2014 Winter Olympics Top Stories and Competitors Through One Week

Two Gold In One Event

Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze
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The women's downhill alpine skiing event had an unprecedented ending. The first time in an alpine skiing event ended two gold medals were awarded.  Four other times in Olympic history events ended in a tie for either silver or bronze. Switzerland's Dominique Gisin and Slovenia's Tina Maze tied for first, both with a time of 1:47.57. Both skiers have been involved in ties before in World Cup events. This is Maze's first gold medal. She won two silver medals in Vancouver in the giant slalom and Super-G. Maze finished 18th in the downhill. Gisin competed in the downhill in 2010, but did not finish. Lara Gut finished in third and got the bronze medal, giving Switzerland two medals in the event.

Skiathlon


The skiathlon is a really tough event. After the finish, the competitors drop like flies. For the first half of the event, the skiers ski on classic skis using classic technique and then for the second half switch for skating skis and use a free technique. The clock does not stop when the skiers switch skis. The men's biathlon was 30 km (15 km on classic skis and 15 on skating skis) and the women's is for 15 km (7.5 on classic and 7.5 on skating). For the women's skiathlon, the defending gold medalist Marit Bjoergen of Norway repeated as champion. Sweden's Charlotte Kalla and Norway's Heidi Weng finished with the silver and bronze medals respectively. Six of the top seven skiers were from Scandinavian countries. The men's skiathlon went down to the wire. Switzerland's Dario Cologna edged Sweden's Marcus Hellner for gold. Cologna finished just a four tenths of a second ahead of Hellner. Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway captured bronze and finished a tenth ahead of Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin. Russia, however, protested the result, saying that when Sundby crossed into Vylegzhanin's lane a few meters before the finish line and that affected the finish. A race jury ruled that crossing had no effect on the finish. Russia planned on appealing to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, but has decided not to.

Women's Hockey Playoffs

The women's hockey playoffs start on Saturday with Switzerland facing Russia and Finland taking on rivals Sweden. The United States and Canada both have byes into the semi-finals.  Both quarter-final match-ups look to be very good. Russia is ranked fourth in the world, while Switzerland is right behind them at fifth. The player to watch in this game is Russian Olga Sosina. The 21 year-old is already in her second Olympics and has scored two goals and has also had an assist so far. The most interesting fact about Sosina is she was once a member of the Russian women's national floorball team. 

Sweden-Finland should be a great match-up. The two have been rivals forever due to being neighbors and the history of Finland being apart of Sweden. Finland is led by Captain Jenni Hiirikoski, a defensewomen. Hiirikoski was a part of the bronze medal team in 2010. She won Best Defender at the 2009, 2012, and 2013 IIHF World Championships. The 2010 Player of the Year in Finland and 2012-13 were also awarded to Hiirikoski. So far, she has two goals and an assist in the tournament. One of those goals was an overtime game-winner. She will be a game changer on Saturday.

Germany's Domination of Luge

Geisenberger, Loch, Arlt, and Wendt celebrate winning
the team relay gold medal
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Luge this year has been dominated by Germany. They won the gold medal in all four events, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and the team relay, and also won a silver medal in women's singles. Felix Loch, 24, won his second career gold medal in the men's singles. His total time of 3:27.526 was almost half a second better then runner-up Albert Demchenko of Russia. He also set a men's singles track record with a run of 51.613. Natalie Geisenberger won the gold in the women's singles with a time of 3:19.768, more then a second better then fellow countrywomen and silver medalist Tatjana Hufner. Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl, born fourteen days apart, took home the gold medal in the doubles. Then in the team competition, the Artl, Geisenberger, Loch, and Wendl dominated the event, winning by over a second. It was truly a wonderful showing for the Germans.

Favorite Quote So Far

"He will make a fool of himself. He has played so poorly," Niklas Backstorm's grandmother when asked about her grandson, a hockey player for Sweden. 

