Cortina d'Ampezzo-Milan Winter Olympics

[Brullnux]

For one of the greatest skiers of all time, I think Odermatt has a tendency to underperform at big events. He has 100 podiums and 53 victories in 196 starts in the World Cup, then 4 podiums (3 wins) in 17 starts at Worlds/Olympics. Granted, it's always harder to win one-off events than through the whole season, but it's a noticeable drop-off from otherworldly/Pogacar level to very good Nibali level, if I can make a comparison with cycling.

Paris incredibly unlucky with his ski jumping off at a random turn. Not even that bumpy, just a technician's error. Now Paris is someone who absolutely does not have a good record in big events.

 

[jmdirt]

American commentators going on and on about Ogden when Klaebo is right there...

...but it is an American broadcast so that makes sense IMO.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

...but it is an American broadcast so that makes sense IMO.

Fair enough. Thing is in any sport and at any time I have favorite individual athletes regardless of their nationality, so I find this very American slant that occurs during every Olympic cycle fairly jarring and pretty off-putting. (I'm sure this is happening in every nation right now, but I need to follow @Sciatic's advice and fire up my VPN for some balance. )

Edit: team sports like hockey are a little different though, like, I'm totally stoked Slovakia has advanced by beating Finland today!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Not all men are three time Olympic champions, but Von Allmen is.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Not all men are three time Olympic champions, but Von Allmen is.

Yeah, Von Allmen's hattrick is pretty spectacular, and he's only 24!

I also need to mention I really like the Swiss Olympic team outfits, I think they're one of the nicer ones.

 

[JR1012]

First game of hockey and we have the first surprise. Slovakia beats Finland 4-1.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Gold for Italy in the women's luge doubles, or as Ingrid Tandrevold describes it: something where one of them is in the front and the other one is in the back and both of them are crazy.

 

[Sciatic]

For one of the greatest skiers of all time, I think Odermatt has a tendency to underperform at big events. He has 100 podiums and 53 victories in 196 starts in the World Cup, then 4 podiums (3 wins) in 17 starts at Worlds/Olympics. Granted, it's always harder to win one-off events than through the whole season, but it's a noticeable drop-off from otherworldly/Pogacar level to very good Nibali level, if I can make a comparison with cycling.

Paris incredibly unlucky with his ski jumping off at a random turn. Not even that bumpy, just a technician's error. Now Paris is someone who absolutely does not have a good record in big events.

Absolutely had to be a technician's (or faulty binding) error. Even in bad crashes their skis don't come off easily, and this was just a rough section. Not sure I've seen that before. Really disappointing day for the Italians at Bormio.

I'm probably not nearly as familiar with the sport as you and others here, but to me it seems like there are some (but not exact) similarities to road cycling in what is considered "big" events in alpine skiing. Odermatt has won the last two Super G events at Kitzbuhel along with several podium in the downhill. And he's won three consecutive downhills at Wengen and one Super G race. Those are "big" events. Granted, Olympic Gold in alpine skiing is a much bigger deal than Olympic Gold in cycling.

 

[Red Rick]

Jordan Stolz looks so much like Pogacar *** is giving me PTSD

 

[Brullnux]

Absolutely had to be a technician's (or faulty binding) error. Even in bad crashes their skis don't come off easily, and this was just a rough section. Not sure I've seen that before. Really disappointing day for the Italians at Bormio.

I'm probably not nearly as familiar with the sport as you and others here, but to me it seems like there are some (but not exact) similarities to road cycling in what is considered "big" events in alpine skiing. Odermatt has won the last two Super G events at Kitzbuhel along with several podium in the downhill. And he's won three consecutive downhills at Wengen and one Super G race. Those are "big" events. Granted, Olympic Gold in alpine skiing is a much bigger deal than Olympic Gold in cycling.

No you are definitely right, Wengen and Kitzbuhel are the Grand Tours of skiing, but the pressure there is slightly lower than major championships IMO as the course will be the exact same 12 months later, when you go for it again. The Olympics is still the event, though. I suppose I meant more that Odermatt struggles in one-off settings than in world cup races, though it's also true he's never won a downhill on the streif, so maybe when he puts himself under more pressure he does falter a bit? Who knows. He's a near perfect competitor and this is his only possible flaw.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Jordan Stolz looks so much like Pogacar *** is giving me PTSD

I'm seeing more of a Jai Hindley and Ian Thorpe blend, but either way I see a bright future for this kid!

On that note one thing I've noticed while watching LT speed skating is all the various body shapes that compete in this sport, men's anyway. Some of the guys look really ripped while others have really strong and muscular legs and glutes, but the rest looks more like a dad bod. Stolz is obviously very fit and lean, but then he's also very young, the upper body dad bod will come later.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

A 44yr. old is competing in the men's snowboard cross, maybe it's not to late for me to start.

But seriously, I'm always a little surprised at how old some of these snowboarders are... some 20 years ago it seemed like it was mostly young kids who were doing this X-Games stuff, but now you see grown, adult men who are in their late twenties or even early thirties - they have matured, and I guess you could say their sport has as well.

 

[kingjr]

Very close 5000m in the women's speed skating, with the top 4 separated by only 3 tenths of a second. Gutted for Wiklund and Tas, but well done to Lollobrigida.

 

[Brullnux]

Double for LOLlobrigida, but Wiklund absolutely blew that. Did the final lap 1.5s slower than everybody else in the top four. Just didn't sprint at all, bizarre. I'm not even sure if it was fatigue because she didn't lose her shape or anything she just... didn't speed up

 

[kingjr]

Double for LOLlobrigida, but Wiklund absolutely blew that. Did the final lap 1.5s slower than everybody else in the top four. Just didn't sprint at all, bizarre. I'm not even sure if it was fatigue because she didn't lose her shape or anything she just... didn't speed up

She did lose her shape badly on the last lap. Dead on her feet.

