Why is it an achievement? Murdoch and his team of Euan Byers, Warwick Smith, Ewan MacDonald and Peter Smith, are only the fourth Scottish team to hold the coveted title.

First ever was Perth’s Chuck Hay in the 1960s then 30 years after it was Perth’s Danny Smith’s turn in 1991. And then it was Stranraer’s Hammy McMillan in 1999.

After their disappointing loss against the US in the bronze medal play-off at the last Winter Olympics in Torino, this win fully compensated that medal loss. And Murdoch, after competing and winning against Canada that’s considered the best in the world, sees it as a mind-blowing experience and to be called, World Champion is a dream come true.

SOURCE

Post from: EveryJoe

Scotland’s David Murdoch: Newest World Champion Curling Skip

Thanks for a wonderful 2 weeks of fun, sports, and a celebration of humanity at its greatest!

The 2006 Winter Olympics at Torino came to a close last night at the Stadio Olimpico. And what a closing ceremony it was.

We had ‘Pagliacci‘ Clowns in a Carnival atmosphere, Italian Opera with Human Tarot Cards, dancers, Andrew Boccelli , Avril ‘call-me-sweetheart-and-I’ll-kick-your-ass’ Lavigne, [not forgetting] Ricky Martin shaking his ‘bon-bons, vintage Fiats, flying performers, and top top it off, fireworks that lit up the Torino night sky.

IOC president Jacques Rogge’s closing speech was briefly interrupted by an intruder who went up to the podium and shouted, “Passion lives in Tornio.”

The following are pictures from last night’s closing ceremony (pictures courtesy of NBC, click to enlarge pictures):

An aerial view of Stadio Olimpico

A Carnival atmosphere

Remember these ‘Spaks of Passion’ performers?

Clowns on parade

What’s an Italian Celebration without Italian Opera?

More Italian Opera

Human Tarot Cards

A Vintage Fiat

Snowboarder suspended in midair

The Mayor of Torino passing the Olympic Flag to the Mayor of Vancouver, Host City of the next Winter Olympics. The Mayor of Vancouver is paraplegic (he broke his neck while skiing at the age of 19). Waving the Olympic Flag would be a terrible burden for someone in his condition, but not for him.

A Proud Canadian Delegation

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Logo

Andrew Boccelli, Ricky Martin, and Avril Lavigne mesmerizing the crowd

The Olympic Flame extinguished

Fireworks lit up the Torino night sky

See you again at Vancouver in 2010!!!

Post from: EveryJoe

Grazie Torino, Grazie Italia!!!

Apolo Ohno finally won his first Gold at these Winter Games by taking the Men’s 500m Short Track event.

All competitors were so pumped up for the ‘Superbowl’ of the Short Track event that there were two false starts. But as soon as the race started, Apolo clawed his way to an early lead in the first corner and was uncatchable.

It was a close battle for Ohno and the Canadians in the 500m event
(Source: NBC)

Still fresh from the adrenaline-rush in the previous event, Apolo had a decided advantage in the ensuing Men’s Relay Short Track event. Ohno was battling neck-to-neck with Canada first, but soon slipped to third place behind his arch-nemesis South Korea.

The Italians in forth place gave the Americans a run for their money. Leads were change many times between the Americans and Italians. In the last couple of rounds, with America trailing, Apolo closed the deficit with an aggressive burst of energy as he sailed past the Italian skater.

At that point, Canada and South Korea were too far ahead for Ohno to catch.

Canada’s battle with South Korea came down to the wire as the South Korean skater swoop ahead in the final corner to take the Gold.

The South Koreans’ mixed reactions to the victory (Source: NBC)

All 6 of South Korea’s Gold Medals came from Short Track events, thanks to their phenomenal skater and leader, Ahn Hyun-Soo.

Post from: EveryJoe

OHNOmore OHNO Jokes…

Coming in as the Poster Child of the American delegation, Miller exits the game, frustrated, ego-bruised, and empty-handed.

Some Miller would be great for Bode right about now…
(Source: Newsweek Magazine)

This is not a slam on Bode, he is still a great athlete. But looking back, it would have been great had he exercised a little shrewd discretion, a little more caution.

So, what happened really?

