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Tag: Sochi

  • Tara Lipinski Joins Johnny Weir, Terry Gannon To Make NBC Lead Figure-Skating Announcing Team

    Former champion figure skater Tara Lipinski is joining forces with fellow champion figure skater Johnny Weir and sports announcer Terry Gannon to form NBC’s lead figure-skating announcing team. The team was announced on Wednesday, October 22, when all three appeared on the TODAY show.

    Lipinski, who won the 1998 Olympic gold medal for figure skating, was first seen announcing with Weir, three-time US figure skating champion, at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Lipinski and Weir were famous then for their banter and coordinated outfits, which NBC is hoping they will provide in all its future coverage of figure skating events henceforth.

    “Johnny, Tara and Terry were breakout TV stars in Sochi. We’re excited that viewers will be treated to this team’s informative and entertaining commentary for many years to come, all while looking fabulous,” said Jim Bell, executive producer of NBC Olympics, in a statement.

    Banter between Lipinski and Weir drew praise for them onscreen and on Instagram. Lipinski, Weir and Gannon will be doing their first assignment this weekend in Chicago at the NBC broadcast of the 2014 Hilton Honors Skate America, with analyst Tracy Wilson and reporter Andrea Joyce.

    “NBC gave us an opportunity of a lifetime in Sochi. I could not be more excited to continue this journey. My goal is to continue educating, entertaining and bringing the incredible sport of figure skating to a new generation of fans,” said Lipinski. “I cannot wait to begin and I’m lucky to have my talented co-pilots Johnny and Terry by my side. Being a part of this is a combination of all of my favorite things, and I look forward to the adventures in the years ahead.”

    Lipinski reportedly looks up to broadcasters Dick Button and Scott Hamilton, who were both Olympic champions and long-time figure skating commentators.

  • Group of 8 Now Group of 7: Russia’s Out

    Group of 8 Now Group of 7: Russia’s Out

    7 members of the Group of 8 who were supposed to meet in Sochi, Russia in for the G-8 Summit in June met for two hours behind closed doors today. They decided that it would be relocated to Brussels and that Russia is no longer invited until their government changes course, according to the New York Times.

    A statement from the Group of 7 read, “This group came together because of shared beliefs and shared responsibilities. Russia’s actions in recent weeks are not consistent with them. Under these circumstances, we will not participate in the planned Sochi Summit. We will suspend our participation in the G-8 until Russia changes course.”

    The course they wish to be changed is, of course, President Vladimir Putin’s hasty annexation of Crimea in the past few weeks. This is the latest in a series of steps that the group has taken and will continue to take to further isolate and punish Russia for its actions.

    “We remain ready to intensify actions including coordinated sectoral sanctions that will have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian economy, if Russia continues to escalate this situation,” the leaders’ statement said.

    Russia’s economy may not be the only one affected. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is ready to take steps, along with several other nations, that may hurt their own economies somewhat. But if it puts the brakes on Russia, she says it would be worth it.

    Last week she stated that “we are ready at any time to introduce phase-3 measures if there is a worsening of the situation,” referring to the so-called third stage of sanctions which could very likely be harmful to her own country.

    President Obama made clear the stance of the United States and our allies on Monday. He expressed solidarity with Ukraine, saying “Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people,”

    “We’re united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far,” Obama said, adding “the growing sanctions would bring significant consequences to the Russian economy.”

    So far the threat of sanctions against Russia have done little to nothing in halting the actions of Vladimir Putin. Time will tell how far these sanctions must go in order to get a satisfactory reaction.

    Image Via YouTube

  • Tatyana McFadden Wins Medal At Paralympics

    Tatyana McFadden’s time in Russia just got better.

    After reuniting with her birth mother in Sochi, Russian-born McFadden won her first medal at the Winter Paralympics on Wednesday. McFadden won the silver medal in the cross-country one-kilometer sprint sitting event.

    McFadden’s birth mother, the director of her former Russian orphanage, and her adoptive mother were there to witness McFadden’s most recent achievement.

