2022 Winter Olympics

Post by **bookworm** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:34 pm

Mikaela Shiffrin skis out again, just a quickly as she did in her last event! Shocking isn't a strong enough word for this; this is truly unimaginable. Two races in a row, her two best events, out of each ten seconds in.

There have been a remarkably high number of crashes on the luge track, in both the men and women's runs.

The men's 1000m speed skating was bizarre. A South Korean skater was disqualified in both of the semifinal races. Then the final was stopped after a few laps due to metal debris on the track. When they did it over a Hungarian skater won, but was assessed two penalties and a yellow card giving the gold to China. Korea and Hungary protested all the disqualifications and all were rejected; Korea has now lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This is the second speed skating gold China has won due to opponent penalties, after those two disqualifications advanced them through the semifinal in the mixed relay.

Questionable disqualifications also made headlines in ski jumping, when five women were removed from the competition due to outfits deemed too baggy with the claim being they could give them extra loft. The problem is the outfits had been cleared for previous jumps so it was controversial that they were suddenly found to be an issue now.

Germany sweeps the men's luge golds, continuing their dominance in that sport.

Jessie Diggins made history last Winter Games with Kikkan Randall as the first US women to win a cross-country medal with their historic gold in the team sprint free, and now she has won USA's first ever individual cross-country sprint medal! $\:D/$

Lindsey Jacobellis finally gets snowboard cross gold! Infamous for the disaster in Turin, where she had the gold medal in hand but decided to show off on the final jump and fell, bizarre misfortune has followed the rest of her career ever since. That mistake has hung over her for 16 years as Olympics after Olympics implausible mistakes came out of nowhere to derail potentially gold medal runs time after time. But now she finally has redemption, and it is the first US gold of these Games!

Nathan Chen gets the men's figure skating gold! $\:D/$ What a spectacular performance; PyeongChang is firmly in the past!

Feb 8 chat log: Women's Slalom / Men's Halfpipe Qualifying

Feb 9 chat log: Women's Snowboard Cross Final / Men's Free Skate

17:00 bookworm joined #Olympics
17:05 <baysimp>: hey!
17:07 <bookworm>: hi!
17:07 <bookworm>: wow, Jacobellis?
17:07 <bookworm>: I didn't know she was still competing!
17:07 <bookworm>: how is she going to implausibly fail this time? >_>
17:10 <bookworm>:
17:10 <bookworm>: she actually did it!!
17:11 <bookworm>: and that's our first gold!
17:12 <baysimp>: awesome!
17:17 <bookworm>: Shaun White advanced last night!
17:17 <bookworm>: he had a great second run
17:18 <baysimp>: Oh good, I missed that.
17:18 <bookworm>: oh they're showing it again now
17:18 <bookworm>: sorry for spoiler
17:18 <baysimp>: no, it's fine
17:18 <baysimp>: spoilers are inevitable and it's still fun to watch
17:19 <bookworm>: I should have known the reason they were talking about him was to replay it
17:20 <bookworm>: whens the halfpipe final...
17:20 <bookworm>: tomorrow, cool
17:21 <bookworm>: ooh women's final tonight
17:21 <bookworm>: go Chloe Kim!
19:36 <baysimp>: oooooooh. did you hear that bookworm?
19:36 <bookworm>: yeah
19:37 <bookworm>: How many chances are Russia going to get?
19:37 <bookworm>: Actually ban them this time maybe
19:37 <bookworm>: just an idea
19:37 <baysimp>: just a thought
19:38 <bookworm>: The test in question was from before the Games, so I'm guessing the holdup is they have to figure out if it should have made her ineligible to be on the team here
19:38 <bookworm>: and if yes how that should affect what happens with that event
19:50 <bookworm>: skating on!
19:52 <baysimp>: yay!
20:15 <baysimp>: do you think he'll go for it?
20:16 <bookworm>: I dont know
20:17 <bookworm>: he is!
20:17 <baysimp>: missed that one and the salchow
20:21 Brownie joined #Olympics
20:22 <baysimp>: still puts him in 1st for now
20:22 <bookworm>: for now
20:23 <bookworm>: Hi Brownie!
20:23 <bookworm>: Did you see Hanyu just now?
20:24 <Brownie>: I did! Nice attempt on the quad axel, but it's just not there yet
20:25 <bookworm>: Did you hear about the "legal issue" holding up the team event medal ceremony?
20:27 <Brownie>: Indeed I did
20:27 <Brownie>: Wish I could say I was shocked haha
20:28 <bookworm>: yeah >_>
20:38 <baysimp>: yay Jason!
20:39 <Brownie>: Let's go Jason!!
20:44 <Brownie>: So lovely
21:00 <Brownie>: Really nice recovery from a painful fall
21:00 <baysimp>: that looked like it hurt
21:08 <Brownie>: Such a bummer of a program for Shoma
21:11 <Brownie>: Stephan Lambiel, Shoma Uno's coach, used to be called the little zebra when he was competing, so funny to see him wearing a zebra mask
21:12 <bookworm>: ha, nice
21:12 <baysimp>: interesting tidbit
21:16 <Brownie>: Some mistakes, but *really* nice program from Yuma
21:19 <baysimp>: let's go Nathan!
21:24 <Brownie>: That step sequence is LIT
21:24 <Brownie>: Love, love, love this program
21:24 <bookworm>: He's got it right!
21:25 <Brownie>: Oh yeah!
21:25 <Brownie>: Silly single flip, but he's got enough cushion for that
21:27 bookworm cheers
21:27 baysimp cheers
21:27 <baysimp>: 218 is big.
21:27 <Brownie>: So happy for him!
21:29 <baysimp>: 6 isn't bad for Jason!
21:33 <Brownie>: Not bad at all!
21:33 <baysimp>: teeny tiny Nathan is ADORABLE
21:39 <Brownie>: So cute!

