Men’s Hockey
‘If Russia wins gold in Hockey, nothing else matters. If Russia loses, nothing else matters.’
(NBC, February 15, 2014)
This was how acclaimed Russian journalist and talk-show host Vladimir Posner reacted to this loss, making the extraordinary admission that, no matter how many other gold medals Russians win, unless Team Russia avenges [the loss to the USA in Group play on February 15] by winning gold in Men’s Hockey, the country will consider these Games a national failure.
So forgive me for rooting for any team but Russia to win just to see President Vladimir Putin’s notorious swagger turn to squirm – as he tries to explain to his inconsolable country why the $50 billion he invested in these Games do not amount to the biggest waste of public expenditure in the history of mankind.
(“Sochi Olympics: Day 8,” The iPINIONS Journal, February 15, 2014)
Although cold-hearted, the Posner quote cited above reveals the all-consuming importance Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, placed on winning gold in Men’s Hockey at these Games.
Therefore, I’m sure words do not exist in English to express the national humiliation Russia must be feeling after getting knocked out of the medal round today by “lowly” Finland, 3-1. Not least because, still feeding off that famous 1980 “miracle on ice” game, so much was made of a potential match-up for gold between Russia and the United States.
Never mind that this hype overlooked the fact that Canada is the defending Olympic champion and that Finland is the defending bronze medalist, having been bested only by Canada and the United States, the defending silver medalist, in Vancouver.
In any event, failing to even make the medal round makes a mockery of all hope and glory Russians vested in winning gold in this event. And, forget poking him in the eye, it would be rubbing salt in Putin’s terminally wounded pride for the United States to go on now to win this coveted gold medal – not just on Russian soil, but in the Olympic venue he built as a monument to himself. I look forward to buying my pound of salt.
It’s not a day of national mourning, flags are not going to fly at half-staff, but it comes pretty close to that. It’s devastating.
(Posner, NBC-SN, February 19, 2014)
Many NHL-playing Russians (like Alex Ovechkin who plays for my Washington Capitals) flew home to avenge Russia’s national pride and vindicate Putin’s ego. I now urge them to take the first flight leaving for America, lest they find themselves recovering from this loss somewhere in Siberia.
Women’s Figure Skating
Given Posner’s take on the unqualified importance Russians placed on winning gold in Men’s Hockey, you could be forgiven for thinking that winning gold in Women’s Figure Skating, easily the most glamorous event of these Games, hardly matters to them.
After their big hockey-playing men let them down so spectacularly, however, despairing Russians are probably now looking to their little figure-skating girls to give their national pride a vodka-like shot by winning gold. Except that this too seemed like more fool’s gold when 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya aped the hockey players by falling apart during competition in the short program today. After all, even Western commentators touted her as the Russian ice princess who would soon be Olympic queen.
But her teammate, Adelina Sotnikova, rescued Russia from complete despair with a rousing performance, which placed her in a great position to capture gold with the performance of her life in the long program tomorrow.
For the record, though, I’m looking to Yuna Kim of South Korea to defend her gold medal in this event. Of course, if she does, she would not only strip the Russians of all jingoistic pride but also serve the Americans (and their wonder girl, Gracie Gold) a big whole humble pie.
More importantly, Kim would become the first women to defend her title since Katarina Witt of East Germany won gold in Sarajevo in 1984 and again in Calgary in 1988.
Women’s Bobsled
To her credit, though, Jones appears so determined to vindicate her celebrity fame with Olympic glory that she has placed herself in contention to join Vonn as a member of the U.S. Olympic team in Sochi, competing in Bobsled.
(“The Lolo Jonesing of Lindsey Vonn,” The iPINIONS Journal, December 4, 2013)
Lolo Jones is arguably the most polarizing, if not the most hated, athlete in America … after Alex Rodriguez. But I see no point in commenting on the enmities and jealousies that have made her so. I simply marvel at the determination and resourcefulness she has exhibited in pursuing her dream of Olympic glory, come what may.
Of course, her frustrations in the Women’s Hurdles at two Summer Olympic Games are well documented. Alas, they continued in the Bobsled at these Winter Olympic Games, no doubt to the delight of her snarky detractors. In fact, her 11th place finish (with her partner Jasmine Fenlator) is worse than any she had in the Hurdles, including when she fell and had to crawl over the finish line in Beijing. Perhaps Lolo should now try Rhythmic Dancing, where beauty counts for a lot more than talent.
Ironically, the fact that another track athlete-cum-bobsledder won silver in this event probably compounded Lolo’s disappointment. Especially considering that Lauryn Williams (second from left) had already experienced Olympic glory by winning silver in the 100m at the 2004 Games in Athens and gold in the 4x100m Relay at the 2012 Games in London.
Never mind that her glory here would have been golden and historic (as the first woman to ever win gold at a Summer and Winter Olympics) if she and her partner Elana Meyers hadn’t “saved their worst run for last,” committing surprising mistakes that blew the led they held after three of four runs.
Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse of Canada won gold; Meyers and Williams settled for silver; and their wholly unsung American teammates Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans won bronze.
Americans Skipping Town
What does it say about the camaraderie among members of Team USA that so many of them have already flown back to the United States. After all, others are still competing in Sochi and, at this rate, there’ll be nobody behind the USA flag during the Closing Ceremony’s march of nations.
Perhaps they skipped town to escape the terrorist attacks so many think will still come or to suck up as much of the quadrennial media attention being lavished on Olympians on American TV these days. Either way, it reflects poor esprit de corps for some members to be yucking it up on back home while their purported teammates are still waging Olympic battle on behalf of the Team USA over in Sochi.
MEDAL COUNT
United States: 23; Russia: 22 Netherlands: 22