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The Winter Olympics Thread!
Anyone else bemused as to why moguls are still a thing?
We need someone to run the newspapers I suppose.
Utterly massive here in Sweden, wall to wall coverage. The rivalry between them and Norway is hilarious. The ongoing asthma medicine debate continues in cross country skiing
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/doping-scandal-hits-winter-olympics-zn7kb03zk
I'll watch the snowboarding, Lindsey Vonn 🙂 and perhaps some hockey but, yeah, anything else?
There's some real characters on here today.
I love them, and will watch almost any event. Including figure skating.
Short track speed skating is usually great value. 4X on ice.
I bloody love the winter olympics. The other one with people running about and throwing things, and the odd bit of horse-dancing, I can take or leave
I’m bemused as to why Hangul is still a thing. They had the sense to drop kanji decades ago.
Selective watching for me, some of the events are just dull (curling) but on the whole I’m loving the coverage of the culture and music backdrop.
Is Alan Baxter still in it?
I’m with the OP, watching mogul skiing is like watching an F1 car go rallying. Impressive but a waste of talent.
Too much rugby, football and boxing in the coming weeks so a pass from me. Need to fit in some riding time.
I'll be watching love the chance to watch sports that don't get much airtime over here and can't beat a bit of curling and that fast sledging that we're pretty decent and of course the Jamaican bobsleigh team
Short track speed skating is usually great value. 4X on ice.
a yes , Holland love a bit of skating don't they, for obvious reasons. I want to watch that tongan dude ski too, plus Mike Pence meeting the north Korean delegate.
Mrs_OAB and I much prefer the winter games to summer.
Anyone else bemused as to why moguls are still a thing?
Crash n burn tv, innit.
Anyone else bemused as to why moguls are still a thing?
It wouldn't be in my top 10 sports to ditch.
Looking forward to it. I can almost hear the footy fans berating how much air time it gets 😀
Opening Ceremony a bit duff- the drummers weren't drumming and the tedium of the athlete's parade...maybe because I was a performer at 2012?
I love the Winter Games as it gives you the chance to see stuff that doesn't get regular TV time - my Dutch mates will be going mad for the Long Track Speed Skating
Watch out for Norwegian Johannes Klaebo in the XC skiing - could end up with a hatful of medals, providing the 'neutral' Ruskies aren't up to their old tricks.
No dove it’s not that it was just a bit shit.
Anywhere I can watch online ?
aren't the BBC all over it? if so then iplayer will be the place to go
@dovebiker is he the guy with the weird style ? I recently had some xc skiing lessons and my intrusctor named a Norwegian kid who like runs up the slopes or something? Not classic technique at all bit smashes everyone?
iplayer not an option due to location and vpn not an option as will result in no longer having a job 😀 (and im not trying to watch in work i live on compound 5 weeks at a time so its my down time i want to watch it)
Love the Winter Olympics, actually enjoy watching the curling, but any of the sled-type sports I like, biathlon...
Always interesting watching unlikely teams taking part, like Tonga and the African nations, their lack of any sort of snow being a major impediment.
I LOVE biathlon. The combination of breath-taking xc skiing with the concentration and steadiness of target shooting, is brilliant. Although not, perhaps, the most exciting thing to watch on its own, I find xc skiing especially inspiring.
Get rid of the "judged" sports and it would be much better. What time of day is it on? I presume, due to the 9 hour time difference, it's on during the night, here in the UK.
I love the Winter Olympics! Or simply 'the Olympics' if you're Canadian lol.
CFH how did you get that cool looking Korean script in the thread title?
Unlike the Summer games, I don't think there's any Winter Olympic sport I wouldn't happily watch - I'll even watch moguls. I agree that biathlon is the best though - especially the head to head races (which is now most of them) where things can suddenly change and you get people playing catch up. That's even ignoring the awesomeness of those competing - I've done XC ski racing at a purely amateur level (like being a club runner in the London Marathon) and there's no way I could even hold a rifle steady within 30s of stopping skiing.
Bring on the 4X (snowboarding and skiing).
Come on Dave Ryding, you can do get yourself on a podium.
Love the winter olympics.
Most of the events are utterly bonkers.
85mph down a mountain on some carbon fibre planks, check.
90mph down an ice flume on a tray, check.
leaping off a huge jump at 70mph and flying through the air, check.
racing side by side down a snowy obstacle course, check.
All that and Ice Hockey too!
I’m bemused as to why Hangul is still a thing. They had the sense to drop kanji decades ago
Why shouldn’t Hangul be a thing? It’s their own alphabet, developed in the 15th century to be easy for anyone, regardless of background or education to learn:
“Hangul was designed so that even people with little education could learn to read and write. A popular saying about the alphabet is, "A wise man can acquaint himself with them before the morning is over; even a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days."[20]”
And of course they dropped Kanji ages ago, why on earth would a nation continue to use a language system forced on them by an occupying foreign nation, in this case Japan, especially considering how Koreans were treated; just try bringing up the subject of ‘comfort women’, and see what happens.