Post by **Catspaw** » Fri Feb 11, 2022 7:27 pm

I had a few minutes this morning so I turned on the women's hockey Canada vs. Sweden game. With the score at 9-0 Canada, I felt safe in moving on with my life without worrying about an upset.

Final score 11-0.

I'm watching some snowboard cross life right now and it's crazy. The conditions aren't ideal and there have been a lot of falls. It's the quarterfinals and I just watched the Canadian come though nicely so I'm hoping for better conditions and a great Canadian result in the finals!

Post by **bookworm** » Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:53 pm

Chloe Kim repeats halfpipe gold, the first woman to win the event twice! $\:D/$

Mikaela skis the Super-G clean; not close to medaling, but it's big for her mentally to finally complete an event.

Shaun White had a clutch second run in the halfpipe qualifier to advance to the final, but finished just off the podium in this his final Olympics. It is the end of an era.

Meanwhile, Ayumu Hirano put down the most difficult run ever seen in halfpipe history yet not only received a score nowhere near the skyhigh number expected, but he didn't even get first place in the event standings! The commentary guys couldn't believe it, they were honestly questioning if one of the judging devices had malfunctioned. When they later learned no that was the intended number, the US judge had scored him shockingly low, they were dumbfounded. It was shaping up to be a major scandal, but fortunately Hirano's final run was just as huge and that time he received a proper score and the gold medal.

USA wins a surprise gold in the debut of mixed team aerials! $\:D/$

More oddities on the speed skating track, this time in the 1500m. With three penalties assessed across two of the semifinal heats resulting in five advancements, an unprecedented ten skaters were in the final! In perhaps a bit of justice, one of the disqualifications was the Chinese skater who won that 1000m gold after the questionable double penalty there. Also the winner here was one of the South Korean skaters disqualified from the 1000m semifinal.

Jacobellis gets another gold as the US wins the debut of Mixed Team Snowboard Cross! $\:D/$

Crazy conditions during the first run of Men's Giant Slalom. I don't know how they let them ski there was barely any visibility.

Feb 11 chat log: Mixed Team Snowboard Cross / Women's 1000m Final

Petrichor · Post by **Petrichor** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 5:24 pm

I haven't gotten a chance to watch very much of the Olympics this year, but I caught a little bit of the ice dancing. Not sure if I'm a fan of having lyrics in the performances now. It might just be that I'm not used to it, but I don't feel like they choreograph the performances to the lyrics in any meaningful way. I looked it up, and I think it's actually the second Olympics that it's been allowed? I don't remember this many from last time.

It's obviously still lots of fun to watch, though!

Post by **Catspaw** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:14 pm

Yes, I love ice dance! I think it's the most entertaining of the figure skating events. I definitely knew that lyrics were allowed last Olympics because of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's awesome "Roxanne" program that won them the gold medal for Canada. I was really missing them this time around. They got a gold or silver in the previous three Olympics so that's a pretty great career already. I just found myself less attached to the event without my favourite team! Fortunately they were doing commentary in ice dancing for CBC, so that was fun.

Post by **bookworm** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:58 pm

Major controversy is brewing around the women's figure skating event. This has been developing for several days, but I waited to post until seeing what the final details were going to be heading into the first day of competition because the situation was continually changing.

The team event medal ceremony had been delayed due to "legal issues" that needed addressed. It was soon revealed that the issue in question was 15 year old Kamila Valieva, the Russian star being touted as possibly the greatest skater of all time, had a drug test sample come back positive for a banned substance a few days ago. This was not related to the Olympics, it was a sample taken for a competition in December. It is unclear why the result did not come back until now.

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (quoting Scott Hamilton, "Isn't that an oxymoron?") issued a provisional ban from competing in the women's figure skating event, but the next day lifted the ban after she challenged the ruling. Big surprise. The IOC, International Skating Union, and World Anti-Doping Agency all immediately filed appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have the ban reinstated. They held an expedited hearing and declined to restore the ban, saying preventing her from competing would cause "irreparable harm" because due to the timing of everything there were as yet "very limited facts of this case" and Valieva's team did not have adequate time to present information in her defense before the event started.

This has raised many questions about why the test results took so long to be processed, if they actually did. Some analysts have suggested Russia may have known about the positive test earlier and didn't announce it until now knowing if it came out just days before the event she would probably be allowed to still compete. NBC put out this segment breaking down the situation (prior to the appeal being decided) which is very informative.

