US Olympic Figure Skating Team - Women

January 30, 2010

Now that the USA Nationals have come to an end, I thought I'd "size up" their Olympic figure skating team to our Olympic figure skating team. Today I will start with the Women. (although I use the word "women" loosely, they are 17 and 16!)

Rachael Flatt (17 years old) - 2010 US Gold Medalist, 2009 & 2008 US Silver Medalist
Here is Rachael's Long Program from the US Nationals this past week:



For a 17 year old, she skates with maturiry and sophistication like a much older skater! That was a very impessive skate!! For the sake of comparison, her total score for the US National title was 200.11, Joannie Rochette's total score for the Canadian National title was 208.23. Interesting :)

Mirai Nagasu (16 years old) - 2010 Silver Medalist, 2009 5th place (due to a growth spurt) and 2008 - US Gold Medalist.
Here is Mirai's Long Program from the US Nationals:



VERY impressive! I'm actually a little shocked that she was first and Rachael was third heading into the long program and Rachael finished first and Mirai finished second after the long. Oh well, like I have said before, figure skating judging will never truly make sense.

So, after watching these, our ladies will have their work cut out for them in Vancouver!

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The Olympic Torch in Vancouver

January 29, 2010

The official Vancouver 2010 Website now has up the route the Torch will take through Vancouver on the day of the Opening Cermonies....aka...TWO WEEKS TODAY!!

I've already seen it a bunch, but I think it'd be really neat to see the torch again the morning of the Opening Ceremonies:


View Olympic Torch In Vancouver in a larger map

The torch takes quite the trek, going for almost 8 hours straight. The path currently ends downtown at about 1:45 PM...so I'm not sure where it is the 4:15 between the end of the relay, and the start of the Opening Ceremonies. If I find out, I'll be sure to pass it along.

For ourselves, we arrive at YVR at 11:00 AM. It'd be really cool if we can get downtown in time to see it arrive by the Vancouver Public Library at 1:45 PM.

Other highlights include:
- Trek across the Lions Gate Bridge
- Lap of Stanley Park
- Trip around downtown, and then through out towards the Pacific Coliseum
- Ride on the new Olympic Line Streetcar
- False Creek crossing by Dragon Boat

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Vancouver 2010 Weather

As we all know, weather can have a big impact on the Winter Olympics...heck, we're already seeing the havoc it's causing at Cypress Mountain.

As a result, I thought I'd pass along a very useful weather map that Environment Canada has assembled for the Vancouver 2010 games. It has all the major venue areas already on one map, just mouse over to see current conditions. Check it out HERE.

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"Wanna go to the movies tonight?" "What's playing?" "The Olympics!"

January 28, 2010


The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games are coming to local Cineplexes! There are 64 locations across Canada that are going to participate in this! I think it's a really great idea and I would think it would be an easy moneymaker for Cineplex.

They won't have ALL events covered, on the Cineplex website, it says "Each day, participating theatres will present CTV and RDS’s coverage of key Olympic Games events with a focus on events in which Canadian athletes are competing and/or medal events. When possible, participating theatres will feature the events of local athletes."

For more info, visit the Olympic Games at Cineplex website!

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Vancouver City

January 27, 2010

This video was put out on Twitter today by the Irish National House (@IrishHouse2010). I wanna go now!

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Canada's Flag Bearer: Who Will It Be?

This Friday, Canada will announce who the Flag-Bearer will be for the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremonies. Having the chance to carry the flag for any Opening Ceremonies is a huge honour; but its even more special at a Home Olympics.



Nothing is for sure, but its probably the worst kept-secret in the country right now that Clara Hughes is expected to get the nod. The other ‘major’ contenders all have hits against them (IE Jenn Heil has her event the next day, Women’s Hockey getting the nod in 2006 probably rules out Haley Wickenheiser, Cindy Klassen carried the flag at the 2006 Closing Ceremonies).

But perhaps the biggest hint of all…the location for the announcement is Richmond City Hall. Pretty good chance that means it’s a Long-Track Speed Skater.