    The Paralympian only picked up skiing two years ago when Alana Nichols, the first U.S. woman to win gold medals in the Summer and Winter Paralympics, encouraged her to do so. McFadden previously participated in track and field, winning six medals over the course of three Summer Paralympics. McFadden actually made her place in history in 2013 when she became the first woman to win six gold medals at a single International Paralympic Committee Track and Field World Championship. 2013 continued to be McFadden’s year when she became the first person to achieve the wheelchair marathon “Grand Slam” – completing the Boston, London, Chicago and New York City marathons.

    McFadden took to Twitter and Instagram to thank everyone who has supported her during her journey to Sochi and her ultimate win.

    Many took to Twitter to congratulate McFadden on her silver medal.

    Image via Tatyana McFadden, Instagram.

  • Ali Fedotowsky And Katherine Heigl Rescue Stray Dogs In Sochi

    For the past few months, Russia’s government has been working hard at getting rid of hundreds of stray dogs to prepare for the Olympics. Now, it seems as if more stray dogs in Sochi will find good homes in America. After the Olympic Games, some U.S. athletes took home stray dogs that they have gotten to love during their stay in Sochi.

    Ali Fedotowsky, former Bachelorette and E! News Correspondent for the Olympics, has also adopted two stray puppies from Sochi. Ali is working together with actress Katherine Heigl to find homes for the beloved pups that she has decided to rescue.

    Katherine, together with her mother Nancy, patiently waited at the Los Angeles International Airport for Ali to arrive with the two puppies in tow. Ali named one puppy Sochi, and the other, Adler, after a town in Russia located near Sochi. According to Ali, Sochi the dog was not so energetic during the flight and fell a bit sick. The puppy had been throwing up and had not had anything to eat for 15 hours.

    Sochi and Adler will be staying with Katherine and her mother until they have found a loving home for the pups. Katherine is an animal lover and has seven dogs. She is also the co-founder of a shelter called Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, named after her brother who died in 1986.

    Katherine says that this particular rescue was new for her, as it is the first time that they are rescuing a puppy from a different country.

    Both puppies have already had their first checkup. Adler was treated for coughing, while Sochi has been diagnosed with parvo or canine parvovirus, and will be receiving the appropriate treatment. Both puppies will be quarantined for about two weeks to a month before they can go up for adoption.

    Ali Fedotowsky And Katherine Heigl Play With Puppies

    Image via Ali Fedotowsky, Twitter

  • Closing Olympic Ceremony Has Sense of Humor

    The 2014 Winter Olympics are coming to an end. While the opening ceremony was nearly a month ago, we still haven’t gotten over the snowflake malfunction that had (and still has) everyone talking.

    While the five snowflakes displayed at the opening ceremony were supposed to expand into the iconic Olympic rings, the final ring didn’t quite manage the feat.

    The first four snowflakes transformed into the rings while one snowflake didn’t morph leaving four large rings and one random snowflake suspended in the air at Fisht Stadium. This error was tweeted about and proclaimed one of the many #Sochiproblems of the Sochi Olympics.

    It seems that Russia has quite the sense of humor, poking fun at the snowflake mishap in their closing ceremony that airs tonight.

    **Spoiler Alert Ahead**

    At the final ceremony, a group of dancers decked in silver sparkling outfits stood on the floor, moving to form a choreographed display of shapes. Eventually, the dancers moved to form the iconic Olympic rings.

    While the first four groups merged beautifully into the four rings, the last group remained in a small circle, emulating the last snowflake at the opening ceremony that failed to successfully burst into the last ring.

    Finally, the last ring did open up, competing the five Olympic rings.

    You can watch the closing ceremony tonight at 8:30 pm on NBC.

    Image Via YouTube

  • 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

  • Johnny Weir Admits NBC Nixed One Wardrobe Item

    Johnny Weir spoke in a recent interview about his Olympic Games style–which has been the talk of various blogs and news stories since the Sochi games began–and said there was one thing he isn’t allowed to wear while he’s working.

    The fashionable figure skating star has dominated NBC’s morning programming along with Tara Lipinski as they commentate for the athletes on the ice, with some bloggers writing daily about his clothing and jewelry choices. But there’s one thing the network didn’t want him to show up in on camera, and he’s okay with that.

