WebProNews

Tag: 2014 olympics

  • Vladimir Luxuria, Gay-Rights Activist, Detained at Sochi

    Vladimir Luxuria, former Communist MP for Italy and current television personality, was detained twice by Russian police for her gay-rights activism in Sochi.

    Her first detainment came on Sunday after holding up a sign in the Olympic Park which read “Gay is OK” in Russian. According to Imma Battaglia, director of Italy’s Gay Project action group, Luxuria’s arrest on Sunday was no walk in the park: “The arrest by the agents was brutal and aggressive. No one spoke English. She now finds herself alone in a room with neon lights shone into her face presumably in a state of arrest.”

    Battaglia’s report was corroborated by Luxuria, who stated, ”It’s not nice to be all alone in a room with a neon light not knowing what’s going on.”

    Despite being reported by multiple sources, Russian police deny detaining Luxuria on Monday due to no formal records of such an occurrence.

    While Luxuria may have not enjoyed staying in a neon-lit room all by herself, it was not enough to deter her from protesting once again. Luxuria was arrested for a second time on Monday after planning to attend a hockey game while wearing a rainbow headdress and sporting a gay-pride flag. Before heading to the game, Luxuria was shouting “Gay is OK” for approximately 2 hours outside of Shayba Arena.

    When asked why she continued to protest at the games, Luxuria responded, “I think it is important …(to have) the opportunity to talk internationally about these things because otherwise these things happen in Russia and nobody knows, nobody cares. They think: ‘Well, it’s not in our country, it’s far away, it’s in Russia, who cares?’”

    Protests at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi stem from a recent bill passed by the Russian government which makes it illegal to produce propaganda for gay-rights in the presence of children or if it will be found offensive by particular religious groups. Due to this law and International Olympic Committee (IOC) laws outlawing political propaganda at the Olympic Games, the IOC supported Luxuria’s removal from the stadium on Monday: ”I know her stated aim to demonstrate in the venue and I believe after a couple of hours when she finally got to the venue I think she was escorted from there peacefully, not detained,” stated IOC spokesman Mark Adams.

    Even though she has already been detained twice, one should not expect Luxuria to stop protesting anytime soon: “I think this is so important. For me, I’ve experienced in my childhood what it means to be beaten up or abused for the fact that I’m transgender. If I stop wearing the colours of the rainbow, just because somebody took away a flag from me, that means that these people win.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Bob Costas Hands Sochi Anchor Seat To Matt Lauer

    Bob Costas, the well-known NBC Sports anchor from New York, will be taking a break from the Olympic coverage tonight to recover from his eye infection as he allows Today Show host Matt Lauer to fill in for him during his recovery process. This year, Costas has been having it rough in Sochi, where all of his time on screen has been behind glasses with a visible eye infection. Now, it’s time for Lauer to take the spotlight in Costa’s stead.

    According to Today.com, Costas announced today (Tuesday, February 11th) that he will be taking the day off and bringing in Lauer from “the bullpen” during Costas’ day of rest. In a phone conversation between Costas and The Today Show, Costas stated the following:

    “Reluctantly, I was trying to throw a complete game here, but I think we’re going to have to go to the bullpen, and I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but you’re Mariano Rivera, at least tonight. Let’s hope it’s only tonight. I’m walking around, I might as well be playing ‘Marco Polo.’ I have no idea where I am.”

    At the start of the Olympics in Sochi, Costas knew that his eye infection would be receiving a lot of attention, and according to The Huffington Post, early on Thursday, Costas offered a statement regarding his condition:

    “I have no choice to go all ‘Peabody and Sherman’ on you for the next couple of nights since I woke up this morning with my left eye swollen shut and just about as red as the old Soviet flag. According to the NBC doctors here, it’s some kind of minor infection which should resolve itself by the weekend. If only all my issues would resolve themselves that quickly, but that’s another story.”