Today, at the Slalom event, Bode ’skiied out of bounds’ only 15 seconds into his first run, and thus, ended his medal hunt at these Winter Games (Benjamin Raich of Austria, again, took the Gold at the Slalom event, four days after winning the Giant Slalom event).

Miller’s Medal Hunt ended today (Source: NBC)

Four days ago, Bode skiied his best at the Giant Slalom event, but could only manage a 6th place finish.

Going back even further, at the Super-G (Feb. 19th), the World Champion’s breakneck speed was impressive to watch. But with challenging hairpin turns, Super-G is more like Formula 1 Racing than NASCAR, and as a result, Bode smashed into a gate in true NASCAR fashion and was out of contention.

At the Combined, Bode straddled a gate (i.e. the pole in the snow went between his legs) and was disqualified.

At the Downhill event (Feb. 12th), Bode saw a United Nations of French, Austrian, Swiss, and Norwegian skiers outperformed him.

Undoubtedly, many would be wondering if Bode was skiing WASTED at these Winter Games. I personally doubt it. But right now, some ‘Spirits‘ (pardon the pun) wouldn’t sound too bad at all.

Update: Read Bode’s lighthearted look back at the 2006 Winter Games, Unrepentant Bode: ‘Man, I Rocked Here’

Post from: EveryJoe

B-0-0-0-de’s 0lympics at T0rin0

The Gold Medal Game between Sweden and Finland is tomorrow. DON’T MISS IT!!!

A tough fight for a Bronze Medal Finish (Source: NBC)

Czech Republic beats Russia 3-0

Post from: EveryJoe

Men’s Ice Hockey Bronze Medal Game – Feb. 25

Biathlon

10:00 – Men’s 15km Mass Start – List
12:00 – Women’s 12.5 km Mass Start – List

Alpine Skiing

15:00 – Men’s Slalom – 1st Run – List
18:30 – Men’s Slalom – 2nd Run

* Competing Canadians: Thomas Grandi, Michael Janyk, Patrick Biggs, Jean-Philippe Roy,

Speed Skating

16:30 – Ladies 5,000m – List

* Competing Canadians: Kristina Groves, Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes

Bobsleigh

17:30 – Four-man Heat 3 – List
19:20 – Four-man Heat 4

* Competing Canadians: Pierre Lueders, Ken Kotyk, Morgan Alexander, Lascelles Brown (CAN-1) and Serge Despres, Nathan Cunningham, Steve Larsen, Dabid Bissett (CAN-2)

Short Track Speed Skating

19:30 Men’s 500m Quarterfinal 1 – List
19:33 Men’s 500m Quarterfinal 2 – List
19:36 Men’s 500m Quarterfinal 3 – List
19:39 Men’s 500m Quarterfinal 4 – List
20:14 Men’s 500m Semifinal 1
20:17 Men’s 500m Semifinal 2
20:45 Men’s 500m Final B
20:48 Men’s 500m Final A

* Competing Canadians: Eric Bedard, Francois-Louis Tremblay

19:44 Ladies 1000m Quarterfinal 1 – List
19:48 Ladies 1000m Quarterfinal 2 – List
19:52 Ladies 1000m Quarterfinal 3 – List
19:56 Ladies 1000m Quarterfinal 4 – List
20:22 Ladies 1000m Semifinal 1
20:26 Ladies 1000m Semifinal 2
20:53 Ladies 1000m Final B
20:57 Ladies 1000m Final A

* Competing Canadians: Amanda Overland, Tania Vicent

21:17 Men’s 5000m Relay Final B – List
21:26 Men’s 5000m Relay Final A – List

* Competing Canadians: Eric Bedard, Jonathan Guilmette, Charles Hamelin, Francois-Louis Tremblay, Mathieu Turcotte

