2022 Beijing Winter Olympics [Feb 4th-20th]

[Tofu]

It seems like only yesterday when we were watching the Summer Olympics so this coming up now is really throwing me off a bit, but nevertheless, the Winter Olympics is here!! 

 

Anyone watching and if you are, what sports are you looking forward to?

 

 

The winter sports this year:

Spoiler

 

The medals will look like this:

More information on the design of the medals: https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/medal-design

 

 

[Tofu]

Videos of the opening ceremony:

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

 

[stroppyse]

I've been watching, but not posting. Sorry!

 

I do get a bit obsessed with watching the Olympics when they are on. And, yes, we just had the Tokyo Summer Games 6 months ago! LOL

 

Something I am not finding amusing is the Women's Figure Skating scandal. It was always going to be a lose-lose situation, however, it really sucks that an athlete who has proven positive for a banned drug is going to be allowed to compete anyway. That feels really unfair to all the athletes who trained without utilizing banned drugs.

 

And, actually, given how often the Russians are involved in doping scandals, it should taint the entire team yet again.

 

I'm starting to veer on the side of not letting athletes younger than 16 participate in the Olympics, especially once I heard that one of the reasons that CAS agreed to let the athlete compete is because she's a minor and thus a protected individual and they're afraid of hurting her. Sigh. Yes, she's a child, but she's also an international star who is supposed to be dominating the field right now. However, it becomes somewhat meaningless once it's been tainted by doping. It makes me wonder whether her natural talent would have been as good without the enhancements that she had while training, even if she was clean during the actual competitions. Frankly, it calls into question all of her accomplishments.

 

Gymnasts have to be at least 16 to participate in the Olympics. I don't see why there isn't a blanket age limit. It also protects the children from possibly being exploited even more by the adults around them.

 

I also think that Russia needs to just be prevented from international competition full stop for a whole cycle of summer and winter games. Even if it's about the money now, they purport to be about fair competition in sports. Then the IOC should do something about that to really back up their claims.

 

[Tofu]

@stroppyse I haven't been keeping up with the women's figure skating scandal, so it was confirmed that she will be allowed to skate? That's unfortunate because I think regardless of age, if you broke the rules, you should face the consequences for it. 

 

1 hour ago, stroppyse said:

I also think that Russia needs to just be prevented from international competition full stop for a whole cycle of summer and winter games. Even if it's about the money now, they purport to be about fair competition in sports. Then the IOC should do something about that to really back up their claims.

Agreed. Clearly with this case, they haven't learned their lessons about doping. There was a whole Netflix series on Russia and their use of drugs. Have you seen it? It's called Icarus. I thought it was interesting because the person explained the length Russia will go to increase their athlete's chance of winning. 

 

Here are some of my favorite moments so far (sorry, click on the link because NBC won't allow the videos to be embedded).

Nathan Chen's winning free skate.

https://youtu.be/8zVL9WY3dUw

 

Chole Kim

https://youtu.be/FaSy7j7zrk8

 

Shaun White's Last Olympic Runs

https://youtu.be/a37XmDCErzY

 

Ayumu Hirano -- This video shows his controversial second run plus his third run. 

https://youtu.be/1IJeMEcGcHM

 

 

 

[stroppyse]

Loved all the clips you posted! And, Hirano definitely was mis-scored on his second run. Fortunately, it was only his second run. He skated brilliantly in his third run, and the judges managed to get it right that time. Since they toss out the high and low scores, it's really the scores of 3 judges that determine the boarder's scores. Still don't understand that Hirano could cleanly land a triple corkscrew THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS EVEN TRIED IN COMPETITION BECAUSE IT'S SO INSANE and score so low.

 

Actually, I like the watch the sports that I don't watch at any other time of the year, like biathlon (shooting and skiing, so military!) and curling (seriously, kind of like shuffleboard but not really).

 

Also, a couple of moments that I really loved! It's moments like these that keep me hooked on the Olympics despite the outrageous doping scandals of some countries.

 

Niskinen waits for Quintana to finish the race before he goes off to celebrate his win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_etu3xbKo

 

Baumgartner and Jacobellis winning the mixed team snowboard cross. Watch for Jacobellis' method grab at the end of her run. That method grab cost her a gold medal at her first WOG where she was the clear favorite to win, so it was sweet for her to win gold with it here. Also, they are the 2 oldest members of the US Ski Team. Jacobellis, btw, had just won a gold in women's snowboard cross, but Baumgartner had made a costly error that kept him out of the medals, and it was his 4th and probably his final WOG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL1OvGEf5W8

 

Actually, this talks about Baumgartner's Olympic journey better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRPJXqRlkBo

 

Finally, not the Olympics, but this is Nathan Chen's exhibition skate when he was 10. Very adorable!

 

[Tofu]

@stroppyse Even the queen herself says that she shouldn't be allowed to compete. 

 

Allowing someone who was caught doping to compete diminish the efforts everyone else put into crafting their skills. It's the biggest f-- you to all the other skaters, plus it makes you question the decisions of everyone in the Olympic and ice skating committee going forward. 

