Winter Olympics Part V: Sochi Wrap-Up

There were a number of amazing things about the Sochi Winter Olympics, here's a short list of stuff you should know.

Alright, this is it, the last Olympics post! (At least until the Summer Olympics in 2016. Rio, yeah! But I digress.) Before I get back to my regularly scheduled program of international myths, mystery, and history (Hey! I have a regularly scheduled program!), here are the highlights of the XXII Winter Olympics.

New Events
Twelve new events were introduced at Sochi:

• Men and Women's Ski Half-Pipe
• Men and Women's Snowboard Slopestyle
• Men and Women's Ski Slopestyle
• Men and Women's Snowboard Parallel Slalom
• Women's Ski Jumping
• Biathalon Mixed Relay
• Figure Skating Team
• Luge Team Relay

Women's Ski Jumping was an early favorite, won by Carina Vogt of Germany. The Figure Skating Team was also a hit, with Russia taking the Gold, Canada the silver, and the US the bronze, while the world enjoyed a preview of the individual events to come.

Carina Vogt (German), who won the first ever Olympic Gold in Women's Ski Jump (by Manugf [Wikimedia Commons])

US Ice Dancing Gold Medal
 Meryl Davis and Charlie White gave the US their first Gold medal in Ice Dancing, skating to music from "My Fair Lady" in the Short Dance and Scheherazade in the Free Dance. The pair have been skating together for 17 years.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships (photo by Luu [Wikimedia Commons])

Men's Snowboard Half-pipe
American favorite Shaun White finished fourth in Men's Half-pipe after a pair of runs that were decidedly less than his best (in his defense, he is coming back from a back injury). Iouri Podladtchikov, competing for Switzerland, landed the Gold and flipped his way into superstardom.

*There were numerous concerns about the safety and suitability of the half-pipe, as there have been about several other courses at Sochi.

US Bobsled
The Men's two-man team grabbed the bronze medal, the first medal for the US Men's two-man since 1952.
The Women's two-woman bobsled teams claimed both silver and bronze, behind Canada's gold. This is the first time the US has had two teams medal.
The first run of the four-man team (a men's only event) will happen on the 22nd with the gold medal run happening on the 23rd (at 4:30am E if you're brave enough to watch it live).


Women's Hockey: US vs. Canada
After a loss to the Canadians for Gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics, the US women's hockey team was more than ready for a rematch. They faced Canada in the gold medal match on the 20th, but Canada pulled out a win in overtime, relegating US to the Silver.

The US Men's Hockey team will face Canada in the semifinals today at Noon E. and the gold medal match will happen on the 23rd.

The Olympics will finish up this Sunday, the 23rd. With the way the standings have been fluctuating, I'm not quite sure which country will come out on top, though Russia, the US, Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands seem to have been fighting it out for the last week or so to top the medal counts. Then, of course, there's Germany and Switzerland... I give up. Go Team USA!

So there's my recap, consisting, I will admit, mostly of what I was paying attention to. :) What were your favorite parts of the games?

Winter Olympics Part IV: The Jamaican Bobsled Team

After a twelve year absence, the Jamaicans are back in the Olympic bobsled competition.

In 1988, Jamaica, a warm, Caribbean country entered a four-man bobsled team in the Calgary Winter Olympics.

Five years later, the team was immortalized in the Disney movie Cool Runnings, a fantastic funny flick, well worth your time. While the movie got many things wrong (for example, the crash happened in the qualifiers, the team was never in the running for a medal), it helped create a legend.

Devon Harris, a member of the 1988, 1992, and 1998 Jamaican Bobsled team, now travels the world as a motivational speaker. (Wikimedia)

Jamaica returned to the Winter Olympics with a four-man team in 1992, 1994, and 1998, and offered a two-man team in 2002. The Jamaicans failed to qualify in 2006 and 2010.

But now, the Jamaican bobsled team is back at the Sochi Olympics with a two-man team.

Winston Watts, who was part of the 1994 and 1994 four-man and the 2002 two-man team, and his brakeman Marvin Dixon qualified by competing in a number of smaller events over the past year. But qualifying was just the start. Getting to the Olympics is an expensive proposition and the Jamaican team didn't have enough money to make it.