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Whistler Edge Pass

Just picked up as set of EDGE Passes for Beth, Jen and I…so its for sure that we’ll be hitting the slopes in Whistler! Pam’s decided to take a knee and wander around Whistler for the day…



The EDGE Pass is basically just a reloadable card that acts like a seasons pass. The minimum is one day, so with the associated discounts it brings, going this route will save us $30-$40 off the costs of a lift ticket, rentals, peak-to-peak gondola etc. We just have to hit the Customer Service desk when we arrive in Whister on Day 12!

Should be good! I’m super pumped hit the mountain….hopefully I don’t make a jackass out of myself!

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Mitten Mayhem Tuesday!

January 26, 2010

I stole this from the Vancouver Olympics' facebook page! :)

Jeff Ryley; father of former Canadian Alpine Ski Team members Meg and Kate Ryley says hello with his Red Mittens while fishing from Guatemala!

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Vancouver 2010 Olympics Free Events Guide

If you're looking for a good list of the seemingly limitless free events associated with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, I suggest you head over to CityCaucus.com

Their listing is the most complete that I've come across to date. I'm personally looking forward to the Irish House, Laser Show and Vectoral Vancouver the most...but hopefully I'll be able to get to most of these things.

Link Here

The page can also be followed on Twitter @CityCaucus

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Packing for the Olympics!

January 25, 2010

This is the start of my packing list... have I forgotten anything??





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All Eyes On Cypress

I suppose it’s the risk your run, holding the Games in a maritime climate like Vancouver, but mother nature has not been cooperating so far at Cypress Mountain.


Last time I checked...8 degress wasn't good for snow...

Temperatures for the last few weeks have been significantly above freezing (err…see above for today), causing the majority of snow at Cypress to melt off. Officials have been drawing from snow reserves that were built up, and thankfully for the freestyle events there isn’t much ground to cover, but conditions are currently less than ideal. It hasn’t gotten to the point where there is serious discussion of cancellation, but everyone is watching this very very closely.


Troubling Brown Patches....

For our part, I really hope that the weather cooperates. I’m looking forward to both the Men’s Moguls and Men’s Snowboard cross…and I’d hate to miss out!

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Olympic Commercials

January 22, 2010

So I was poking around Youtube, and came across the account of vancouverite1989, who as graciously uploaded a number of Olympic-related commercials. A few of my favorites:



CTV: Believe in Vancouver 2010: For Our Country and Our City

I love the overall enthusism in this video. Kinda reminds you that not all of Vancouverites are protesters and wet-blankets.


Toursim BC: You Gotta Be Here

Absolutley amazing views of Vancouver and BC. Not 100% sure that the celebs here aren't green-screened, but still...love it.


Coca-Cola: He Shoots, He Scores

This is actually a re-hash of a commercial Coca-Cola rolled out for the Salt Lake City 2002 games. The text at the end used to read, "If we all cheer at the same time, they might just hear us all the way in Salt Lake"...or some variation there-of.


CTV: Olympic Rings

I'm not sure if I'm going to get a chance to see the rings at YVR, but I hope so. The shots of them up in the bucket give you a good feel for the scale.

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CTV Olympic Theme

CTV has recently released their 'Official Theme' for the Vancouver 2010 Games, unsurprisingly titled 'I Believe'. I'm not quite sure if this counts as the 'Olympic Theme' or not, but its certainly the song that Canadians will probably become most familiar with.

I'm not much of a music critic, but I like the instrumental version well enough...




There is also a version out there with lyrics. The English version is sung by Nikki Yanofsky, the french by Anne Villeneuve. I've embedded the former here. I'm not quite as big of a fan of the lyrical version, it seems a little cheesy, but really, its not horrible. It'll make for a good montage somewhere along the line I'm sure.

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Happy Ticket Arrival Day - Phase III

So after getting a bit of a run-around from Purolator and VANOC again, I was able to get my hands on our Phase III tickets today!

