Vancouver 2010

So, the Winter Olympics are over for another year, the circus can pack up, and move on! (Well, apart from the Paralympics!)

So. How was it?

Well, Vancouver promised much, but then had to battle through all sorts of problems in order to deliver. There had been many stories with regards financial irregularities, financial problems, and heavy burdens on the Vancouver taxpayer. One such issue was the athletes village in Vancouver. To be turned into apartments upon finishing, with the taxpayer having to pick up the tab to build them, and not surprisingly, they soared over budget!

However, plans where laid to lay on the best Winter Olympics ever.

Did they?

I will leave that to history. 

It has very much been a case of take the bad with the good. So, I will try to talk about each side, and give my own balanced view over all.

So.

Good 

The Venues

Some excellent choices for venues, the Ice Hockey arena "Canada Hockey Place" is modern, but already constructed for the Canucks, so the kinks have been worked out. The long track speed skating held at a wonderful new facility, and the curling was held in a magnificent venue, full to bursting almost all of the time! The Whistler sliding track was a technical track designed to give big speeds, and huge excitement for spectators!

Bad

The Venues!

Cypress mountain was criticised because it regularly suffered from lack of snow, and so it was again. They had snow saved up on higher mountains, and they where trucking snow in, but the unseasonably warm weather left the mountain kind of bald! Indeed, they had to refund well over a million dollars to spectators due to snow melt making viewing areas unsafe!

The sliding track proved too technical for some, and the high speeds proved dangerous, with the Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili flying out of the track, and dying after crashing into a pole! The luge runners all had to start from the women's start to bring the top speeds down for the lower corners. Also, one of the corners had to be modified for the bobsleigh, due to the large number of crashes. After Nodar's crash, corner 16 was enclosed, and the poles where wrapped in padding.

There where also problems within the venues, with the speed skate track suffering after the new battery powered ice machines from Olympia breaking. The 500m speed skating competition was delayed for an hour as they brought regular Zamboni made machines from Calgary!

Good

The Canadians

Well, the Canadians delivered a wonderful atmosphere for the games, with huge numbers turning up for all the venues, and all the events where well supported. Indeed, the support was so boisterous it ended up making the Danish skip for the ladies Curling team, cry.

Bad

The Canadian organising groups

It has been widely reported about Canada's "Own the podium" programme. Now, I have no problems with this in principle. Apart from the laughingly stupid name.This was an active programme to shove money into sports for the Vancouver Olympics, to a) get Canada's first gold medal on home soil. And b) to win more medals than anyone else. This is all fine. After all, Britain is undertaking something similar to drive more financing to athletics in time for the London Olympics. But we are doing it without a really daft name. 

The issue I have, was the attitude of the organising committee. They basically blocked people from practising at the venues, giving them the minimum amount of time, whilst the Canadian athletes racked up hundreds of hours, and thousands of runs. The average on the sliding run was about 30 for non-Canadian, and 300 for the Canadian sliders. 

This is the Olympics for flips sake! Its all about the best in the world! Competing for Olympic glory! I know the referees vow to be fair, and athletes vow to compete without drugs, do we need a promise for the city, too! That they promise to deliver the best sporting spectacle, with the best athletes in the world competing! Here's the thing. The best athletes in the WORLD!

Good

Sportsmanship

We have seen some wonderful fêtes of athleticism, with Shaun White of the USA dominating the half-pipe competition, and pulling out a new move he has called "The Tomahawk." Slovenian Petra Madjic slid off the cross country course, and crashed, breaking a rib and a collapsed lung. Despite all this, she got up, soldiered on, without painkillers. Not only that, but she went and claimed bronze. Slovenia's first Winter Olympics medal! 

In the ice dance, Japan's Moa Asada put in a hugely magnificent performance, only to be cast in the shadow by Korea's Kim Yu-Na. She obliterated the competition with a series of dance's full of poise and grace that delivered the highest points score in history. Also, Canada's Joannie Rochette won bronze. In spite of her mother passing away just before she was due to begin competing.

On a personal level, well done to Amy Williams! Snagging gold for Britain in the Skeleton! Our first singles gold for a long time! She obliterated the competition! This makes Britain the most successful country at Skeleton in the world! Winning a medal at every Olympics since Skeleton was introduced! Yay us!

An honourable mention goes to Marjan Kalhor, of Iran. Irans first female competitor in the Winter Olympics, competing in the downhill cometitions. She was hugely behind the leading pack, but did not let that get to her. Chops to her for keeping going! Along with Chirine Njiem from Lebanon, and athletes from India, Greece, Cyprus, and the Cayman Islands! Well done!