The decision to let her remain in the event has been met with harsh rebuke from many in the figure skating community, both past athletes and some presently involved in these Games. Their unified sentiment, with which I agree, is this should be a black and white case. She tested for a banned substance, that means she can't skate. It doesn't matter that she's a minor, it doesn't matter that it was from before the Olympics, if you're not clean you can't participate in the most prestigious sporting event in the world where fair play is paramount. This should be the case regardless of the country you represent, but the fact that her delegation is already serving punishment for doping should have only further made this an open and shut matter.

It is important to note that no rulings have been made yet on the merits of the case in regard to the failed test itself and what consequences there will be from that; all this was about so far was deciding if this positive test from before the Olympics should have disqualified her from participating here. The decision was there wasn't time to sort the issue out before the women's event started so she'll be allowed to compete for now and they'll figure out how, if at all, this affects medal eligibility some time in the future.

The IOC has said if Valieva is on the podium there will not be a medal ceremony held, anticipating the possibility she is later retroactively disqualified and the medals get reassigned. Whenever this all gets officially settled, whoever ends up getting the medals will be given their ceremony.

This also puts the ROC gold in the team event in limbo, with many complicated questions around whether the entire team might have their medals revoked which would give the gold to USA, or if only Valieva would lose her medal but the rest of the team keep theirs, or if nothing would happen at all.

All these things will be determined once the final decision is made on what should have happened after her positive test if it had been known about before the Olympics were underway. Reaching that decision is likely going to be a drawn out process with appeals from either side depending on how the initial ruling goes; who knows when the matter will finally be closed.

Petrichor · Post by **Petrichor** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:00 pm

Catspaw wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:14 pm Yes, I love ice dance! I think it's the most entertaining of the figure skating events. I definitely knew that lyrics were allowed last Olympics because of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's awesome "Roxanne" program that won them the gold medal for Canada. I was really missing them this time around. They got a gold or silver in the previous three Olympics so that's a pretty great career already. I just found myself less attached to the event without my favourite team! Fortunately they were doing commentary in ice dancing for CBC, so that was fun.

Ooh, yes, that's true! I loved that routine. An excellent reminder that it can be done very well.

And also that I should watch it again.

Regarding bookworm's remarks on the Russian drug test scandal, I would have to read more on it before commenting in detail, but it's incredibly sad to me that a 15-year-old would be under that much pressure. There's clearly a systemic issue within Russian figure skating at this point.

Post by **Catspaw** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:03 pm

Petrichor wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:00 pm
Catspaw wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:14 pm Yes, I love ice dance! I think it's the most entertaining of the figure skating events. I definitely knew that lyrics were allowed last Olympics because of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's awesome "Roxanne" program that won them the gold medal for Canada. I was really missing them this time around. They got a gold or silver in the previous three Olympics so that's a pretty great career already. I just found myself less attached to the event without my favourite team! Fortunately they were doing commentary in ice dancing for CBC, so that was fun.
Ooh, yes, that's true! I loved that routine. An excellent reminder that it can be done very well. And also that I should watch it again.

Yay! I'm so glad that it was memorable enough for you to remember four years later. Definitely watch again. I got to see Tessa and Scott perform it live at Stars on Ice during the 2018 tour and it was even better in person, but it's pretty great on video too!

I find the Russian skating scandal such a mess. I do feel for the young athlete who probably isn't the person most at fault here, and I understand there are some difference in the protection she is granted due to her age. That said, it doesn't mean there shouldn't be consequences for her actions. In a sport that has typically been pretty clean, and spent decades cleaning up their judging scandals, it does the sport (and the Olympics) no favours to have this kind of thing dealt with so lightly. Other athletes are not only being robbed of a chance at a medal, but also of a medal ceremony because of this.

Full disclosure - Canada finished fourth in the team event, so depending on how they would deal with a potential disqualification, there's a chance we would move into a medal position. It's not a sure thing, just something that might slightly influence my opinion.

Post by **bookworm** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 2:21 pm

It's USA and Canada in the women's hockey final! The game is live on NBC tonight, anyone watching come join #Olympics for live chat!

Marte Roeiseland of Norway became the first woman to win four biathlon medals in four different disciplines at a Winter Olympics!

5-time Olympian Katie Uhlaender ends her career with a sixth place finish in skeleton, still using the awesome helmet I had posted about in 2014.

Kaillie Humphries, former Canadian bobsled star now a US citizen, takes gold in the new Monobob event! Elana Meyers Taylor gets silver, so USA has two on the debut podium! $\:D/$

Hubbell and Donohue had a fantastic final performance to win Ice Dancing bronze, a wonderful well-earned way to go into retirement.

Mikaela Shiffrin competed in the downhill for the first time at the Olympics. Again not close to medaling, unsurprising for an event she doesn't usually do, but more good experience in preparation for her remaining events where she should be a contender.

Erin Jackson makes history winning gold in the 500m, she is the first black woman to win a gold medal in any Winter Games individual event, and the first to win any speed skating medal! $\:D/$ She had already made headlines last Winter Games by qualifying for the Olympic team only four months after taking up speed skating, becoming the first black woman to make Team USA as a speed skater. This is the first US gold in the women's 500m since 1994.

