Lindsey Vonn’s bronze medal run during the downhill was clearly not satisfactory to her father.
Alan Kildow had praise for his daughter, but he made no secret of the fact that he was not satisfied with a bronze medal, and that she should have been more aggressive in her run.
“It’s great skiing, but it reminds me of something that Buddy Werner used to say. He said there’s two places in the race, first and last, and I only want one of them,” Kildow told Josh Peter of USA Today Sports. “She needed to go for it a little bit more. She needed to risk more.
“Just little, little spots. Just not quite risking enough. Not straightening the line out, just the ski was little … not quite carving in some places like it should have. But a great result. A great result.”
For her part, Vonn simply credited her opponents on a great race. Her father, who was seeing her live at the Olympics for the first time, was feeling a little bit less charitable in what was likely her final Olympics.
Adam Rippon has become a superstar at the PyeongChang Games, and now he is proving himself to be a self-aware superstar at that.
A Twitter user cracked a joke on Tuesday based around the American figure skater quadrupling his number of followers in the last week.
Rippon himself soon replied, one-upping the tweet with a hilarious self-roast.
For reference, the quad in figure skating (also known as the quadruple) is a difficult jump with four revolutions. Rippon’s refusal to even attempt a quad (either in the team event or in the men’s singles competition) actually became something of a storyline in PyeongChang — though his routine places more of an emphasis on artistic and aesthetic elements rather than challenging jumps.
While his lack of a quad may have played a factor in Rippon’s tenth-place finish in singles, he still took home a bronze medal with the U.S. as part of the team competition. That combined with his newfound viral stardom is more than enough to give Rippon the confidence to poke fun at himself on occasion.
As she competes in the women’s singles event this week, Karen Chen is carrying with her the advice of one of the true legends of the sport.
In a feature this week by Scott M. Reid of the OC Register, the American figure skater revealed that former Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi has been serving as her mentor and gave her advice before the PyeongChang Games.
“We both had matcha green tea lattes,” said Chen of their meeting for coffee in Fremont, Calif. before her departure for South Korea. “Which was amazing and we just talked and she just shared her experiences and all the fun times she had at the Olympics and she really hyped me up and just got me excited to be here and to soak in this experience. It’s my first time at the Olympics and I want to make sure I make some really amazing memories.
“Keep putting out positive energy and that will keep yourself going,” Chen added about the advice that Yamaguchi offered her.
The two skaters definitely have a lot of common ground — both are Bay Area natives of Asian descent. The 18-year-old Chen is also close to the same age that Yamaguchi was when she won individual gold at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville at 20 years old.
Chen got off to a fairly strong start in her short program on Wednesday (despite stumbling on a triple lutz jump), finishing with a score of 65.90. She definitely isn’t the only member of the United States figure skating team to look to the older generation of Olympians for inspiration either.
There was some love shared between Team USA skiers on Wednesday in PyeongChang.
Lindsey Vonn won a bronze medal in the women’s downhill event in what she has said will be her final time competing in the event at the Olympics. According to NBC Sports, at 33, Vonn is the oldest alpine skier to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.
That wasn’t lost on Mikaela Shiffrin, who tweeted her congratulations to all of the Americans in the event, especially Vonn, whom she called the “GOAT” – which is an acronym for “greatest of all-time.”
Shiffrin was initially scheduled to compete in the downhill but she pulled out, so she was cheering on her teammates instead. Clearly she was proud of what they were able to accomplish without her in the event.
Lindsey Vonn teared up during one heck of an emotional interview after her run in the downhill at the 2018 Winter Olympics on Wednesday.
Vonn entered the race knowing that it was likely to be her final downhill ever at the Olympics. She knew immediately after her run that she was not going to win gold, and she was hoping her time would be good enough to get her the silver medal. She ended up with the bronze.
During an interview with NBC’s Heather Cox after most of the competitors had gone, Vonn broke down when asked about her late grandfather, to whom she had dedicated her performance.
“It’s been really hard for me not to get emotional for so many reasons. I wanted to win so much because of him. But I still think I made him proud. Our family never gives up, and I never gave up. I kept working hard, and I’m really proud of this medal. I know he is too,” Vonn said.
Once the tears began, they kept coming for Vonn when she reflected on her final downhill ski at the Olympics.
“I gave it my best shot. I tried so hard and I worked my butt off. I’m proud to have competed with such aamzing girls. My teammates have been really supportive and helped each other. I’m really happy and proud to have been competing with them. To have their support … it’s been fun.
“It’s sad. This is my last downhill. I wish I could keep going. I have so much fun. I love what I do. My body just probably can’t take another four years. But I’m proud. I’m proud to have competed for my country. I’m proud to have given it my all. I’m proud to hopefully come away with a medal.”
Vonn indeed came away with a medal. She won bronze in the event, becoming the oldest alpine skier to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. She now has three career Olympic medals — one gold and two bronzes.
Lindsey Vonn may not have won gold in what she expects will be her last downhill ever at the Olympics, but she still managed to be complimentary about her opponents.
Vonn praised her friend, Sofia Goggia, for putting together a top time in the event.
“I think I skied really well and I think Sofia is untouchable today,” Vonn said in an interview with NBC’s Heather Cox after her run.
