Winter Olympics

[geraldc]

I see China have already picked up a bronze in the short track speed skating, and their figure skaters will be competing tonight.

Is the Winter Olympics getting much coverage in China? Or are most of the sports too obscure for anyone to pay attention too?

South Korean and Chinese females really do seem to be very good at speed skating though.

[bhchao]

South Korea's Ahn picked up a gold in short track speed skating.

Michelle Kwan dropped out. I am not a fan of Kwan, but I feel sorry for her when she cried during the press conference.

[bhchao]

I noticed that South Korean and Chinese speedskaters are predominant in short-track speedskating, while Japanese athletes are predominant in the regular, long-track speedskating.

If you have watched past performances, Chinese figure skaters tend to be strong on athleticism, but weaker in artistic merit compared to their European counterparts. Perhaps that could change in the following days.

Anyways I look forward to seeing how the ladies' figure skating event will turn out. It will be one of the highlights of the Games.

[Outofin]

I watched pairs free skate tonight. They all have done so beautifully and wonderfully.

Zhang Dan finished her performance after that fall!

[Quest]

I watched pairs free skate tonight. They all have done so beautifully and wonderfully.

Zhang Dan finished her performance after that fall!

Agreed. Very emotional. She's so beautiful.

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY4Nzk5ODAmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

http://www.tsn.ca/olympics/news_story/?ID=155148&hubname=olympics

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11333510/

Chinese pair steals show after painful fall

Thrown to ice, Zhang returns after 5 minutes, finishes routine to take silver

TURIN, Italy - Zhang Dan crashed to the ice with her legs split wide, a brutal fall that drew gasps from the crowd. She limped off the ice doubled over in pain, seemingly finished.

Stunningly, she recovered to win an Olympic silver medal.

Zhang Dan and her partner Zhang Hao of China displayed as much courage as skill Monday night in the Olympic pairs free skate.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/special_packages/olympics/13881454.htm

By Phil Sheridan

Philadelphia Inquirer

SAUZE D'OULX, Italy - I've never shed a single tear at a Super Bowl or a World Series game.

Call me a sap, but I get misty at the Olympics all the time. I seldom have to take off my glasses and put my head down to avoid bawling like a child, though.

So for me, the defining moment of the Turin Games will be Chinese figure skater Zhang Dan finishing her pairs free skate after a fall that screamed "torn muscle" on the first throw by partner Zhang Hao. It was a beautiful moment, and how many times in life do we get to witness something like that?

It's a trick of the Olympic torch light that turns these sprawling sports tournaments into just a couple of unforgettable faces and highlights. Already I know I'll be glad I saw the Mole Antonelliana up close, that I witnessed Chad Hedrick winning the first U.S. gold medal of the Games, that I saw Evgeni Plushenko and Johnny Weir skate.

But when someone mentions Turin 20 years from now, I know I'll think of Zhang Dan.

Unless something even more amazing happens, which is possible every day. And that's why tears are reserved for the Olympics.

[bhchao]

South Korea's Ahn Hyun-Soo won another gold in short track speedskating. This time it was against Apolo Ohno. Ahn's teammate Lee Ho-Suk was trailing Ohno, but made a superb pass against Ohno at the last minute, taking silver.

Meanwhile South Korea won gold and silver in the women's 1500m short track, while China won the bronze.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/torino2006/short_track/news?slug=ap-sho-shorttrack&prov=ap&type=lgns

The wait was over.

This time, there were no crashes, no disputed calls, no disqualifications. And no Olympic gold medal for Apolo Anton Ohno. Not even silver. Only bronze.

Ahn Hyun-Soo won the 1,000-meter short track speedskating race -- his second gold medal of the games -- and teammate Lee Ho-Suk took the silver, getting by Ohno with a brilliant pass on the next-to-last turn Saturday night.

"This is something they thrive on," Ohno said. "The South Koreans have always been very strong."

And very patient. The South Koreans finally got their rematch with Ohno and made the most of it. Unlike the chaos of four years ago in Salt Lake City, when a massive pileup took out Ohno and three others, this race was clean.

"Obviously, I wanted to win the race, but it didn't turn out that way," Ohno said.

He was hot on Ahn's skates in the closing laps. Lee was third, and darted way out near the padded wall to get a better angle on Ohno, cutting in on the American to take second.

"I sped up," Lee said through an interpreter. "I was going for Ohno, but more than that, I was going for the win."

...Ahn then invited Lee and Ohno to share the top spot with him. The three put their arms around each other, and Ohno shook hands with both his rivals.

[Tobias]

i just read an interesting article on a german newspaper about how the winter olympics are being ignored big time in the USA although they are coming second in the medal ranking.

it is said the audience is missing someone they can identify with and cheer for.

i dont have television in my students home but am following olympics...and i really miss my tv for this time of year.

well, the Germans aint doing too bad. i like the Winter Olympics

p.s. i love to see Anni Friesinger skating

[Ferno]

yes, American Idol is much more popular in the US than the winter olympics

[nerveandmuscle]

The Chinese women are also pretty dominant in freestyle arials, which is suprising because they aren't even on the map in the other skiing events.

Then this Time Asia article came along and now I get it.

[bhchao]

I just finished watching the ladies free skate program, and wow, that Japanese skater Arakawa skated so beautiful! So elegant and graceful, flawless, and like a real lady.

I was deeply moved by her exquisite performance to the violin rendition of Nessun Dorma. The crowd gave her a standing ovation, the only one of the night.

[Quest]

You can find the videos of ladies free skate here: http://www.xanga.com/kwantifiable