Winter Olympics

Now that the excitement of the Super Bowl has died down, it's time for the Winter Olympics in South Korea.  Honestly, I didn't know South Korea was a winter site with high mountains.  Sorry that my geography background is so limited.

This Olympics has lots of political implications.  Will combining their athletes lead to peace between the two Koreas?  Did Mike Pence ever interact with Kim Jong Un's sister, or if he's still there, will he?  Given the political climate in today's world, I worry a lot about these things.

Thursday night I watched the figure skating and wondered why it was scheduled before the opening ceremony.  It seemed like most of the men favored to score highest fell down, including Nathan Chen of the U.S. Imagine how it must feel to skate the event of your life and fail.  Of course, they have another chance but still, it must be humiliating to topple over in front of the biggest audience in the world.  The pressure has to be excruciating and maybe that's why things don't go well.

I wanted to watch the opening ceremony but kept falling asleep.  When you think about it, watching dozens of athletes marching into a stadium isn't the most riveting spectacle.  I missed the lighting of the Olympic torch, which I always enjoy.  Oh well.

I watched the snowboarding and wondered who would allow their kid to engage in such a perilous sport.  Those guys jumping into space, twisting and turning themselves into pretzels, was terrifying.  I was happy for the 17 year-old from the U.S. who won gold, but he could have killed himself along the way, and given his age, he'll probably compete again and again.

Today I watched the "skiathlon" a cross-country ski race and cheered for the Norwegian who crashed during the race, got up and kept going and won gold.  What perseverance does that take?  Amazing. 

 I wonder if the silver and bronze medalists in Olympic events are disappointed they didn't win gold.  No one seems to remember #2 and #3.  But worst of all, imagine coming in fourth, so close to the podium but so far.  That must hurt.

I now know the difference between Alpine and Nordic skiing.  Alpine skis are wider and the skier's heel is fixed.  Alpine skiers go downhill. Nordic skiers have longer, narrower skis and their heels aren't fixed so they can lift them.  Also, they go up and downhill both.  Cross country skiing is a Nordic event.  Will I remember this when the next winter Olympics comes up?  Maybe. 

The 5000 meter speed skating event was fun to watch, too.  The Dutch athlete who won is the "king of speedskating."  He's now won 3 gold medals.  He seems like a nice, modest young man, too.

More figure skating to come, more skiing and speedskating.  My TV watching for the next two weeks is set.