Winter Olympics

1,300 of these medals will be awarded!

I went to St. Petersburg, Russia as a class trip in high school so I've really enjoyed watching all the coverage of Sochi. If you've been following all the news coverage about Sochi you might have heard about the hilarious and horrendous conditions there. Did you know that Canada brought its own beer dispensing vending machine? lol All you have to do is swipe your Canadian passport and you get a free beer!The funniest part of the Opening Ceremony was the Russian Police Choir singing Da Punk's Get Lucky. video

Last Friday I went to an Olympic Opening Ceremony party and had so much fun! Here are some pics from the event, that line of parked cars was people waiting to drop off with the valet! lol

s'mores for outdoor fire

ice sculpture

The Jamaican bobsledders (remember the movie Cool Runnings) had a quite a hurdle to reach Sochi this year as they didn't have enough money to attend, specifically the $80,000 to pay for training and equipment which they had used their personal funds to buy. The Jamaica Olympic Association only covers their air and hotel so the International Olympic Committee did step in to offer to pay their costs. But instead the bobsledders set up a last minute internet campaign and surpassed their goal. Then their flights from New York to Sochi lost their equipment and luggage! It did eventually arrived but the TSA had opened up their protein powder containers in their luggage and not properly sealed them closed so their suitcase with full of powder. One said,"In my helmet today I had protein powder going into my eyes."

The hand knit sweaters Team USA worn for the opening ceremony drew some criticism since they resembled Christmas sweaters! lol Unlike at the London games, these sweaters were made in the USA by Ralph Lauren whose website is already sold out them which retailed for $600.

There's already been a wardrobe malfunction. A Russian Speed skater unzipped her costume after her race not realizing she had nothing on underneath. photo

I enjoyed watching a new event this year at the Olympics called Slopestyle which is snowboarding with the goal of performing the most difficult tricks while getting the highest amplitude off of jumps. Basically its aerial acrobatics flipping around upside town 3 times in one jump. One funny moment was watching the coach for Finland knitting at the top of the slope. lol Here's a picture of the Gold Winner Sage Kotsenburg from America:

One of the competitors trained on a dry slope, which is an artificial ski slope used for practice and training.

Did you know that women aren't allowed to ski jump in the Olympics, even though they've been petitioning for years?

The Dutch won the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in Speed Skating which is a sport I had never heard of until my co-worker told me her 10 year old son does it. But did you know the American team has a black speed skater? Shani Davis. He grew up with a single mom on the south side of Chicago, no ice rings near him, but he won Gold at the last two Winter Olympics. He's the first African-American to win a solo medal at a Winter Olympic game. If you saw the movie the Incredibles, Frozone, the black superhero with ice powers was inspired by Shani Davis. In 2002 he inspired DC Inner City Excellence, which is located at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena in DC which encourages exposure to the ice to children of all ethnic backgrounds.