2014 Winter Olympics Preview

Men's Ice Hockey

Semyon Varlamov
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There are three groups for men's ice hockey, Group A, Group B, and Group C. Group A features host country Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United States. Russia and the US are the two favorites of Group A. Russia's possible front line of Pavel Datsyuk, Evegni Malkin, and Alexander Ovechkin could be deadly for defenses. A big question for Russia is who will start in goal for them, Sergei Bobrovsky or Semyon Varlamov. Varlamov has been outstanding this year, while Bobrovsky has struggled after winning the Vezima Trophy. The right choice is to go with the hot glove of Varlamov. After winning silver in 2010, the US are looking to win their first gold medal since the Miracle on Ice in 1980. The Americans are strong in net with Jimmy Howard, Ryan Miller, and Jonathan Quick. Even though all three have struggled at one point this year, the expectations for all three are high. I think Miller and Quick will both play in the first few games and whoever plays the best will be the starter for the playoffs. Slovakia is no team to sleep on. Led by Zdeno Chara and Marian Hossa, they can be a surprise team. Slovenia, which only has one NHL player (Anze Kopitar) on it's team, will have a tough time against more talented teams. 

Austria, the defending gold medalist Canada, Finland, and Norway are the four teams in Group B. Canada has a high powered offense and defense. Their fourth line may feature Rick Nash and/or John Taveres, two former number one picks in the NHL Draft. The team has many pair of teammates who will most likely play on the same lines, which will help with chemistry. They should be favorites. Finland has outstanding net minders in Antti Nieni and Tuukka Rask. They will keep the opponents from scoring a lot of goals. The offense will need to score for them to succeed. 

Daniel Alfredsson
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The final group features the Czech Republic, Latvia, Switzerland, and Sweden, the number one ranked team in the world. Sweden are one of the favorites in the tournament. Their offense is led by Daniel Alfredsson, Daniel Sedin, Alexander Steen, and Henrik Zetterberg, while the defense is headlined by Erik Karlsson. With Henrik Lundqvist in net, they are strong in every phase of the game. The Czech Republic will also have a competitive team led by New Jersey Devil teammates, Patrik Elias and Jaromir Jagr. Latvia and Switzerland will have trouble against tough competition and will be lucky to make the quarterfinals. The four favorites to win gold are Canada, Russia, Sweden, and the United States, with the Czech Republic, Finland, and Slovakia being dark horses. 

Ski Jumping

There will be four ski jumping events in Sochi. They are men's individual normal hill, men's individual large hill, men's team large hill, and women's individual normal hill. The women's event is the first time women will be competing in ski jumping. The current World Champion is 19 year old American Sarah Hendrickson. Hendrickson is coming off a knee injury suffered in August and has only returned to skiing last month. If she can place, let alone win, she may become the star of the Olympics. The favorites for the men's events are Austrian's Thomas Morgenstern and Gregor Schlierenzauer, Slovenia's Robert Kranjec and Peter Prevc, and Poland's Kamil Stoch. The favorite for the team event is Austria. They won the last two gold medals at the Olympics and the last five gold medals at the World Championships.

Curling

Norway's Curling Team showing off their uniforms
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Sweden has won the last two gold medals in the women's event, but this year, they may be able to take home their first ever men's gold. The Swedish team is being skipped by Niklas Edin and includes Sebastian Kraupp, Fredrik Lindberg, Viktor Kjaell, and Oskar Eriksson. This group have curled together for years and are the current European and World Champs. The team from Norway will be vying for the gold medal as well after winning silver in 2010. Skipped by Thomas Ulsrud and vice-skipped by Torger Nergaard, four of the five curlers have Olympic and Olympic medal game experience. Nergaard is the only member of the 2002 gold medal winning team on this year's team. It would not be surprising if these teams meet in the gold medal match. Great Britian's women's team may be young, but they are favorites for the gold medals. All team members are less the 25 years old, yet they still won the World Championships last year. Skipper Eve Muirhead is a four time World Junior champion and is the youngest skipper ever to win a world championship. Now, she hopes to become the youngest skipper to win an Olympic gold medal. 