Maybe you should acquaint yourself with some background history of the region.
복사 및 붙여 넣기 Shermer
I prefer the winter olympics to the summer ones, & love the hockey.
Shame there's no NHL players allowed to play this time.
Someone stayed up until 5am watching the women's snowboarding and now regretting it. Bloody carnage it was too.
Hangul is basically our alphabet with different shapes for the letters, and its theirs, why not keep it?
Not watched much as no TV but caught the skeleton? (feet first) last night and the figure skating.
TR try eurosport if you have a sub.
Men's biathlon sprint has been the event of the games so far for me, favourites chucking shots wide mean the pursuit should be great. Foucade came across very well in interview.
woman's snowboarding was crap. A real shame as it is in a bad place anyhow and that was a joke of a final.
Absolutely loving it.
We've watched various snow board, curling, hockey, moguls(!), luge, ice dance and some ski xc stuff...
Hangul is beautiful.
Anyway, I have failed to properly understand any of the events I've seen so far… still great to watch though.
Not watched much as no TV but caught the skeleton? (feet first) last night
Skeleton = head first. Luge = feet first.
The usual TV schedule is out the window for the next two weeks in our house, Winter Olympics will take priority. Skiing, Boarding, Skating and Sliding, it's all good!
The real shame, given how much people seem to enjoy watching all the sports at the Winter Olympics, is how little coverage there is of winter sports in the intervening years in the mainstream media. 6 weeks of Ski Sunday each year is a pretty poor effort.
Luge is bloody scary, 90+mph on a s****y tray looking over your feet to see where the actual **** you’re going, with your head weighing four times what it usually does in the turns!
Skeleton isn’t any better, with your head at the pointy end, and your chin a couple of centimetres off the ice at 80-90mph!
Bugger that!
And don’t get me started on the ski jumping...😱
Agreed - mrs_oab and I stood on top of a ski jump once in Austria.
Nutters.
Totally.
Utterly.
Bonkers.
We even looked at the Calgary bob run - you just don't get how steep it is... And that was summer, without snow.
only just been catching the slopestyle so far, pretty good. looking forward to luge, skeleton, speedskating i think half pipe thing decent too, and i'll watch some curling i reckon.
get the eurosport coverage free with your amazon prime accounts btw. interface could be much better, but you get the full programme once you navigate through amazons poor interface.
men's luge final is excellent, only 10 mins in!
NK cheerleaders make it all worthwhile.
I can't wait for the fatbike races in the snow! 🙂
Oh... 🙁
Mens halfpipe is superb. Tension building with the japanese throwing down serious runs . Backside 1260 in qualifying 😀
Sick from White . finals tomorrow unmissable
On the snow board events, do you get points for hand gestures and wearing baggy kit?
I’m enjoying the women’s ice hockey, which is a surprise for me because I’m not really a fan of team games.. but it’s quick, rapid excitement.
Skiing, yeah quite like watching that too.
Snowboarding, well I’m waiting for Mr White to show me the bottom of his Board on the bbc.
No grandad you get them for boned out, tweaked to f*ck methods with sick amplitude, on the way to the MOON. Ideally lazily
🤘
Just seen Shaun White in the highlights prog. My lord that was amazing. Setting the Sky+ for 1:30am!
I’d rock the snow boarding if I had a PS3 controller wired to the board and SSX Tricky playing on my VR headset!
Some of the half pipe routines were very well put together, but you can tell where the sheer skills of Shaun shine through.
He was just sublime..
That hand grab he did was apparently the winning move 2 Olymipcs ago..
How things have changed.
2 Olympics ago, there was no way the women were getting anywhere near 1080s! Progression of the women is fantastic... but what White is doing is out of this world.
Snowboarding finals start at 1:30am? So the business end will be what an hour later? Need to work this out... max my bedtime.