 

[Sciatic]

Pärmäkoski wearing shorts in the 10k, so her number is stuck onto her bare shins. Kind of a strange look!

 

[Sciatic]

Italy finally grabs a gold in the alpine speed events, but from a more surprising source in Brignone, whose specialty is giant slalom and who just returned to racing after missing most of the WC season with an injury. But I suppose the way the course was set in such twisting fashion might have favored some GS skiers rather than pure downhillers. But it's a little hard to tell since many of the favorites--including Goggia, Aicher, and Breezy Johnson--crashed or skied off the course.

 

[Sciatic]

Karlsson supreme in women's 10K; as pointed out multiple times in the Nordic/Biathlon thread she may be impossible to beat in any of her events and will be one of the biggest stars of this Olympics. Diggins dug hard to break the Swedish dominance and claim bronze. If Tom Dumoulin was watching he might say she "looks like a coal miner" on her skis I was rooting for Heidi Weng to get another medal after the years she spent in Johaug's shadow.

 

[Sciatic]

No you are definitely right, Wengen and Kitzbuhel are the Grand Tours of skiing, but the pressure there is slightly lower than major championships IMO as the course will be the exact same 12 months later, when you go for it again. The Olympics is still the event, though. I suppose I meant more that Odermatt struggles in one-off settings than in world cup races, though it's also true he's never won a downhill on the streif, so maybe when he puts himself under more pressure he does falter a bit? Who knows. He's a near perfect competitor and this is his only possible flaw.

That's a good point about the courses on the regular WC circuit being the same each year and probably more predictable. They also come in the regular flow of the WC season, one race after another, whereas there is a break leading up to the Olympics, a change in lodging and security measures, and additional media coverage.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Italy finally grabs a gold in the alpine speed events, but from a more surprising source in Brignone, whose specialty is giant slalom and who just returned to racing after missing most of the WC season with an injury. But I suppose the way the course was set in such twisting fashion might have favored some GS skiers rather than pure downhillers. But it's a little hard to tell since many of the favorites--including Goggia, Aicher, and Breezy Johnson--crashed or skied off the course.

Is/was it snowing on the ski slopes? I'll have to watch a replay of the alpine events...

It's snowing hard on the halfpipe right now... it's probably not ideal for the athletes, but I was hopingto see a bit more snow during these winter Olympics.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Pärmäkoski wearing shorts in the 10k, so her number is stuck onto her bare shins. Kind of a strange look!

It's never a great look, We've seen it a few times over the years. Sochi in particular I remember bringing lots of short sleeves and/or cut off suits to make shorts. It may be practical but it is definitely not a stylish look...

 

[Sciatic]

Is/was it snowing on the ski slopes? I'll have to watch a replay of the alpine events...

It's snowing hard on the halfpipe right now... it's probably not ideal for the athletes, but I was hopingto see a bit more snow during these winter Olympics.

Not snowing during the women's Super G today, but for a while there was a fog bank right at the top of the run. Wouldn't have wanted to be skiing down through that, but apparently skiers still had enough visibility at their level.

 

[Oldman]

Italy finally grabs a gold in the alpine speed events, but from a more surprising source in Brignone, whose specialty is giant slalom and who just returned to racing after missing most of the WC season with an injury. But I suppose the way the course was set in such twisting fashion might have favored some GS skiers rather than pure downhillers. But it's a little hard to tell since many of the favorites--including Goggia, Aicher, and Breezy Johnson--crashed or skied off the course.

And NBC, whose announcers abandoned Breezy's medal stand presentation was here for Brignone's Gold!
We watched her finish what should have been her WC season at Sun Valley. Not a huge venue. I wouldn't say she was a "surprising" source altogether after her DH run. What she did here: 1)Clinched WC Alpine overall, 2)Clinched DH WC overall, 3)Clinched her GS WC overall.....
She, like Breezy was left in the media backwash and it's lovely that they're scrambling now to present relevant stories. The Italians have to be over the moon and seeing Sofia Goggia lustily singing the Italian anthem while Frederica does the same on the podium was a great broadcast moment for sports. They know the words, unlike a large percentage of Americans including pro athletes and certain heads of state.

 

[Sciatic]

And NBC, whose announcers abandoned Breezy's medal stand presentation was here for Brignone's Gold!
We watched her finish what should have been her WC season at Sun Valley. Not a huge venue. I wouldn't say she was a "surprising" source altogether after her DH run. What she did here: 1)Clinched WC Alpine overall, 2)Clinched DH WC overall, 3)Clinched her GS WC overall.....
She, like Breezy was left in the media backwash and it's lovely that they're scrambling now to present relevant stories. The Italians have to be over the moon and seeing Sofia Goggia lustily singing the Italian anthem while Frederica does the same on the podium was a great broadcast moment for sports. They know the words, unlike a large percentage of Americans including pro athletes and certain heads of state.

I still would say pretty surprising that it was Brigone, rather than Goggia or Delgado, who captured Italian gold in the Super G. Aside from the fact that she’s primarily a GS specialist, she only returned from injury to racing two weeks ago, when she finished 18th in the Super G. She had a brilliant season last year, but I thought it would be unknown what she could manage just getting back into competition like she has. Good for her. But feel sorry for Goggia.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I still would say pretty surprising that it was Brigone, rather than Goggia or Delgado, who captured Italian gold in the Super G. Aside from the fact that she’s primarily a GS specialist, she only returned from injury to racing two weeks ago, when she finished 18th in the Super G. She had a brilliant season last year, but I thought it would be unknown what she could manage just getting back into competition like she has. Good for her. But feel sorry for Goggia.

Actually that would have been a bit more surprising.