2014 Winter Olympics - Sochi, Russia

[KevinPaul06 57]

Too bad CBC feed can't be viewed here in Ph. Can't wait for the Men's hockey.

[duchal 17]

There always is a chance that some act of terror will happen, but with 70.000 man (average European army, by the way) watching security there is minimal risk of attack in Sochi.

 

Speaking of politician aspects - I personally don't like Russian "imperial" foreign politics from my perspective (I live in Poland, so it's kinda obvious ), but any boycott's won't be successful. Putin really does not care about absence of presidence of France, Poland or even U.S president.

 

If the West want to have some positive impact on internal sitiuation of Russia, it should accent freedom of press and TV, not some apparently "homophobic" law or dogs in Sochi (this is bad thing of course, but it's not the most important now, and animal rights organizations can give dozens of similar situations across the whole globe, so it's part of larger discussion, not directly connected to Olimpics).

 

Speaking from another side - this is some landmark of Russia from ages. There were always problems with fully respecting human law. If not Putin, then who? Comunist Party, socialdemocrats or nationalists (current composition of Russian parlament). We like it or not, he is very popular president.

 

Overall, we should let Winter Olimpics in Sochi be huge and great fest of sport, not politics!

 

Sorry for possible language errors, English isn't my native language.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Duchal, you have some very good points.  It is clearly time to stop all the political haranguing and enjoy the games.  The Tsar of all the Russias is made of Teflon, and everything just slides off him.

 

Seeing that you are in Poland, I can understand that there is no love lost between your two countries given both recent and older histories.  I do believe that Poland has been around as a state longer than Russia, and I know that at one time Russia was either part of or under Polish rule.  But of course, history is written by the winners.

[duchal 17]

A Nonny Moose - You are completly right that Sochi 2014 should be less political, more sport. What I just wanted to say by this little political analyze is that we need to face the reality - there are many countries in the world that are authoritarian and undemocratic, and Russia isn't the worst. Olimpics is world tournament, so sometimes these countries will be hosting this event, too. We should discuss, we should maybe affect, we should have some deadlines (some regimes shouldn't get a chance to host an international event eg. North Korea). But overall Olimpic Movement shouldn't be political organization, Olimpics hosting shouldn't be a political manifest and Olimpics shouldn't be political event.

 

BTW - There is no love, you're right. But when I am in Western Europe I often see that people think that we hate each other, which is not true at all. Normal people unterstand and respect themselves - it's some way similar culture in many aspects. Other thing on politilal level, but... it's long discussion, not really needed on international forums. 

[RipRap 4,400]

Current Standings - Norway in the lead, with Netherlands and the US following behind, and Russia and Canada tied at 4th with 1 gold medal, 2 silvers and 1 bronze each.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

You are out of date.  If you sort by medal colour, Canada is now, briefly, in first place.

[Wiecher 192]

The Dutch did another sweep in longtrack skating, this time on the 500m for men!

[MandelSoft 2,774]

Eeyup. I guess we have a monopoly on medals for skating 

 

 

Heck, we are currently #1 when it comes to medal standings... but I don't think we keep that position for long...

[TekindusT 3,809]

Wait for the alpine skiing finals, I guess. But still, enjoy that moment! A lot of countries cannot even dream of having a medalist in the Winter Olympics!

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The speed skating success by the Netherlands is spectacular.  The whole team is to be congratulated.

[MatTSW 41]

Precisely. Why Sochi? Siberia would have been a much more logical location for winter sports

Maybe beacause for most people around the world Siberia connects with undiscovered and extremly cold region. Imagine that someone e.g. from California is going to Yakutsk    In some parts of Siberia it will be impossible to build such huge complexes because of lack of infrastructure.

 

What is more, you must remember about permafrost which not allows sometimes to build a normal block of flat. And we are talking about stadiums...

[Meg 368]

But still, enjoy that moment! A lot of countries cannot even dream of having a medalist in the Winter Olympics!

 

I would like to see a country that has never won a medal win one.   Don't care what color it is or if it is in the most obscure sport there.   It would just be fun to see.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

On Sunday, Jenny Jones became the first Briton to win a medal on snow, with bronze in the slopestyle. It happens to be the first time slopestyle has featured in the Olympics. Quite an achievement, and amazing she had to wait for 10 competitors to attempt the course after her, some who weren't able to finish.

 

Overall really enjoying watching the games so far. I think it's interesting to see such a diverse range of events, even if not familiar with all the technicalities.

[Meg 368]

One of my best experiences of this Olympics so far is having two different 20-something guys look at me in blank confusion and ask "Why is this the first year for women's ski jumping?"   I thanked both of them, which just confused them further.   I do have hope for this generation.

