Well, the Olympics are over. My GPA is a little worse for wear, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed and it was most definitely worth watching the Games instead of working on papers. (Or studying for my exams…)

I thought about making a list of the highs and lows of the Games, but I decided to make a list of just the awesome moments (in no particular order) instead. No one likes to dwell on the negatives, right?

• Alexandre Bilodeau winning Canada’s first gold medal at a home Olympics
  Alexandre was totally deserving of the medal and he seems to be like a genuinely nice guy. The fact that he beat the Australian-but-really-Canadian-athlete-who-got-rich-from-distributing-malware Dale Begg-Smith was pretty good icing on the cake, too.
• Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo’s gold medal in the pairs figure skating
  Shen/Zhao had the classic comeback story and were the sentimental favorites to win the competition. They skated spectacularly and now they can ease into retirement with the gold medal! Not only am I ecstatic about their win, but it was also very nice to see the Russian pair (Kavaguti/Smirnov) being kept off the podium.
• Evan Lysacek’s gold medal in the men’s figure skating
  HE SKATED SO SPECTACULARLY! It would have just been wrong had he not won gold. Hopefully Plushenko and the rest of Russia will stop complaining about how Plushenko allegedly deserves the gold more than Lysacek. I mean, Plushenko calling his silver medal “platinum”? Really, Plushenko? Really? Besides, Plushenko’s routine was boring to watch.
• The three medalists in the women’s figure skating
  All three of the women who medaled in women’s figure skating were spectacular. Kim Yu-Na skates with such grace, poise, and elegance; Mao Asada was the first to land a triple axel in the competition’s history; and Joannie Rochette had such composure in the face of the tragedy of losing her mother days before the competition. I have no words to describe how utterly remarkable these three women are.
• Shaun White’s gold medal for half-pipe
  Call him the Flying Tomato, call him the Animal. Whatever name you use, Shaun White is flippin’ awesome and I am so happy that he won the gold.
• Apolo Ohno becoming the most decorated US Winter Olympian in history
  Apolo is amazing. Enough said. (And I don’t think it was fair of him to be disqualified in the 500m men’s short track speed skate.)
• Hannah Kearney winning gold in the women’s mogul
  She’s so adorable! I absolutely loved how she narrated her montage in her post-competition interview.

There were many more awesome Olympic moments (obviously, I didn’t watch the whole of the Olympic Games in its entirety); these just happen to be my top favorites!

On an unrelated note, thanks to all those who nominated and voted for my blog in the 2010 Bloggies in the Best Teen Weblog category! I didn’t win, but it really means a lot to me that people took the time to recognize my blog in the awards process.

Tags: olympics, sports

I have a mile-long list of things I need to do but I’m way too busy watching the Olympics to do any of it. Somehow, I suspect saying “I was watching history in the making!!” to my professors won’t excuse my incomplete assignments and lack of studying.

The funny thing is that I don’t even like watching sports in general. I have zero interest in the Super Bowl or the World Series or anything else. But there’s something about the Olympics that I positively love. Call it the Olympic spirit, call it admiration for the athletes’ drive and determination for an event that rolls around only once every four years, call it me needing to find a reason to procrastinate from schoolwork. Whatever it is, I love the Olympics and this week has been like heaven for me.

The Opening Ceremony is always my favorite part of any Olympic games because I love watching the show the host nation puts on for the world. Vancouver’s Opening Ceremony was decent; there were a lot of things I was puzzled by (like the kid flying in the fake wheat field) but I enjoyed most of it. The Parade of Nations is the part I like most about any Opening Ceremony. I love seeing all the nations come together and hearing the commentators point out interesting trivia about different teams/nations and their athletes. Also, sometimes nations have eclectic outfits – the pants of the Azerbaijani team, anyone?

Currently the Vancouver Games are about halfway through and already I can pick out some of my favorite moments of the Games. I’m really hoping that by the time the Games are over I’ll have a very long list of highlights and a (very) short list of lows that I’ll have compiled. Y’know, to show that I’m doing something productive as I watch the Olympics and ignore my steadily increasing pile of homework. Depending on how tonight’s male figure skating turns out (aka if Plushenko takes gold), that list of lows might have a new addition…

Tags: olympics, sports