edit: shred sched (ule). 🤜🏼🤛
<span class="gel-pica-bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.375rem; font-size: 1.125rem; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none;">Snowboarding </span> <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none;">Starts at <span class="gel-pica" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.375rem; font-size: 1.125rem; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none;">01:30</span></span><span class="accordion__aside display-none display-block--medium" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; word-wrap: break-word; color: #5a5a5a; outline-style: none; display: block !important;">3 events</span>
<div class="accordion__body accordion__body--snowboarding" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Arial, Helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: #252525; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">
<table class="discipline-event-list" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: -0.0625rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #dbdbdb; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; width: 810.65625px; outline-style: none;" data-istats-container="discipline-event-list">
<tbody style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none;">
<tr class="discipline-event-list__item " style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #ffffff; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #f7f7f5; outline-style: none;">
<td class="discipline-event-list__item-time" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #121212; display: block; min-width: 70px; width: 125px; outline-style: none;">01:30 - 01:56 </td>
<td class="discipline-event-list__item-description" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #121212; width: 606.3125px; outline-style: none;"><span class="discipline-event-list__item-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none;">Men's Halfpipe Final Run 1</span> </td>
<td class="discipline-event-list__item-result" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; text-align: right; color: #121212; outline-style: none;">Results </td>
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<td class="discipline-event-list__item-time" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #121212; display: block; min-width: 70px; width: 125px; outline-style: none;">02:00 - 02:26 </td>
<td class="discipline-event-list__item-description" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #121212; width: 606.3125px; outline-style: none;"><span class="discipline-event-list__item-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none;">Men's Halfpipe Final Run 2</span> </td>
<td class="discipline-event-list__item-result" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; text-align: right; color: #121212; outline-style: none;">Results</td>
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<tr class="discipline-event-list__item " style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #ffffff; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #f7f7f5; outline-style: none;">
<td class="discipline-event-list__item-time" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #121212; display: block; min-width: 70px; width: 125px; outline-style: none;">02:30 - 02:56 </td>
<td class="discipline-event-list__item-description" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5rem 8px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #121212; width: 606.3125px; outline-style: none;"><span class="discipline-event-list__item-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none;">Men's Halfpipe Final Run 3</span> <span class="discipline-event-list__item-detail gel-brevier" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.125rem; font-size: 0.875rem; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; outline-style: none;"> </span></td>
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This forum
Elise Christie's claim that she was taken out in the short track final is dubious.
She was dishing it out prior to falling.
I wish she'd dry her eyes.
I did wonder what the tears were about...
I had never heard of mixed doubles curling before. It was always men's and women's teams of four members each. But the Russian mixed doubles side has sparked my interest.
Elise Christie’s claim that she was taken out in the short track final is dubious.
She was dishing it out prior to falling.
I wish she’d dry her eyes.
1) She would have had a struggle to even get bronze had she not fallen over. She at least wins the sympathy vote (again!) by going down.
2) From one angle of slo-mo I saw she was already going over before the other skater took her hand out
3) I wish the BBC would stop showing the interminable replays. The whole country must have seen it a dozen times already.
Shaun won Gold then.. very impressive.. at the end I'm pretty sure I saw a tear or two in his eyes..
Watched the mens halfpipe final early this morning and in terms of style and fluidity I preferred the Japanese boarders 2nd run. Not saying Shaun White wasn't a worthy winner, but Ayumu Hirano's run would be the one I would want to watch again and again.
It's a tough one to call. Hirano definitely has the better style, White of late is well into the huck it and hold on camp. Also that mahoosive stance he insists on doesn't do him any favours there either. On the other hand, he does go absolutely huge, especially at the top of the pipe.
I would have liked to see Hirano win but he's only 19. Ferguson was unlucky not to get bronze, that air to fakie at the start was sick.
<p>slowoldman - cheers for clearing that up</p><p></p><p>Seosamh - you will probably have made my daughter very happy with that Amazon info.</p>
CFH that cracked me up
Women's Ice Hocky was good
Can someone explain the Russia situation to me please. Not followed it closely but as I understand it the are allowed to compete as individuals under the name of Olympic athletes from Russia. But why then are Olympic athletes from Russia listed in the medal table? Doesn't this make a mockery of the whole thing, its pretty obvious that its Russia, so either remove them from the table or just let them compete as Russia.
Or am I missing something?
The men's halfpipe was extraordinary. The silver medallist could easily have taken gold, but White really gives it everything - how he can do that with the pressure of being in second place, knowing he has to have a perfect run, is amazing. Looked like he was properly blubbing at the end!
Doesn’t this make a mockery of the whole thing,
Yes.
Or am I missing something?
No.
OAR, hmmm.. sorry but I too am not convinced. However I would imagine that they are currently all under some very rigid scrutinising regime. And that must feel uncomfortable, which I'm happy with.. if the message gets across to them, obvz.
But yes, if they win they get counted as a win and are recipients under the OAR "scheme" and classified as such.
I think white had to win it for a 1440 on the first hit was enough of a difference to win it for me.
Just reading about the Jamaican bobsleigh coach quit and is threatening to keep the sled?!
Also why is it called a sled when the sport is bobsleigh surely it should be a sleigh?
Hirano had back to back 14s on the first two hits too. I guess they scored White higher cos he went bigger.
EDIT: actually he did a method first off didn't he. Still should have won in my opinion.
Hirano did a backside air on the first hit to set up for the 14's
White went straight into them and his set-up trick was a skyhook so higher scoring set up trick, bigger amplitude and straight into the the 14's is enough to put him ahead imo
White vs Hirano:
I'm in no way technically proficient enough to spot the intricacies of the various tricks or know exactly how they're scored so I'm not saying that White shouldn't have won.
So this is purely a style thing, White seemed to 'muscle' his runs as if he was fighting the whole time whereas Hirano just looked like he had a more effortless flow about him, he made it look easier.
There was an Ed Leigh bit in the commentary something along the lines of "snowboarding is 50% about looking cool and the other 50% about knowing you look cool" and i thought Hirano looked cooler.
Either way both runs were absolutely worthy of an Olympic final and to give White his dues to pull it out the bag when you absolutely have to is what makes champions.