    “We’ve been having conversations since the fall about how I was going to appear in Sochi,” Weir told Access Hollywood. “They said go for it, do whatever you want, just on our air, no fur. And that’s something I can understand. I said I don’t think it’s really appropriate [to wear fur on the air]. Fur is a very distinct decision that a person makes, they support it or don’t. I don’t want to be in a position to throw [NBC] under the bus if people get upset.”

    Weir understands that fur is not for everyone and even promised not to wear it during the 2010 Vancouver Games after he received threats from animal rights activists.

    “I’ve had death threats before Vancouver from fur activists; I’ve been protested by fur activists,” Weir said. “Every bad thing that can come of wearing fur, I’ve had.”

    Weir’s on-air companion, Tara Lipinski, has drawn a lot of attention this week herself. 16 years after she dominated on the ice and brought home the gold for the U.S. at the tender age of 15, she’s excited to be working for NBC with her friend and says it’s her dream job.

    Image via Access Hollywood

  • Sochi Wolf Video Was a Jimmy Kimmel Hoax

    Sochi Wolf Video Was a Jimmy Kimmel Hoax

    Another day, another well-orchestrated Jimmy Kimmel prank.

    Yesterday, Team USA Olympic luger Kate Hansen posted this tweet:

    Holy…shit. Right? We know that there have been a plethora of issues with the Sochi Olympics–one of them being stray dogs everywhere–but a wolf? In the dormitories?

    As you would expect, the video quickly went viral and news outlets began to pick up on the story. When I say news outlets, I mean every single TV news station–probably in the whole country. It spread like wildfire across social media and blogs. It engendered countless “Wolf of Wall Street” jokes. Really, really, terrible “Wolf of Wall Street” jokes.

    And it was a hoax.

    Apparently, the whole thing was just Jimmy Kimmel and Kate Hansen Putin us on.

    “US Olympic luger Kate Hansen tweeted a video that showed a wolf wandering the hallways of her dorm in Sochi. Within minutes almost every news and sports website ran a story on it. The thing is, it was all a prank we orchestrated with Kate as Jimmy’s co-conspirator,” says the Jimmy Kimmel Live team.

    The full video reveals the whole story:

    What does this teach us? Is this a moment to sit back and reflect?

    Nah. Full speed ahead, internets. I’ve been fooled by plenty an internet hoax, but fortunately I can brag that this one tipped my bullshit-o-meter early and often. I’ll be expecting my internet points in the mail any day now. This isn ‘t the first time something like this will happen and it’s not the last. If a viral video seems too amazing to be true–well, it probably is–but just go with it. The worst that can happen is that you’ll get to run a follow-up piece on the hoax–with back links.

    You see? This is the kind of stuff you get into when you can’t just have a beer.

    Image via Jimmy Kimmel Live, YouTube

  • Carolina Kostner Wins Bronze, Atones for Vancouver

    Italy’s Carolina Kostner won the bronze medal in women’s figure skating in Sochi on Thursday.

    The 27-year-old native of Bolzano, Italy scored 74.12 points in the short program and 142.61 in the free skate for a total of 216.73. That put her in third place behind Russia’s surprise gold-medal winner Adelina Sotnikova (224.59 points) and South Korea’s Kim Yu-na (219.11 points.)

    On her personal website, Kostner called Wednesday’s short program performance “a very touching moment,” but it was Thursday’s free skate that gave her a personal best score.

    It was a redeeming accomplishment after a fairly disastrous free skate in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She fell three times and managed only one clean triple jump, finishing in a disappointing 19th place.

    The Turin 2006 Winter Olympics were marginally better, but discouraging nonetheless, considering she was performing on her home turf. She placed ninth.

    Post by Carolina Kostner.

    At one point, Kostner considered quitting:

    “After Vancouver I thought that was it,” she said recently. “I thought I would stop skating. I thought that was my end.”

    But she realized that she enjoyed the sport too much to quit.

    “It was really hard times,” she said. “So I told myself, no results any more, just skating. And that’s what I started skating for, right? Not to be known or anything.”

    She went on to win the prestigious 2011 Grand Prix final. Then, in 2012, she won the world championships in Nice, France. She took second place in the same competition in 2013 in London. She also won the European championships in 2012 and 2013.

