That's right. The Olympics start tonight! Aren't you excited?!
I feel like there isn't as much hype around the Olympics as there was when I was a kid, but maybe that's just because I've grown older and have come to terms with the fact that my Olympic dreams were just that, dreams. Nevertheless, I have unbounded respect for all the Olympic athletes representing their country. They must have incredible dedication, drive, and commitment to make it to this world stage, whether they are medal contenders or not.
In honor of the opening ceremonies that will take place tonight, I decided to give you a little rundown on TEAM USA to bring you up to speed if you haven't been paying too much attention.
Top Contenders:
Skiing - Lindsey Vonn (if she's able to compete with her shin injury, she's a top contender for 2 Golds & possibly another medal in the 6 races she'll be competing in), Bode Miller and Ted Legity are the top contenders for the men's team.
Speed Skating - Apolo Ohno and Shani Davis for the men's team and Katharine Reutter for the women's.
Snow Boarding - Shaun White and Seth Wescott for the guy's and a strong team for the women including Hannah teter, Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler, and Lindsey Jacobellis.
Skating - Evan Lysacek (the current world champion), and ice dancing pairs Meryl Davis & Charlie White, and Tanitha Belbin & Benjamin Agosto.
And of course, both the men's and women's hockey teams are in line to play for the gold!
15 sports will be featured throughout the 15 days of competition, some more familiar than others: hockey, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, nordic combined, ski jump, snowboarding, speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating, luge (single & dbl teams, feet first), skeleton (1 person, face first), bobsled (2 & 4 person teams), curling (team sport played on ice with 42lb stones and brooms), and biathlon (a combo of x-country skiing and rifle shooting at targets).
I'd say freestyle skiing, the ski jump, snowboarding and all the track sports can completely freak me out. The thought of speeding down a steep man-made slope only to fly in the air with basically no control and having to land on my feet which are strapped to skiis that are longer than I am talll, or speeding down a skinny track at ungodly high speeds absolutely terrifies me. But, I am looking forward to catching a few of the competitions and cheering on the American athletes from the warmth of my couch.
Speaking of warmth, have you heard it's going to be 49* in Vancounver today? That's warmer than it will be here and South Carolina is getting snow today! Apparently it is the warmest location ever for a winter Olympics. I suppose all that matters though is that there is snow on the slopes!
Are you going to watch the opening ceremony (7:30pm est) tonight? What competitions are you looking forward to? Did you ever dream of being an Olympic athlete (winter or summer)?
For more info on the Olympics and to keep up with the medal count, check out this site or this one, or this one.
15 comments:
I love the Olympics! I don't have a favorite, but maybe ice skating....our DVR is going to be on overload!
I love the Olympics too. Your over view is fabulous. Thanks.
Mary
You know, I watch the opening ceremony for just one thing...to see the USA team come in! And bobsledding is my favorite...Cool Runnings, mon...
Reflecting on a Job Well-Done
I am excited too. I normally don't like the winter Olympics because I hate all things dealing with cold weather, but I am actually excited this year! :)
We are huge olympic fans ever since the olympics came to Utah several years back. It was so amazing to see some of the events in person.
And don't tell anyone... but one of my favorite events is Curling. LOL
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I can't wait to start watching them!! I love the ice skating and actually enjoy watching the snow boarding!! Happy Friday Lisa:)
I had completely forgotten. Thanks for the heads up! :)
I so want to go to the Olympics some day! Hopefully they will have it in the US again because that would be easiest but who knows! I am so excited to watch!
There's TONS OF HYPE where I am. Maybe that's because it's happening in my country and my province and my city is only 4 hours north of Vancouver though :)
SO excited!
Thanks for the run down! We LOVE the Olympics but have been so busy lately I had no idea what was going on. Now I do. :o)
I love the Olympics---the summer ones. I dreamt of being on the swim team and then waterpolo when they added that sport.
I'm not a huge winter sports fan but I'll be watching what I can!
Love, love, love the olympics! Can't wait :)
Absolutely would have loved to have been a skiing Olympian. A teacher at our local high school won an Olympic GOLD in skiing. I never felt people were properly impressed by this. She is a Cochran. Her nephew is in Olympics this year.
Love the Olympics! Didn't every girl dream of being a gymnast or an ice skater growing up?
Loved the Opening Ceremonies. China's was disconcerting with soo many people performing like programed robots. We're only 2 hours due to traffic from Canada. My husband gets to Stokely North of the Soo every other year. I want to take the train to Toronto and stay in the Royal York again !Did miss Michael J Fox and Diana Krall last nite , tho. Isn't she from Vancover ? I may be wrong on that one.
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