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Tag: gold medal

  • Gabby Douglas Intent On Reaching Elusive Olympic Feat

    In the world of gymnastics, time is the undefeatable enemy. Gymnastics is hard on the mind and body, making longevity in the sport a difficult task. Gabby Douglas, however, wants to take on that task and become the first two-time winner of the Olympic all-around title in 50 years.

    The first female gymnasts to accomplish this feat were the former Soviet Union’s Larisa Latynina and Věra Čáslavská of the Czech Republic. They were successive two-time all around champions, but arguably during a time when the sport was not as demanding. A number of other gymnasts have since come close but were unsuccessful and soon Douglas will have her chance at the elusive repeat.

    The American phenom won her first Olympic gold medal for the individual all-around in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and took home a second gold medal at the games for the all-round team competition. Soon after, Douglas started taking breaks, had inconsistent camps, and suddenly the hopes of a successful return was met by criticism.

    As a gymnast, taking a break is a major setback as months of training and repetition can turn to rust after just a few weeks of idleness. The mind might think that it’s still able, but the body won’t cooperate.

    But after all the skepticism and the rise of a new gymnastic superpower in Simone Biles, Douglas is ready to reclaim what she won years ago.

    “I never really wanted to retire. I wanted to take a little bit of a break, and then go for it,” said Douglas whose first real competition since the Olympics was at the Secret Classic in Hoffman Estates, Ill., held last Saturday.

    She came in second overall behind Biles, who beat her by 1.9 points. Though she came up short on Saturday,  Douglas is now older and wiser and certainly more motivated to become the next Olympic two-time champion.

    “My comeback wasn’t fake, guys,” said Douglas.

    Gymnastics fans have to wait and see if Gabby Douglas can successfully defend her title in 2016.

  • Mark Pavelich Auctions Olympic Gold Medal

    Mark Pavelich Auctions Olympic Gold Medal

    Mark Pavelich was one of the most instrumental players in the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980.

    Pavelich was a member of the “Miracle on Ice” team, who had an amazing win against the Russians. Their win is still, to this day, considered one of the biggest upsets in the US Winter Olympics history, and led them to win a gold medal.

    Now, nearly 25-years later, Pavelich has decided to part with his medal, and will be selling it through Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Pavelich said that he wants to sell the medal to get a head start on his daughter’s future.

    “I’m doing a lot for my daughter here. I want her to get a step forward in life. That’s probably the biggest reason,” Pavelich said. “The only thing is you’re limited to what you can do with these things. … You keep it in a vault in the bank somewhere and you take it out once in a while and you look at it and you put it back in. You can’t put them in a house because it could burn or get stolen and it’€™s just gone and useless. It’€™s just an impractical thing.”

    Pavelich explained that he doesn’t have to have the medal in his possession to know that he won it. “You can’t say that you never did win a medal just because you don’t have it anymore,” he continued. “You always can say that you got it.”

    Pavelich is not the first player to sell their medal. Mark Wells sold his, through the same organization, in 2010 to help pay for medical bills. His medal sold for a whopping $310,700.

    Image via sports.ha.com

  • Mikaela Shiffrin Defends Her World Cup Title

    Mikaela Shiffrin defended and retained her World Cup slalom title this weekend. Adding this to her Sochi Olympics gold, she’s already received all the birthday gifts she could dream of–just a few days shy of her 19th birthday. Mikaela led the race from start to finish Saturday–just the way she did in Sochi only two weeks ago.

    Just a year ago Shiffrin claimed this title, and knew it was the beginning of something big.

    “My first win was just amazing, it was the start of all of this,” she said of the 2013 slalom title. “It was finally in my mind, I felt like I could be a good ski racer at the World Cup level.”

    Now her name is an exceptionally well known one–at least among those who watched the Sochi Olympics, and now keep apprised of her post-Olympic races. She was definitely one of American’s sweethearts during the Sochi games.

