Olympic Updates

Keep Up With The Olympics At Balltribe Sports

2011-04-12T00:16:00.000-04:00

The Olympic off year is upon us and as we gear up for the 2012 London Summer Olympics the news for the Olympics is starting to pick up. During this time you can always check out the sports news generating daily at BallTribe. There is a nice selection of all kinds of sports over there, including Olympic news.

What is BallTribe? It is a community for sports fans and bloggers to discover, share, and vote on the best sports news of the day from anywhere on the web. Meet other sports fans and bloggers, help each other out through voting and linking to eachothers submissions, and work together to ensure that only the best of the best gets promoted to the BallTribe front page daily.

BallTribe was created because there are literally thousands of sports blogs out there on the Internet and reading them all on a daily basis would be virtually impossible for even the most passionate of sports fans. Users of the site can click through to read interesting sports articles and then vote for popular content in a very similar way to sites like Digg.com. Users are also free to write their own posts or submit a story from their favorite sports blog or news source that they think should be read by the community.

Sochi Olympics : Most Expensive Ever? Twice Cost of Vancouver

2010-03-02T23:34:00.000-05:00

The 2014 Sochi Winter Games will head into the record book as being the most expensive Winter Olympics to date. The estimated cost of the event is already being estimated at $12 billion. That's well over twice the cost of the Vancouver Games.

Sochi, unlike Vancouver, lacks venues and infrastructure which is a huge part of the costs as well as a poor world economy over the last few years.

The Russian government has allocated 250 billion roubles ($8.34 billion) from the National Wealth Fund to set up a home loan programme which should support struggling construction sector that was one of the drivers of the Russian economic growth before the crisis.

The Russian government is stepping up to cover a huge portion of the bill for Sochi but some estimates about the deteriorating infrastructure as well as the creation of new venues may put the cost around the $20 billion mark!

Vancouver Closing Ceremonies: Pros and Cons of the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010-02-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games are hosting their Closing Ceremonies as we take a look back at some of the pros and cons of the Games.

The events started off with tragedy as Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died within hours of the Opening Ceremonies. The weather did not cooperate and the events were filled with peaks and valleys.

Canada finally won a Gold Medal when hosting the Olympics and led the crowd with 14.

The once dominant Russian teams, however, barely failed to show up on the charts finishing in 6th place with only 15 medals (3 gold). This is a far cry from the athletic machine of the 80's and 90's and not exactly a positive note heading into the 2014 Sochi Winter Games hosted in southern Russia. Russia failed to medal in hockey for the first time in over 4 decades.

The following AP report takes an in-depth look at the highs and lows of the 2010 Vancouver Games.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — These Olympics will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

For every golden moment, there was a glitch. Opening day of an electrifying hockey tournament in Vancouver was also the day 20,000 tickets had to be canceled for Cypress Mountain.

Even the games' emotional high point — a figure-skating bronze for Canada's Joannie Rochette, whose mother had died four days earlier — was tinged with sorrow.

And it all began, of course, with the worst news imaginable.

Son of a Soviet-era slider, pride of a spruce-nestled ski town half a world away, member of an almost laughably small Olympic delegation, Nodar Kumaritashvili shot down the luge track at nearly 90 mph. (....continue reading....)

Canada outlasts U.S. for hockey gold

2010-02-28T21:00:00.000-05:00

In the end, Team Canada's Sidney Crosby was able to outlast Team USA's Ryan Miller. A tough Gold Medal game had to go into overtime before Crosby was able to slip one past the fantastic Miller.

The men's hockey game was one of the final events before the closing ceremonies Saturday night when Vancouver closes out its Games and hands the torch to Sochi, Russia.

The Games started out a tad slow for Canada but in the end they were able to lead all nations in Gold Medals (not total Medals) with 14. USA led total Medals with 37.

Canadian men’s hockey has a golden Olympic shimmer once again.

The Canadian national team hung on for a stressful 3-2 victory in overtime to give the country a second Olympic gold medal to celebrate in eight years.

Sidney Crosby provided the heroics Sunday, seven minutes and 40 seconds into the extra period. He capped off a give-and-go with Jarome Iginla for the winner.

This time around, it obviously wasn’t as easy as when Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Co. stormed to a 5-2 victory in Salt Lake City. But winning at home at Canada Hockey Place was more satisfying and ignited one heck of a party nationwide.