But two things have saved them: the Legend and the Internet.

Thanks to the movie, the entire world knows of Jamaica's bobsled team and, with the unifying power of the Internet, fundraisers were set up to help the Jamaicans make it to Sochi. The goal was 80,000 dollars, but as the world came out in support, the Jamaicans were able to raise 120,000 dollars to get them to Sochi.

The Jamaicans are certainly not the favorites for the two-man bobsled, but they have impressed many with their upbeat attitude and bright smiles. Late luggage and bad conditions are no match for this indomitable team.

For a smile, check out this video of a dance-off between the Jamaican bobsled team and the American women's bobsled team.

The two-man bobsled competition will take place on the 16th and 17th, with the gold medal run scheduled for 11a E on the 17th.

Share Spotlight: Women to Watch at Sochi

This week's Share Spotlight comes from the Verily Magazine blog.
Women to Watch at Sochi

It's currently all Olympics all the time here (don't worry, I'll get back to neat factoids about the world and the people who live in it after they finish) and Verily Magazine brings us the stories of five women competing in a variety of sports over the next week.

These are women that most people wouldn't see because they are not in sports we associate with female athletes. From the brand-new women's Ski Jump to the harrowing Skeleton to the thrilling Snowboard cross, these women are incredible athletes doing what few in the world could even dream of doing.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch them when they air, but I've got a few others I'm watching. I love to watch Shaun White on a snowboard, particularly the half pipe (which happens at 10:00a and 12:30p E today). I also love the figure skating and the ice dancing, much for the same reason, the grace and strength exhibited on the ice.

What are your favorite sports to watch? Favorite athletes to cheer for? What stories get you invested in these athletes who go so far from home to compete for the sake of their country?

Winter Olympics Part III: Politics in Sochi

Politics has always played a part in the Olympics, and Sochi is certainly no exception. 

Ever since Sochi was announced as the host of the 2014 Winter Olympics in 2007, tensions have been running high. This is the first Olympics to be hosted in the Russian Federation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Every eye has been on Russia and not everyone is liking what they see.

Here's a rundown of the major issues surrounding the 2014 games.

The Circassian Genocide
As I wrote in my last post, the area around Sochi was conquered by Russia in the mid 19th century, an event that ended in the deaths or expulsion of most of the native Circassians.Circassians around the world still remember the genocide and have called for the games to be moved or cancelled unless a formal apology is issued.

Circassians commemorate the banishment of the Circassians from Russia in Taksim, İstanbul
(Wikimedia Commons)

Putin's Anti-LBGT Stance
Check out any of the news sources and this issue will come up, fast. In July, Putin, Russia's President, signed a law that forbids any pro-gay "propaganda" anywhere accessible to minors. Humans Rights Activists have turned the Sochi Olympics into a platform to protest this law and numerous athletes and officials have expressed and are expected to express their disgust with the Russian law.

In front of the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, Finland. In 7 September 2013 a group of activists painted the pedestrian crossing stripes with rainbow colors to protest the Russian anti-LGBT sentimentality and legislation, notably the bans on "homosexual propaganda".(Wikimedia Commons)

Tensions with Georgia
This concerns events that happened during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Even as the Opening Ceremonies were happening, Russia invaded Georgia. (It was much more complicated than I'm making it out to be, check out this NY Times article for more information) The conflict was short and brutal. Sochi is less than 25 miles from the region of Georgia that was invaded in 2008 and the Olympic security zone has been extended to include parts of Georgia, which has tensions riding high once again.

Terrorist Activities
Two suicide bombings in the region north of Sochi and two threats directed at the Olympics have everyone on high alert. The Caucus Mountains are home to known terrorist groups, including Chechen separatists and Islamist extremists (which may spring from the same sources), and others who feel the Games defiles the land of the native Circassians (see above). The Olympics are a world stage and are always at risk for violent demonstrations, but the Sochi Games seem more at risk than most. Putin has reacted by creating a strong security ring around Sochi (see the note above about the tensions with Georgia) and everyone involved is hoping for an uneventful Games.

