XXII Olympic Winter Games - Sochi 2014 - 02/07-02/23

[Wakarimashita]

XXII Olympic Winter Games



Schedule :



Extra events (compared to Vancouver) :
-Figure skating team event – Mixed
-Biathlon mixed relay – Mixed
-Luge team relay – Mixed
-Ski halfpipe
-Ski slopestyle
-Snowboard slopestyle
-Snowboard parallel slalom
-Women’s ski jumping

Only one week left until they officially begin (some events take place a day before the opening ceremony). Are you excited ? Which events will you be watching ? Are there any athletes whom you are rooting for in particular (whether they are or not from your country) ?

[Wakarimashita]

Ok, my favorite events :
-Alpine Skiing
-Biathlon
-Figure skating
-Speed-skating

Also, as an extra, here is the Virtual Medal Table :



http://vmt.infostradasports.com/

Using performances in all winter sports events with world class fields from the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver to the present day, we are able to produce a prediction of the results for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi if they were held tomorrow. This forecast is in the form of the top-8 in order for each of the medal events at the Games and an overall medal table.

The VMT is a statistical model based on results in Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cups (or equivalent). It takes account of the following:

Results : Points are awarded for every result based on rank. Big time or points differences are also rewarded as is dominance for athletes with few results.
Time : A recent result is always worth more than an older one based on a continuous function.
Competition : More weight is given to a result achieved in a World Championship or Olympic Games than in a World Cup event.

[kei]

Curling!!! \o/

[Stopwatch]

Bobsleigh, figure skating and curling are decent. I'll probably end up watching more than that though. I'm hoping some of the effects from London 2012 carry over into how well they do in this though.

Oh, and I'm hoping all the countries include more LGBT representation because of the new laws.

[Wakarimashita]

Curling!!! \o/

Curling ? Not that common as a favorite event I'd say.

Bobsleigh, figure skating and curling are decent. I'll probably end up watching more than that though. I'm hoping some of the effects from London 2012 carry over into how well they do in this though.

I read they're hoping for a record medal haul. ^^

[Jd-]

USA-Canada for hockey gold medal game? Is it destined?

[kkslider5552000]

from that image, does that mean they're making a new Animalympics special? SWEET!

[Wakarimashita]

USA-Canada for hockey gold medal game? Is it destined?

They're 2 of the 4 favorites along with Sweden and Russia so it's certainly very possible but not yet destined.

[Wakarimashita]

Some day 0 events today :

Qualifications for men and ladies' slopestyle as well as for ladies' moguls. Their competition continues this weekend.

But the main event of the day was the beginning of the new team event in figure skating :



Russia, Canada and China have pretty much secured their place in the top 5. It's going to be more complicated for all the other nations. The 2 remaining events before the first cut are ladies and dance and the US are the best among the three tied nations in that department so unless someone else on their team pulls a Jeremy Abbott they should qualify.

[Wakarimashita]

Except for the ring fail, I thought the opening ceremony was great. My favorite segments were the ballet one, the space one and the Swan Lake one. The things they did using projectors and the floor were really nice. I was a little bit disappointed by the lighting of the cauldron which I found kind of underwhelming compared to what we had seen earlier in the ceremony but nothing bad enough to take out the overall enjoyment of it all.

[Wakarimashita]

The news of the day :
-Norway started really strong with 4 medals including 2 gold medals by Marit Bjoergen in cross country and Bjørndalen in biathlon. This is Bjørndalen's 7th gold and 12th medal overall at the age of 40. He won his first gold medal in the same event (sprint) in Nagano back in 1998.
-The US won the first gold medal of these olympics in the men's slopestyle (and the first ever olympic medal in this new event) thanks to Sage Kotsenburg's performance.
-The Netherlands won all three medals in the 5000m speedskating. It's the first sweep in this event since 1964 (when Norway had a sweep of their own). Sven Kramer also established a new olympic record breaking his own which he had established at Vancouver 4 years ago.
-The Duffour-Lapointe sisters did the gold-silver double in the ladies' moguls this evening. Canada also earned a bronze medal in slopestyle this morning.
-Sweden won a silver medal in cross country. Austria and the Czech Republic respectively won a silver and a bronze medal in biathlon.

[Iwamoto Yuri]

-The Netherlands won all three medals in the 5000m speedskating. It's the first sweep in this event since 1964 (when Norway had a sweep of their own). Sven Kramer also established a new olympic record breaking his own which he had established at Vancouver 4 years ago.

\o/ Go Low Lands

[Stopwatch]

Yulia Lipnitskaia was pretty good IMO. *_*

(And GB got a medal? O.o :x)

[Wakarimashita]

Lipnitskaia was amazing. I think she has a chance to threaten Yu-Na for the gold if she is able to deliver such performances again in the individual events.

@Stopwatch : Yep. A bronze medal by Jenny Jones in women's slopestyle. Their first medal in a snow event at the Winter Olympics since their inception.



News of the day :
-Norway remains at the top of the medal table with 3 new bronze medals today : one in men's skiathlon, one in downhill alpine skiing (although not the one they hoped with Svindal failing to be on the podium) and one in men's ski jumping.
-Irene Wust brings a second gold medal to the Netherlands. All 4 of their medals have been won in speed skating.
-The US do the double in the slopestyle events thanks to Jamie Anderson's great run. They also earn an extra bronze medal thanks to the figure skating team event. Disappointment however on the alpine skiing side where Bode Miller finished outside of the top 3 in the downhill event.
-Canada win their second silver medal in the same team event while Russia take the gold thanks to Lipnitskaia and Plushenko. Russia also won medals in luge, speed skating and biathlon.
-Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Germany also get their first gold medals. Austria in the downhill event with Marcus Hellner, Germany in luge with Felix Loch, Poland in ski jumping with Kamil Stoch, Slovakia in biathlon with Anastasiya Kuzmina and Switzerland in cross country with Dario Cologna.

[svon1]