I was a little surprised to find that they still sent me the invalidated tickets that I'd already sold back on the fan-to-fan marketplace, but I'm not complaining...they make great souvenirs!

So we now have all the tickets that are coming our way prior to the games. Once we're out there, I still need to go to the VANOC box office and get our upgraded RUS-CZH tickets, and our Stubhub CAN-SWE tickets.

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Three Weeks to Go!

At this time three weeks from now, I’ll be on a plane from Toronto to Vancouver!

As much as we have all the ‘big’ planning out of the way, its starting to dawn on me just how many little small things there are to still take care of before the games. Gotta get our Jersey’s crested, pick up a Canadian flag, verify this, look into that, print off this.

It’s going to keep me busy right up until I leave!

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Team Canada Jersey Numbers

January 21, 2010

It took a bit of hunting around the internet, but I was finally able to confirm he Jersey Numbers that Team Canada will be using at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Both Beth and I want to get our Jersey’s crested, but I just wanted to make sure that Crosby and Iginla would be wearing their usual numbers. Wouldn’t want to end up with a Crosby #87 jersey if he was wearing #9 like he did for Hockey Canada in the past.

Anyways, below is the list of jersey numbers, as deduced from the official Team Canada article on the subject.

     Goalies
     # 1 - Roberto Luongo
     # 29 - Marc-Andre Fleury
     # 30 - Martin Brodeur

     Defence
     # 2 - Duncan Keith
     # 6 - Shea Weber
     # 7 - Brent Seabrook
     # 8 - Drew Doughty
     # 20 - Chris Pronger (A)
     # 22 - Dan Boyle
     # 27 - Scott Neidermayer (C)
   
     Forwards
     # 10 - Brendan Morrow
     # 11 - Patrick Marleau
     # 12 - Jarome Iginla (A)
     # 15 - Dany Heatley
     # 16 - Jonathan Toews
     # 18 - Mike Richards
     # 19 - Joe Thornton
     # 21 - Eric Staal
     # 24 - Corey Perry
     # 37 - Patrice Bergeron
     # 51 - Ryan Getzlaf
     # 61 - Rick Nash
     # 87 - Sidney Crosby (A)

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Getting the Ticketing Runaround



So last week I finally got a notification from VANOC that my Phase III tickets were being shipped...and the first thing that went through my head was 'aww crap'. Getting my Phase I and Phase II tickets wasn't exactly easy...so here we go again.

I suppose I understand the need for added security, but all the rules and regulations that VANOC has slapped on Purolator in regards to getting your tickets delivered means that it can be a real pain-in-the-ass to actually get your hands on them.

I work a 9-5 Job, and live in a condo building. This means that I'm obviously never home when Purolator arrives, and that any deliveries I do get need to be accepted by my concierge. However, that’s impossible in this case, as VANOC requires a signature. They also won't redirect the package, or any of the other things that are normally allowed.

So, after a number of emails and phone calls to VANOC and Purolator...and a trip out to Purolator's distribution centre...I've finally been able to get my tickets reassigned to a distribution centre in downtown Toronto for tomorrow.

So...if everything goes to plan, I should be able to wander over on my lunch and get them...

Fingers crossed everyone!

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Mitten Mayhem Tuesday!

January 19, 2010

I've collected some of my favourite photos of the mittens and compiled them here, for all to see!





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Olympic Flame at the University of Calgary

Good to see everyone taking a break from work and getting out to see the torch relay! 25 days and counting... see you in Vancouver, Olympic Flame!!






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Google Calendar

So it might look a little messy when I cram everything into one embed, but over the last little while I've assembled a collection of Google Calendars for the Vancouver 2010 Games. These Calendars provide the schedules and start times for all events...either sepately or together!

If you think you might be able to find a use for them, feel free to steal...




Also, don't forget to check out my Google Earth venue map, which can be found here.

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Martin v. Murdoch

January 18, 2010

An annual tradition on the curling circuit, the TSN Skins game took place over the weekend. This time around, its notable in terms of the Olympics, as it featured two of the favourites for Vancouver 2010: Kevin Martin of Canada and David Murdoch of Scotland.