[Duke87 1,070]

I would like to see a country that has never won a medal win one.   Don't care what color it is or if it is in the most obscure sport there.   It would just be fun to see.

 

How many countries are there that have never won a medal?

[Meg 368]

 

I would like to see a country that has never won a medal win one.   Don't care what color it is or if it is in the most obscure sport there.   It would just be fun to see.

 

How many countries are there that have never won a medal?

 

 

It's not an official source but at least 73 [link]

 

Not sure how many of them are currently competing.

[Duke87 1,070]

As expected that list consists largely of small islands and poor African nations, although there are some surprises (Albania, really?). I'm also rather surprised at Nepal, you'd expect a nation where people train at high elevations would have an edge.

[timmie 988]

Belgium has a slight chance of Belgium winning a medal. I won't watch, however, there is so much wrong with these Winter Olympics (and I'm not just talking of homophobia) that I really can't bring myself to watch it. I'll read it in the papers.

 

When looking on Wikipedia, I nearly thought the next Winter Olympics were going to take place in Pyongyang, North Korea (and I thought 'has the IOC really lost it?!'). Luckily, it's Pyeongchang in South Korea.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Things are going well for Canada, but it is early yet.

 

@Timmie: I'd be interested in what you see as wrong about the Olympics being in Sochi.  No politics, now.  Sochi is about the same latitude as Vancouver.

[timmie 988]

The Olympics are politics. Always. Just the mere fact that it's nation states competing to organize the Olympics is politics. Yes, it is a sports event, but it is inevitably also politics, just like the Eurovision Song Contest is not just a song contest.

 

40 billions of public money has been spent to organize these Games: politics. Corruption was widespread, this has an impact on the Russian population: politics. People have been expropriated in scandalous ways to make room for the glorious Olympics: politics. These are three of many elements of these Games and sorry, but it is impossible to separate it from the sportive element. Organizing the Games is a state matter and therefore it IS politics (just like almost EVERYTHING is politics).

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

I think that with just about every Olympics being boycotted or threatened to be boycotted, that IOC no longer cares. The Olympics should be about friendship and healthy competition.

Oh and whilst we are at it, go Australia! Everyone's eyes are on Torah Bright as she takes to the half pipe to get the Gold. (fun fact: we are the only southern hemisphere country to get a gold medal).

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

One can choose to call the IOC decisions political, but the Organization is a world body dedicated to sport. The next winter session is in South Korea. Is this a political decision? Remember that cities bid for this not countries. If states choose to get on the bandwagon, that is an internal affair.

Talks about Boycotts are silly. There is little point in not competing. All you do is deny being humiliated when you don't get a medal. Not very sporting, eh?

The Olympics are about as non-political as you can get barring the 1936 fiasco when Der Führer got a nice object lesson from the so called "untermenschen". Albrecht Speer built a nice stadium though.

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

It's interesting how widespread that myth is. Hitler didn't snub off Jesse Owens because he was black, rather he congratulated the other athletes because they were German. After been spoken to by the IOC and told that he had to congratulate everyone or no one at all, he opted for the latter. Besides FDR said nothing about the win, anyway.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

And what do you think FDR could have said that wasn't already obvious?  Blacks were not exactly loved in the U.S. at that time, either.

[Haljackey 17,380]

Canadian coach helping out a Russian during a race.

 

http://olympics.cbc.ca/videos/live/video/cross-country-skiing-sprint-final.html

Crash at 1:31
Help at 1:34

Good Olympic spirit

 

Photo:

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Well yes.  Competition is fine, but sport is paramount.  When someone is down, you pick him up.  Didn't affect the outcome of the race.

[TekindusT 3,809]

This is one of the images we have to remember when the thoughts of "The Olympics are only very expensive Coca-Cola advertisements" come to mind, or when the Olympics look like a mere excuse for building a lot of sports facilities and rebuilding entire districts. It is important to keep in mind why are the Olympics there for.

 

EDIT: Well, goodbye to the only serious chance Spain had to grab a medal on these Olympics. The snowboard rider Queralt Castellet failed the two runs on the halfpipe finals... . A lot of hopes were put on her this time...

[Haljackey 17,380]

Both the mens and womans half pipe were terrible. I blame the design (very steep) and the weather (very warm).

 

Athletes were complaining of slushy, compact snow that dug into their snowboards.

[Haljackey 17,380]

This is why Hoth was denied its bid to host the Winter Olympics

 

 

Via: http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1xpgnq/this_is_why_hoth_was_denied_its_bid_to_host_the/

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Hah!  Intergalactic Olympic games could be interesting.  Grav-sled racing, shuttle-circuits around the moons, Hyperspace relays.