2006 Winter Olympics

Existentialist

Entertainment Moderator
The thread for all Olympic discussion (trials, the actual games, etc).

I have completely caught Olympic fever, after watching the skating Nationals.

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto can FINALLY go to the Olympics in ice dancing, and they are very likely to medal (which would be the first ice dancing medal for the US in a very long time).

The men's long program just went and the final results were
1. Johnny Weir
2. Evan Lysacek
3. Matt Savoie
4. Michael Weiss

The first three will probably be chosen as the team, with Michael Weiss as the alternate. Decisions will be made later tonight.

Am tickled pink that Lysacek is going, because we went to the same HS... he was a year below me. I'm pretty sure he's the first alum from my HS to be an Olympian. Am also thrilled that Matt Savoie is going - at 2002's nationals, he finished 4th and JUST missed being on the team. He skated very very well today.
 
I haven't really gotten into the whole Olympics thing yet...though I'm sure it will hit me eventually.

I am quite upset about the whole Michelle Kwan thing though. I think it's absolutely outrageous what they've done to Emily Hughes...and as awful as it sounds if Michelle competes in the Olympics then I hope she doesn't medal.
 
I'd rather see Michelle Kwan in the Olympics over anyone else.... And yes, it's awful it happened the way it did and that Emily was kept off the team -- but the same thing happened to Michelle Kwan in 92 when she was bumped for Nancy Kerrigan; and with that circumstance, a precedent was set....

And as far as the men.... Savoie was amazing -- absolutely amazing.... (y)
 
I'd rather see Michelle Kwan in the Olympics over anyone else.... And yes, it's awful it happened the way it did and that Emily was kept off the team -- but the same thing happened to Michelle Kwan in 92 when she was bumped for Nancy Kerrigan; and with that circumstance, a precedent was set....

And as far as the men.... Savoie was amazing -- absolutely amazing.... (y)


I guess I have a bit of a bias...I've never liked Michelle Kwan. ;)
 
Does anyone know why David Pelletier and Jamie Sale of Canada are not going to the olympics? Did they give up their amateur status? Or was it because of the wedding?

I've been out of the ice skating loop until the olympics come around.

Oh...and I think it's cool that Michelle is going. However, I don't know any of the new girls other than watching the nationals the other night...so I guess I'm bias.
 
Oh...and I think it's cool that Michelle is going. However, I don't know any of the new girls other than watching the nationals the other night...so I guess I'm bias.


I just have a bit of a problem with it because she hasn't competed in almost a year and gets to go to the Olympics while these other girls who have worked their butts off in these competitions get the short end of the stick.
 
The only time Michelle has competed under the new scoring system, she was 4th, and going in, her chances are... pretty bad. ;)

The Japanese women are very strong, so's Irina Slutskia (sp?), and Sasha Cohen really really benefits from this new scoring system. ;)

David and Jaimie have retired since their olympic win, they're apart of Stars on Ice (well they're probably on their honeymoon now but you know, normally ;) I still think it's so :love: that they're a couple off the ice :love: ) Canada is represented by Valérie Marcoux and Craig Buntin and Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison for pairs. Joannie Rochette and Mira Leung for Womens, Jeff Buttle and Emanual Sandu and (I think) Shawn Sawyer for mens. I like Jeff Buttle (omg he's so cute. :love: :thud: :mellow: :bag:) and Mira Leung (still a little green and young for the olympics but I like how she skates) and the younger Canadian pair (Dube and Davison.)

For the States, I like Sasha (duh) and Kimmie. Other than that... I dunno. For pair skating, I'm looking at Chinese and Russian. (because we know Salé and Pelletier was the greatest pair skaters North American will ever produce. :P ) For the men, I like Wier and Savoie, didn't see anything really special in Lysacek.

:mellow:

Skating will probably be the only thing I watch... maybe beside hockey. (come on Canadian pride! Can't let anyone take away the last olympic gold! :D )

--Mandy :angelic:
 
:P Mandy, Lysacek is special because I went to high school with him!

I like Michelle Kwan, but she's only competed once this season, and the new scoring system does NOT favor her skating at all. She's good - but she's not good the way Sasha Cohen is good. Cohen's positions are phenomenal and she skates very artistically. Emily Hughes is a good skater, but I think she still needs to mature a bit (then again, I thought Tara Lipinski needed to mature as well, and well, she won gold). In 4 years, she'll be better than her sister if she keeps improving the way she has.

Jeff Buttle is going to give Canada a very good chance to medal in men's.

