gold medal on home turf


at 0:23 on February 15, 2010, EDT.
By James McCarten, THE CANADIAN PRESS


Alexandre Bilodeau celebrates his gold medal victory. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER, B.C. - For Canada, it was a golden Games moment 34 years in the making - and it nearly went Down Under with a Canadian-born Aussie.

Men's moguls skier Alex Bilodeau, 22, of Rosemere, Que., embraced the unlikely mantle of national hero Sunday after wrenching the first Olympic gold medal to be won on home soil by a Canadian away from top-ranked rival Dale Begg-Smith, who was born in Vancouver but competes for Australia.

The win not only gave the host country its first gold of the 2010 Games, but also prevented a long-awaited and historic event - Canada was denied gold both in Montreal in 1976 and again in Calgary in 1988 - from disintegrating into an Olympic-sized punch in the nation's collective gut.

"It's the best feeling you could have; it's a dream realized," Bilodeau said of the win, which he insisted would be just the first of many more gold medals for Canada's Olympic team.

"I will continue to encourage other Canadians who will compete - it's just the beginning of the party."

A spokesman said Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke briefly with Bilodeau after his "historic" win, telling him, "Canadian families across the country are proud of you, Alex." Congratulations also came in from Quebec Premier Jean Charest, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Begg-Smith was sitting in the catbird seat - in this case, the first-place position among the fluffy white beanbag chairs where the top three in the standings ride out the remainder of the competition - when Bilodeau, the night's second-last skier, blistered the bumps and sailed coolly off the kickers.

The mayhem that ensued when his result was announced made for a mood at Cypress that was decidedly different from Saturday, when a less-satisfying silver went to women's moguls skier Jennifer Heil, pegged as the one most likely to make Canadian Olympic history in Vancouver.

The diminutive Bilodeau punched the air with his fists and gave an elated crowd the thumbs up as he ascended the podium. Begg-Smith, thin-lipped and dejected, managed only a scowl as he took second place.

At B.C. Place, where thousands were gathered for the nightly medal ceremony to fete the previous day's winners, the crowd jumped to its feet when Bilodeau's victory was announced.

Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, called the medal a "unique moment in time and pride" for Canada, likening it to what's been called the most important goal in Canadian hockey history: Paul Henderson's winning marker in the 1972 Summit Series.

"It will be one of those Paul Henderson moments: 'Where were you when Alex Bilodeau won the first gold medal on Canadian soil?"' Chambers said.

"It gets everyone on the team fired up. The flame is going to burn even hotter inside them now. They'll say, 'I can do it too.'

Roger Jackson, head of Own The Podium, Canada's $117-million strategy to top the medal count in Vancouver, said he's confident the gold will come as both a relief and an inspiration. "I think it will be great momentum for the Canadian team."

Indeed, Bilodeau's fellow Canadian competitors were thrilled to hear the monkey was finally off their back.

"He made Canada proud and took the heat off us," said curling skip Cheryl Bernard. "Canada's going to love that. That might even put us on a really good roll."

Cross-country skier Chandra Crawford, who won gold in Turin, Italy, in 2006, used Twitter to express her team's delight. "Yeah Alex!" the 26-year-old from Canmore, Alta., tweeted. "The nordic crew is so stoked for you!"

The gold might well have been the day's most satisfying medal, but it wasn't Canada's only trip to the podium.

Earlier, Canada's speedskating sweethearts were showered with love from the home crowd, whose Valentine's Day affections were quickly requited with a bronze medal from Ottawa long-tracker Kristina Groves.

Groves, 33, earned a warm bear hug from her fellow Canadian racer, the flame-haired flag-bearer Clara Hughes, after gutting out a bronze-medal finish in the women's 3,000 metres at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

"It just gave me goosebumps, just listening to the crowd," Groves said.

"I've never really experienced the crowd that loud for Canada. I've raced in all places where it's been that loud, but never for Canada, so that was really wonderful. It was deafening, just deafening."