On a lighter note, the Opening Ceremonies are tonight. If you live in the US, you can catch them on NBC at 7:30p Eastern. Sorry, NBC refuses to live-stream them.

Winter Olympics Part II: Sochi, Russia

Part II in my three(ish) part series on the Winter Olympics, today is all about the host city for the 2014 Olympic Games: Sochi, Russia.

Sochi, Russia lies on the west coast of the Black Sea, just a few miles west of the Caucus Mountains, one of the traditional divides between Europe and Asia (the others being the Ural Mountains and Dardanelles straights, if you were curious).

Location of Sochi, Russia on the Black Sea. (Wikipedia)

Due to its position on the Black Sea, Sochi enjoys a subtropical climate (roughly the same as the Southeastern United States), and is one of the few places in Russia you can see Palm trees.

Sochi from the Black Sea (Wikipedia Commons)

Beginning in the 14th century, the area, known then as Ubykhia, was controlled by the native people of the nearby Caucus Mountains, the Circassians, and was generally known as Circassia. During this time, the area was supposedly a part of the Ottoma Empire and the Circassians were predominantly a part of Sunni Islam.

In the mid 19th century, Russia, under the Tsars Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II, began a push to expand its territory into Central Asia. The Ottoman Empire was expelled from the Eastern Caucuses  in 1955, but the Circassians continued fighting in the Western Caucuses until 1964, when Russia took complete control of the region.

Dombay, Caucasus, Russia (by acidka on Flickr)

After the Russian victory, the Muslim Circassians fled to Sochi and were expelled from Russia, generally into other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Numerous Circassians died during the flight and the expulsion and many Circassians today consider this an instance of genocide.

The city of Ubykhia was renamed Sochi in 1896 after a local river. In the first decade of the 20th century, Sochi began to grow into a resort town that would host numerous government officials and wealthy Russians through the harsh Russian winter. The town was favored by Stalin and a key tourist attraction is his Summer Residence, complete with a wax figure of Stalin himself. 

Sochi continued to be developed through the first part of the 20th century, but  didn't regain its status as the Summer Capital of Russia until after the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss of the Crimea to Ukraine.

Today, Sochi is home to more than 300,000 people and around 2 million people visit every year. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Russia,  home to more than 100 ethnic groups.

For more on the People of Sochi today, take a look at this National Geographic article: Sochi, Russia
And the USA Today feature: Where in the World is Sochi?

Winter Olympics Part I: History

The first in a three (or more) part series on the upcoming Winter Olympics.

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics will open on Friday, February 7th and I, for one, am very excited. The Olympics are one of the greatest stages in the world to see international history, culture, and politics.

Olympic Rings (From Wikipedia.com)

Compared to the Summer Games, the Winter Olympics have a much shorter history. While they don't stretch back to Ancient Greece, the idea for the Winter Olympics is more than a hundred years old.

Figure Skating became part of the Summer Olympics (if you can believe it) in 1908. The International Olympic Committee considered creating a separate Winter Games in 1912, but Sweden, who was hosting the games, already had a popular Nordic Competition and declined. A separate Winter Games was again proposed in 1916 in Berlin, but both were cancelled due to World War I.

Ice Hockey was added to the Summer Games in 1920 and, in 1924, an agreement was reached to host an International Winter Sports Week in Chamonix, in the French Alps.

Poster of the Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympic Games (From Wikipedia)

In 1928, the 2nd Official Winter Olympics were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, making the Chamonix Games the 1st Official Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics were then held every four years, except for 1940 and 1944 (due to World War II).

Until 1992, the Winter Olympics were held the same year as the Summer Olympics. Since 1994, the Winter Olympics have been held every four years, two years after the Summer Olympics.

The Sochi Olympics are the 22nd Olympic Winter Games.

For more information on the Sochi Olympics, check out the Official Sochi 2014 Olympics website.
For a schedule of the Olympic events in the US, check out NBC Olympics.

Check back next week for Part II: Sochi, Russia