The US men's hockey team was upset by Slovokia, who tied their quarterfinal game with their goalie pulled in the final minute to force overtime then eliminated them in a shootout. With the NHL changing their mind about sending players to these Games, after initially saying they would, the Americans were the youngest team in the tournament with upwards of 15 NCAA players on their roster. Even so they were undefeated in group play, including their first win over Canada since 2010, and were the top seed in the tournament.

Feb 13 chat log: Monobob Final / Ice Dancing (Free Dance)

19:13 baysimp joined #Olympics
19:20 <bookworm>: Ice dancing finale coming up!
19:20 <baysimp>: Awesome!
19:26 <bookworm>: monobob
19:26 <baysimp>: I don't like this as much, it feels clunky.
19:35 Brownie joined #Olympics
19:38 <baysimp>: hey Brownie
19:39 <Brownie>: Hi hi
19:47 <baysimp>: here goes kailie!
19:47 <bookworm>: I didn't realize these were the final runs
19:47 <bookworm>: USA going to have at least one medal!
19:47 <baysimp>: neither did I.
19:47 <bookworm>: go Kaillie, let's get 2!
19:49 <bookworm>: gold and silver!!
19:49 <baysimp>: wooo!!!!
19:56 <bookworm>: free dance on now
19:57 <baysimp>: These lifts are crazy, and having blades on the bottoms of your feet really ups the stakes if you mess up.
20:01 <Brownie>: Such a lovely spin to start out with
20:01 <Brownie>: Maybe it's just the camera angles, but they seemed a bit slow to me
20:03 <Brownie>: Let's go Madison and Evan!
20:09 <Brownie>: Really nice job!
20:10 <Brownie>: Idk if you guys saw their snake charmer program from the last couple seasons, but that one was spectacular
20:10 <bookworm>: I haven't
20:10 <baysimp>: Me neither. Do they tend to do more story-oriented programs?
20:11 <Brownie>: Yes, they do
20:11 <bookworm>: This? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeA1CqN_m8A
20:11 <Brownie>: That's the one!
20:11 <bookworm>: Will check it out later
20:12 <bookworm>: Personal best for Chock and Bates!
20:12 <bookworm>: Into first, USA guaranteed a medal!
20:12 <Brownie>: Woooo!
20:12 <baysimp>: Awesome!
20:12 <bookworm>: Hubbell and Donohue now
20:16 <bookworm>: those lifts are incredible
20:16 <baysimp>: Apparently that one was allowed because of a 'slight bend in the elbow'?
20:17 <bookworm>: what a retirement skate
20:17 <Brownie>: Gorgeous
20:18 <Brownie>: So happy for them, whatever the scores
20:20 <bookworm>: oh extended lift deduction
20:20 <bookworm>: still first!
20:20 <bookworm>: they're now the guaranteed medal
20:21 <bookworm>: 2 teams left, if one doesn't pass Chock and Bates, two US medals
20:21 <bookworm>: ROC next
20:25 <Brownie>: That was so lovely
20:25 <bookworm>: going to be close
20:28 <bookworm>: darn, got em
20:29 <Brownie>: The French are a shoo-in for gold, barring any shocking mistakes
20:30 <bookworm>: oh
20:30 <bookworm>: why were they acting like maybe we could get two medals then
20:30 <bookworm>: if these were the two teams left
20:31 <baysimp>: I guess if someone made a huge mistake.
20:34 <bookworm>: I don't know, I thought H&D's dance was better than both of those. But I'm not a judge
20:34 <Brownie>: Haha, the same reason they'll act like the US ladies have a shot at a medal
20:34 <Brownie>: This program did not seem as technically difficult as some of the others though
20:34 <baysimp>: Well, we can dream.
20:35 <baysimp>: Besides, what if that one girl gets banned?
20:35 <Brownie>: Ehh, she's only one
20:36 <Brownie>: The Russians were expected to sweep the ladies podium
20:36 <bookworm>: they have more than one in?
20:36 <bookworm>: I don't know anything about the ladies event yet
20:36 <Brownie>: Yes, three
20:36 <Brownie>: Us has 3 and Japan has 3, too
20:36 <baysimp>: So if she's out, we can get bronze.
20:36 <Brownie>: Probably not
20:37 <baysimp>: *hypothetically speaking*
20:37 <Brownie>: The Japanese ladies are better than the US as well
20:37 <bookworm>: Bronze
20:37 bookworm claps
20:37 <baysimp>: We'll take it!
20:37 <bookworm>: Chock and Bates 4th
20:37 <Brownie>: So glad Maddy and Zach get an Olympic medal for their final season!
20:38 <bookworm>: Hey, spoiler Mike
20:38 <bookworm>: thanks
20:38 <baysimp>: thank you so much.
20:38 <Brownie>: Lol
20:38 <baysimp>: He's quite busy tonight, unless that was prerecorded.
20:38 <bookworm>: I had in fact not heard whatever you were asking if we heard about
20:39 <bookworm>: If you're going to replay it either way why state the outcome?