2010 Favorites? David Murdoch & Team

In their head-to-head semi-final, Martin jumped out to an early lead, before Murdoch stormed back and took the game. Murdoch then moved onto the final Sunday, where he defeated Randy Ferbey.

With the win, Murdoch continues his recent dominace of Kevin Martin. At the 2009 Worlds, Scotland upended Canada in both the round-robin and finals.

I’ve never been totally confident in Martin’s international record….so hopefully he can turn this streak around when it really matters.
_______________________________________________________________

Second curling note for the day…CTVOlympics.ca has a really good feature up on broadcaster Ray Turnbull.

I’m very very glad that TSN will get the call for the Olympics this time around. Their coverage of curing is unsurpassed anywhere around the world, in large part because of the job Vic Rauter, Linda Moore and Ray Turnbull do.

I of course won’t catch too much curling on TV, I’ll either be at other events, or in the stands…but for the rest of Canada, it’ll be a big treat to have them calling Olympics.

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CANADIAN FIGURE SKATING OLYMPIC TEAM

January 17, 2010

PAIRS


Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison



Annabelle Langlois and Craig Buntin

WOMEN


Joannie Rochette


Cynthia Pheneuf

DANCE


Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue


Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier

MEN


Patrick Chan



Vaughn Chipeur

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Canadian Figure Skating Championships - Day 4

Men's Long Program

Kevin Reynolds who was in 5th going into the long program just had a fantastic skate! 2 quads and no real glaring errors! Great skate for him! I hope he's about to squeeze out at least 3rd!
TOTAL - 216.49


Joey Russell
3rd after the short program. He's a very artistic skater, far more so than Chipeur or Chan. Triple axle - okay, a little wild on the landing, triple flip - decent enough, triple lutz - great!, triple lutz - he doubled and then did a double toe on the end. Triple flip - double toe combo - alright, triple sow- triple toe - great, double axle, double axle (again). I don't think that program will beat Kevin Reynolds... it shouldn't at least... but who knows with judges.
TOTAL - 202.16
He didn't beat Kevin, he's in 3rd currently with Chipeur and Chan to still skate!!


Russell

Vaughn Chipeur
2nd after the short program. He had such a great short program, his margin from 3rd to 2nd is quite a bit.

Triple axle - HUGE but a little messed up on the end, triple flip - triple toe - GREAT! Triple lutz - great, triple loop - perfect, double axle (it was really REALLY huge, he should have tripled it, wussed out.) Triple sow - perfect, double axle, triple lutz - double toe. I think he should stay in 2nd. (Once Chan skates that is)

TOTAL - 222.10


Chipeur



Patrick Chan
1st after the short program.
Let's see if he can handle the pressure. He's skating to Phantom of the Opera, how very 1997 of him. :) wait... he was 7 in 1997. That makes me feel old.

Triple axle - stepped out of the landing, triple flip - triple toe - put his hand down on the landing of the triple toe. Triple lutz - perfect, triple axle - double toe - perfect, triple lutz - double toe - double loop - GREAT COMBO! triple loop - great, triple sow - perfect, double axle. Great skate, he's got the gold again for sure!
TOTAL - 268.02 (New Canadian Record!)
That's 45.92 over 2nd place!!! WOW!!




Chan

Patrick Chan** and Vaughn Chipeur are heading to the Olympics!

(** Good thing for Cheerios, McDonald's and CTV!!)

