Once Every Four Years is Not Enough
Alex Ovechkin of Russia skates before their men’s hockey game against Latvia at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, February 16, 2010. (REUTERS/Hans Deryk) #
Slovakia’s Anastazia Kuzmina competes in the Women’s Biathlon 10 km pursuit at Whistler Olympic Park on February 16, 2010 during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images) #
Megan Sweeney of The United States descends the track during the Luge Women’s Singles on day 5 of the 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler Sliding Centre on February 16, 2010 in Whistler, Canada. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
The logo for PyeongChang 2018 has officially been released. Thoughts?
I’m not really sure how I feel about it. It looks off-balanced and unfinished, but I can sort of appreciate the simplicity. I think. I don’t know. Maybe it’ll grow on me.
It looks too simple… I wonder what the meaning behind it is.
According to PyeongChang 2018’s facebook:
The design of the emblem has its roots in the Korean alphabet, better known as Hangul in Korea. Both the “ㅍ” and “ㅊ” shapes in the emblem stem from the first consonants of each syllable in the word “PyeongChang” when written in Hangul - 평창.
“ㅍ” also represents a gathering place where the three elements of Korea’s traditional humanism, called Cheon-ji-in (天地人: literally meaning heaven, earth and human), are in harmony.
“ㅊ” symbolizes the epitome of winter sports, snow and ice, as well as athletes’ stellar performances. PyeongChang aspires to become a hub of winter sports in Asia, and such a goal will be carried out under the vision of “New Horizons.”
A square where the earth meets the sky, and where athletes excel in snow or on ice - that’s where everyone will celebrate the world’s biggest winter festival in 2018.
The descriptions of the symbols are beautiful. The depiction of the symbols… remind me of kindergartner art.
(via olympictrivia)
An Olympic Researcher position at NBCUniversal is one of the most coveted entry level jobs in sports media. Young 20-something college graduates are given the opportunity to travel around the world to become an expert in their assigned sports and interview athletes so they can tell their stories during the Olympics.
The researchers travel to World Cups, world championships, Grand Prixs, whatever’s necessary to collect primary-source information on the men and women who could turn into Olympic stars. The main responsibility of the position involves working on research manuals for every sport, that can be up to 600 pages each and run several volumes long.
We sat down with Alex Goldberger, the senior member of the current Olympic research team, to find out more about his job and what he’s doing to prepare for the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
It probably goes without saying, but I’m insanely jealous of Alex Goldberger and his fellow researchers!
May 22, 2013 - Mike Krzyzewski had decided to remain coach of the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team.
Krzyzewski, who was expected to step down, will try to lead the Americans to a third straight gold medal. The Hall of Fame coach has led the Americans since 2005, winning gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and the 2010 world basketball championship.
Very good news! Here’s an interesting bit from the ESPN article about Coach K’s announcement:
NBA players were first used in the 1992 Olympics and an NBA coach had always led the team during that time. But as international competition steadily improved, once-invulnerable American teams finished sixth in the 2002 FIBA World Championship then lost three times en route to a bronze in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Krzyzewski’s first U.S. team ended up with a bronze during the 2006 World Championship, but has won ever since. Along the way, NBA players like LeBron James have praised Krzyzewski’s work melding a collection of stars into a cohesive team.
The coach sounds eager to get started again.
“I’ve loved it and I think the players have loved it, and I think people can see that,” Krzyzewski said. “And you want to do it again. I think people think that because we have all these guys, you just roll out the ball and you’re going to win. That’s a very arrogant way of looking at it, and it’s that arrogance that got us into the spot we were before and thinking that no one’s good.”
He Zi’s “Feel the beat” commercial for the Olympics with Coca-cola. Also featuring an all-star cast of my favorites Chen Yibing, Zhang Jike, Liu Xiang and Sun Yang.
(via frangymnasticsfan)
Nothing beats like these swimmer babies in Neon Shoes!
Another future 30 for 30 documentary with great promise will focus on Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan 20 years after the 1994 Winter Olympics. ESPN Films has long chased filmmaker Nanette Burstein to be part of its series and she’s heading up the project. The working title of the film (which is likely to be changed) is The Whack Heard Round The World and the target date for air is November.
In an interview with SI.com last week, Burstein said the film will focus heavily on the six weeks in 1994 when it seemed the entire sporting world was focused on the two American skaters. The film will also examine how the events impacted the sport of figure skating and the sporting culture at large. “This story raises a lot of issues,” Burstein said. “It raises the issue of class, it raises the issue of feminine sports, and it raises the issue of media because this story came at the beginning of tabloid stories taking over as major news and occupying the public for weeks on end.”
Burstein said she has already interviewed Harding for the film — she recently spent an entire day with the former skater. “She has such captivating and strong personality and is very outspoken and emotional about these issues and how it hugely affected her life,” Burstein said. “She wanted her story told but she also wanted this to be the last time she did it. She did not want to keep rehashing the story for years to come.”
As for Kerrigan, Burstein said she is optimistic she will sit down with her for an interview. “She has a very admirable story to be told,” Burstein said. “What she was able to overcome and how she rose to the occasion was nothing short of very admirable. Most people would have quit or never been able to perform on an Olympic level. Her side of the story would add so much.”
If the filmmakers cannot get Kerrigan on film, the documentary will proceed. Burstein said there are people who were around Kerrigan at the time who can provide information. Obviously, documentaries are about access and Kerrigan’s voice is clearly an important one. Kerrigan does know Harding is participating in the film.
Landing Burstein is a coup for Schell. In 2002 she co-directed the sensational documentary, “The Kid Stays In The Picture,” which focused on the life of legendary film producer Robert Evans. Her first documentary, “On the Ropes,” followed three young Brooklyn boxers and their trainer. The doc was nominated for an Oscar in 1999.
We’ll see…
(via jadedkitten)
More stickers and a free team USA jacket with minimum $20 donation. I think so! #olympics #sochi
Ooh, I like that jacket but I’d go for the sports bag, I think.
Olympic rings outside the Sochi airport. 263 days to go!
Burton is not going to be able to top those denim-like snowboarding pants at Sochi, are they?
So, wow… no big skating competitions until October… SO WHY NOT MAKE SH*T UP?!
We’ve got 3 spots each for the ladies and dance, and two each for pairs and men. So lets break it down in that order.
LADIES:
After a very good showing at worlds, I think that both Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold are…
Oooh, good picks. Max Aaron and his West Side Story routine totally won me over at Worlds, so he’s the one I’m crossing my fingers for for Sochi.
Squaw Valley, Calif.
1960 was the only time bobsled wasn’t included in the Games, because the organizers looked at the bill for a bobsled track and said, “Nah, we’re good.” Walt Disney produced the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and instant replay was invented when slalom officials asked CBS if they could review tapes of the event to check if a skiier missed a gate.