Feb 14 chat log: Free Ski Slopestyle / Women's Downhill

17:15 <baysimp>: There's two German teams?
17:19 <bookworm>: not surprising
17:19 <bookworm>: they dominate the sliding events
17:19 <baysimp>: Yes.
17:21 <bookworm>: big air medals tonight!
17:21 <bookworm>: going to be fun
17:22 <bookworm>: also free ski aerials
17:24 <bookworm>: and slopestyle final on now
17:24 <bookworm>: lots of good stuff today
17:30 <baysimp>: oh, she's down
17:30 <bookworm>: wow
17:30 <bookworm>: very fast fall
17:36 <bookworm>: oh yeah I heard about that, what a bummer
17:37 <bookworm>: already qualified for the final, just doing her third run just because
17:37 <bookworm>: injured herself and can't compete tonight
17:37 <bookworm>:
17:39 <baysimp>: aw, that's too bad
17:44 <bookworm>: Hockey final will be on NBC!
17:44 <bookworm>: Wednesday
17:44 <baysimp>: Wow, already?
17:44 <bookworm>: That's what he said
17:44 <baysimp>: I'm pretty good at tuning it out in between runs, whether I want to or not.
17:45 <baysimp>: -22 is too cold
17:46 <bookworm>: ouch
17:47 <bookworm>: that was a hard bump
18:17 <baysimp>: how is it possible to graduate a year early AND train for the Olympics? There's only 24 hours in a day!
18:26 <baysimp>: oh, lost the ski
18:26 <bookworm>: didn't fall though!
18:26 <bookworm>: "I would give her extra points for the save"
18:31 <baysimp>: this one lost both!
18:32 <bookworm>: "That's your Olympic style yard sale right there, everything flew off"
18:38 <baysimp>: is anyone having clean runs?
19:03 <baysimp>: so, what? no penalty at all?
19:04 <bookworm>: there will be, or better be, it just won't be figured out until later
19:05 <baysimp>: and no medal ceremony doesn't seem like a fair penalty to the other medaling athletes.
19:05 <bookworm>: they will have a ceremony when they sort out who is getting medals
19:06 <bookworm>: unfortunate it won't be here at the Games, but they will get one
19:08 <baysimp>: they better
19:55 <bookworm>: go Mikaela
19:55 <baysimp>: let's go!
19:58 <bookworm>: she's losing time
19:58 <bookworm>: way back, but made it down
19:58 <baysimp>: not her best event
19:58 <bookworm>: no, never done it before at an Olympics

Post by **Catspaw** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:45 pm

bookworm wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 2:21 pm It's USA and Canada in the women's hockey final! The game is live on NBC tonight, anyone watching come join #Olympics for live chat!

The US men's hockey team was upset by Slovokia, who tied their quarterfinal game with their goalie pulled in the final minute to force overtime then eliminated them in a shootout. With the NHL changing their mind about sending players to these Games, after initially saying they would, the Americans were the youngest team in the tournament with upwards of 15 NCAA players on their roster. Even so they were undefeated in group play, including their first win over Canada since 2010, and were the top seed in the tournament.

Thank goodness we have the women to be proud of. It's all tears in the men's hockey for North America this Olympics. Who cares if you beat China in the round robin if you don't even get a chance to play for a medal? Not that I'm bitter about Canada losing to Sweden this morning or anything....

Technically the NHL didn't change their mind about allowing players to go as much as when the word came down that players could potentially have to stay in China up to six weeks if they had a positive Covid test, it became incredibly unattractive to everyone, plus with missed games due to Covid cases, the planned Olympic break became a great chance to catch up on those games.

Don't mind me, I'm just going to watch the women's final while searching clips of Sidney Crosby's golden goal in 2010.

Post by **bookworm** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:59 pm

Catspaw wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:45 pmTechnically the NHL didn't change their mind about allowing players to go as much as ... it became incredibly unattractive to everyone

The original word was "NHL players will participate in Beijing Olympics after skipping PyeongChang" then three months later "nevermind."

Edit: Oh I think I get what you mean, it was more the desire of players to go that changed than the league's desire to send them? Either way, what I was saying was a backtrack of the initial announcement that NHL players would be participating is what led to this situation.

Post by **Catspaw** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:25 pm

bookworm wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:59 pm
Catspaw wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:45 pmTechnically the NHL didn't change their mind about allowing players to go as much as ... it became incredibly unattractive to everyone
The original word was "NHL players will participate in Beijing Olympics after skipping PyeongChang" then three months later "nevermind."

Edit: Oh I think I get what you mean, it was more the desire of players to go that changed than the league's desire to send them? Either way, what I was saying was a backtrack of the initial announcement that NHL players would be participating is what led to this situation.

The league never wanted to send them because it's of no real benefit to the NHL itself (no revenue etc.) but players worked it into their last collective bargaining agreement - but that was based on a two week break or so, not potentially six weeks. Yes, I was nitpicking so I can see why it was potentially confusing. I shouldn't have bothered to bring it up.

Woohoo for a 3-2 win for Canada in women's hockey, with two goals (including the game-winner) for Marie-Philippe Poulin. Normally she scores the winner in OT so considering the late hour it's great that it happened in regulation. $\:D/$

Petrichor · Post by **Petrichor** » Sat Feb 19, 2022 7:11 pm

Really sad turn of events with the women's figure skating this year. I only watched a few brief recap clips and those were pretty heartbreaking. I don't know why they even put Valieva on the ice. What a disaster, and a bummer for the winners, too.

