Alrighty, so, I have a cat on my head right now…yes, you read that right, On.My.Head. I’m grateful he isn’t using his claws but I am also aware that could change at any moment so I’m doing everything I can to not move my head and mess with his balance…
Anyways, on to other stuff…Olympic stuff!
I’m still completely addicted to watching the Olympics, just can’t get enough! It’s on my tv right now, it is almost always on my tv lol While I’m loving watching the sports, well, most of the sports (some of them I find kinda boring, ssssh! don’t tell any athletes! 😉 lol) my favourite part is seeing the really awesome displays of great sportsmanship, for example…
(1) Canadian coach giving a ski to a Russian skier so he can cross the finish line. This warms my heart for two reasons, the first is because kudos and deep respect to the athlete who falls, breaks his ski, and keeps going! So many people would just stop, and I’m sure he wanted to, but he was determined to cross the finish line. Wow! The other reason I like it is because of the coach, from another team, running to give him a ski so he can finish on two skis. Sure it’s great it was a Canadian coach but it could have been a coach from any team and I would have loved it just as much. Helping a competitor out so they can have a smooth finish to their race, classy, and I love it! Here is a link to a video of it…
(2) Gilmore Junio giving up his chance to race so his teammate Denny Morrison can race instead. Who does that? Who gives up their chance to win an Olympic medal so their teammate can race instead? Gilmore did, and for that I think of him as a hero. Here is a link to a video about it…
Gilmore Offering His Olympic Spot
Things that aren’t necessarily just sportsmanship moments that are making me smile…
Marie-Michele Gagnon dislocated her shoulder when she fell Monday when competing in the slalom portion of the Women’s Super Combined and yet she is going to compete in her other events starting on Saturday (I believe her next event is Saturday, the time change is kinda messing me up). I don’t think anybody would have questioned her if she chose to not continue but she’s all “it’s good, a little stiff but we’re looking into getting some light weight padding to help protect the shoulder and I should be ok to compete” Tough.As.Nails. Aaaand as expected, here is a link to a video showing the fall…
Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, wow. Is any other word needed to describe their long program? For any that don’t know they are figure skaters and they did an amazing job. I loved their music choice and despite some tiny flaws in their program they were, well, the best lol hence the gold 😛 I’m having trouble finding a video of their performance but here’s a pic…
Considering Maxim at one point was living in an ice rink sponsored by the Russian Army and he only got one free meal a day, often surviving off of the pickles his partner was able to smuggle in to him (pickles? weird choice but okaaaay lol), I’d say he earned it. No special, carefully calculated meal plans for him, no coddling, no nothing. Just determination, hard work and an amazing job done. I hope his life is better now than when he was living in the rink and eating hardly anything for a normal person but reeeeally nothing for an athlete.
Tell me this isn’t the face of a person who earned his gold medal?
Qing Pang and Jian Tong had an amazing skate of their own, and not gonna lie, knowing it was to be their last time competing had me rooting for them a little extra. How great would it have been for them to have their last time on the ice earn them a medal? Sadly it was not to be, they came in fourth place. Their long program was beautiful to watch, they are so elegant and move so well together. They have a happy-ever-after ending though, they are getting married (to each other!) and are retiring so they can move on to the next phase of their lives.
This picture isn’t from their Sochi 2014 performance, for some reason I am having a ridiculously hard time finding a picture from either of their programs so here is a shot from a previous performance.
Some random tidbits that make me go wtf?? A snowboarder from Great Britain put off having knee surgery so he could compete, so the whole time he was competing his knee was all wrapped up in a crazy awesome brace in the hopes he wouldn’t make it worse. Dedication! A Canadian snowboarder competed with a fractured rib, and won bronze!
I also saw a quick image of three skiers who crashed (had to have been cross country of some kind) and one skier was on his knees super upset (who wouldn’t be?) and one of the other skiers crawled over to him and hugged him. I can’t find the story to explain the image so I don’t know who they were or the particulars but the image is sticking in my head. Comforting each other when their Olympic dreams are shattered. Only another Olympic athlete could understand what the feeling of losing your chance at a medal is like and seeing one athlete comfort another, right there on the track, brought a sad smile to my face.
There are so many amazing stories during the Olympics, these are just a handful, and I’m sure I’ve most likely bored you all to tears because it’s not like I am writing anything you haven’t already heard about on your local newscast or read online but shrug, these are all stories that have inspired me in some way and make me realize that I just might be capable of so much more then I sometimes think. And if the Olympics don’t inspire you to be nicer, work harder, and be better, well…what will?
Quick sidenote: The Americans just swept the podium in Men’s Freestyle Skiing (slopestyle), that just might be a record, has any country ever done that in any sport? I dunno, but Congrats!
The Amazing Shrinking Woman 