    Post by Carolina Kostner.

    “I wanted to skate because I love it,” she said of why she decided to continue after Vancouver. “The hard times make you understand what you really want and I’m really glad that I continued and honored to have experienced everything that I have in the past years.”

    Today’s Kostner has been praised for her poise and lyricism, called mature and aware.

    “So long we have been thinking of Carolina as the artist,” said 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski, “but her technique; she took everything down a grade and then built it back up these last four years. That was the whole package. ”

    Kostner’s competitor, American figure skater Ashley Wagner, also had words of praise:

    “Her lows are definitely low … We have all seen her have some really rough skates. It is impressive she doesn’t let that become entirely the skater she is. To come back so strong and put it together mentally and physically is impressive.”

    Kostner could easily have called it quits after winning the world championship, but instead decided to stay in the game.

    “When an artist becomes a master, it’s his best time,” Kostner said. “I love to do it. I’m not ready to give that up yet.”


    With an Olympic bronze medal to mitigate the pain of Turin and Vancouver, it looks like Kostner made the right decision.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Adelina Sotnikova Wins Women’s Figure Skating Gold

    Russian figure skater Adelina Sotnikova won the gold medal in women’s figure skating in Sochi on Thursday.

    The win was a minor upset for South Korea, and a record setter for Russia.

    Sotnikova scored an overall 224.59 points, with 149.95 of those coming from Thursday’s free skate win. Sotnikova came in a close second to South Korea’s Kim Yu-na in the women’s short program on Wednesday.

    However, Kim finished well behind Sotnikova in the free skate on Thursday, earning 144.19 points for a total of 219.11. Kim, who won the gold at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, won the silver in Sochi.

    Although Kim skated a flawless routine, she landed only six triple jumps for Sotnikova’s seven, and trailed in her technical component score.

    Italy’s Carolina Kostner won the bronze, scoring a personal best of 142.61 in the free skate. It was a sweet victory for Kostner, who failed most of her jumps in the free skate in Vancouver in 2010.

    “After Vancouver I thought that was it,” she said recently. “I thought I would stop skating. I thought that was my end.”

    Sotnikova’s win makes her the first Russian to win an Olympic gold medal in women’s singles figure skating.

    “This is the happiest day in my life,” Sotnikova said. “I simply stepped on the ice today and realized how much I like what I’m doing and skated really good.”

    Even within her own country, few expected Sotnikova to take home the gold medal. Instead, all hopes were focused on Yulia Lipnitskaya. Lipnitskaya won first place in both the team women’s short and free skate, contributing to Russia’s gold medal in the inaugural team figure skating event.

    She was expected to challenge Kim for the gold in the individual competition.

    But Lipnitskaya came in a disappointing fifth place in the individual short skate on Wednesday, after falling on her triple flip.

    “I wanted to skate my best today, but it didn’t work,” she said. “I’ve lost control over my jumps — tiredness and emotions.”

    Lipnitskaya ended up in fifth place overall in the individual competition.

    American figure skating favorite Gracie Gold took fourth place.

    Although she didn’t end up on the podium, American Ashley Wagner defied her detractors by winning a respectable seventh place overall.

    America’s Polina Edmunds came in ninth.

    Sotnikova’s was the host country’s third figure skating gold medal, following first place wins in pairs and team skating. The victories have served as a comeback from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, where Russia failed to win a single figure skating gold medal.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Ashley Wagner Takes Sochi Olympics Internet Memes in Stride

    Ashley Wagner doesn’t seem to be bothered by the internet memes that are circulating about her.

    The American figure skater has become well-known during the Sochi Olympics for her entertaining facial expressions.

    The first Wagner meme surfaced following her February 8 team short skate. Wagner quickly went from all smiles to a shocked and disappointed expression upon seeing her score.

    The score earned her fourth place in the event, behind Russia’s Yulia Lipnitskaya, Italy’s Carolina Kostner, and Japan’s Mao Asada.

    Despite Wagner’s obvious disappointment, she scored the US figure skating team 7 points, which was enough for them to win the bronze medal in the inaugural team figure skating event.