Catspaw wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:03 pmI find the Russian skating scandal such a mess. I do feel for the young athlete who probably isn't the person most at fault here, and I understand there are some difference in the protection she is granted due to her age. That said, it doesn't mean there shouldn't be consequences for her actions. In a sport that has typically been pretty clean, and spent decades cleaning up their judging scandals, it does the sport (and the Olympics) no favours to have this kind of thing dealt with so lightly. Other athletes are not only being robbed of a chance at a medal, but also of a medal ceremony because of this.

Full disclosure - Canada finished fourth in the team event, so depending on how they would deal with a potential disqualification, there's a chance we would move into a medal position. It's not a sure thing, just something that might slightly influence my opinion.

Yeah, it's definitely not fair that other athletes were deprived of a chance to compete. I don't know the circumstances that led to Valieva taking the banned substances, but there should be consequences in one way or another. Even in the event that they were administered to her without her knowledge or consent, there needs to be some kind of meaningful penalty or else people will keep doing it. Whatever the case may be, it's clearly an unhealthy situation for the poor girl, and I agree that it was supremely unhelpful to let her compete.

Post by **bookworm** » Sat Feb 19, 2022 8:38 pm

Women's hockey gold goes back to Canada after the fourth straight Olympic finals rematch. This is the seventh Winter Games to feature the event, and this has been the gold medal game six of those times.

Mikaela Shiffrin seemed poised for some redemption in the women's combined; she had a solid run in the downhill portion putting her in really good position going into the slalom part, her specialty. But she skied out yet again! Her third DNF, all in slaloms. What on earth is going on.

Germany gets another sliding sweep with two man bobsled. It's the first ever clean sweep of an Olympic bobsled event!

USA takes gold and silver in Freeski Slopestyle! $\:D/$

The controversial women's figure skating event had a drama-filled conclusion fitting of the bizarre spectacle it had unfortunately become. Kamila Valieva had made an uncharacteristic mistake in the short program, but it wasn't enough to prevent a huge score putting her in first going into the free skate as everyone expected.

One of the other Russian skaters did a routine with five quads which is insane, only Nathan Chen had previously accomplished such a thing in Olympic competition; in any other circumstances that would have been the story of the event!

But all eyes were on Valieva, and she had an absolutely disastrous skate not just making mistakes but actually falling, multiple times. No one had ever seen anything like that from her, everyone was absolutely stunned. She finished the event in fourth place, meaning there would actually be a medal ceremony to everyone's equal parts shock and relief. Justice was served, but it shouldn't have had to be like this.

The whole environment after the results came in was completely bizarre. The gold medalist, also a Russian, was sitting in a daze completely alone because all the team's coaches were with Valieva asking her what happened. The silver medalist was crying tears of rage that her quad packed program wasn't good enough for gold and refusing to go backstage. And the bronze skater from Japan was bawling her eyes out overcome with who knows what mix of emotions from realizing she would actually be getting a medal after she had assumed she was going to be the first one off the podium, unjustly robbed of a place by the decision to let Valieva remain in the event. Whichever part of the situation you were looking at, no one knew how to process what what going on. IOC president Thomas Bach very uncharacteristically gave harsh criticism of the Russian entourage for "tremendous coldness" toward Valieva after her skate.

This stunning turn of events prevented what would have been the first ever podium sweep in women's figure skating.

Feb 15 chat log: Women's Short Program

16:57 bookworm joined #Olympics
17:39 Brownie joined #Olympics
17:50 <bookworm>: hi!
17:51 <Brownie>: Hello!
18:02 <Brownie>: The Koreans have such a lovely quality to their skating. Very nice program from Yelim Kim
18:56 baysimp joined #Olympics
18:57 <bookworm>: hello!
18:58 <baysimp>: hey!
19:10 <baysimp>: nice!
19:13 <Brownie>: Yay, Wakaba!!
19:19 <baysimp>: go Alysa!
19:23 <Brownie>: Nice job! Smart choice to take out the triple axel and go clean
19:37 <bookworm>: is it bad to hope she falls?
19:38 <Brownie>: OOOF
19:38 <bookworm>: I just don't want her on the podium, it would make things simpler in how to feel about what's happening
19:39 <bookworm>: if she medals no one knows how to feel about anything
19:39 <Brownie>: I'm very much with Johnny in that I just have no idea how to feel about this whole situation
19:40 <Brownie>: And it takes away from the others, who won't be able to have their medal ceremony
19:40 <bookworm>: right
19:40 <baysimp>: I've decided that I don't have to know exactly how I feel about it.
19:44 <baysimp>: let's go Karen!
19:47 <Brownie>: Ugh, such a bummer!
19:48 <Brownie>: I know she's going for goe points with that rolling threes entry on the loop, but that entry just gets a little too swingy and doesn't give her enough hight to get the rotation in
19:50 <bookworm>: well here we go
19:51 <bookworm>: oh
19:51 <Brownie>: Ooof, very off-axis on the triple axel
19:54 <Brownie>: Not that you'd expect anything else under the circumstances, but she very much seemed to be just going through the motions with that performance
19:56 <bookworm>: why does he keep emphasizing her age
19:56 <bookworm>: it's completely irrelevant
19:56 <Brownie>: Very true
19:56 <baysimp>: crazy score
19:57 <bookworm>: the mistake wasn't that bad huh
19:57 <bookworm>: darn
19:57 <Brownie>: Considering that she typically gets in the neighborhood of 90 in the sp, it's actually pretty low for her
20:03 <Brownie>: Another lovely Korean skater
20:11 <Brownie>: She's added better performance quality to this program than she usually does. Kudos on that.
20:11 <Brownie>: Wouldn't have gone for the triple axel though
20:23 <Brownie>: Unfortunately, the defining characteristic of Anna's skating to me is he flexed foot. She does not point her toes, which is one of the most fundamental elements of artistry in dance and skating
20:23 <Brownie>: It's just very distracting because it breaks those nice, lovely, long lines she has
20:27 <Brownie>: Brava, Kaori!!
20:27 <Brownie>: She won’t be, but I would put her in first
20:29 <baysimp>: not a russian sweep at the moment
20:29 <bookworm>: yay
20:32 <baysimp>: women's hockey gold medal game tomorrow night!
20:33 <Brownie>: Woo!