I LOVE that Japan is suddenly pulling out all these fantastic skaters. Will be cheering for them as well. Will be cheering for Irina Slutskyia as well, just because she has such a terrific personality. Always so bubbly and cute.
 
Oh I was in LOVE with Tara Lipinski omg. :thud: It's so sad she retired so early. :(

--Mandy :angelic:
 
Oh I was in LOVE with Tara Lipinski omg. :thud: It's so sad she retired so early. :(

--Mandy :angelic:


I was too!! Did you ever read her book? I don't really remember it :blush: But I know that at the time I loved it.

My younger sister and I had quite the feud going...she was (and still is to an extent) a huge Michelle fan :P
 
I'm kinda disapointed there has been like nothing on the Winter Olympics in Australia, okay so we have won only 5 medals ever but still I'd like to actually 'SEE' the games, just because we have like one mountain with snow on it doesn't mean the tv networks can just shun the Olympics

It's all about the Commonwealth Games that are on in Melbourne a month later I'm sick of it!

I want to see the ice skating, the hockey, the luge god even curling, it's something different that I don't see everyday!
 
^^ I know it sucks i have not heard a peep out of any channel about it..!!!!

We won a medal because alll the other people fell over.... I LOVE ICE SKATING....but it's all about hte commonwealth games!!!
 
^^ Yeah Steven Bradbury it was so funny Everyone fell over and he was so far behind that it didn't effect him and he skated over the finish line first!!

Now if anyone sits behind the pack they call it a "Bradbury"
 
Does anyone know why David Pelletier and Jamie Sale of Canada are not going to the olympics? Did they give up their amateur status? Or was it because of the wedding?
Jamie & David gave up their amature status; they're touring with Stars on Ice (Sidenote: i wish i could go b/c i LOOOOOVE them :( )

Oh I was in LOVE with Tara Lipinski omg. :thud: It's so sad she retired so early. :(

--Mandy :angelic:
omg i hated her so much :lol:

i'm def. excited for figure skating though... that's all i watch really :lol:
 
I really enjoyed the opening ceremonies. Well, what I saw at least. I missed the first part of it due to the finale of Arrested Development.

But, I did think that it was very well done, the fireworks were lovely.

We're less than 24 hours in (US time), and I'm already sick of hearing about Michelle Kwan. Here's the latest:

All eyes on Kwan as she decides her own Olympic fate
BY MECHELLE VOEPEL
Kansas City Star

TURIN, Italy - Let the psychoanalysis begin. Never mind, it already has.

Michelle Kwan gave a news conference Saturday afternoon that left everyone - from veteran Kwan-watchers to novice observers - wondering just what they had heard.

Was it the groundwork for an eventual concession that she can't compete here in the Winter Olympics? Was it an athlete in denial? Was it an honest assessment in the aftermath of the effects of travel and several hours at the opening ceremonies and, thus, not such a big deal?

Will Kwan be going for that elusive Olympic gold next week? Or should alternate Emily Hughes be ready to catch a plane?

At different times, it sounded like all of the above.

Initially, Kwan attributed her difficulties in her first practice here Saturday to being stiff from the trip to Turin and being outside so long at Friday night's opening ceremonies. But when asked directly about the possibility of not competing, she said, "Physically, if I'm not able to skate, I will give up my spot."

As more questions about her health kept coming, Kwan eventually said, "I really have to pay attention to how I'm feeling these days. It's important that I'm in touch with it right now. And being serious about it. How I'm skating and how I'm feeling. Dropping out is not something I want to do, but I have to listen to what my feelings are."

The women's short program is Feb. 21, and the free skate two days later. For Kwan to be replaced on the U.S. team, she would have to withdraw by Feb. 18. Hughes, the younger sister of 2002 gold medalist Sarah Hughes, was the third-place finisher at the national championships last month and would get Kwan's spot.

But . . . it's too early to jump to the conclusion that will happen. Then again, it's hard not to at least speculate that it might.

Quick recap of how we got here:

Kwan, 25, didn't compete in the U.S. Nationals because of a groin injury. But she was granted a petition onto the team; on the condition she proved she would be physically ready. On Jan. 27, Kwan passed that test on her home rink in California, before a group of five from the U.S. Figure Skating Association's international committee.

At the time, committee chairman Bob Horen said, "It's truly the opinion of this monitoring team that Michelle could win the Olympics and is definitely qualified to win a medal."

Fast-forward to Saturday morning, when Kwan struggled to complete jumps in her practice session, then cut it short. She looked distressed at times during the workout.

