Felix Loch of Germany practices during the first Men's Single Luge training run on February 10, 2010 in Whistler, Canada.
The City of Vancouver is near the US/Canadian border about 150 miles north of Seattle.
The reality of the 2010 Games set in when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a horrific crash
in an Olympic Luge training run, just hours before the Games opening ceremony.
Simon Ammann of Switzerland celebrates after winning the Gold medal on the Large Hill
There are not nearly as many events in the Winter Olympics as there are in the summer games. Training for many of the sports requires special equipment, and proper climate for training.
The Women's hockey started on day 2, along with speed skating,luge, short track, and ladies moguls.
Men's short track speed skating 1500m finals, day 2.
In the mens' 1500m, Jung-Su Lee, Si-Bak Sung and Ho-Suk Lee of South Korea jumped out in front to lead Apolo Anton Ohno and J.R. Celski of USA in the Men's 1500 m Short Track finals on day 2 , when amazingly 2 of the Koreans collided.
This opened the door for the americans Apolo Ohno (silver) and J.R. Celski (bronze) to win medals,behind Jung-Su Lee of South Korea (gold).
Two South Korea skaters crash in the 1500m finals giving the USA silver and bronze.
Soon after, Hannah Kearney brought home the USA's first gold of 2010 Olympics,while Jennifer Heil won Canada's first olympic medal of 2010 in Women's Moguls.
Jennifer Heil of Canada wins silver, Hannah Kearney of USA celebrates gold and Shannon Bahrke of USA holds bronze during the medal ceremony for the Ladies Moguls final Medal ceremony on day 3.
Martina Sablikova of Czech Republic wins the gold medal in the Speed Skating Ladies' 3,000m on day 3.
Even more surprising was when american Johnny Spillane was fiercely leading the Nordic combined until French skier Jason Lamy Chappuis, the World Cup leader, surged past him in the last meters of the 10-kilometer skiing phase of the event.
I can remember the Biathlon start, but due television schedule, we really miss out on the action.
The Men's Luge was won by Germany's Felix Loch.
Johnny Spillane (silver) of USA, Jason Lamy Chappuis (gold) of France and Alessandro Pittin (bronze) of Italy pose during the flower ceremony following the Nordic Combined Men's Individual 10km on day 3.
Day 4 started with snowboarding. I was constantly reminded of BMX races,only this is much better; without pedaling.
(L-R) Stefano Pozzolini of Italy, Francois Boivin of Canada , David Speiser of Germany and Robert Fagan of Canada compete against each other in the Heat four of the quarterfinals during the Men's SBX Finals on day 4
We love to watch the Luge, but figure skating was on TV that night.
Olympic figure skating has new rules, where each skater must perform the same skills. Artistry is rare. Sorry, that's my opinion. We slept through the competition.
Peetu Piiroinen of Finland poses after winning the silver, Shaun White of the United States poses after winning the gold and Scott Lago after winning the bronze during the flower ceremony for the Snowboard Men's Halfpipe final on day 6.
I liked the USA Snowboarders wearing denim blue jeans. Were they trying to hide something, or was that their uniforms ? The olympics has always been about flash, so we imagine those 'blue jeans' were probably not from a used clothing store.
Simon Kuipers of the Netherlands races Yevgeny Lalenkov of Russia in the men's speed skating 1,000 m finals on day 6.
Skip Niklas Edin (C) of Sweden releases his stone during the men's curling round robin game between Great Britain and Sweden on day 5.
Probably the biggest surprise of these olympic games was Curling. The coverage on television was extensive. The game and it's rules are a mystery to me. But it was relaxing to watch.And looks like fun. Not easy.
The Canadian women played some great games. The swedish mens and womens teams were great competitors.
Time flies, and we missed several other events of this day.
Cathrine Lindahl (C) of Sweden releases her stone during a women's curling round robin game on day 5
The mens skating was the sport we wanted to see. Evgeni Plushenko. He skated beautifully, and did not disappoint viewers. The final scores were only .6 points between 1st and 2nd.
Gold medalist Evan Lysacek (C) of the United States poses with silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko (L) of Russia and bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi of Japan on day 7.
For reference Canada has 206 athletes and the USA has 216. Russia sent 178 athletes, Germany has 164, Sweden 112, Norway 81; while Great Britain sent 40 athletes, and Brazil 10.(stats from ctv.com)
The next 2 days, we saw extensive coverage of mens and womens curling.
Skip David Murdoch (C) delivers as Euan Byers (L) and Pete Smith prepare to sweep during the men's curling round robin game against China on day 9.
We did get to watch Apolo Ohno win his 7th olympic medal in the mens 1000m short track. He placed third.
Lee Jung-Su of South Korea, Lee Ho-Suk of South Korea, Francois Hamelin of Canada, Apolo Anton Ohno of the USA and Charles Hamelin of Canada compete during the Short Track Speed Skating Men's 1000m final on day 9.
There was some intense competition in the mens 1000, and it appeared that all the Canadians needed to do was sit back and watch the other skaters crash out. But it didn't happen. In fact, Ohno was the only skater to slip. In the end he came back to pass Charles Hamelin on the final turn, to take third.
Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States holds up seven fingers to signify his seven Olympic medals after winning bronze during the Short Track Speed Skating Men's 1000m Final on day 9
Allison Pottinger (C) reacts as Carolyn Darbyshire (2R), Cori Bartel (L) and Susan O'Connor of Canada celebrate during the women's curling round robin game between Canada and USA on day 10.
Loui Eriksson of Sweden scores a goal in the second period against Miikka Kiprusoff of Finland on day 10.
If you had to watch one hockey game, mine happened to be Sweden and Finland. There was blood, hard hits, and plenty of penalties. I was really only half-watching, but i couldn't turn away...
Mikko Koivu of Finland checks Henrik Tallinder of Sweden into the boards during the game on day 10.
Anders Jacobsen of Norway competes in the men's ski jumping team event on day 11.
Historically, Norway has won the most medals in all winter olympic games combined, with over 280 gold,silver, and bronze.
Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse of Canada compete in Canada 1 during the Women's Bobsleigh Heat 2 on day 12.
(L-R) Qingshuang Yue, Yin Liu and Yan Zhou of China talk during the women's curling round robin game on day 12.
In curling, the Chinese womens team seemed to have the best accuracy. For the few games we saw them play. They attempted shots no other team dared. They went on to win the Bronze medal game over Switzerland, 12-6 on day 16.
Li Nina of China celebrates winning silver, Lydia Lassila of Australia gold and Guo Xinxin of China bronze during the flower ceremony for the freestyle skiing ladies' aerials final on day 13.
Shannon Szabados of Canada makes a save during the gold medal game between Canada and USA on day 14.
Day 14 schedule on TV featured womens hockey, and womens hockey. In between, we watched the Canadian mens Curling team defeat Sweden in the semi-final round. For the evening, we watched the Canadian women's hockey team build a 2-0 lead on the USA, and the game seemed to go by so fast. Neither team scored a goal in the final 2 periods.
Mao Asada of Japan receives the silver medal, Kim Yu-Na of South Korea receives the gold medal and Joannie Rochette of Canada receives the bronze medal during the medal ceremony for the Ladies Free Skating on day 14.
Erik Johnson #6 of the USA scores past Goalkeeper Miikka Kiprusoff #34 of Finland during the ice hockey men's semifinal on day 15
Day 15 had the USA hockey team jumping out to an early 6-0 lead on Finland in their semi-final match.
Marion Kreiner of Austria celebrates winning silver, Nicolien Sauerbreij of Netherlands gold and Ekaterina Ilyukhina of Russia bronze during the flower ceremony after the Snowboard Ladies' Parallel Giant Slalom on day 15.
Cheryl Bernard (C) of Canada releases a stone as Carolyn Darbyshire (L) and Cori Bartel sweep the ice during the women's gold medal curling game on day 15.
The Canadian and the Swedish womens Curling teams played an exciting 11 ends to determine the Gold medal winner. In a tight match, Sweden led 4-2 after the fifth end but the host nation went into a 6-4 lead after the ninth, seemingly poised to win gold. Canada then kept their 6-4 lead going into the tenth end, but Sweden held their nerve to win the two points necessary to take the match into an 11th. Canadian skipper Cheryl Bernard was unable to make the last shot of the match. Defending Olympic women's curling champions Sweden won the gold medal, beating Canada 7-6 .
Charles Hamelin of Canada leads from Sung Si-Bak of South Korea and Simon Cho of the United States in the Men's 500m Short Track Speed Skating Quarter-Finals on day 15.
The evening broadcast featured many short track speed skating heats and finals. Apolo Ohno made it into the 500m finals. In the final on the last turn, he touched Canadian skater Francois-Louis Tremblay , who fell. Ohno was disqualified.
Apolo Anton Ohno of the USA reacts after crossing the line second, after Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada and Sung Si-Bak of South Korea crashed in the Men's 500m Short Track Speed Skating Final on day 15.
Remarkably, South Korean skater Sung Si-Bak fell yet slid across the finish line. Canadian Charles Hamelin took the gold medal, crossing the line backwards and out of control from an incidental touch by Sung Si-Bak who won the silver. Tremblay won the bronze. The replay shows that the rulings were flawed. What a crazy sport!
Lindsey Vonn of the USA reacts after missing a gate during the Ladies Slalom first run on day 15
From there, our coverage jumped into the Ladies Slalom runs, which were held earlier in the day. In a beautiful snowstorm.
Marlies Schild of Austria (silver), Maria Riesch of Germany (gold) and Sarka Zahrobska of Czech Republic (bronze) celebrate after crossing the finish line during the Ladies Slalom second run on day 15.
Next, we went back to the short track, for the Mens 5000 m relay finals. Canada won gold, and now has more gold medals than any other country. Apolo Ohno and the USA takes 3rd place, giving Ohno 8 olympic medals ,lifetime.
And finally, on day 15 we get to see some of the 4 man Bobsled competition. Only a few minutes.
Pilot Andre Lange, Alexander Roediger, Kevin Kuske and Martin Putze of Germany compete in Germany 1 during the four-man bobsleigh heat 1 on day 15
Return to the Top of the Page
Close