Feb 17 chat log: Women's Free Skate

16:58 bookworm joined #Olympics
17:24 Brownie joined #Olympics
17:25 <bookworm>: Hello!
17:25 <Brownie>: Hello!
17:26 <Brownie>: Time for some drama!
17:26 <bookworm>: yep
17:33 <Brownie>: Such a disappointing performance for Karen
17:33 <bookworm>:
17:33 <Brownie>: But she still has an Olympic silver medal
17:34 <Brownie>: I don't think she has formally announced a retirement, but I think she'll probably retire after this season
17:37 <Brownie>: Let's go Mariah!
17:41 <bookworm>: pretty nice
17:42 <Brownie>: I'ma cryyyy
17:42 <Brownie>: She is just so classic, and I absolutely adore this program for her
17:51 <Brownie>: Such fantastic jumping from Yelim Kim!
17:52 <Brownie>: I would love to see a bit more artistry from her, but she'll grow into it as she gets older
18:01 <Brownie>: Really nice job, Alyssa!
18:02 <Brownie>: I can't wait to see what's ahead of her with (hopefully) a more stable coaching situation
18:03 <bookworm>: she did what in a second?
18:05 <Brownie>: She missed the 10% bonus for the triple-triple combination in the second half of the program by one second
18:06 <bookworm>: oh no
18:06 <Brownie>: So it was just one second shy of halfway through
18:31 <Brownie>: Wakaba!
18:37 <Brownie>: Fabulous job, despite the fall on the combo at the top of the program
18:37 <bookworm>: did he just say five planned quads?
18:38 <Brownie>: Yeppp
18:38 <Brownie>: She will likely fall on a few of them, but she'll try because that's how she is
18:39 <bookworm>: You're saying he actually did mean one person is going to be doing five? Not there are five in the remainder of the skating among everyone still to come?
18:40 <Brownie>: Correct. Sasha Trusova is planning 5 quads in her program
18:40 <bookworm>: That's insane
18:40 <bookworm>: Nathan Chen is the only person to ever do five in one skate
18:40 <Brownie>: Russians. That is all.
18:45 <bookworm>: what was that Matrix move she did??
18:45 <bookworm>: Never seen anything like that before!
18:46 <bookworm>: how does it even obey physics
18:46 <bookworm>: did I miss something that was keeping her up?
18:47 <Brownie>: Oh, the one where she turns her feet out and leans back?
18:47 <Brownie>: That's like her trademark
18:50 <Brownie>: Kaori!
18:55 <Brownie>: She just FLIES
19:04 <Brownie>: I've tried, and I just can't get into Anna's skating
19:05 <Brownie>: That flexed foot is such a turnoff to me
19:09 <bookworm>: Well here we go
19:10 <bookworm>:
19:12 <bookworm>:
19:14 baysimp joined #Olympics
19:14 <baysimp>: so, that just happened.
19:14 <bookworm>: yeah it did
19:14 <Brownie>: She seemed off from the very beginning
19:14 <baysimp>: It's too much pressure for a 15 year old.
19:15 <Brownie>: For sure
19:15 <Brownie>: And she's a nervous competitor to begin with
19:17 <baysimp>: ouch.
19:17 <bookworm>: off the podium!
19:17 <bookworm>: we will have a medal ceremony
19:18 <Brownie>: Is it bad to say I'm glad?
19:18 <bookworm>: of course not
19:18 <bookworm>: I said before the short program that this is what I wanted
19:18 <bookworm>: Didn't think it would somehow happen
19:18 <bookworm>: But I really wanted it
19:18 <Brownie>: Same
19:18 <baysimp>: i'm glad we'll have a ceremony, makes it easier to not have to disqualify her from a medal position.
19:19 <baysimp>: but I still feel bad for her.
19:19 <bookworm>: I feel bad she's in this situation to begin with
19:19 <bookworm>: not for not medaling in an event she shouldn't have been skating in in the first place
19:20 <baysimp>: I don't feel bad for her not medaling.
19:21 <baysimp>: I feel bad that she has to go through all this. She's only 15.
19:24 <Brownie>: This is so uncomfortable
19:24 <Brownie>: None of this ever should have happened
19:24 <baysimp>: no, it shouldn't have
19:25 <Brownie>: This is awful
19:26 <Brownie>: I'm literally going to cry watching these girls in so much pain
19:26 <baysimp>: It's a teary day.
19:31 <baysimp>: Aw, the Japanese girl is so happy!
19:32 <Brownie>: So happy for Kaori
19:33 <bookworm>: so that hullabaloo was her being mad her quads didn't get her first place
19:33 <bookworm>: It had nothing to do with Valieva
19:34 <Brownie>: I am flabbergasted by all of this
19:35 <baysimp>: wow. there is nothing to say.
19:35 <bookworm>: sure there is: justice was served
19:35 <bookworm>: partially
19:35 <bookworm>: now take away the team medal
19:36 <bookworm>: and actually ban Russia from some Games
19:36 <bookworm>: they've had enough taps on the wrist
19:36 <Brownie>: Yeah, for real
19:37 <baysimp>: yeah, ban them already!
20:09 <baysimp>: Words can't express how bad I feel for Mikaela, either.
20:14 <Brownie>: For real. And they keep making her do interviews, and it's like, what is there to say? Just leave her alone!
20:14 <baysimp>: LEAVE HER ALONE!
20:21 <bookworm>: I'm pretty sure she doesn't have to do the interviews, it's not the NFL
20:21 <bookworm>: She seems willing enough to talk about it
20:21 <bookworm>: it is uncomfortable though
20:22 <bookworm>: and a really sad situation
20:22 <baysimp>: She's probably being pressured, but not forced.
20:22 <bookworm>: yeah
20:28 <bookworm>: woah
20:28 <baysimp>: tell it to them, mike!
20:28 <bookworm>: Yeah, and Thomas Bach calling out the coaches
20:29 <bookworm>: very atypical
20:29 <baysimp>: a step in the right direction
20:29 <bookworm>: yes
20:30 <bookworm>: though it was for their attitudes after the event, not related to the doping
20:30 <bookworm>: but I don't think they're going to remark on that more until the hearing gets on
20:30 <Brownie>: BAN ETERI
20:31 <Brownie>: They're just all-around awful