    To have a little bit of fun with Costas’ eye situation, a Twitter account has been set up called “Costas Eyeballs” and it is rapidly acquiring followers from all around the world:

    We do hope that Costas’ eye condition improves and that he returns back to the anchor seat of the 2014 Sochi Olympics really soon, because he does bring quite a lot to the table in reporting the Olympic happenings to the viewers.

    Image via YouTube

  • Katie Uhlaender Selects Helmet From Twitter Vote

    Katie Uhlaender is a 29-year-old skeleton racer from Breckenridge, Colorado, who is currently competing in the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Uhlaender has been competing in skeleton racing since 2003, and she is also a two-time gold medal recipient from the Women’s Skeleton World Cup (2006 and 2007). For her involvement in this year’s Olympics in Sochi, Uhlaender has turned to Twitter to ask the public’s opinion about the helmet she will wear when she races.

    Uhlaender’s journey to Sochi has not been a bright one. In 2009, one year prior to Uhlaender’s invitation to Sochi, her father Ted (a well-known MLB outfielder), who she was very close to, died of a heart attack.

    This past Thursday (February 6th), Uhlaender tweeted “Help me pick back helmet for #sochi2014” and displayed a picture of two different eagle-designed helmets. At the time of this article, the Twitter post from Uhlaender’s account currently has 16 retweets and has been favorited 22 times.

    According to The Chicago Tribune, Uhlaender announced this past Monday that she will be wearing a dramatic Eagle-themed helmet during her competition in the women’s skeleton event later in the week. Uhlaender stated her reaction to her Twitter-chosen helmet below:

    “I just decided to tweet a photo of both helmets and see what the public thought. Because I wasn’t sure about changing helmets just before the Olympics was a good idea and it blew up. There were like a thousand tweets about it. I decided to tally it up and let them pick my helmet.”

    The helmet that Uhlaender has selected was made by the same person who designed various helmets for Olympic skier Picabo Street, who serves as a mentor to Uhlaender. “She is an inspiration for me,” Uhlaender stated as she praised Street, “She offered to hook me up with her guy that painted her 2002 helmet, and this is what he came up with.”

    Uhlaender is slated to compete in the skeleton race this coming Friday (February 14th). To keep up with the various Olympic athletes on Twitter, be sure to visit Twellow’s Olympics category.

    Image via Twitter

  • GoPro Demos Shaun White’s New Halfpipe Trick

    GoPro camera has posted a clip of U.S. snowboarding champion Shaun White, as he perfects a new halfpipe trick called the frontside double-cork 1440 in preparation for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

    The frontside double-cork 1440 is similar to White’s Double McTwist 1260, though it adds another half revolution of rotation inside two head-over-heels flips. White commented on the trick earlier this month, “Just that subtle a change, it throws the whole axis of the trick off. It’s a completely different thing.”

    GoPro built a private pipe for the two-time Olympic gold medalist in October, to help him train for his 2014 season. Using the GoPro HD HERO3+ camera and GoPro app, White was able to review his footage onsite and make any adjustments necessary to master a frontside double 1440.

    Here’s the clip:

    During the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games in 2010, White’s most difficult halfpipe maneuver was the McTwist 1260, which he’d landed during his second run, as he’d already had locked in a gold medal during his first run:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak_29sPEMc0

    White said he isn’t weary of anyone seeing his new 1440, and commented, “Just because you can see the trick doesn’t mean it’s easy to duplicate.”

    Commenting on the fact that other riders haven’t been doing any tricks bigger than a double cork 1260, White added, “It’s time to just do those tricks (the 1440’s). If you’re going to do them, do them now. It’s a new one I’m hoping to slide into the run.”

    The $399.99 GoPro HD HERO3+ Black Edition features video resolutions up to 4K, 12MP photos up to 30 frames per second, built-in Wi-Fi, SuperView and Auto Low Light modes. The camera is waterproof to 131’/40m. Other frame rates include 1440p48, 1080p60, 960p100 and 720p120, 4Kp15 and 2.7Kp30.

    This GoPro clip of cyclist Kelly McGarry backflipping over a 72-foot canyon is insane:

    Image via YouTube.