Bobsleigh

US Driver Steven Holcomb is looking to lead his two-man and four-man team to gold medals. In Vancouver, Holcomb and his team won the gold medal in the four-man, the first for the USA in the event since 1948. Now, he leads a four-man team of himself, Curt Tomasevicz, Steve Langton, and Chris Fogt to Sochi with hopes of winning the gold medal again. Some of the top competitors for the gold medal include a German team led by Maximilian Arndt, a team from Latvia piloted by Oskars Melbardis, a team led by Beat Hefti from Switzerland, and a Canadian team driven by Lyndon Rush. For the two-women's  Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse of Canada look to repeat as gold medal winners.

Luge

Felix Loch
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German Felix Loch is the favorite for the gold medal in men's singles event. Loch won the gold medal in Vancouver with a time of 3:13.085. He also won the men's singles gold medals in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013. His gold medal win in 2008 at the age of 18 made him the youngest winner in history. He also won the gold in the team relay in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013. If Loch does not win the men's singles, it would be one of the biggest shocks of the Olympics. The defending gold medalist in women's singles is Tatjana Hufner. The German won gold in Vancouver and bronze in Torino. She won gold at the 2012 World Championships and silver in 2013. The current World Champ is fellow German Natalie Geisenberger. The two countrywomen should be the two main competitors for gold. 

There is a new event in luge this year, the Team Relay and an updated event, the doubles. The doubles is now only a men's event. It was a mixed event from 1964 to 2010. The Team Relay involves a men's luger, a women's luger, and a doubles team. All the sleds start at the beginning of the course. When one luger finishes, he or she will hit a touch pad that will inform the next luger to go. It is a relay race. In both events, Germany are the favorites and it will be shocking if they don't win.

Countries with One Athlete

Hubbertus von Hohenlohe
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There are seventeen countries that will be sending one athlete to compete in Sochi. They are Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tongo, Venezuela, US Virgin Islands, and Zimbabwe. Malta, Paraguay, Timor-Leste, Tongo, and Zimbabwe will be competing at their first Winter Olympics. The one Mexican athlete is alpine skier Hubbertus von Hohenlohe, the second oldest Olympian ever at 55. Hohenlohe is competing in his sixth Winter Olympics, his first being the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo. He is not only a skier, he is also a descendant of German royalty and a singer. He has never won a medal at a Winter Olympics and finished 78th in the men's giant slalom and 46th in the men's slalom in Vancouver. Tonga's only Winter Olympian this year is Bruno Banani. Banani's born name is Fuahea Semi, but he changed his name in 2008. He originally did not give a reason why he changed his name, which happens to be the same name as a German underwear company. However, it was later revealed to be a marketing ploy. Banani took up luge in 2008 when he was asked by the government to start competing in an attempt to send an Olympian to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Independent Olympic Athletes

The three Indian athletes who qualified for the Winter Olympics will not compete under India's flag. Instead, they compete under the Olympic flag and be Independent Olympic Participants. The Indian Olympic Association is currently suspended by the International Olympic Committee due to hiring tainted officials. The suspension is to be lifted when new elections are held on February 9th. Since the Olympics start on the 7th, India will still be suspended when the Games begin meaning they will be ineligible when the Olympics start. The athletes who qualified are still allowed to participate. The athletes are Luger Shiva Keshavan, Alpine Skier Himanshu Thakur, and Cross Country Skier Nadeem Iqbal.

Mascots

The 2014 Winter Olympics Mascots
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There are three mascots for the 2014 Winter Olympics. They are the Hare, the Leopard, and the Polar Bear. The Ray of Light and the Snowflake are the Paralympic Mascots. With all the controversy surrounding the games, it is not surprising that there is controversy with the mascots as well. When the mascots were first announced, there were charges of vote-rigging. The Leopard, a favorite of then Russian Prime Minister (now President) Vladimir Putin, was said to have gotten more votes because of Putin's approval. Also, the Polar Bear was accused of being the same as the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics mascot. The mascots should not have a big part of the Olympics, so there should be no more controversy surrounding them. 