Post by **Catspaw** » Sat Feb 19, 2022 8:43 pm

Petrichor wrote: ↑Sat Feb 19, 2022 7:11 pm Really sad turn of events with the women's figure skating this year. I only watched a few brief recap clips and those were pretty heartbreaking. I don't know why they even put Valieva on the ice. What a disaster, and a bummer for the winners, too.

Definitely. My earlier post was before the women's long program, and I was so glad I wasn't watching live with such a lousy situation. A no-win situation was created where the medal winners couldn't even celebrate their medals and a fifteen-year-old was traumatized, in my opinion. That can't be the best figure skating has to offer at the most high-profile event. I'm not an expert to weigh in on what the solution is, but something has to be done to avoid such a debacle in the future, for the sake of the skaters as well as the sport.

I'm watching the fourth (and final) run in four man bobsleigh right now, hoping Canada hangs on to the bronze position or moves up (unlikely but technically possible). Bobsledding is such a crazy sport, and very fun to watch.

Post by **bookworm** » Sat Feb 26, 2022 8:59 pm

A Belgian speedskater earned that county's first Winter Olympic gold in 74 years!

The US got bronze in the team pursuit, utilizing a novel racing method of not switching out the lead skater every few laps like every other team has always done. They reasoned that the energy the lead would lose by skating in front the entire race is offset by not having the increased wind resistance encountered each time you change formation. They've been using this tactic for a while, and while doing so broke the world record for the event and took two of three world cup wins in the last season. I wonder if in time this approach will see widespread adoption and possibly revolutionize the sport, like how the Fosbury Flop changed high jumping.

USA takes silver and bronze in men's ski halfpipe! Strong wind gusts affected many of the runs in the final, culminating in a scary fall by the final skier. He seemed to be okay thankfully, but it could have been really bad. They had wanted to delay the event, but the forecast for the next day wasn't better.

There will be no medal for Mikaela Shiffrin after USA comes up fourth in the Mixed Team Event, but at least she finished on a clean run. She came into the Games with a record-tying six events scheduled, set to become the most decorated US Alpine skier in Olympic history; no one could have possibly predicted she would not be taking home a single one of those 18 available medals.

Germany's Francesco Friedrich is the first athlete in the history of bobsled to win both two man and four man in consecutive Olympics! Germans end up taking 16 of the 30 sliding medals at these Games.

Jessie Diggins became the first non-European athlete to medal in the women's 30km mass start, and the first American cross-country skier to win two medals at a Winter Olympics! $\:D/$

Sui Wenjing and Han Cong close out the figure skating with a much anticipated pairs gold for the host country!

Post by **Catspaw** » Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:46 pm

bookworm wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 8:59 pm Sui Wenjing and Han Cong close out the figure skating with a much anticipated pairs gold for the host country!

Their performance was beautiful! I really enjoyed it. A well-deserved gold.

The Olympics were fun and now they're over.

I am planning to watch some of the Paralympics in March.

The Town of Odyssey

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