    Mikaela Shiffrin’s time on Saturday was a combined two-run time of 1 minute, 50.66 seconds. This was 0.60 ahead of Sweden’s Maria Pietilae-Holmner. The only downside to all of this excitement for Mikaela is that her family and personal life definitely takes a way, way back seat to her skiing. She noted that on Saturday while at her competition, making it quite clear that she was missing her father’s birthday.

    As with many of life’s biggest accomplishments, Mikaela Shiffrin’s passion comes with sacrifices–like giving up family time or time to have normal teenage relationships with her friends. Given her tender age, however, it seems she will one day learn how to balance it all–if she hasn’t done so already.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mikaela Shiffrin Wins Historic Gold for U.S.

    Mikaela Shiffrin has become the first U.S. Alpine women’s skier to win gold at the Sochi Olympics. She dominated the women’s Slalom with a combined time of 1:44.54.

    The victory is even sweeter for Shiffrin because the 18-year-old from Vail, Colorado is also officially the youngest women’s skier to ever win an olympic slalom, according to the Washington Post.

    Her mother said that on top of general pressure and nerves faced by a young olympian and being the surprise favorite, Mikaela was also battling a cold from the Giant Slalom that was held Tuesday entirely in frigid rain.

    “In general it’s nerve-wracking,” Mikaela’s mom Eileen Shiffrin said. “It just is. But she seemed in a good place when she went up there. But it’s funny. Nerves are funny. You can be fine one second and awful the next second. You never know when it’s going to creep in there.”

    But Mikaela didn’t seem to be suffering from nerves as much as her mom thought she would. She beat out some pretty fierce competition with a confidence that can only be manned by an 18-year-old who knows what good is, and she’s it.

    “I was pretty relaxed,” she said. “Thank goodness, because there are a couple points throughout the day where I was like, ‘Oh my God, here we go.’ But no, I was relaxed in the start, and that was awesome.”

    That winning run was very nearly thwarted by a close call early on, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her left leg seemed to have a small revolt as she cruised down the mountain.

    Her coach, Roland Pfeifer, said, “I thought it was over.”

    To which Mikaela added, “That was scary,” she said. “I thought I was going off the course.”

    But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. She recovered and skied on to victory.

    The win was welcome for the U.S. as Americans have generally owned Alpine Skiing, taking 12 medals between the Vancouver and Sochi Games. However, the Slalom has thus far escaped American athletes. Until now.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Meryl Davis and Charlie White: Moms Helped Win Gold

    Meryl Davis and Charlie White have just scored the ultimate goal and have brought home to the USA that coveted gold medal during Sochi’s winter olympics.

    This is an historic gold medal, as the US has never won for ice dancing before. The pair have been training together for seventeen years and have worked hard every day of their lives to get where they are today.

    Their journey began as awkward kids of 8 and 9, having a hard time trying to pull off the “chemistry” needed to fake passion and other sorts of emotions that grade school kids are completely unaware of.

    They have certainly come a long way and their familiarity and ease with each other are mainly credited with giving them the edge that they needed to beat out a number of great ice dancing athletes on Monday.

    However, the two might say that there were also two other magic ingredients to the mix that made all the difference in the world.

    “Charlie is very anti-superstition – we don’t have any concrete good luck charms we rely on,” Davis said, according to People. “But I think our moms are as close to good luck charms as we have.”

    The pair’s moms have never missed a competition, said Davis, “and one tradition we have is that before we compete, we take a moment to give our moms a hug before we warm up.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkHNASQM0rs

    “We’re so grateful to have them with us wherever we go in the world,” Davis says of the moms.

    They are so grateful that the gold-winning duo participated with P&G in their “Thank You, Mom” campaign. That gave them the chance to feature their moms in the above video and thank them for all the years of cheering, support, and just being there as Mom.

    It’s clearly a dream come true for two amazing athletes and their devoted moms.

    Image via You Tube

  • Shaun White Says Sochi’s Not His Last Olympics

    Tuesday was a tough day for champion snowboarder Shaun White. White failed to reach his goal of becoming the first male American to win three straight gold medals in an individual event.

    While his time in Sochi didn’t land White the prize he was aiming for, he did say that he might be coming back in a few years to give it yet another try.

