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Let's Get Social 02.22.22

2/22/2022

 

Beijing 2022 Athletes Return Home From Their Olympics

Chris Mazdzer is home.
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Chloe Kim does late night.
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Ryan Cochrane-Siegle does the rounds.
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Benny Karl is back in Austria.
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Filip Zubcic found a day off in Paris.
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A post shared by â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ (@filipzubcic10)


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Thank You, Beijing 2022...For What Went Well

2/21/2022

 

A Final (Not So) Little Roundup of Highlights From These Winter Olympics

​Beset by a sense of indifference from afar, Beijing 2022 sure did have its controversies and headaches, and then some, but I'm able to put blinders on for a moment to appreciate the plethora of notable athletic achievements throughout the Games.

As one noted veteran Olympic marketer notes, the heart of every Olympic Games comes from the athletes. I couldn't agree more! Let's take a look some of the headline accomplishments that we can celebrate from across the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Alpine Skiing
At age 41, Johan Clarey became the oldest Alpine skier to medal at an Olympics, with a silver in the downhill, and after a steady late-career improvement.

With his super-G win, Matthias Mayer became the first man to win an Alpine skiing gold in three consecutive Olympics...and he's now in a four-way tie for most Alpine skiing medals by an Austrian, and ties Toni Sailer with three gold.

In that same race, Ryan Cochran-Siegle's silver medal follows his mother's own Olympic medal (gold), 50 years earlier in Sapporo 1972's slalom. Later, Johannes Strolz's gold in the Alpine combined follows his father's same gold in Calgary 1988.

In the women's super-G, Lara Gut-Behrami became the first-ever Swiss skier to win the Winter event, and the first reigning world champion to win Olympic gold.
Picture
Lara Gut-Behrami (Agence Zoom)
Petra Vhlova's slalom win - from a first-run seventh place  - gave Slovakia its first-ever Olympic Alpine skiing medal.

The men's giant slalom saw the participation of Haitian Richardson Viano and Saudi Arabian Fayik Abdi, both the first representatives of their nations at any Winter Olympics, in any sport. And, Joan Verdu Sanchez's ninth-place finish is the best Winter Games result for Andorra (and ties the best at any Games).

Corinne Suter's downhill gold meant that four separate skiers from one nation (Switzerland) won an Olympic title in one Games for the first time.

Barnabas Szollos was the only skier to compete (and finish!) in all five individual Alpine events. And, he matched Israel's highest-ever Winter Olympic finish with sixth in the Alpine combined.

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The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Close

2/20/2022

 

Beijing 2022 Says Goodbye...

The Closing Ceremony for Beijing 2022 officially close the XXIV Olympic Winter Games. Check out some images of the closing event. (Click an image for the source link.)

And, come back to this blog tomorrow for a roundup of what's worth remembering from the athletes and their accomplishments. There's a lot! Also, the Games & Rings Tumblr feed has some of my favorite photos from sports photographers over the two weeks' action, too.
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Beijing Olympics Quick Hits 02.19.22

2/19/2022

 

A Little Roundup

Atop the medal table, what is the secret to Norway's Winter Olympics success? Is it 'fun and friendship'?
The New York Times​ investigates as well.
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Team Norway biathletes (DeFodi Images/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, is drinking wine the key to Swiss skiing success??

Retired biathlete Martin Fourcade and Alpine skier Frida Hansdotter elected as newest members to the IOC Athletes' Commission.

Check out USA TODAY​'s roundup of some of their best photos from Beijing 2022, including captures of the range of emotions the Games always bring...and 'funny faces'.

The New York Times has a great photo roundup, too.

And, here is CNN.com​'s selections from Beijing 2022.

Athletes biting their medals is still a thing...as For the Win investigates.

Tim Layden: These Olympics have been...complicated.

How is Beijing 2022 the 'most-watched and digitally-engaged' Winter Olympics ever? The answer is China, and not the rest of the world...

The U.S. Olympic Committee can point to a bobsledders Josh Williamson and Sylvia Hoffman as successes of its reality t.v. athlete search.

Associated Press: How did athletes spend their down time at Beijing 2022?

A challenge for U.S. Ski and Snowboard...how do grow a more diverse athlete population?

