Fifi Leigh
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Men’s Cross Country Skiathlon is said to last for one hour. Finland was in the lead, but it quickly changed to Norway, followed by Sweden and France. The top ten in the lead often change, as some overtake others while others start to lag. France is suddenly in the lead. As I watch the white snow-covered mountains and ski trails on my flat screen TV, I felt so invigorated and inspired, although cross country skiing is very tiring. Norway, Canada, France and Finland appear to be in the lead. As they arrive at an area, they stop to change their skis. The second half of the race is freestyle. France, Switzerland, Norway, and OAR appear to be in the lead as they approach Lap 7. During Lap 7, Sweden is in the lead of the race. Norway, Germany and Switzerland takeover the lead, as these athletic men approach the last lap. A couple of men crash into each other, trip over each other, and their skis and poles become tangled together in the skiing herd. They struggle to get up and free themselves from the entanglement to continue the race. During the last lap, Norway, Germany, Canada, and Switzerland remain in the lead, racing to reach the finish line for a medal. Norway’s Krueger is in the lead, but Sunby and Holund take over, and Krueger is in the lead again, until they each cross the finish line.
Norway’s Krueger wins Gold, Norway’s Sunby wins Silver, and Norway’s Holund wins Bronze
OAR finishes 4th and France finishes 5th, close behind the top three. I noticed that the top 3 names sounded familiar from the last winter Olympics.
At 1 pm, I make a cup of hot cocoa with mini vegan marshmallows. As I get ready to watch the Men’s 5000M, I notice a sea of orange in the audience to support a Dutch speed skater, Sven Kramer. He has many fans in the audience. Men’s 5000M involved two men racing at a time. Korea’s Lee beats Belgium. Italy beats Norway, but Korea’s Lee is still in first place, or the fastest, so far, to finish the 2-man race. New Zealand’s P. Michael beats Netherland. New Zealand is now in the lead, followed by Korea’s Lee, and the Belgium. Canada’s Bloemen beats Norway’s Pedersen. Netherland’s Sven Kramer beats Germany’s Patrick Beckert. Netherland’s Sven Kramer is now in the lead, followed by Canada, Norway, New Zealand, and USA. Italy beats Germany.
Netherland’s Sven Kramer wins Gold for the third consecutive time, Canada’s Bloemen wins Silver, and Norway’s Pedersen wins Bronze.
Men’s 10KM Sprint is a 6-mile race, which also involves stopping twice to shoot five targets at both locations. Then, they ski to the finish line. Korea is in the lead, followed by Finland and Germany. Norway takes over the lead, followed by Austria. Korea is suddenly in the lead. Slovakia takes over the lead, but not too long because Austria passes Slovakia. But Germany crosses the finish line first, followed by Czech Republic and Italy.
Germany’s Arnd Peiffer wins Gold, Czech’s Krcmar wins Silver, and Italy’s Windisch wins Bronze.
At 3 pm, I took a snack break to heat a burrito. Then, I worked on my graphic novel for an hour. While eating, I heard on TV that Disneyland plans to increases their prices again. Are they trying to discourage tourists and customers from enjoying the amusement park? The weather report in South Korea appears to be very windy, and many athletes have been struggling in the competitions. Some races were postponed or cancelled because of these winds. But some athletes strategically shielded their face from the winds and dealt with working with the wind from messing up their competitive edge. Due to the weather conditions, some winners were shocked they won a medal because of ice issues and heavy winds. Meanwhile, rain appears to be in the forecast for southern California. Monday is likely to get some light rain until Wednesday. I plan to take only my iPhone to UCI for the Lunar New Year street festival because it is small, and I just want to do videos anyway of the event. I would rather use my Minolta and Canon during better weather conditions.
At 4 pm, Men’s Single Luge performed two runs. During Run 1, Germany’s Loch starts the race in first place, Austria is in second place, and OAR—Russia is in third place. Then, USA’s Mazdzer makes it to 2nd place, which puts Italy to 4th place and Austria is now in 3rd place. During Run 2, Germany’s Ludwig is in 1st page and Italy is in 2nd place. Austria’s Gleirscher makes it to 1st place, followed by Germany’s Ludwig in 2nd place. USA’s Mazdzer makes it in 2nd place and Germany’s Loch is in 5th place.
Austria’s Gleirscher wins the Gold, USA’s Mazdzer wins the Silver, and Germany’s Ludwig wins the Bronze
Women’s Moguls in Run 2: Canada, Australia, and France are the top 3. Kazakhstan is in 1st place, while Australia is in 4th place. Then, Canada is in 1st place. France scores enough to put her in 1st place. Australia’s Cox is in 5th place. France, Canada, and Kazakhstan are the top 3.
France’s Perrine Laffont wins Gold, Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe wins Silver, and Kazakhstan’s Yulia Galysheva wins Bronze
Women’s Giant Slalom is postponed because of high winds. USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin will compete in this race.