ICE HOCKEY

20:35 Men’s Playoff – BRONZE MEDAL GAME (RUS vs CZE)

~~~~

Me?

I’ll probably be glued to the tube in the Speed Skating events … if you recall .. about our Canadian Speed Skater athletes…. we’ve got some hopefuls!

* Kristina Groves – multiple medal winner here at Torino 2006 Olympics .. from Ottawa
* Cindy Klassen – has 4 medals here Torino 2006 Olympics (1G, 2S, 1B) and 1 medal Salt Lake 2002 Olympics (1B) .. our homegrown Winnipegger is the only Canadian women to earn 5 – ever! The record is 6 lifetime medals by both shorttrack Marc Gagnon and swimmer Phillip Edwards (according to this)
* Clara Hughes – Has multiple Olympic medals from both Summer Olympics (cycling) and here at the 2006 Winter Olympics (speed skating) .. another homegrown Winnipegger!

Post from: EveryJoe

Today’s Lineup – February 25, 2006

Skiing in less-than-perfect weather sans her signature good-luck tiara (athletes MUST WEAR Head Protective Gear in the Giant Slalom event), Julia had two very strong runs down the challenging slopes, in both cases, taking the more aggressive line. Her combined time was 2 minutes 9.19 seconds.

Mancuso skiing in near-blizzard conditions (Source: NBC)

Several other circumstances factored into Julia’s victory.

Crotia’s Janica Kostelic, winner of a Gold and Silver medal at these Olympic games, was ill and could not compete. Heavy favorite Anja Paerson of Sweden was similarly not in peak form, managing a sixth place finish. Giant Slalom is not a strong suit for compatriot, Lindsey Kildow, who did not participate to begin with.

Tanja Poutianen of Finland and Anna Ottosson of Sweden, Silver and Bronze Medalists, were delighted and surprised at their good fortunes.

Like what many around the country is saying, “Julia doesn’t need her tiara anymore. She has an Olympic Crown.”

And for that, I salute you, Julia!

Post from: EveryJoe

Mancuso Made It!

Over the last couple of days, after a tough back-and-forth battle for first place between Sasha Cohen (U.S.) and Irina Slutskaya (Russia), many were stunned when Shizuka Arakawa (Japan) quietly took the Gold away from the two.

Cohen, Arakawa, and Slutskaya performing their programs
(Source: NBC)

Well, perhpas nobody should be stunned considering the fact that both Cohen and Slutskaya fell in their recent programs. Arakawa, on the other hand, skated elegantly and flawlessly.

Emily Hughes, younger sister of the 2002 Figure Skating Gold Medalist, Sarah, managed a 7th place finish. This is impressive result for young Emily who has only limited experience at large scale competitions. Emily, we hope to watch you shine in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

This Winter Olympics seemed to be about Dark Horses. We have Enrico Fabris overtaking the heavy favorites Davis and Hedrick to win the Men’s 1,500m Speedskating event.

Over in Men’s Ice Hockey, U.S. and Canada, two powerhouses, were knocked out of Gold contention by Finland and Russia. Both Bode Miller (upset by his own poor performance) and Apolo Ohno (upset by skaters from South Korea) have yet to win a Gold.

Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won a total of 5 Gold Medals in the previous two Winter Olympics. He has yet to win one in Torino.

And Lindsey Jacobellis…

No…Lindsey lost because of bad luck. It has nothing to do with her Snowboarding abilities.

Post from: EveryJoe

Arakawa (JPN) Ahead!

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. The Hurricane is a difficult aerial acrobatic that has the skier do 3 (THREE) head-over-heels flip while twisting in the air.

That maneuver could have won Peterson the Gold easily but his landing betrayed him (see following picture).

Peterson couldn’t land his ‘Hurricane’ stunt (Source: NBC)

Yesterday, I blogged about how Tyler Jewell had it tough training for the Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) event; today, in a stroke of eerie coincidence, Peterson has a no-less-haunting story of his own to tell. Well, I guess I shouldn’t describe it as eerie or even call it a coincidence, all athletes have to overcome great odds to get to the Olympics, though some might have a harder time than most.

Having survived sexual abuse; withnessed a friend’s suicide; and his sister taken away in a car accident, a lesser person would have just withered away. But not Peterson.

Instead, he channelled the negatives in his life into fuel for his daring acrobatics on the slopes.

Though winning no medals, Peterson was satisfied:

“I obviously didn’t come here to end up seventh but I came here to do the hurricane and I did the hurricane…I had another jump that I could have done tonight…But it’s not as risky and the rewards wouldn’t have been as high…I wouldn’t change anything.”

Spoken like a true Olympian.

I urge you all to vote for such incredible personalities at the DHL US Olympic Spirit Award Web Site.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hurricane Hands Han (CHN) His Gold!

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 Amelie Kober (GER), in the finals.

Post from: EveryJoe

An All SWISS Domination at PGS!