The hockey win also gave Canada an Olympic-record 14 gold medals by a country in a single Winter Games. (....continue reading....)

Billy Demong to Carry U.S.A. Flag For 2010 Vancouver Olympics Closing Ceremonies

2010-02-28T15:02:00.000-05:00

[via About.com] The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) announced that Olympic gold medalist Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) has been selected as U.S.A. flag bearer for tonight's 2010 Vancouver Olympics Closing Ceremony. Demong was selected for this honor by his fellow members of Team USA.

"Being chosen as flag bearer is a phenomenal honor," Demong said. "It could have been any one of my teammates, and it is meaningful that our peers are taking notice of what we've achieved."

He made history on Thursday by winning the USA's first-ever Nordic Combined gold medal in the Individual Large Hill/10 km Cross Country competition with a time of 25:32.9, four seconds ahead of teammate Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO). Demong's celebration continued Thursday night when he proposed to girlfriend Katie Koczynski. (...continue reading...)

Fake Ryan Miller Guarantees Gold on MSNBC, Real One Just Wants to Play

2010-02-28T14:14:00.001-05:00

Team USA will play Team Canada today for the rights to the Gold Medal. Many Canadians take for granted that their home team will bring home the Gold as does Team USA's goalie, Ryan Miller, who all but guaranteed a win tonight.

OK, he didn't really do that but someone pretending to be Miller did on MSNBC. Apparently, the channel has hired Dan Rather's team of fact checkers to screen calls. Funny stuff. Here's the interview followed by the apology for MSNBC realizing they were victims of a prank.

The real Ryan Miller comes on the air to point out that MSNBC is a bunch of screwballs. [via Sporting News]

Joannie Rochette to carry the flag for Canada in Closing Ceremonies

2010-02-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

[via Edmonton Journal]

VANCOUVER — Joannie Rochette won the hearts of Canadians with her emotional skate Thursday to win the bronze medal just days after her mother died. Sunday she was chosen as Canada’s flag-bearer for the closing ceremony.

Rochette, of Ile Dupas, Que., decided to compete in the Games to honour her mother Therese, who died Feb. 21 of a heart attack. She placed third after the short program and maintained that position after the free skate.

“I could not be here without my teammates and all the support I got,” Rochette said at a media conference Sunday. (....continue reading....)

Germany slides into pursuit gold medal

2010-02-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

[via NBC Olympics]

VANCOUVER (AFP) -- Germany edged out Japan to win the Olympic Games women's speed skating team pursuit title on Saturday, but only after golden girl Anna Friesinger-Postma had crawled comically across the line in the semi-finals.

Racing against the US, the 33-year-old stumbled on the final lap before slipping headfirst along the Richmond Oval ice and then crawling across the final 25 metres to get over the line, just 0.23sec ahead of the Americans.

In the final, the Japanese team led the Germans for five laps as Stephanie Beckert, Daniela Anschutz Thomas and Katrin Mattscherodt trailed by more than a second.

But in the final 600 meters Germany turned up the heat and crossed the line in 3min 2.82sec to take gold by just 0.02sec.

The Japanese team of Masako Hozumi, Nao Kodaira and Maki Tabata took silver with Poland claiming bronze. (....continue reading....)

Anderson's comeback gives Canada PGS gold

2010-02-27T22:56:00.000-05:00

[via NBC Olympics] WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Canadian Jasey Jay Anderson put the exclamation point on his incredible resume Saturday, winning Olympic gold to slap some sunshine on an otherwise miserable day for snowboarding.

The 34-year-old from Quebec, owner of seven World Cup championships, carved through the rain-sluiced, fogged-in course at Cypress Mountain to make up a .76-second deficit over Benjamin Karl of Austria, the top-ranked rider in the world.

"Shock," Anderson said when asked how he felt. "That's it."

He won the 12th gold medal of the Vancouver Games for Canada, which put the host in good position to win the gold-medal standings with only one day left.

And he won his first Olympic medal in four tries, adding it to his four world championship golds and a career that has done more than anyone's to spread the word of snowboarding across his wintry country.

"It's amazing the amount of energy I sucked out of people around me," Anderson said. "And it's amazing to be able to give something back." (....continue reading...)

