Xiaopeng Han’s (China) aerial acrobatics propelled him to first place in the Men’s Aerial Freestyle Skiing event. Han’s total score was 250.77, 2.09 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Dmitry Dashinski (Belarus), and 4.01 ahead of the bronze medalist, Vladimir Lebedev (Russia).

The ‘Hurricane’ a la Peterson (Source: AP Photo)

American Jeret “Speedy” Peterson’s signature move, the Hurricane, didn’t win him first place but inspired awe and admiration in all those present.

Well, I said that I thought it was and interesting “sport” to watch (see previous post), and promised to do a little research to figure out what the heck’s going on. Thankfully, I didn’t have to go far .. as my favorite Olympic site .. CBC, has animated instructions explaining how the sport works .. just click on ‘Related Information’, then select ‘Sport Explainer’.
SHORT Version
* In the Men’s freestyle “Aerial” skiing qualifications earlier today, 28 skiiers took two jumps and the best 12 skiiers with the highest score will compete in the final on Wednesday.
* Out of …read more

Now THAT’s entertainment! So far the Canadians are leading the preliminary qualifications (it’s still early however) .. with their “BACK/FULL-DOUBLE FULL-FULL” jumps … *wow*
Remember .. this is MUCH different than, for instance, USA’s “BACK/DOUBLE FULL-FULL-FULL” ..
Geesh .. I have to research this sport .. I don’t even know what I’m talking about!
… But .. it sure is cool to watch!

Alexandre Bilodeau could have made it to the highest step of the podium in Men’s mogul competition, yet finished 11th.
“It’s disapointing because I know I could have won a medal, maybe even the Gold”, said he, drying up his tears.
After making it to 11th place in qualifications, Bilodeau tried to amend these mistakes by attempting a triple off-axis twister (translation?) but failing to do so by posing his right hand on the ground upon landing.
“I made a huge mistake, as I did in the qualifications. Unfortunatly, these kind of mistakes are not forgiving.”, explained Bilodeau.

“I was inside my comfort zone. …read more

Dale Begg-Smith (a transplanted Canadian from Vancouver who emigrated to Australia) took the Men’s Mogul competition today … Here are the Final Results
Rank / NOC / Skiier / Score (out of 30)
1 – AUS – Dale Begg-Smith (26.77)
2 – FIN – Mikko Ronkainen (26.62)
3 – USA – Toby Dawson .. (26.30)
Canada’s Marc-Andre Moreau just missed a medal and came in 4th place
Results of Canadian Athletes
4 – CAN – Marc-Andre Moreau (25.62)
11 – CAN – Alexandre Bilodeau (23.42)
14 – CAN – Chris Wong (22.88)

According to today’s schedule of events, it looks like it’s going to be a busy day! I would just like to remind everybody that not only is this a group blog .. but according to the b5media site

… We are opening the site up as a true community endeavor.
… We have invited a variety of other networks to participate as well.
So if you want to write about the games, please feel free to register at the site and we’ll get you all setup. Don’t forget to put in your country (”Extended Profile” under “Users”) and a link to your site …read more

brem writes / asks Is 25 Medals Goal For Canada Realistic? and has a dPoll going. Well, at first I immediately went there and clicked YES (naturally – Go Canada Go!) .. but then I got to thinking ..
25 Medals for Canada? Where are we going to get 25 medals?
I should say that in my general community of friends and online contacts, sure – we are proud of ALL our Canadian Athletes (maybe a little more with the 5 Winnipeggers in Torino) and we are quite happy if they just perform to the best of their abilities to …read more

I had to work today so I missed most of the live games today and NBC seems obsessed every olympics with figure skating. But I did have a chance to take in the Nordic Combined today and was tired just watching.
I also looked away in horror as Hannah Kearney went into nuclear meltdown on the slopes. Even I, an unexperienced skiier, saw the horrible run she made. Too bad. She’s better than that.

Canada’s Jennifer Heil brought home the gold today in the Women’s Moguls!
A native of Spruce Grove, Alberta, Heil barely beat out Norwegian and French skiiers Traa and Laoura. Here are the final points and times:
Heil: 26.50, 26:69
Traa: 25.65, 27:33
Laoura: 25.37, 26:67
Go Canada!

American Hannah Kearney, winner of last year’s World Championships and one of the favorites to win gold in moguls, failed to make it through qualifying Saturday after a mistake-filled run that left her in 22nd place.It was the first major stunner of these Olympics, Kearney was out of her rhythm almost as soon as she began, catching an edge on her second turn, landing awkwardly after her first jump and ramming through the moguls — not around them — for the next several turns.
source: Kearney left behind after qualifying