    One meme included a superimposed photo of Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney, who some credit with starting the Olympic meme trend during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Maroney was caught on camera looking less-than-thrilled to receive the silver medal in the women’s vault competition.

    Wagner posted one of the memes on her Instagram feed, calling it the best she’d seen so far:

    The 22-year-old world champion skater took sixth place in the women’s short skate on Wednesday. Judging from the look on her face upon seeing her scores, she once again expected them to be higher, but managed to recover her smile more quickly than she did on February 8.

    Other memes of the Sochi Olympics have poked fun at Russia for its lack of preparedness, and for its president’s dour expressions.

    No one was safe from the memes during this Olympics, from NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, who has suffered an eye infection throughout the games, to little old ladies making flawed attempts at photography:

    Image via Twitter

  • For Ashley Wagner, Sochi Performances Have Been Redemptive

    No one could blame American figure skater Ashley Wagner for wanting to prove her detractors wrong in Sochi.

    And Wagner is holding her own at the Winter Olympics. She finished sixth in the women’s short program on Wednesday. And she earned fourth place for her team short program on February 8, helping Team USA win the bronze medal in the inaugural Olympic Figure Skating Team Event on Sunday.

    Wagner was a controversial pick for the US Olympic team.

    The 22-year-old finished in fourth place at the US figure skating nationals competition in Boston in January. It was a disappointing experience for Wagner, who had taken first place the prior two years. She fell twice, and has admitted since that nervousness made her legs feel like “lead” in Boston.

    Many thought Mirai Nagasu, who finished third in Boston, should have been the Olympic team pick.

    But Wagner’s strong performance in the international arena earned her the spot instead. She has performed especially well at Grand Prix events and was in fact the 2012 and 2013 Trophée Eric Bompard champion.

    “It is tough to hear people try and take away my accomplishments,” Wagner said. “Those two nights at nationals didn’t reflect me overall as a skater, and I am glad that [U.S. Figure Skating] recognized that.”

    Has her performance in Sochi been redemptive?

    “To the people who doubted I belonged on this team, yes,” she said after her fourth place finish in the team short skate. “But really it was more about proving to myself that I could get beyond that competition and that I wasn’t a nervous wreck and that I was that strong, hard-headed competitor that I know that I am and that my mother has been dealing with for 22 years, so that was good for me.”

    She’s being called a wild card, but depending on how she performs in the free skate on Thursday, Wagner still has a chance to end up on the podium.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir Take Ice Dance Silver In Sochi

    Tessa Virtue and dance partner Scott Moir from Canada won silver for their performance in the ice dance event in this year’s Winter Games in Sochi. In the free dance portion, they earned 114.66 points, their best for the season. American pair Meryl Davis and Charlie White scored 116.63 points. The Canadians had an overall score of 190.99, which was not enough to best the Americans, who got 195.52 and the gold. Taking the bronze are Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsapalov of Russia, who scored 183.58 overall.

    Virtue and Moir are two-time world champions, and are Davis and White’s training partners. Both teams are top contenders in ice dancing, capturing international ice dance titles left and right. The Canadians won the event in the 2010 Winter Olympics, with the Americans getting silver. Last year, the Americans began edging out Virtue and Moir, winning the Grand Prix Final in December and the 2013 world title.

    Aside from being training partners, the two teams also share the same coach, Marina Zoueva. When you have one coach for two rival teams, things could get a little dicey.

    In an interview, Moir stated that there had been times when he and Virtue did not feel like Zoueva was on their side. He expected Zoueva to work with them like she did four years ago, but that didn’t transpire. The pair said they knew why their coach spent most of her time with the other team, but there had been differences that the Canadians had to fix on their own.

    Moir confessed that there had been occasions when he and Virtue had to reassess where they stood with Zoueva, and had spoken to her on numerous occasions to say that they would not be satisfied with second place. They had some unusual things happen in the past year and felt that the gold medal was being pulled away from their reach.

    Virtue and Moir have not announced their plans for the future, but stated this would be the last time they would be joining the Olympics.