 

On 2/14/2022 at 5:15 PM, stroppyse said:

Still don't understand that Hirano could cleanly land a triple corkscrew THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS EVEN TRIED IN COMPETITION BECAUSE IT'S SO INSANE and score so low.

I KNOW! I've watched the clips a few times with the American commentator and he sounded so upset. I think all the riders and anyone who knows snowboarding knew it was underscored -- honestly, even those who have never watched snowboard halfpipe before can tell how difficult his run was. 

 

On 2/14/2022 at 5:15 PM, stroppyse said:

Niskinen waits for Quintana to finish the race before he goes off to celebrate his win.

YESSSSSSSS!! I loved this too. It shows such great sportsmanship!!

 

On 2/14/2022 at 5:15 PM, stroppyse said:

Baumgartner and Jacobellis winning the mixed team snowboard cross.

This was so exciting to watch! I had watched her in her other race when she won gold. I didn't realized they had a mixed team sport! I love watching people snowboard because I do not have a good sense of balance so I would fall if I tried. Haha!

 

Recognition to Erin Jackson! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTM3qtGvOjg

 

And Hungary's first speed skating medal! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0PElnALQnQ

 

 

[stroppyse]

7 hours ago, Tofu said:

Allowing someone who was caught doping to compete diminish the efforts everyone else put into crafting their skills. It's the biggest f-- you to all the other skaters, plus it makes you question the decisions of everyone in the Olympic and ice skating committee going forward. 

 

Agree. Allowing someone who cheats, and is even caught cheating, is such a slam to everyone else. CAS mentioned Valieva's relative youth as being a factor in letting her skate, but other elite skaters start being tested at an early age as well. Lipinski and Weir mentioned being tested since they were in their early teens, and having their parents have to clear all meds, including OTC cold stuff, to check that they didn't contain any banned substances. There have been enough cases of athletes who just took something for the cold and ended up getting suspended that anyone who even aspires into the elite ranks know and everyone around them know at a very early age to be cautious of doping, inadvertent or otherwise.

 

And, it's not believable that Valieva just happened to have 3 different heart drugs, 1 banned and 2 not banned, and she even listed the non-banned drugs in her official doping report, but they didn't realize that she had also been ingesting the banned drug. Even more ludicrous that she might have gotten an accidental dose from sharing her grandfather's water glass, as her lawyer hypothesized. The sheer audacity and brazenness of Valieva just makes me lose all sympathy for her, minor or not. Not to mention, everyone around her, including her coach, her trainer, her doctor, etc. need to be banned from the sport. Though, I'm skeptical that anyone may be actually held accountable for it. The Russians are especially not going to mess with anything that has worked for them, especially since the penalties seem almost non-existent. And the various sporting authorities seem reluctant to do too much other than to shake their heads and go tsk-tsk.

 

So tired that there go the Russians again, trying to cheat. Given all the doping scandals around the Russians through the years, it frankly makes it hard to trust any Russian athletic accomplishment at this point. Who knows if the rest of the Russian team are basically also trying to cheat their way, but it just hasn't caught up with them? And, who is to say that the doping is only limited to figure skating?

 

It also has killed a lot of my enthusiasm for the Olympics right now. I didn't watch the ladies' figure skating and I doubt I'll watch any of it at all for these games. Maybe some clips of some of the other skaters, especially the Americans, when they come up on youtube.

 

7 hours ago, Tofu said:

I didn't realized they had a mixed team sport! I love watching people snowboard because I do not have a good sense of balance so I would fall if I tried. Haha!

 

I think that's perhaps why I watch any sports. I'm in awe that they worked so hard and are able to get their bodies to do what they do. Well, as long as they're not trying to cheat in any way, of course.

 

Erin Jackson!   

And, go Hungary! It's always exciting when an athlete becomes the first for their country.

 

Anyway, I've got to go and see if I can find clips of the men's freeski slopestyle. America took gold and silver which is fantastic, but it's just so freaky. They ski backwards and land backwards as they do that their tricks!  I think most people have a hard time skiing when just going forward!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuydhF-gPgA

 

Good thing that there is enough other sports to watch which aren't tainted by doping scandals. As yet, anyway. My skepticism kicks into full gear, and I keep wondering what other tricks elite athletes pull in order to get any advantage, fair or unfair.

[Tofu]

@stroppyse I didn't watch any of the women figure skating competition even though it's shown up multiple time as recommended videos for me on YT. It's been tinted by this scandal. 

 

On 2/16/2022 at 4:03 AM, stroppyse said:

Anyway, I've got to go and see if I can find clips of the men's freeski slopestyle. America took gold and silver which is fantastic, but it's just so freaky. They ski backwards and land backwards as they do that their tricks!  I think most people have a hard time skiing when just going forward!

I know! I can barely ski forward and these people are going backwards up the side of the half pipe. 

 

Skeleton is probably the sport that I don't think I can ever imagine trying out. It looks so dangerous! One small mistake and it can lead to spinal injuries or something.