Later, Kwan was smiling as she walked into an auditorium at the Main Media Center. The "interrogation" was slightly delayed when the first questions were softballs from Billy Bush of the television's Access Hollywood. He asked if Kwan got so nervous before competition that she threw up, why she wore Vera Wang designs and then - as other reporters began shouting derisively at him - if she had Valentine's Day plans. (For the record, she doesn't throw up, Wang is a friend and former skater who understands how costumes need to feel and, no, Kwan isn't booked for Feb. 14 - or at least wasn't going to say so.)

That farce ended, although the news conference was later interrupted by "Ross" from The Jay Leno Show, a self-described "Kwanatonian" who wondered if she had to deal with any "crazy fans."

The rest of the inquiries, though, were serious. Kwan was asked why she didn't do a run-through of either of her programs in practice.

"I was a little stiff . . . when I woke up this morning I didn't feel too good," Kwan said. "The first day of practice is kind of nerve-racking, my coach (Rafael Arutunian) isn't here today, he hasn't arrived yet. It was everything rolled into one.

"It is frustrating making mistakes in your first practice. You want to get out there and . . . get your legs under you and do your programs. But this morning, I chose not to do my programs . . . practice wasn't as easy-flowing as I wanted it to be."

To say the least. As for whether she considered not going to the opening ceremonies, in order to rest and avoid the cold, Kwan shrugged.

"It was a great experience, and I didn't want to miss it," she said.

Even without her injury, it's debatable whether Kwan still has enough in her arsenal to finish among the best three skaters in the world and earn an Olympic medal. Kwan did not pull off a triple-triple combination in the 2002 Winter Games, where she took a bronze medal.

The last time she successfully landed a triple-triple combo in competition was 2002; she said she tried one last week and didn't land it.

Her last major competition was the 2005 World Championships in March, where she finished fourth. She said she realized at that event that all elements of her skating – even those she had come to take for granted, such as spirals and footwork - had to be upgraded to keep pace under the new judging system.

Kwan laughed when asked about doing a Beilmann spin – named for skater Denise Bielmann - in which a skater reaches back and pulls her foot to her head.

"Beilmanns are difficult; I always say you're either a Beilmann skater or your not," Kwan said. "I was able to do it halfway. . . . When I was younger, I said, `Ah, I can't do it.' With the new judging system, I'm trying to yank my leg up.

"I'm not 13 anymore . . . trying to do new tricks is always difficult because your body is not used to it."

Kwan said she would be back at practice Sunday. She is the most internationally famous athlete at these Games. On the pragmatic side, she has to think of her image in terms of endorsements. If she can't skate well here, should she skate at all? Kwan has won five world championships, nine U.S. titles and two Olympic medals. Can anything that happens here tarnish that?

"I think that's something you guys have to write about," she said. "The way I think of it is that everything is always extra. I was 15 when I won my first world championship, and everything else is like a cherry on top. That's the way I see it."
 
:lol: oh jamie. :lol: If she's going to fall on triple jumps I think she should pull out and give Emily Hughes a chance. Although I wonder, if she pulls out at last minute, does Emily Hughes have a program ready? :blink:

The pairs were great. The Chinese and the Russians (wow what a surprise there. :rolleyes: ) The Canadian pairs weren't quite as good but I REALLY like Dube and Davison, I can't wait to see them at the next olympics, hopefully winning on home turf. ;)
--Mandy :angelic:
 
:lol: oh jamie. :lol: If she's going to fall on triple jumps I think she should pull out and give Emily Hughes a chance. Although I wonder, if she pulls out at last minute, does Emily Hughes have a program ready? :blink:

Hehehe :angelic: I suppose it isn't much of a surprise that I feel that way :P

She missed 4 of her 5 jumps, so I agree if she's not going to be able to land those then she should just bow out. You think she may have realized this before she petitioned the IOC to be able to compete :rolleyes:

I'm not sure if Emily Hughes has a program ready, or if she's been practicing. While I doubt she was anticipating actually competing, you think that she would have something prepared. Although I heard some announcer say that if Michelle did drop out, they weren't sure if Emily was going to be the one who replaced her. Which seemed odd to me, she is designated as the alternate :confused:
 
Who else would replace her?! :blink: Please not Katy Taylor (she won at four continents :rolleyes: ) She's so... :o_O: :lol: but I don't think she's old enough anyways. ;) and BB Liang hasn't been skating THAT well. ;)

--Mandy :angelic:
 
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