Also, at 45, congrats go to Kazuhiro Koshi of Japan. At 45, one of the oldest competitors at the games, and the oldest for Japan ever. Still fit and able to pound down the skeleton track. And he has one of the coolest helmets ever!

Bad

Bad sportsmanship and ill-judged activities

Whilst some athletes gave it their all and where so excited to just be competing at the games, there where others who wanted nothing more than just to moan and whinge and complain. For example, Apollo Ohno. A truly great short track speed-skater. Possibly the best ever. In the marquee event the 500 meters, Ohno found himself in last place, behind a couple of Canadians, and the skater from South Korea. In the final lap, he had to go for his "hail mary" play, and try to force his way in through the inside. Unfortunately, as he cut in, he pushed over the Korean, who then took out once of the Canadians. He had to try for it, no-one can fault him for trying.

Likewise no-one can fault the ref for throwing him out for pushing someone over. Rather than accept it gracefully, taking his other gold medals into the sunset, he decided to question the ref's honesty. 

The Canadian ladies Hockey team got caught drinking on the ice. Which is fine. Apart from several in the team being underage. Some in the team went on to complain of double standards. However, some of the girls where UNDER AGE! Double standards is irrelevant.

The Russian dancer Plushenko came out of retirement to go for the gold, and lost out to the American dancer,  Evan Lysacek. Rather than congratulating him, he steps on the gold medal step, and complains about the judging. You got silver! That is a good thing. You have Sochi coming up, in your home country. Just go for that!

Also, some of the officiating leaves a lot to be desired. For example, the Australian referee, Justin Hewish threw out British short track skater Sarah Lindsay after several starts where she was not backing down from the Canadian skater, and both falling over. Pretty much everyone says it was the wrong decision. Should have let the 2 skaters get on with it. Later, he threw out the Korean team in the ladies team pursuit. A decision that earned him death threats. Unlike some skaters, Sarah took her DQ with good grace as "one of those things."

The US team complained about Amy Williams helmet in the Skeleton. Only for the IOC to tell them to naff off. The helmet had been checked, and declared legal. Then, after her winning run (slide?), the Canadian team filed a complaint. The same one as the US! Hang on, how could Amy alter her helmet in between runs? And why should she? If she was winning with a helmet declared legal after initial inspections, then again when the US complained, why should she modify it, only to get thrown out, when she was so close to the gold!? Has to be one of the dumbest complaints ever! However, points to Germany's Anja Huber who stuck up for her!

Good

Spectacle of the whole thing!

Canada won the Hockey gold medals. Well done! The whole nation goes bananas, and puts hockey on prime time TV around the world! And the games really where something special! Canada taking on the USA in a clash everyone wanted to see, and it delivered. Speed, aggression, finesse, and overtime!

The opening and closing ceremonies delivered where Beijing failed. Beijing offered up truly amazing spectacles. Which where hugely ponderous, slow, and boring! Vancouver managed to bounce along, full of energy, and speed. The opening ceremony delivered a wonderful spectacle with moving statues, inflatable polar bears, the northern lights... 

And at the closing ceremony, they managed to poke fun at themselves with a clown "fixing" the final ice shard that failed to rise for the lighting of the cauldron during the opening ceremony.

The enthusiasm of the Canadians was born out with the live events held all round Vancouver, and again, with the live TV's installed around the city. The city came to a standstill for the gold medal game for the Ice Hockey! A sea of red all over the place! Quite impressive!

Bad

Organisational teething issues

transportation was not brilliant at the start, with issues on the buses, and drivers getting lost. However, a minor mitigating fact. A lot of the drivers came from US based companies! Though VANOC did bring those companies in...

Also, the Olympic Flame was built outside, in public, to allow people to see it. Through a fence. From a long way away. Again, they did rectify it, but looks like something slipped through the net here...

Finally, personally...

Team GB.

My view.

Lots of missed opportunities. Yes, we won gold in the Ladies Skeleton. However, we have very competitive teams in the Bobsleigh, but all failed to deliver, including the reigning world champs in the Ladies 2 man Bob. In Curling, GB host the world champs in the mens who failed to make the semi's, and in the womens, the GB team was one of the top ranked teams. Again, silly mistakes cost them a place in the semi finals.

Great Britain has taken a step forwards on the winter sports scene. However, we have taken half a step back in some areas, with groups not stepping up when needed to. Still. We came close in more sports than ever before. Maybe we can loosen the purse strings for another push for Sochi 2014!

So, overall.

A big thumbs up! I know there are a lot of negatives, but none of them really is enough to sour these games! Well done to Vancouver! They had to compete with the weather, amongst a myriad of other challenges, and they met, and faced down each one! Delivering a wonderfully positive and exciting 2 weeks of winter sport! 

Though, there was that laughable "Own the Podium" thing...