Will team China's cross-country performance at Beijing 2022 have a "profound impact" on the sports development in the host nation?

More...Su Yiming and Eileen Gu are forging a 'new face of sport' in China, amidst its most successful Winter Games.

An every-four-years question: how to leverage the Olympic excitement of women's ice hockey?

'Loveable losers' takes on a new meaning for Olympics-watchers in Australia.

Buzzfeed looks at how some Beijing 2022 athletes have grown since we first saw them in an Olympics.

The Sydney Morning Herald: Was this really Russia's Olympics?

The next Winter Games of Milano Cortina 2026 wants to bring 'the joy back to the Olympics'.

But will Milano Cortina 2026 "lack spirit and atmosphere" in Alpine skiing? Federica Brignone thinks so.

And beyond...what is the future of Winter Games in an era of sustainability awareness and climate change? Will the continued focus be on adapting "the Games to the master plan of the (host) city"?

Thought Beijing wasn't winter-y enough? Snow aside, the AP has the photos to prove how cold it got.

Here are some of the best bobsled color schemes from this week.

Here's "17 of the wildest skeleton helmets" from Beijing 2022.

And, what's your favorite goalie mask from Beijing 2022's ice hockey competition?
Picture
Saskia Maurer and her mask (Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images)

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Beijing Olympics Quick Hits 02.18.22

2/18/2022

 

A Little Roundup

Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy: "My coming out story is my Olympic legacy".
Picture
Gus Kenworthy (CNN.com interview screenshot)
Freeskiing sensation Eileen Gu still has one main person to win over...her grandmother.

Three years after an accident-causing coma, Kevin Rolland is back in an Olympic freestyle skiing final.

Jon Sallinen's infamous freeski halfpipe crash? It could have been much worse if not for the 'cushion'.

Team USA's ski jumpers ponder the future after Beijing 2022, almost 100 years after the only medal in the sport. "I want to win."

Will Stefania Constantini & Amos Mosaner's mixed doubles gold bring back a love of curling to Italy?

Chris Plys' return to Olympic curling with Team USA is a 'dream job'.

Sweden's curling skip Niklas Edin, meanwhile, hopes to make a long list of surgeries worth it with a long-awaited Olympic gold.

Cross-country skiing great Therese Johaug confirms that this will be her last Olympics.

Is short track speed skater Elise Christie's retirement now short-lived?

Will Arianna Fontana make up with her federation and make it to Milano Cortina 2026?

Has Beijing 2022 exacerbated cultural tensions between South Korea and China?

Related, Kwak Yoon-gy's podium celebration was a fan-boy thanks to pop band BTS for their support.

Not helping: Speed skater Cha Min-kyu's medal podium 'wiping' gesture provokes charges of disrespect.

More bad speed skating behavior...Daniil Aldoshkin apologizes for throwing (victory?) middle fingers (at Team USA?).

USA TODAY: Brittany Bowe's journey to Olympic bronze in speed skating has been a battle.

The partnership between pairs skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier goes beyond their time on the ice...he introduced her to her former partner, and her husband.

Ice dancers Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson earned new fans from the band KISS, one of the highlights for their Olympic experience.

Figure skater Mariah Bell's free skate program was "the exact moment she was hoping for".

Fellow figure skater Zhu Yi defends herself against online trolls in China: "I am an Olympian, no one can take that away from me."


Yahoo Sports looks back on Tommy Ford's Olympic giant slalom race...which came after his last race that landed him in a hospital.

Katie Tannenbaum: When finishing last in the skeleton is a victory.

World Athletics gets in on Winter Olympic fandom, with a look at Jaclyn Narracott's successful turn from sprinting to skeleton.

Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic skeleton / monobob rider Simidele Adeagbo makes her gender disparity concerns official.

Pilot Brad Hall keeps calm as he approaches the four-man bobsled competition, despite a dramatic crash in the two-man.

Team USA luger Zack DiGregorio gets feted on his return home to Medway, Massachusetts.

Snowboarder Nick Baumgartner also will receive a hero's welcome home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Meanwhile, 'heartbroken' teammate Jamie Anderson opens up about the mental challenges she faced in approaching Beijing 2022.
Picture
Jamie Anderson (Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)

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    Above: Athens' Kallimarmaro, the site of the 1896 Summer Olympics


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