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.