Italy’s Goggia finished with a time of 1:39.22. Vonn was 0.47 seconds behind, which placed her second for a while until she was surpassed by Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel.
Vonn said at the time that she was optimistic her time would stick so she could claim silver. Even though she knew she would not be winning gold, Vonn was proud of how she did.
“I left it all on the mountain like I said I would and I’m proud of my performance.”
The downhill is the event in which Vonn had won her only Olympic gold medal — it came in Vancouver in 2010.
The Norwegian curling team that finished fourth in mixed doubles in the Winter Olympics want a medal ceremony after being “robbed” by the Russian team that beat them.
Norway’s team of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten lost the bronze medal match to the Olympic Athlete from Russia team of Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitskiy 8-4 at the Gangneung Curling Centre last week. Things changed though after Krushelnitskiy tested positive for banned substance meldonium.
If the Russian team gets stripped of its bronze medal, Nedregotten says he would want to have a medal ceremony before the Games end.
“Knowing that they may have had an advantage against us in our games through cheating feels horrible,” he said, via The Guardian “If he is found guilty, then they’ve robbed us of our moment of glory, receiving our medal in the stadium. That’s not cool. That’s hard to accept, feeling that you’ve been kept out of the light.
“Obviously he is not guilty before he is convicted. But it is confirmed, the preferred option for us would be to receive the bronze medal at some point during the remainder of the Olympics.”
Many have found it humorous that someone would be caught using a banned substance in curling because they wonder how it helps. But Nedregotten believes the substance can help players stay mentally acute and help them recover in between matches. He says sweepers can get sore in between matches, and with a crammed schedule, that could make a big difference.
Our guess is the matter won’t be sorted out in time for Nedregotten to receive his moment of glory, but in time he may receive a medal.
The International Olympic Committee has attempted to crack down on unauthorized marketing that uses the Olympics to advertise a product, but it appears Pizza Hut’s Korea division has found a loophole.
A screenshot from Yi Whan-woo of the Korea Times shows a sales promotion that has been used by Pizza Hut Korea during the Olympics, and it features the phrase “Pyengchang together.” Pyengchang, of course, is awfully similar to PyeongChang (the site of the Olympics), but it is simply a phrase that means “inflation” or “expansion.” The promotion is offering customers a cheese topping and a bottle of Pepsi for free when they buy premium pizzas.
The IOC has asked several South Korean companies to refrain from ambush marketing if they are not paying to be official sponsors of the Olympics, which Pizza Hut Korea is not. However, an official from the company insists the “Pyengchang together” phrase has nothing to do with the 2018 Winter Games.
As of now, it does not sound like Olympic officials plan to take action.
“Using pyengchang is seen as no big deal as long as Olympic symbols and emblems are not used without authorization,” a PyeongChang Organizing Committee official said.
Unlike the guy who tried to sneak into the Olympic Village using fake documentation, it seems like Pizza Hut Korea may be onto something.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won their second Olympic gold medal in ice dancing on Tuesday with a record-setting performance, and it appears as though it will be the figure skating duo’s last. But in the interest of not sounding like Brett Favre, they don’t want to announce anything just yet.
After he and Virtue brought down the house with their incredible free dance, Moir took a lighthearted swipe at Favre when asked if we will see the pair again in 2022.
Virtue and Moir posted an overall score of 206.07, which was less than a point better than the 205.28 France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron received. At ages 28 and 30, respectively, it would not be a surprise if Virtue and Moir decide they are done competing.
Favre has grown accustomed to hearing remarks about his infamous changes of heart toward the end of his NFL career, and they don’t always come from football players. Did he ever expect to hear it from a figure skater? We highly doubt it.
The Russian government is still intent on attacking the credibility of the man who exposed the country’s elaborate doping program, and Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is reportedly one of the people who is providing financial backing.
According to a report from Tariq Panja of the New York Times, Prokhorov is helping fund a defamation lawsuit against Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, whose uncovering of Russia’s state-sponsored doping program resulted in the country being banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. The suit has been filed by three Russian biathletes — Olga Zaytseva, Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina — who are seeking $10 million in damages after they had their silver medals from the 2014 Sochi Olympics stripped.
Prokhorov was the leader of the Russian biathlon federation in Sochi, which likely explains his interest in the lawsuit.
Panja notes that the suit has little chance of succeeding, and Rodchenkov’s attorney says he is not concerned about it.
“This claim has zero chance of surviving a motion to dismiss,” James Walden told the new York Times. “It is as credible as the rest of Russia’s lies. So I will gladly defend it.”
Rodchenkov is currently living in the United States under federal protection. He recently issued an apology for his role in the doping program, which involved drug-testing bottles being tampered with to cover up performance-enhancing drug use.
“Clean urine was collected over a long period, since 2013,” Rodchenkov said. “It was stored at Sochi by the FSB. Athletes, their coaches or someone in their entourage was responsible for getting the DCFs [doping control forms] to my office. It ran like clockwork.”
The OIC has allowed 168 athletes from Russia to compete in PyeongChang, though they are being referred to as the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” and not technically representing a nation.
Prokhorov has owned the Nets since 2010, and we have heard reports that he is considering selling the team.
H/T Yahoo Sports