    Images via Facebook

  • Ashley Wagner Says “You Can’t Just Be A Zombie”

    Twenty-two-year-old U.S. figure skater Ashley Wagner is a world-reknown athlete who knows how to thrill and entice a crowd. The talented skater coins herself as “Figure skater. Two-time US National Champion. Ice cream enthusiast” on her Twitter account. Wagner recently explained the importance of maintaining a unique balance in order to become a champion capable of performing memorable ice-skating routines. In order to captivate an audience, a skater must adhere to technical knowledge and guidelines as well as showcasing an individual personality. Wagner understands this balance all too well.

    In a recent interview Wagner shared her thoughts on figure skating. “It is difficult because in a way to put on a performance you have to be emotional, you can’t just be a zombie out there or it will come across that way. It is about finding that happy medium of emoting enough so that the audience can really enjoy your performance and staying technical enough so that you can really just get the job done. The fighting spirit comes out in the pieces of music that I choose. I like to choose stronger pieces of music and honestly I like to become somewhat of a vicious character in my program. These characters that I take on fight for what they want and that’s really what I identify with,” she said.

    Though the Olympics can bring out the competitive nature in athletes, Wagner has learned that the true success of any athlete is achieved when challenging oneself. “In this crazy, crazy world of figure skating it is easy to focus on a name or a target, but when you are going after someone it really only holds you back from what you are capable of yourself. I am focusing on challenging myself and making myself better. I want to put out a program that will do the fighting for me.”

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Eve Muirhead And GB Curling Team Go For The Gold

    Since watching Rhona Martin win gold for Great Britain in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, Eve Muirhead has vowed to do the same in the sport.

    At just 12 years old, Muirhead knew winning the gold in curling was what she wanted to do. “From that moment, it was what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like Rhona and win an Olympic gold medal,” said Martin.

    Muirhead had joined the sport of curling when she was nine years old and by the age of 19 she had already won three World Junior Championships. Her dreams of Olympic gold were closer to reality when she was chosen to skip for Great Britain’s curling team in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Sadly, the team didn’t make it out of the group stages.

    While curling runs in Muirhead’s blood – her father and two brothers also participate(d) in the sport – she is also a talented golfer. “With golf, it’s tough to make it to the top. I knew from a young age that I had good opportunities to do well in curling,” said Muirhead.

    Now it is 2014 and Muirhead is again on Great Britain’s Olympic curling team, this time in Sochi. In an amazing twist of fate for Muirhead, Rhona Martin is the coach of Great Britain’s curling team. The team is a bit different from when Martin played the sport. While Martin was a 36-year-old housewife raising two kids, Muirhead and her teammates Vicki Adams, Claire Hamilton and Anna Sloan are all full-time professionals in their 20s, spending their time at the gym, with nutritionists and psychologists.

    These young faces may be helping to change the way people look at curling. Said Muirhead, “A lot of people look at curling and think it’s a sport for the older generation, but that’s not the case and hopefully a lot more young people can get involved.”

    One of Muirhead’s former teammates, Jackie Lockhart, believes Great Britain’s curling team has a good chance in Sochi. “Eve has grown up massively over the last four years. She’s still only 23 but she’s very professional on the ice. She is a fiery character who will crucify herself if she doesn’t make a shot 100 percent, and she can’t allow that to happen in the semi-final. She has got to be focused and she is not afraid to make the big shots, which is what will worry Canada skip Jennifer Jones,” said Lockhart.

    Great Britain competed against Canada on Wednesday. Canada beat Muirhead and her team 6-4, leaving Great Britain to compete for the bronze medal against Switzerland on Thursday.

    Image via YouTube.

  • Ted Ligety Wins Gold Medal in Giant Slalom at Sochi Olympics

    Alpine ski racer Ted Ligety won the gold medal in the giant slalom in Sochi on Wednesday, setting several Olympic records.

    The win made the 29-year-old Park City, UT native the first American male skier to win the Olympic giant slalom. He also became the first American male to win two Olympic gold medals in Apline skiing.

    Ligety previously won the gold medal in the men’s combined event in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

    He joins Andrea Mead-Lawrence as one of only two Americans to take home gold medals in Apline skiing. She won the slalom and giant slalom in 1952 at the Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway.

