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.