Here are the medalists:

1 Joannie Rochette
QC
64.15
144.08
208.23
2 Cynthia Phaneuf
QC
66.30
116.25
182.55
3 Myriane Samson
QC
53.51
97.59
151.10





1 Jessica Dubé / Bryce Davison
QC
62.87
135.40
198.27
2 Anabelle Langlois / Cody Hay
QC
65.47
117.95
183.42
3 Meagan Duhamel / Craig Buntin
QC
62.38
109.80
172.18





1 Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir
WO
43.98
70.15
107.82
221.95
2 Vanessa Crone / Paul Poirier
CO
37.27
57.50
89.93
184.70
3 Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje
NO
36.87
57.92
89.61
184.40





1 Patrick Chan
CO
90.14
177.88
268.02
2 Vaughn Chipeur
AB/NT/NU
78.87
143.23
222.10
3 Kevin Reynolds
BC/YT
67.39
149.10
216.49

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Canadian Figure Skating Championships - Day 3

January 16, 2010


Pairs Long Program

It's the moment of truth... and I'm nervous! My mom always used to tell me she would get ridiculously nervous when I was in competiton, I never really understood. I'm understanding a little more now :)

Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin
They had messy side by side jumps, a beautiful double twist, their side by side double axles - he fell on. Great throw triple loop, they had good lifts. In similar fashion to yesterday's short program, they are just a little unpolished and sloppy. They have to fight to land everything so it looks very uneasy.
TOTAL -172.18


Duhamel and Buntin

Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison
Triple twist was fantastic, side by side double axle combination was perfect, they had beautiful lifts, side by side triple sows were great, touch down on the throw triple lutz - but it wasn't terrible, throw triple loop was perfect as well.
They will need to skate better than this in Vancouver, but they are capable of it. Good skate for them!
TOTAL - 198.27 - A Canadian Record!


Dube and Davison

Annabelle Langlois and Cody Hay
Lots of pressure for them now skating after Jessica and Bryce's performance.
Double twist, great, but the easier choice, side by side triple loops - I think she landed on two feet, beautiful lifts, throw triple sow was perfect - she made it look easy, she stepped out of the triple combination (I think the nerves are getting to her a little! I hope she can pull it together!) two foot landing on the throw triple lutz.
I don't know if they are going to be in 2nd or 3rd at this point, they only have a 3 point edge on Meagan and Craig. Now we wait and see!
TOTAL - 183.42


Langlois and Hay

Bryce Davison and Jessica Dube, Annabelle Langlois and Cody Hay are heading to the Olympics!

Women's Long Program

Next up, the Women's Long Program!

Amelie Lacoste

She was third after the short program, and the Bronze medalist last year. Let's see what she's got!
Triple loop- double loop - double loop, she made it look so easy! Tiple flip - she singled, tripl elutz - she put her hand down on the landing, Tiple toe - she again, put her hand down in the landing. Triple sow- double loop, she made look easy again! a Triple loop - she doubled. When she does her triples, they usually look so easy to her... I just see her second guessing herself. She even messed up the landing of her double axel and ended her program in tears. She ended up being 5th overall.
TOTAL - 147.43


Lacoste
Joannie Rochette
And the nerves are back (for me! HA!) Fingers are crossed!!
Triple lutz-double toe-double loop was amazing! Triple flip was perfect, triple loop was perfect as well! Triple lutz - perfect, Triple toe - triple loop - perfect, double axle - double axle - easy. (I've written the word "perfect" a lot!!!) Triple loop - perfect! EVERYTHING, was perfect! Amazing for Joannie! Good for her!! If she can skate like this in Vancouver, she'll be a medal contender for sure!!
TOTAL - 208.23 (New Canadian Record) 6 time Canadian Champion!


Rochette


Cynthia Phaneuf
She's going to have to have the skate of her life to win, but she can definately get an Olympic spot!!
Triple toe - double axle - perfect and easy looking, triple lutz - she doubled, triple loop -double toe - perfect, triple loop - made it look so easy, triple sow into a single sow (eeks!) double axle - no problem, triple toe combination - fantastic! Then there was a weird mis-step at the end... that was so weird!! What was that!? Anyways, hopefully that doesn't change anything!
TOTAL - 182.55



Phaneuf

Joannie Rochette and Cynthia Pheneuf are heading to the Olympics!

Ice Dance Free Dance

Final event of the day, let's see how they do!

Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier
3rd after their Original and their Compulsory Dances. Too bad she lost an edge during a twizzle and fell in their program. It's strange that they're skating to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Doesn't really seem like a "dance program". They had some very innovative lifts... there's one lift where she has her blade on his thigh and he lifts her up. It was very interesting.
TOTAL - 184.70

Crone and Poirier

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje
2nd after their Original and their Compulsory Dances. Andrew stumbled over his toe-pick, but recovered quickly. Other than that, a great performance!
TOTAL - 184.40 Behind Crone and Poirier by 0.03! Too bad!



Weaver and Poje

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir
1st after their Original and their Compulsory Dances.You can tell that they are much stronger and much more confident than Weaver/ Poje and Crone/ Poirier. They also have a maturity about the, that the other two teams can't compete with. The "goose" lift they created was incredible, she stands on one foot on his thigh and stands straight up behind him, they did change the dismount to stay within the rules. It's a great lift. They had a flawless skate.
TOTAL - 221.95 (Canadian Record)

Virtue and Moir

Virtue and Moir beat Crone and Poirier by a HUGE margin of 37.25!!!! Amazing!

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier are heading to the Olympics!

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Canadian Figure Skating Championships - Day 2

January 15, 2010

I'm at work, but I'm watching the Canadian's... I'm unstoppable! "Good afternoon, Beth skating... I mean SPEAKING!" :) I'm loving that CBC is streaming the skating, now I don't miss a moment of the action! There's also a live chat and polls taking place during the skates, I love it!

Women's Short Program


The women's short program just ended at in a slight upset, Cynthia Phaneuf has finished ahead of Joannie Rochette. Phaneuf earned a score of 66.30 while Rochette, after falling on a triple lutz, earned 64.15.

Pairs Short Program


Next up, the pairs short program!

The pairs short is done, another slight upset! Davison and Dube are in 2nd after she fell on the side by side jumps. They earned a score of 62.87 behind Hay and Langois with a flawless program, earning them 65.47 (their seasons best!)


Langois and Hay

Dube and Davison

In 3rd place at Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin with a score of 62.38, they were a little sloppy but there were no real errors in their performance.

Original Dance

Next is the Original Dance at 5pm!

I was unfortunately unable to watch the original dance this evening. I really REALLY wish I did watch it because now that I check the scores... it's jaw dropping! Virtue and Moir earned 70.15 while 2nd place Weaver and Poje earned 57.92! That's a 12.23 margin! Crone and Poirier are now in 3rd with 57.50. I wonder if Virtue and Moir were THAT GOOD, or if everyone else was THAT BAD. Anyone? Anyone?

1 Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir
70.15
114.13
2 Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje
57.92
94.79
3 Vanessa Crone / Paul Poirier
57.50
94.77






Men's Short Program

Shawn Sawyer, Jeremy Ten and Kevin Reynolds ALL fell on their triple axles, Vaughan Chipeur however, performed amazingly well and surprised everyone!! He finished 2nd with a score of 78.87 (beating his own personal best by over 12 points!)


Patrick Chan has finished in first place with a score of 90.14, not a shock, but a little surprising due to his performance. Patrick put his hand down on the landing of a triple flip and he only performed a triple-double combination while Vaughan Chipeur landed a triple-triple combination. I'll never understand judges.


Standings Going Into Long Programs:

1

Patrick Chan

CO

90.14

90.14
2

Vaughn Chipeur

AB/NT/NU

78.87

78.87
3

Joey Russell

NL

74.04

74.04





1

Cynthia Phaneuf

QC

66.30

66.30
2

Joannie Rochette

QC

64.15

64.15
3

Amélie Lacoste

QC

53.99

53.99





1

Anabelle Langlois / Cody Hay

QC

65.47

65.47
2

Jessica Dubé / Bryce Davison

QC

62.87

62.87
3

Meagan Duhamel / Craig Buntin

QC

62.38

62.38





1

Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir

WO

43.98

70.15

114.13
2

Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje

NO

36.87

57.92

94.79
3

Vanessa Crone / Paul Poirier

CO

37.27

57.50

94.77

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Who Will Win Canada's First Gold?