    “I’ve been wanting to win this medal my whole life, but in a realistic sense the last four years,” Ligety said. “All season long everybody talks about the Olympics, Olympics, Olympics. At a certain point I was just like, ‘Let’s do it already. Let’s just get this thing over with so we can stop talking about the pressure and everything with it.’”

    Ligety finished the race with a combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 45.29 seconds. Steve Missillier of France finished 0.48 behind to take the silver medal and his fellow Frenchman Alexis Pinturault took the bronze, finishing 0.64 behind Ligety.

    “To be able to throw it down in the event I had the most pressure in, and the event I was the favorite in — to be able to do that is awesome,” Ligety said. “This was really the event that I wanted to win. … I know where I stand in giant slalom.”

    Known for being humble and upbeat, Ligety has been called “one of the nicest men in ski racing.”

    Fellow Olympian and Alpine ski racer Bode Miller had nothing but words of praise for Ligety: “I think he’s one of the best GS skiers in history,” Miller said. “He’s so much better at it than everybody else. … He just is so consistent. He makes no errors. And anybody who’s trying to cut off line just ends up making mistakes and it makes a huge gap.”

    Ligety will compete in the men’s slalom event on February 22. Miller, who won the bronze in the men’s super-G on Sunday, announced that he will sit out the slalom after tweaking his surgically repaired knee in the giant slalom.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Navy Ship Runs Aground: What Happened?

    Navy Ship Runs Aground: What Happened?

    Well, this is embarrassing.

    The USS Taylor is out of commission after it ran aground last week. The warship was one of two vessels that had been sent to the Black Sea in a show of support by the United States against any possible terrorist attacks. It was a simple matter of precaution as the controversial Sochi Winter Olympic games was thought to draw attempts to cause harm to spectators and/or athletes.

    Though nothing has happened as of yet, it is unknown how the US will respond to being down to one ship patrolling the Black Sea.

    The event is said to have occurred last Wednesday, as the ship was preparing to moor at Samsun, a city in Northern Turkey, where it was due to be refueled.

    Despite running aground, the warship was still about to dock at the port. An initial inspection of the vessel showed that there was significant damage to the ship’s propeller blades. However, the hull was determined to have avoided any damage.

    None of the 200 crew members who were aboard the USS Taylor at the time suffered any injuries, according to a statement released by the Navy.

    Commander Philip Rosi, spokesman for the US Sixth Fleet, said that it is unknown how long the warship will be out of commission.

    In an email to the AFP, Rosi stated that it was simply, “too early to determine the impact to the schedule.”

    The USS Mount Whitney, a command vessel, was the other ship that the Pentagon recently announced would be sent into Russian waters during the Olympics.

    Given the fact that the gesture was thought to be a show of force of sorts by the United States military, it’s seen by some to be a bit of a “butter fingers” moment.

    It is not yet known what caused the USS Taylor to run aground. The Navy said in a statement that the issue is still under investigation

    Image via Youtube

  • Charles Hamelin Stays Positive After Another Fall

    Canadian speed skater Charles Hamelin was hopeful at the beginning of this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi. He felt confident, and he was being touted as the skater everyone should watch out for. He was in the running for medals in all four of the men’s short track events—that is, until the unfortunate happened, and he started falling.

    Hamelin was expected to rack up medals from the men’s 5000-meter relay, and the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m heats. After falling in the 1000m and 500m events, he was only able to take the gold for the 1500m. In the semifinals of the 5000m relay, his team fell as well.

    While he only managed to snag one gold, he doesn’t think of it as disappointing; after all, he was able to prove that a Canadian can race against the world’s best in one of the toughest events in speed skating. The 1500m event was often noted as the Canadians’ weak spot, and Hamelin was able to show the world what a misconception that is.

    This year, Hamelin first fell in the 1000m event, and again during the 500m heats on Tuesday. Up until that point, he was feeling good and he had everything under control. There had been observations that the quality of the ice at the Iceberg Skating Palace was not suited for short track skating—it was over-watered and overused—but Hamelin refused to blame the ice. He said he never had a bad feeling about it. Besides, he wasn’t the only one on it.