Canada wins gold in men's team pursuit

2010-02-27T22:47:00.000-05:00

[via NBC Olympics] "I think I'll join the bowling tour," he joked to his young teammates. "Have y'all ever seen me bowl?"

Hedrick wanted to go out with gold Saturday, but didn't seem too upset about settling for silver in his farewell to speedskating, losing out to the Canadians by a mere 21-hundredths of a second in the final of team pursuit.

The 32-year-old Texan claimed his fifth medal _ in five different events, making him one of only four males in Olympic history to compile such a versatile resume.

"It's sort of bittersweet," Hedrick said. "I was reflecting on everything as I was out there after the race, just sitting down on the bench, looking around and soaking up the atmosphere. It's definitely been a great ride."

Nobody left a more lasting impression in a last Olympic race than Anni Friesinger-Postma. (...continue reading...)

Bode Miller Misses Gate, DNF in Slalom

2010-02-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

Team USA skier Bode Miller decided to compete in this year's Olympics and the effort has paid off. Unlike his 2006 fiasco, Bode was able to stay focused and came back from Vancouver with 3 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). His event on Saturday, the slalom, resulted in Bode not finishing after he missed a gate.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Having already matched the most medals won by any country at any Winter Olympics, Americans went into the last two days of the Vancouver Games seeing how many more they can add.
The U.S. total is officially 34, although two more are locked up, guaranteed to be gold or silver. One of those was to be determined Saturday afternoon, when speedskater Chad Hedrick and the men's team pursuit squad raced against Canada.
The women were in the bronze-medal race in the same event, having lost a semifinal Saturday. If they can beat Poland for medal No. 37, that would break a tie between this U.S. delegation and the Germans at Salt Lake City in 2002.
If not, maybe Steve Holcomb and his "Night Train" can do it. They are strong favorites to win the four-man bobsled race after setting track records in both of their first two heats. The final two heats were later Saturday afternoon.
Bode Miller won't be adding anything beyond the gold, silver and bronze he's already won. He bailed out just a few gates into the slalom Saturday morning, a casualty of "grabby" snow that bedeviled a slew of skiers. (....continue reading....)

Canada Beats the Pants off Norway; Takes Gold in Curling

2010-02-27T20:45:00.004-05:00

Oh, those Norwegian pants!

Team Canada and Norway faced off Saturday night for the Gold Medal in curling. Since the sport returned in 1998 Canada men's and women's team have always won a medal. The men going into tonight have 2 Silvers and 1 Gold from 2006.

Canada would have won the Gold Medal in 2002 if it were not for a slightly better team from Norway being able to win. The rematch tonight turned out different as Canada easily won the match 6-3. The home crowd even began singing "O' Canada" in the last frame which made Canada skipper Kevin Martin pause until the song finished.

Earlier in the day Sweden and Switzerland battled for the Bronze Medal with the Swiss winning 5-4.

Kevin Martin took the step Saturday that he's waited his whole, brilliant curling career to take — to the top of the Olympic podium.

The 43-year-old Edmontonian, who's spent eight years dealing with questions about his loss in the 2002 Olympic final, put those questions, finally, to rest at the Vancouver Olympic Centre, skipping Team Canada to a 6-3 victory over Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in the men's curling gold-medal game.

It was Canada's 25th medal of the Olympics, surpassing its Turin total of 24, and making it Canada's best-ever Winter Olympic performance.

Martin, third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert (the team is rounded out by alternate Adam Enright and coach Jules Owchar) also made Olympic history, becoming the first team since curling was reinstated as a medal sport in 1998 to go unbeaten through the tournament. (...continue reading....)

USA delivers first gold in four-man bobsled since 1948

2010-02-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

[via USA Today] WHISTLER — W.H. Auden wrote a poem called Night Train about a train crossing the border and delivering mail. Driving the bobsled nicknamed Night Train, USA-1 pilot Steven Holcomb crossed the border and delivered a long-awaited gift: a U.S. Olympic gold in four-man bobsled Saturday for the first time since 1948.

USA-1's performance — with Holcomb driving near perfect and Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz pushing the sled at the start — was poetry in high-speed motion.

Starting at 3,044 feet above sea level and dropping 472 vertical feet with speeds reaching 94 mph in less than minute on one of the fastest, most demanding and treacherous sliding tracks in the world, USA-1 was the best sled over the course of four heats in two days. (....continue reading.....)

