the Informer

This past Friday, Feb. 12, saw the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Coming down the stretch of the first full week of the games, the best from over 80 countries have already been fighting for the gold. The USA medal count is currently at 14, including gold medals for men’s snowboarding, women’s freestyle skiing, women’s downhill and more.

Although still in the first week of the games, intense competition and heartfelt tragedy have contributed to form a bittersweet start to the current Olympic games. Just hours before the opening ceremony Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in an unfortunate practice run at the Whistler Sliding Centre. The tragic accident lead the Olympic Officials to alter the starting places for lugers and reshape the track to decrease speeds by five miles per hour.

USA Olympic favorite Apollo Anton Ohno tied the record for most medals won by an American Winter Olympian with his second place finish in the men’s 1500-meter sprint Saturday night. Ohno, who emerged as a medalist on the final turn of the race, has a chance to break the record during these Olympic games. Finishing right behind Ohno was fellow American and 19-year-old J.R. Celski, who snatched his first Olympic medal.

Saturday saw the first American gold medal won by Hannah Kearney in the women’s freestyle skiing. Kearney, 23, scored highest in all three categories, turns, air and time. Taking the bronze with a final difference of .26 from the silver medalist was 29-year-old American Shannon Bahrke.

The second gold medal won for Team USA was in the men’s snowboard cross by Seth Wescott. The event finals, held Monday night, ended in the successful defending of Wescott’s 2006 Torino gold medal win. The American’s win made him only one of four to successfully win back-to-back gold medals in an event in the Winter Olympics
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On Wednesday the Americans captured another two medals in the women’s downhill, including a gold-winning run by Lindsey Vonn, whose status was uncertain for the entirety of the Olympic Games.

On the hockey front of the winter games, USA’s men’s team won their first game against Switzerland by a margin of 3-1. The game, held on Feb. 16, seemed to be an evenly fought game with great strides from both countries. However, Team USA emerged victorious by finding the right gaps in goaltender Jonas Hiller and dominating the game changing second period with goals from David Backes and Ryan Malone. The men’s next game takes place on Thursday Feb. 18, where they’ll face Norway.

On the women’s end of the hockey front, Team USA swept their first game 12-1 against China and virtually dominated the ice. American Jenny Potter came up big and recorded a hat trick for the team’s first game of the tournament. The Women also faced the Russian Federation where Potter again recorded a hat trick lifting Team USA to a commanding 13-0 win. The women’s next match up is scheduled for Thursday February 18 where Team Finland will challenge the scoring arsenal that is Team USA.

The 2010 Winter Olympics will continue through Feb. 28 and still have a lot action to come. Countries will fight for the title of world’s greatest and athletes will push their limits as the winter games hit full throttle in the week to come.