Czech Martina Sablikova claimed the gold and Stephanie Beckert of Germany the silver while Hughes, from Glen Sutton, Que., participating in the second-last race of her career, was fifth. Winnipeg's Cindy Klassen, a five-time medallist at the 2006 Turin Games, finished 14th.

"I got to watch my training partner, my teammate and my friend skate the 3,000-metre race of her life and come in third and win the bronze medal and it was beautiful," Hughes gushed afterward.

"It was a great day for our team."

Outside, the persistent Vancouver rain of the last few days gave way to brilliant sunshine, helping to soften some of the deeper furrows in Canada's collective brow after an Olympic start already plagued by more than its fair share of bad weather and bad luck.

On Sunday, there was still plenty of both to go around.

Mother Nature was wreaking havoc at Whistler's Olympic Village, where no less a dignitary than Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean got a first-hand taste of just how wet a B.C. winter can get.

"I don't mind the rain," Jean told a group of umbrella-covered athletes who were gathered to talk about the importance of the Olympic spirit.

The lesson was not lost on Jean-Philippe LeGuellec.

The 24-year-old biathlete from Quebec City battled through rain, sleet and then wet snow to finish sixth in the men's biathlon 10-kilometre sprint, a result officials called one of Canada's best in years.

"All in all it was an awesome race, and I'm really happy," the soaking-wet LeGuellec said after struggling through a snow squall in the last kilometre of his race.

He might have placed higher - perhaps even in the medals - but for a single missed shot in the second round of shooting. LeGuellec and his coach nonetheless billed the finish as one of the best in the history of Canadian men's Olympic biathlon.

Women's downhill ski training was cancelled yet again, along with the super-combined race. Men's downhiller Manuel Osborne-Paradis, 26, remained the odds-on best bet for Canada's next gold medal, assuming weather allowed the event to proceed Monday.

In the sporting vernacular, Vancouver's 2010 Games didn't exactly get off to a clean start.

The grim fortunes began with the shocking fatal crash Friday of a 21-year-old Georgian luger, a tragedy that put a damper on the opening ceremonies later that night. A malfunction with the Olympic cauldron at the most critical moment of the proceedings didn't help matters.

On Saturday, protesters ran riot in downtown Vancouver, smashing store windows and clashing with police. That night, Heil won silver, but had difficulty concealing the fact she'd had her heart set on giving her country its first gold medal on home soil.

Then on Sunday, there remained lingering headaches from Friday's spectacle, including questions in Quebec about a shortage of French-language content and complaints from spectators about the chain-link fence surrounding the outdoor Olympic flame in downtown Vancouver.

And, in the adding-insult-to-injury department, organizers were forced Sunday to temporarily close the general admission area of the snowboarding venue at Cypress Mountain because of safety concerns caused by rain. The $50 ticket price will be refunded to the approximately 8,000 spectators affected.

Nodar Kumaritashvili's death was also still casting a long shadow.

The tragedy amplified persistent and long-standing fears that the Whistler Sliding Centre run was simply too dangerous, prompting race officials to slow it down by adjusting the ice profile and moving the starting lines for both men and women further down the mountain.

German medal contender Natalie Geisenberger likened the modified track to a preschool class.

"It's not a ladies start, it's a kinderstart," she sneered. "We trained the whole summer and we are strong and fast, and now the fastest sliders are slow. It's not good for us. It's not fun."


©The Canadian Press, 2010

luv4u said:

I'm glad I watched them. it was exciting

As a sports fan, I am loving the Olympics.

Men's moguls skier Alex Bilodeau, 22, of Rosemere, Que., embraced the unlikely mantle of national hero Sunday after wrenching the first Olympic gold medal to be won on home soil by a Canadian away from top-ranked rival Dale Begg-Smith, who was born in Vancouver but competes for Australia.
so, does that mean Australia got the silver?