8 Greatest Olympic Blunders

2010-02-27T10:55:00.000-05:00

Sven Kramer lost the 10,000 meter speed skating race after his coach told him to change lanes at the wrong time. He would have easily won the event but was disqualified.

In light of the recent snafu in the men's 10,000 meters speed skating event, here's a list of eight of the greatest gaffes in Olympic history.

Canada Women Celebrate Gold in Redneck Style

2010-02-27T01:40:00.000-05:00

via Yahoo Sports

The Canadian women's hockey team won the Gold Medal by overpowering the United States on Thursday night. However, after the game the team appeared on the ice with cans of beer, cigars, and bubbly to celebrate. [see photos]

In my neck of the woods this is what rednecks do after a game of golf so it's a little odd to see an Olympic team doing this.

Thankfully, the crowd had gone away and the women were just having some fun. Turns out they didn't look out for the media who had a field day with it.

No harm done but Hockey Canada apologized for the event. The IOC threatened punishment but has since backed off.

Sochi Olympics hit $1 billion in sponsor deals

2010-02-26T23:20:00.001-05:00

As the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games are coming to close we already start to look forward to the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in Russia. Event organizers are already planning on extra security as the games head to the war torn region. Hopefully in four years the issues such as the Russian-Georgain conflict and Chechnya conflict will not be an issue.

Some good news happened in the financial department as Organizers have topped $1 billion in sponsor deals this week. The biggest problem Sochi faces, outside of its location in a war-torn region, is actually being ready for the Olympics.

The creation of the alpine slopes for events will not even be ready until 2012, just 2 years prior. Many of the facilities, including the Olympic Villiage, will not be ready until 2013 so they are cutting it close. 2004 Athens close.

But with money coming in here's hoping for a smooth creation of the facilities.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Organizers of the 2014 Winter Olympics have topped $1 billion in domestic sponsorship deals.

Putting them over the mark is a $115 million deal with Russian Railways. The agreement was announced Friday at the Vancouver Games. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak attended the signing ceremony at the 2014 Sochi House. (...continue reading....)

Sauerbreij wins 1st Dutch Olympic snowboard gold

2010-02-26T23:11:00.000-05:00

[via NBC Olympics] WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- If the spectacle of a course worker wringing out the snow with a squeegee didn't tell the story, then the absurdity of the snowboarders riding up the lift with umbrellas certainly did.

The Olympic parallel giant slalom course resembled a Slip-N-Slide on Friday.

Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands splashed her way through it best.

"You couldn't see anything," said Sauerbreij, the first Dutch snowboarder to win gold. "You were just going, and every bump in the course was a surprise."

Somehow through all that slop and slush, she stayed on her feet for all 10 runs. She won her gold in what is supposed to be the most staid of Olympic snowboarding events -- one that turned into something else.

(....continue reading...)

USAs Katherine Reutter Takes Silver in Speed Skating

2010-02-26T23:07:00.003-05:00

Short track speed skater Katherine Reutter took home the Silver Medal Friday night by holding off Seung-hi of South Korea for the last few laps. China's Wang Meng easily won the Gold Medal.

Short-track speedskater Katherine Reutter of the U.S. won the silver medal in the women's 1,000 meters Friday night at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Wang Meng of China won the gold in 1:29.213; Reutter finished in 1:29.324 and Park Seung-hi of South Korea won the bronze in 1:29.372. Yang Zhou of China was disqualified for interference and finished fourth.

This is Reutter's second medal in Vancouver. She was also part of the bronze-winning 3,000-meter relay team. (....continue reading....)

Apolo Anton Ohno disqualified in men's 500-meter final

2010-02-26T22:49:00.002-05:00

Apolo Anton Ohno will have to wait for the relay to get his chance at an 8th Olympic medal. During the 500m short track event, Ohno was disqualified after putting his hand on the hip of Canada's Francois-Louis Tremblay at the very end of the last lap.

Ohno and Charles Hamelin of Canada were able to finish the race. South Korea's Sung Si-Bak fell and slide across the line for 2nd. Because Francois-Louis Tremblay fell, Ohno was disqualified. Tremblay was awarded 3rd place.

The Gold from Hamelin puts Canada with 9 and tied for 1st place in the Gold Medal count with Germany.