So unless you live under a rock, I'm sure you've been reminded that during Canada's previous two home Olympics (Montreal '76, Calgary '88), Canada was unable to secure a gold medal. Aside from Yugoslavia (Sarajevo '84) we are the only host nation to carry this dubious distinction, and we are the only nation to have accomplished this feat twice.

Its not like Canada has been shutout of the medals at home. Montreal saw us win a fairly respectable 11 medals, 5 silver and 6 bronze. Calgary gave us 5 official medals...2 silver and 3 bronze...and three 1st place finishes in demonstration events. There just hasn't been any official gold.

Thankfully, that is almost a certainty to change in Vancouver. It would be nothing less than shocking for Canada to leave Vancouver without a gold medal, and in all probability we should win somewhere between 5-10 of them.

This certainty has then given the question of not "if Canada will win a Gold", but "who will be the first". So with that in mind, lets have a look at Day 2 of the Games, and the chances that Canada might see a Gold Medal on the first day. It might just come down to a matter of what event ends before the other:
_____________________________________________________________________

Men’s NH Ski Jump – End Time: 11:25
No offence to the Ski Jumping crew, but with nobody currently ranked even in the Top 30 on the World Cup, it will take a miracle for this to be our first Gold.

Men’s Downhill – End Time: 1:15 PM
The Canadian Alpine team has taken a number of huge injury-related hits over the past month. Perhaps none are bigger than the loss of John Kucera to broken leg earlier this year. Prior to his injury, Kucera was a serious medal threat after winning the 2009 World Championship in Val d'Isère, France. Throw in the fact that this would have been on a home-mountain, and Kucera could have been the one to register the first gold.

However, even with the loss of Kucera, Canada’s relatively deep Alpine team provides two more medal hopefuls. Manuel Osborne-Paradis has two world cup Downhill victories to his name, including one in December (Val Gardena, Italy)...and finished 5th on the Downhill World Cup Circuit in 2009. Erik Guay is probably a long-shot, but with a World Cup Win from 2007, you can’t count him out.

Overall, Osborne-Paradis and Guay are medal threats, but it would probably still be a surprise to see either of them take gold. A medal out of either of them would be a success, so let’s not get picky on colour.

Long-Track Speed Skating (Men’s 5000m) – End Time: 2:20 PM
Although Canada’s Long-Track Speed Skating team should be very strong in Vancouver, the Men’s 5000m is not really one of the events we should be expecting a medal from. Lucas Makowsky has been the top Canadian at this distance for the past few seasons, and aside from a two 5th Place finishes in Salt Lake City in ’08 and ‘09 , he’s really more of a 15th-25th kind of result. A Top 10 would probably be considered a very successful outing.

Short-Track Speed Skating (Men’s 1500m) – End Time: 7:30 PM
Although there are three short-track speed skating events taking place on Day 2, there is only one that is a medal session…the Men’s 1500m. Canada has enjoyed a very good run of success at this distance over the past two years, having put 4 different athletes on the podium on the World Cup (Charles Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Remi Tinker, Francois-Louis Trembley). Of the four, Charles Hamelin is the best shot for Canada, having finished on the podium in the last two World-Cup events…including a win in Montreal.

At this point, I’m not completely sure who Canada will enter in this event, but given the depth of our team here, I’ll go out on a limb and say that getting shut out of the medals here will be a disappointment. This is even a potential multiple-medal event for Canada…and as such, is a very good chance for Canada to pick up our first Gold.

Women’s Moguls – End Time: 8:30 PM
If the Men are unsuccessful in getting a Gold in the Short-Track 1500m, then we have quite the weapons in reserve – Jenn Heil and Kristi Richards. Heil is of course the reigning 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist, and has recovered successfully from knee issues that forced her to take a year off. On five World Cup events this year, Jenn has three gold, a Bronze and a 5th. That impressive showing has been followed up by Kristi Richards, who has a Gold and Silver to her name this year. And if that’s not enough for you, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe has three Top-10 finishes.