    The 27-year-old veteran athlete told The Today Show that his career won’t be ending in Sochi.

    When asked if he’d come back for the 2018 games in PyeongChang, South Korea, White replied saying, “I think so.”

    If he does decide on competing in South Korea, the San Diego native will be 31-years-old.

    The snowboarder finished in fourth place in the men’s halfpipe final this year. Louri Podladtchikov from Switzerland stole the gold from White while Ayumu Hirano, 15, and Taku Hiraoka, 18, both of Japan, took home silver and bronze.

    White still hasn’t been able to let the sight of winning gold out of his head.

    “I thought about it plenty of times, just countless, running it through my head what I could have done,” he said.

    “I’m happy, though. I move on from here. I don’t think it makes or breaks my career this one night, but definitely a disappointment.

    Before White competed on Tuesday, he did create a message for his fans.

    It seems he’ll need their support more than ever now.

    Image Via YouTube

  • Kelly Clark Mistaken For ‘American Idol’ Star

    Olympian snowboarder Kelly Clark and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson have been mistaken for one another. While their names and Twitter handles are similar (@kellyclarkfdn and @kelly_clarkson) their pastimes are completely unrelated.

    Clark is a gold-medal Olympian and five-time winner of the Winter X Games in the halfpipe.

    Kelly Clarkson is the season-one winner American Idol and a three-time Grammy winning artist.

    “I would say at least five times a week I get some pretty funny Kelly Clarkson misinterpretations, like, ‘I love your music’ or ‘Congratulations on getting married!’” Clark said.

    While that constant confusion could get annoying to some people, Clark is totally loving it.

    “I’m like, ‘This is amazing.’”

    The snowboarder and singer also have very similar looks. The two are even close in age with Clark being 30 years old and Clarkson just a year older at 31.

    People are even mistaking them online, tweeting at the wrong Kelly.

    In November 2012, someone tweeted a photo of dancers surrounding Kelly Clarkson with this message: “Performing at the AMAs with the coolest girl in school, Kelly Clark @ American Music Awards at Nokia Theater.”

    Another Clarkson fan tweeted: “MUSIC IS LOVE THANK YOU!!” and included Twitter handles of numerous musicians including Kelly Clark.

    A spokeswoman for Clarkson said she was unavailable for comment because she was “enjoying time with her new family and preparing for her baby.”

    Image Via YouTube

  • Carina Vogt Wins Historic Gold at Sochi

    Skier Carina Vogt made a historic win in the first ever women’s ski jumping event at Sochi. She grabbed an early lead with jumps of 103 and 97.5 meters, for a total 247.4 points, according to Yahoo.

    Daniela Iraschko-Stolz was second with 246.2 points, and bringing home the bronze is France’s Coline Mattel at 245.2 points.

    Vogt fell to her knees in disbelief when she saw the final scores. “It’s amazing, I’m the first woman (Olympic) champion in ski jumping. I’ve not won a World Cup till now. It’s unbelievable.”

    “I cannot find the right words… I wouldn’t have thought it was possible three hours ago,” she said.

    It was hard for all to believe considering the women’s ski jumping event was considered a contest between 17-year-old three-time junior world champion and World Cup title winner from last year of Japan, SaraTakanashi and Iraschko-Stolz, who is 13 years older.

    Vogt, who is a trained police officer, didn’t come to Sochi with a great street cred or experience. She finished third with Germany in a mixed team at the world titles in Italy last year, only winning fifth in the individual normal hill competition.

    Surprisingly, Takanashi finished fourth, with disappointing second jump of only 98.5 meters. She came in the hopes of winning Japan’s first gold medal since the 2006 Turin Games when Shizuka Arakawa won the ladies singles in figure skating, according to ESPN.

    “I couldn’t jump the way I wanted to on both attempts,” said Takanashi.

    “I came here wanting to do my best. I’m incredibly disappointed.”

    However, she seemed be looking on the bright side, saying, “It’s a good experience being at the Olympic Games and I’m glad to be part of it.”