2012 Youth Winter Olympics

2012 Youth Winter Olympics Logo
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The 1st ever Youth Winter Olympic Games just finished up in Innsbruck, Austria, 88 years after the 1st Winter Olympics. The first Youth Summer Olympics was held in 2010 in Singapore. The Youth Winter Games occur the same year as the Summer Games, while the Youth Summer Games and the Winter Games also occur during the same year. Athletes must be 15-18 years old, depending on each sport. The Games took place from January 13th to the 22nd. It is almost like a regular Olympics, same sports, Torch Relay, mascots, and an Opening and Closing Ceremony. 


There were 15 sports at this year's Youth Winter Olympics, Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combine, Skeleton, Short Track Speed Skating, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, and Speed Skating. Here is my report on a few of them.



Alpine Skiing 


Alpine Skiing had the most competitions of any sport at 9. They were Men's and Women's Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combine, and the Mixed Parallel Team Event. Switzerland's Sandro Simonet was victorious in the Men's Slalom. Marco Schwartz of Austria won the Men's Giant Slalom and the Super Combine. Morocco's Adam Lamhamedi got Gold in the Men's Super-G. The winner of Gold for the Women's Slalom was Slovakia's Petra Vlhova. France's Clara Direz won a gold medal in the Giant Slalom. Estelle Alphand, also of France, won the Women's Super-G. Magdalena Fjaellstroem of Sweden won the Women's Super Combine. Austria won the Mixed Parallel Team Event.


Ice Hockey


Ice Hockey had two tournaments and two Skills Competitions, one for Men and one for Women. In the Men's tournament, Finland defeated Russia 2-1 to win Gold. The game was tied at 1 and  went in to game winning shots (penalty shootout). In the shootout, Finland scored on it's 1st two tries while Russia scored none, giving the Finnish the win. Canada beat the US 7-5 in the Bronze medal game. Latvia's Augusts Valdis Vasilonoks got Gold in the Skills Competition, who won the Fastest Shot competition. 


For the girls, Sweden won it all in a 3-0 victory over Austria in the Gold Medal Game. Sweden did not lose a game all tournament, with it's biggest victory a 17-0 blowout of Kazakhstan. In the Bronze Medal Game, Germany won 7-4 against Kazakhstan. The winner of the Skills Challenge was Julie Zwarthoed of the Netherlands. She won the Fastest Shot and Puck Control contests.


Luge

The USA's Gold Winning Mixed Team Relay for Luge
IOC Young Reporter Photo by Raitis Purins

Luge in Innsbruck was very exciting. In the Men's singles competion, Germany's Christian Paffe edged out Riks Kristens Rozitis of Lativa by about 2 milliseconds. Mirian-Stefanie Kastlunger from Austia beat Saskia Langer by about 2 milliseconds for Gold in Woman's singles. Italy's Florian Gruber and Simon Kainzwaldner won the doubles Gold. USA won the Mixed Team Relay with lugers Summer Britcher, Tucker West, Ty Andersen, and Pat Edmunds. The medal leader for Luge was Germany with 1 Gold, 3 Silvers, and 1 Bronze.


Snowboarding


Ben Ferguson of the USA won the Men's Halfpipe with a best score of 93.25. Micheal Ciccarelli of Canada received Gold in the Men's Slopestyle with a score of 94.25. Hikaru Ohe of Japan won the Women's Halfpipe with a score of 96.25. Canada's Audrey McManiman won the Women's Slopestyle with a score of 84.25.


All in all, Germany had the most medals of the Games with 17 and the 8 Gold medals, most in that category. Japan and Russia both had 16 total medals. The host country Austria had 13 medals, including 6 Gold medals. The USA had 8 medals in all. Morocco and Slovakia both have 1 medal in total. Those medals is a Gold medal.