My intention in Monday morning's wrap-up column wasn't to offend Canada, the land of my ancestors, and my hosts of the past three weeks. On the contrary, I was trying to express my disappointment and surprise that, in my opinion, Canadians had failed to grasp the global mandate that being an Olympic host entails. In doing so, I reached for a comparison — and picked one in the 1936 Olympics that unintentionally may have offended the very people whose company I have enjoyed for these past days.
I apologize for offending them.
At the opening of these Olympic Winter Games more than two weeks ago, Vancouver organizers expressed the hope that they could show the world a truly "Canadian Games." That they succeeded in that, there is little doubt. For 17 days we were barraged with Canadian flags, rode buses and trains with people in sweatshirts and jerseys adorned with Canadian maple leafs, and were serenaded at venues by Canadian spectators, lustily cheering for Canadian athletes.
Sochi, located 900 miles south of Moscow, is a resort town set between the shores of the Black Sea and the snow-capped Caucasus Mountains. It is known as the Russian Riviera and is a popular tourist destination. The 2014 Games, which will be held Feb. 7-23, 2014, already is under fire from activists. The World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace are protesting, claiming unique habitats are being destroyed and that the Mzymta River has been contaminated.
Sidney Crosby never even saw his historic shot slip under U.S. goalie Ryan Miller and into the back of the net. It was the 17,748 fans who told him it was time to celebrate something he had envisioned as a kid growing up in Nova Scotia. Crosby's overtime goal gave Canada a 3-2 victory over the Americans, and the country's first men's hockey gold medal ever on home soil.
It was perfect. No one wanted the Warmest Games to end. Warmest weather. Warmest hosts. So it was only fitting that Canada's 2010 Winter Olympics reached a crescendo with the hockey showdown between neighbors and rivals, between inventor of the game and emulator, between Canada and the U.S. It was only fitting that Canada won, 3-2, at home, in the finale, on a shot by its favorite son, causing coast-to-coast mayhem.
When the heartbreak of the sudden defeat wears off in a few days, the USA players should have a more expansive take on their Vancouver experience. They weren't supposed to contend for a medal. Instead they won their first five games here — including a monumental upset of Canada last Sunday — before taking the Canadians into the eighth minute of overtime.
The finish line of his long, storied career was a few gates away. Never mind that Jasey-Jay Anderson probably couldn't see it, not with the blindingly bad conditions at Cypress Mountain. What was one more hurdle for the 34-year-old veteran Canadian snowboarder?
Sunday's Olympic gold medal hockey game between Canada's $127 million star-studded roster and the unheralded, yet undefeated, United States is all anybody's talking about on the trains, in the jam-packed downtown streets, and on CBC. This nation that puts hockey on the back of its $5 bill will put everything on hold at 3:15 EST and tune in.
Bode Miller's final Olympics race lasted eight seconds — the time it took for him to ski a few gates at the top of a foggy, mushy slalom course before hooking a tip. Games over. But these Olympic memories should last a lifetime.
The sleek black sled known as the Night Train made history on a 51.52-second final run by delivering America's first men's gold in the sport in 62 years. The gold medal assured the U.S. of at least 37 medals at the Vancouver Games, breaking the previous Winter Olympic record of 36 set by Germany in 2002.
The U.S team pursuit crew featured three first-time Olympians all under the age of 20. Chad Hedrick, the lone veteran, woke up Saturday with sharp pains in his hip and wasn't sure he'd even skate. And against a Canadian gold medal team that set Olympic records just a day earlier, they lost by a respectable .23 seconds.
As the Canadian men's curling team neared victory in the gold medal match against Norway on Saturday, the crowd in the Vancouver Olympic Centre stood and began singing "O, Canada." When Canadian skip Kevin Martin threw the last stone, ensuring a 6-3 victory and the gold, the Canadian players leaped into each other's arms, women in the stands wept, and the Prime Minister cheered.
The fickle arena of short track smiled on Apolo Anton Ohno one last time when he won his eighth Olympic medal to confirm he is the supreme survivor in his sport. But does he win the argument for best? It would be hard to place him above Eric Heiden and Bonnie Blair.
All of Canada watched goalie Roberto Luongo get his glove on a point-blank shot by his Vancouver Canucks teammate Pavol Demitra in the dying seconds to preserve a 3-2 victory and set up a men's hockey championship match between Canada and the U.S. at noon PST Sunday.
Katherine Reutter's silver in the women's 1,000 meters Friday is the first individual medal for a U.S. woman in short-track since 1994. Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified in the 500 but anchored the U.S. men to bronze in the 5,000 relay.
Steve Holcomb is the top-ranked four-man bobsled driver in the world and the favorite to win gold Saturday at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Holcomb enters the final two runs with 0.40-second lead over second-place Canada 1 after setting track records on both his runs Friday.
There has been bigger upsets in Olympic history, but for the U.S. long track speedskating team it sure didn't feel like it Friday afternoon. The U.S. women upset the Canadian gold-medal favorites in the team pursuit, inspiring the men to pull off a similar surprise. The U.S. men beat the Netherlands in the semifinals assuring themselves of a medal.
Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands survived a minuscule first-run deficit to beat Ekaterina Ilyukhina of Russia. The lone U.S. entrant was Michelle Gorgone, who finished 14th.
Good thing Lindsey Vonn got her gold out of the way early. After winning an Olympic title in her signature event, the downhill, Vonn took bronze in the super-G. Things went, well, downhill from there.
Team USA, an inexperienced and unheralded bunch, has yet to trail in this tournament and is the only unbeaten team remaining with a 5-0 record. It will play Canada on Sunday for gold. This is just the second time the U.S. reaches the championship since the 1980 Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid.
