Running 2018 Winter Games thread

I think the Winter Olympics, for being smaller than the summer games, are infinitely crueler. Conditions change, the risk of death or permanent injury is there for skiers, snowboarders and sliders (Jill Kinmont, Jimmy Morgan, Kevin Pearce, the Georgian luger Nodar in Vancouver), throw in one slip on ice, one misplaced foot, and a lifetime of preparation is shot. In the summer games, you just feel crummy for the people who finish fourth.

 

There is no better visual sport than snowboard cross. Just awesome.

 

It just seems really difficult to win skiing gold medals, and we've been a little spoiled by summer Olympians like Michael Phelps, which re-sets expectations about what an Olympic star need accomplish. Lindsey Vonn is the most famous active American Olympic downhill skier. She has two career medals - a gold and a bronze. I think the unpredictability of the conditions, from one inch to the next really, and the thin margins between competitors, makes it difficult to be Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt of downhill events.

This was in cross skiing, but last night, Jessie Diggins of the United States finished fifth, and the post-race interview started down the road of how disappointing it must be, etc. And she was thrilled as hell. In that sport, people are just collapsing in agony when they finish. They leave everything out there, and let the chips fall as they may. It's like the NCAA Tournament, though. For the public, anything short of the Final Four/podium is a failure.

 

It's really fun. I know figure skating and snowboard freestyle events are amazing to watch and produce the big stars, but I'll always love the sports where subjectivity is removed and it's just a race to the finish line. Even better in that sport where you have six people out there together, with yard sales all over the place.

 

Is that drop-in start new? I don't remember them doing that in the past.

 

It’s quite amazing, still, that almost every athlete interviewed after a skiing or skating event can answer questions in English. And even more amazing is that no one Thanks God and Jesus for letting them win.

 

I think most of the gold medalists would thank Thor, from what I've been watching.

 

It is definitely the Games event that makes me say, "holy shit, let's see some more of that" to my TV.

 

Me neither.

Either way, Lindsay Jacobellis is going to lose.

 

If it requires judges to determine the score, my interest in it drops. Figure skating is the worst -- not only are there judges to score the routines, part of the scoring is based on what was formerly called artistic merit, which includes “interpretation of music.”

 

And I definitely love the crazy-person sports -- things like ski jumping, downhill skiing, snowcross, luge and especially skeleton.

 

Judging contests, for the most part, belong to game shows, dog shows and beauty pageants.