    Sarah Hendrickson, the 19-year-old defending world champion from Park City, Utah and fellow competitor of Takanashi’s said of her, “It’s a crazy world the Olympics. It shows she is a human being. I wish I could tell her she is still an amazing athlete and that she has many good years to come.”

    Carina Vogt now has a little something more substantial to put under her belt, or around her neck, I should say. I am sure her home country of Germany is exceedingly proud.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Julia Lipnitskaia Is Russia’s New Figure Skating Star

    It’s undeniable. Julia Lipnitskaia is a star. The 15-year-old Russian figure skating princess electrified spectators in Sochi on Saturday. Veteran male figure skater Evgeni Plushenko called her a “genius”– a sentiment shared by many of Lipnitskaia’s colleagues.

    Retired American figure skater Tara Lipinski, who was also a gold medal winner at age 15, understands first hand what it takes to perform at an elite level at such a young age. “Judging from how prepared she looks – I can see it when they step on the ice – she looks like she believes this is her moment,” Lipinski said, “she is the real package.”

    Julia Lipnitskaia skating was hauntingly beautiful, as she performed to the melodramatic tunes of the John Williams’ soundtrack. Her seemingly effortless routine involved maneuvers considered a technical tour de force. She floated on air, as she performed the lightest of triple jumps, triple Lutz, and combinations of these all while maintaining the grave demeanor of her character.

    Her winning performance helped Russia win the gold medal for the team figure skating event in front of a cheering home crowd . The team of figure skaters were congratulated immediately by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as soon as they got off the ice. Teammate Evgeni Plushenko received a warm embrace from the President, while Lipnitskaia got a fatherly pat on the head as the President shared words and gave thanks to each member of the team. The team’s win marked Russia’s first medal of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

    Plushenko was flooded in flowers and stuffed animals after his winning performance. He has garnered three Olympic medals in his career, and after undergoing his 12th surgery last year, the 31-year-old decided that the Sochi Olympics would be the last chapter of his stellar career. He scored 19 points for his country while Julia Lipnitskaia led Russia with 20 points.

    Julia Lipnitskaia At 2014 European Figure Skating Championship

    http://youtu.be/mx96OcUKpT0

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Tom Daley Has A Boyfriend; “It Felt Right”

    Tom Daley Has A Boyfriend; “It Felt Right”

    Olympic diver Tom Daley surprised his fans by revealing he is dating a man, despite previously dating girls. The 19-year-old diver, who won a bronze medal in London 2012 Olympics, revealed the news on Monday in a YouTube video. Daley says he is in a serious relationship with a guy and said he feels happier and safer in his new relationship.

    In a five-minute long message on YouTube, Daley said he felt it in spring this year. “In spring this year my life changed massively when I met someone, and they make me feel so happy, so safe and everything just feels great. That someone is a guy.” Daley said, “But it wasn’t until spring this year that something just clicked. It felt right and I thought ‘OK’.”

    However, Daley said that he still fancies girls but had been dating the unnamed man since spring. He admitted that this took him by surprise though he seemed to have an inclination for some time that he might be bisexual or gay. Daley went on to say, “It did take me by surprise a little bit. It was always in the back of my head that something like that could happen.”

    His grandparents, whom he had informed 24 hours before going public about it, said the news came as a surprise and they feared that he was still too young to be making this kind of decision but they said they will support him because they are liberal.

    “We have always been supportive of him and we always will. We’re not old-fashioned, in fact we’re quite liberal. But I do think he’s too young to be making this sort of decision,” they said, “but we hugged him, we thanked him for coming to see us, and we’ll be seeing him over Christmas. We’ll always be here for Tom.”

    Tom’s father died at age 40 in 2011 from brain cancer.

    Chairman of the Amateur Swimming Association, Edward Lord said “To be one of the first British Olympic athletes to come out is very brave.” Lord said, “We must all support Tom in taking this incredibly courageous step.”

    Although his family members had mixed feelings about Daley’s decision, stars were quick to congratulate him for the bold move. Among them were Kylie Minogue and British comedian Matt Lucas.

     

    Tom Daley: Something I want to say…

    (main image via Twitter)