Considering Jenn Heil’s Olympic record, and the fact that Canadian Women have won 4 of 5 World Cup Events this year, I think you would have to say that there is a very good chance we will take this one. Nothing is a certainty of course, but if I were a betting man, I’d look for Gold from one of Heil or Richards.

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I gotta say, reading through that list, I like Canada's chances to take home Gold on Day 2!

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Canadian Figure Skating Championships - Day 1

January 14, 2010


Today the Canadians started in London, ON. Unfortunately I will be missing many short programs tomorrow due to work *grumbles*, but Scott has found that they will be streaming live on CBC!

Canadians are always a great competition because not only are the skaters fighting for a spot on the National team, but this year they are also fighting to be on the Olympic, world, junior world and Four Continents teams!
Canada will be sending two skaters, or pairs of skaters in each category, the question on most people's minds... who will be #2?? It's pretty much up for grabs but as far as I see, here are my #2 picks!

Women - Cynthia Phaneuf
Mens - **
Dance - Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier
Pairs - Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay

**I can't choose! There are 3 men who are perfectly capable of grabbing the #2 spot! Jeremy Ten, Kevin Reynolds or Shawn Sawyer. Any one of them could grab it... it's not as cut and dry as it is with the women, dance or pairs!

Today was the Compulsory Dance, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are currently first with Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier trailing by almost 7 points!

Virtue and Moir - Compulsory Program

Later this week, Virtue and Moir will be altering an unusual move they've been working on called the "goose" after learning that the element might be viewed as illegal due to the 'jump' Tessa does in the dismount. ('Jumps' are not allowed in ice dancing).

That's all for now, more to come as the updates pour in tomorrow!

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Olympic Flame at Canada Place?

So, we all know that there is going to be at least one Olympic Flame inside BC Place, as I discussed here. However, a little while back, I linked to a video that kind of suggested that there might be a second outdoor Cauldron over by Canada Place and the International Broadcast Centre. Well…it looks like those rumours have gotten a big boost from the "Look of the Games" thread over at Gamesbids.com.



To quote from 'Go Time Baby':
so it looks like a cauldron is being built at the vancouver convention centre. i went for a walk down there during my break about an hour ago after speculation peaked about whether the structure in this image posted by "mr.x" was potentially a cauldron. i couldn't really see much, so i poked my head in one of the openings at the fence and got the attention of a security guard. i asked him what was being built here and he happy and nonchalantly said in broken english, "not a building, it's the torch for the olympics". i said, "you mean the olympic cauldron"...he looked confused and said, "no you know, this is where they will light the flame. there will be a big flame here during the olympics!" i was quite shocked how easily i got it out of him. i asked how he knew and he said he's been posted here for a month now and seen everything as he put it. a little in disbelief, i walked around to the north side of the fence as far as i could and poked my head in again, saw another security guard and asked him this time, "will they finish this olympic flame in time??". he said, "i surely hope so!"

so if you believe these 2 security guards (and me of course), there will indeed be a cauldron at the VCC. my question is how they will seamless tie this into the opening ceremony, considering they are at opposite ends of downtown vancouver. i just hope its not on big screen in bc place- ack!
Of course this is all just rumour and speculation, but damn if that doesn’t look like the start of a Cauldron behind those tarps. Throw in a little corroboration from the security guards, and you’ve got me believing. It makes sense for a few other reasons, including:
  • The proximity to the International Broadcast Centre would allow for it to be included in promotional shots;
  • It would be visable for people taking pictures of the Olympic Rings in Coal Harbour from the North Shore; and
  • The entire area will actually be closed off to the public, so you don’t have to worry as much about protesters hijacking it.
I suppose we’ll still have to wait a little while to find out if this is true, but if so, it’s very exciting! That would then lead to the question of how they plan on linking the lighting in BC Place Cauldron to the Canada Place Cauldron?

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About This Blog

This blog is the online chronicle of our adventures leading up to, and including, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. We hope to give you a little insight into what went into planning our trip and a first hand look at the Games from the ground in Vancouver.

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