One of the sure-to-be stars of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games is Shaun White, the 22-year-old defending Gold Medalist in the men’s half-pipe snowboarding event. Nicknamed the “Flying Tomato” because of his bright red hair, White is fun and exciting to watch, a fact to which the video below can attest:

What is it with the Swiss and Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS)?
After the SHEER, “SCHOCHING” victories of the Schoch Brothers yesterday, Swiss Miss Daniela Meuli took the Gold at the same event today.

Meuli competing at a pre-Olympic event (Source: NBC)

American Rosey Fletcher took the Bronze, vindicating the U.S. Men’s defeat yesterday. By the way, though Tyler Jewell didn’t win the PGS event, his struggles and story of determination is a must-read.

Meuli went head-to-head with Fletcher in the semifinals. The former snowboarded to an easy victory after Fletcher fell. The same thing happened to her competitor, Silver Medalist …read more

The Schoch Brothers (SUI) of Philipp and Simon took HOME (literrally) the Gold and Silver in the Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) event. No prize for guessing correctly for whom mom and dad rooted?

The victorious Schoch brothers (Source: NBC)

I thought long and hard about responding to my colleague’s (Aaron) post, Figure Skating is not a sport! On the one hard, it’s hard enough to follow the games and blog in a timely manner (not to mention that I have the ‘Technocrat Soapbox‘ to worry about as well), on the other, I feel quite strongly about what Aaron said.
I love Figure Skating, especially Women’s Figure Skating. I like Gymanstics too, exclusively Women’s Gymnastics. I also like Women’s Tennis, and only Women’s Tennis (but I never watch the Williams sisters play).

Michelle Kwan on ice (Source: MSN)

The difference among …read more

Unfortunately Linsey Jacobellis will likely be known for loosing the Gold rather than Winning the Silver. While by most accounts she was the most talented rider in the field, she did not earn the Gold metal.
I used to be a competitive snowboarder and hold two national titles (1996 USASA Apline Overall & Slalom) so I thought I would offer my perspective. Some have said she wasn’t trying to appease her fans, however I disagree. The maneuver she performed over the next to the last jump is not something productive to snowboard cross competition. It is also something you don’t accidentally …read more

As Ande mentioned earlier, Canadian Dominique Maltais received the Bronze in the Final match earlier .. (see the Final Results HERE) and Canadian Maelle Ricker was 4th.

Canadian Maelle Ricker of Whistler, B.C., was the first rider to go down in the final. She botched a jump, landing hard on her back, and was unable to get up.
Ricker was loaded onto a sled and taken down the hill. Her condition wasn’t immediately known.
[..more..]

Hey! What do you guys think of this new “Snowboard Cross” event?
I came across this older news item HERE..
Snowboard cross is a big twist on …read more

Swiss Snowboarder Tanja Frieden took the Gold medal in the Women’s Snowboard cross final, but she was ably assisted by American Lindsey Jacobellis, who looked to have it all swen up and then fell on the last jump to only manage silve, Canadian Dominique Maltais took Bronze, Britain’s hope could only manage 13th.
Having never experienced Snowboard cross before, i have to admit that it impressed me greatly, the when the commentator announced “There just entering the Toilet Bowl” i will admit to letting out a little chuckle.
Full Results NBC

Seth Wescott has won gold in the Snowboard Cross event. Seth was predicted to be the winner of the event by many people and has lived up to those expectations. In the finals competing against Seth were Radoslav Zidek, Paul-Henri Delerue, and Jordi Font.
There are more posts about Seth Wescott at Snow Skills as well as a video clip of Seth Wescott on Letterman. Congratulations Seth, I guess this means I owe you a Beer when you get home. :)

Drew Neilsen is currently at the top of THIS List
Rank / NOC / Snowboarder / Best Time
1 – CAN – Drew Neilson (1:19.93)
2 – SUI – Marco Huser (1:20.26)
3 – USA – Seth Wescott (1:20.69)
Results of Other Canadian Athletes
18 – CAN – Tom Velisek
20 – CAN – Jasey Jay Anderson
30 – CAN – Francois
Go Drew Go!

Like what I predicted on the day of the Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony, recorded videos of various Olympic events are now available at Google Video.

Olympic Videos at Google Video (Source: Google)

You can watch events ranging from Alpine Skiing to Figure Skating to Snowboarding to Speed Skating.