    It must have been a bad stroke of luck for the speed skater, but he was very professional about it—he let out his anguish and frustration in private, and went on to cheer his girlfriend, fellow speed skater Marianne St-Gelais during her speed skating events. He beamed with pride and said he was happy for the women’s team, who won silver in the 3000m relay. That’s a kind of sportsmanship you don’t see every day.

    Hamelin wins gold in men’s 1500m short track

    http://youtu.be/k3IjXha9EkM

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue: Coach is to Blame

    Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue lost their chance at a gold medal in ice dancing to their rivals and training mates Meryl Davis and Charlie White. So, what’s next for the duo?

    Finger pointing, apparently. And the person at the focus of the pointing finger is the trainer of both couples and former soviet ice dancer, Marina Zoueva.

    Moir and Virtue say they believe part of the reason they lost to Davis and White is because the coach had become more focused on the American team, according to AFP.

    As the Americans began to pass the pair up in skill and accomplishment, they say she slowly began to focus more on White and Davis. Which seems to have paid off for the US, now that we have our first ice dancing gold to add to the list. Of course it wasn’t just the training. White and Davis can also attribute their success to the comfort of a seventeen year working relationship and unebbing support from their moms.

    “We were both pretty blunt with her in the fall and leading up to the Olympics. We weren’t happy and we felt that sometimes she wasn’t in our corner,” Moir said of Zoueva. “We went to Marina on countless occasions and told her there was no way we would be happy with the silver medal. We’ve had some odd things happen this year that haven’t happened before. We expected that Marina would march with us and be on our team like she was in Vancouver … she wasn’t.”

    One of those odd things Moir spoke of was Marina’s glaring absence at the couple’s national championship competition. However, when a coach has two really great teams on her hands, what is she to do?

    Moir admitted, “She’s not in any easy position. My Mom’s a figure skating coach and she always says to me ‘you know she (Zoueva) can’t win no matter what’ … well you know she does win no matter what.”

    “There’s always an angry set of parents and an angry set of skaters out there so she has a hard job.”

    The Canadian duo was quick to say that they weren’t displeased with their silver medal in ice dancing, ”We couldn’t have asked for more about our performances,” Virtue said. ”It’s nice to be satisfied and content with our job. We’ve managed to create the Olympic moment.”

    What does the future hold for Moir and Virtue? Well, retirement is expected, but they haven’t confirmed or denied that yet.

    Image via You Tube

  • Johnny Weir Is Not Afraid To Be In Anti-Gay Russia

    American figure skater Johnny Weir, known for his flair and outlandishness on and off the ice, is having the time of his life. After retiring from the sport as a competitor, he now works as the NBC’s figure skating analyst with fellow skater Tara Lipinski.

    NBC was quick to get him as expert analyst for their coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. According to NBC Olympics Executive Produce Jim Bell, they did so because of Weir’s knowledge of the sport and the competitors, and of course, his candid and fearless views. “We are thrilled to have Johnny’s perspective on the competition,” Bell added. Weir affirmed this, saying that NBC hired him knowing full well about the kind of statements he liked to make.

    The task may sound easy for the opinionated Weir, but he admits it was a difficult transition. For one thing, he would be giving commentary on people he knows and respects, and another—the hardest part—he would also have to talk about those he doesn’t like. “I have to find a way to be genuine, to perform with my voice,” he said.

    Weir’s on-air work provided viewers with just the right amount of technical expertise to make them understand what’s happening on the ice. He doesn’t fill the performance with commentary, and just speaks when he has something to add. He and co-analyst Lipinski have an obvious camaraderie that can be easily seen (and heard) during the show.

    Weir is openly gay and is critical of Russia’s anti-gay law. He is not afraid. According to him, “Part of being afraid is not knowing, and I know Russia.” Indeed he does, being a self-proclaimed Russophile. He even taught himself to read and speak Russian. He doesn’t feel an obligation to tone down his glitzy appearance, even joking that he had packed three suitcases the size of a small car to Sochi.

    Weir never imagined he would love broadcasting as much as skating, and he hopes he could continue doing so even after this year’s Winter Olympics.

    Image via YouTube

  • 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