Winter Olympics

[ProudTVJunkie]

Just in case anyone wanted to discuss the Winter Olympics which begins tonight, I thought I'd start a thread.

My sister has traveled to South Korea and she says it is a beautiful country and she hopes to make it back again.

I'm looking forward to seeing the events, and the country over the next couple of weeks.

[geezer2008]

Us too. We enjoy the Olympics, both winter and summer , and are looking forward to them.

[tycho657]

Our daughter was born there. I hope she gets to see some of the cultural stores that they will do.
I have to say that for the first time, I am not even looking forward to watching. I don't know many of of the athletes competing.

[ProudTVJunkie]

My Mom is a huge figure skating fan, and I have watched it on and off since the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

I couldn't believe that Nathan Chen did so poorly in the short program last night after skating perfectly all season. The pressure of the Olympics can't be overestimated.

Then we watched the women's mogul skiing, with which my daughter was fascinated, and I recorder the pairs skating short programs.


It was just odd that they already had events on before we got to see the Opening Ceremonies, which begin tonight. I always look forward to that.

[tefla]

They usually have some starting events even before the Opening Ceremonies though. And also, don't forget that the time difference is at least 14 hours ahead of the EST time zone.

As for the figure skating ProudTVJunkie ... it was the Team Competition Event not the individual competition which has just recently begun.

[ProudTVJunkie]

Is anyone else watching the events?

We loved the opening ceremonies. My daughter learned about the Olympics in school, and they used Soohorang, the white tiger who is the Olympic mascot, in their art project.

Although I can't imagine ever snowboarding, it was both frightening and amazing to watch.
My husband and daughter have enjoyed the skiing, and I've watched the majority of the figure skating.

Somehow I've missed the curling events. I don't really understand it, but it makes me laugh to watch. It just seems so Canadian.

[tycho657]

Yes we have been watching. I knew more of the skiers than I thought I did. The women's GS was crazy. #26 was ahead last I heard. Usually there are so many ruts by the gates by#26 that you can't get a good run. They had to break into the men's ice skating to showus as they thought they had the winner. A true Olympic moment for sure.

[ProudTVJunkie]

Yes, when they cut away they were saying that Anna Veith from Austria had won the Super-G, and the next thing I knew they were breaking into the men's skating to say that Ester Ledecka form the Czech Republic won the gold. She's originally a snowboarder and no one thought she had any real chance to medal...and then she won GOLD! I love the Olympics.

I also enjoyed the men's figure skating. I love Adam Rippon. Because he doesn't perform any quad jumps he had no hope of a medal, but I love watching him skate. He's beautiful, always puts on a fun performance and makes me smile. Plus you could just tell he was thrilled to be there.

Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won the gold and it's hard not to feel the love that the Japanese have for him, or smile when they throw all of those Winnie the Pooh bears on the ice. Japan also took the silver, and Spain won its first figure skating Olympic medal when Javier Fernandez took the bronze.

I find it fascinating that Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandez share the same coach, Brian Orser who I remember rooting for in the 1988 Calgary Olympics (Orser took the silver for Canada while Brian Boitano won gold for USA). Brian Orser was also coaching a Korean skater. They were joking about how many times he had to change team coats during the events.

I still haven't caught any of the curling.

[tycho657]

Today you should be able to see some curling.