A Brief History of Olympic Sore Losers

2010-02-26T22:35:00.001-05:00

Russia's Evegni Plushenko believes he deserved the men's figure-skating gold medal instead of silver at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. In honor of his poor sportsmanship, TIME takes a look at other Olympic complainers

USA rides six-goal first period to 6-1 win, gold-medal game

2010-02-26T17:49:00.001-05:00

Team USA beat Canada last week but many were wondering if the team had what it takes to fly through the rest of the tournament and win the Gold Medal.

Facing a strong Finland team Friday put those questions to rest as Team USA jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first period and easily held on to advance.

VANCOUVER — The U.S. men's Olympic hockey team enjoyed its best single-period production in 46 years en route to a 6-1 win against Finland that puts USA in the gold medal game.

SUMMARY: USA 6, Finland 1

The undefeated Americans (5-0) scored all six goals in the first period as they continued to be the most surprising team in the Olympic tournament. The six goals represented USA's highest one- period output since USA scored six in a period in 1964. (...continue reading....)

Olympic Update: China Beats Swiss for Womens Curling Bronze

2010-02-26T14:23:00.002-05:00

Team China took an early lead in the Bronze Medal round of women's curling and never looked back. After scoring 3 in the first end, China led 5-1 by the 3rd end and finished with a strong 12-6 victory.

The game finished in the 8th end after China scored 4 points. Canada will play 2006 Gold Medal winner Sweden later tonight.

In the end, Wang Bingyu gave her coach plenty to celebrate: China is going home with some hardware from its first Olympics in curling.

Wang, better known as "Betty," and the reigning world champion Chinese women bounced back from a semifinal loss to defending champion Sweden to earn a bronze medal Friday, beating Switzerland 12-6 in a shortened eight-end match. (...continue reading....)

Lindsey Vonn's Olympics end with 2 medals after she skies out of slalom in Vancouver finale

2010-02-26T14:16:00.004-05:00

Team USA's Lindsey Vonn entered the Olympics with doubts to her shin as she was expected to contend in multiple events. Although she was physically able to compete, Vonn finished with 1 Gold Medal, 1 Bronze and a few crashes.

Today's slalom event was not Vonn's strong event and she quickly skied out of the event when she missed a gate.

WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP) — Lindsey Vonn's Olympics is over after she skied out of the women's slalom, her last Alpine event in Vancouver.

Vonn straddled a gate in the first half of her run Friday. She could not correct her line after her right, outside ski slid away coming out of a left-hand turn.

She skied down to the finish area, smiled ruefully and was seen saying, "I don't know what's going on."

Vonn was not expected to win a medal in slalom. She struggled in the event on the World Cup circuit this season even before a series of injuries this month.

She skied with a broken right pinkie that was protected by a hard plastic casing. She also had back pain from a crash at Wednesday's giant slalom. (...continue reading...)

South Korea erupts in joy as its `queen' wins gold

2010-02-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

[via Washington Post] SEOUL, South Korea -- For five minutes, all of South Korea held its breath, watching from offices, subway trains and packed restaurants as Kim Yu-na floated and twisted and twirled across Olympic ice. Then, as their "Queen Yu-na" made history by winning the country's first gold medal and a world record in figure skating, everyone erupted in a deafening cheer.

As tears of relief flowed down Kim's face, there was not a dry eye in sight here, either.

"I felt a lump in my throat when I saw Yu-na crying," said Lee Ji-soo, 24, watching the competition at a rink where Kim once trained.

(....continue reading....)

Nordic Combined a Good Day for USA

2010-02-26T02:56:00.000-05:00

[via NBC Olympics] WHISTLER (AP) -- They swore they didn't care which one of them won gold to become America's first Olympic champion in a Nordic sport.

Anyone who watched, knew Bill Demong skied to win.

He attacked on the final hill, hustled into the stadium and raced across the finish line well ahead of three-time silver medalist Johnny Spillane, giving the United States a 1-2 finish Friday in the large hill competition at Nordic combined.

Challenging wind gusts and pelting rain, sleet and snow on the jump hill did little to dampen the Americans' jubilation.

"I don't think either of us really cared which one was first or second," Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y., said after ending America's golden goose egg in Nordic sports at the Winter Games by winning the 10-kilometer cross-country leg in 25 minutes, 32.9 seconds. (....continue reading....)