Day 10 of the Vancouver Olympics: The Quest for Gold

21 Feb 2010, Sun. Day 10 of the Vancouver Olympics was a thrilling day of competition as athletes battled each other in the quest for Olympic gold! For some athletes, the quest was successful! For others, the search continues.

In the 15km biathlon, Evgeny Ustyugov gives Russia its first biathlon gold in 16 years! The last time Russia won gold in the biathlon was the 1992 Lillehammer Olympics. It was a surpise win for Evgeny Ustyugov, who couldn't believe it himself! France's Martin Fourcade takes silver and Slovakia's Pavol Hurajt wins the bronze.

Over on the women's side, in the 12.5km biathlon, Germany's Magdalena Neuner wins her second gold of the Olympics, her first was in the 10km. Russian Olga Zaitseva won the silver medal and Germany's Simone Hauswald took bronze.

And it's a wonderful day for the speed skating nation of The Netherlands! In the women's 1500m speed skate, Ireen Wust wins the gold for The Netherlands. Canada's Kristina Groves takes the silver and the Czech Republic's Martina Sablikova wins the bronze.

In the men's super combine skiing event, American Bode Miller climbs to gold! His combined time of downhill skiing and skiing around obstacles put him first. It is his first Olympic gold, having won silver in the super G, and a bronze in downhill skiing! Bode Miller redeems himself after a dismal performance in the Torino Olympics, where he was more known for having a big mouth and partying, failing to live up to Olympic expectations. But a more mature, humble, and wiser Bode Miller has emerged and has done very well in the Vancouver Olympics. And he becomes the most decorated US Alpine skier ever.

Croatia's Ivica Kostelic takes silver, and Switzerland's Silvan Zurbriggen wins bronze. Ivica Kostelic continues a family tradition of skiing champions! He won silver at Torino in the same event! His sister Janica is one of the best skiers of all time, having won 3 golds at the Salt Lake Olympics, and 1 in Torino. She had a friendly rivalry with Anja Pearson, the tough Swedish skier who won the bronze in the super combine a day after a horrific crash on the downhill.

And it was a furious and exciting Olympic debut for ski cross! Ski cross is like snowboard cross, where four athletes race down hill after beating out other athletes in qualifying events. And it was a thrilling race to the end! In the final race, Switzerland's Michael Schmid pulls ahead into the lead, followed closely by Austria's Andreas Matt. Canada's Christopher Del Bosco, the reigning X Games champion, was in third.

But Del Bosco is not one to settle for bronze. When he races, he races to win! And he took a huge risk, getting big air in the the last jump in an effort to catch up to the leader. But it all went horribly wrong, as he crashed down, leaving the door open for Norway's Audum Goenvold to take the bronze. But what a gutsy and fantastic move by Del Bosco. He never plays it safe, and that's what makes ski cross so exciting.

And in the uncertain and dangerous sport of bobsled, crashes played a role in determining who would make it to the final race.

If you don't think bobsled is dangerous, think again!


















Switzerland is ranked number 1, but they crashed in qualifying, taking them out of the final. Canada was also another medal favorite, but they, too, crashed on the track.



Check out the track burns on this dude after a hard crash!


Canadian women have sharp nails!

Don't worry, he's British! He's tough! And he's all right.

And it was Germany who once again dominates the sledding events! Bobsled pilot Andre Lange and his partner Kevin Kuske win the gold! And with this win, Andre Lange has a 4th Olympic gold--1 in the four man bobsled in 2002 Salt Lake, 2 in 2006 Torino in two man and four man events, and this Vancouver gold in the two man event. Andre Lange becomes the most decorated bobsledder in history! And it's silver for Germany's other team, Thomas Florschuetz and Richard Adjel. Russia's Alexandr Zubkov and Alexey Voevoda claim the bronze.

And in the hockey preliminaries, the most anticipated game in North America took place between hometown faves and medal contender Canada versus the US! And it was fantastic game! The Canadian team, with big National Hockey League stars, put up an incredible battle against the less famous US squad. It was a fight to the finish! Such an action packed game, with the US scoring first, only to have Canada turn it around for a tie! And there were lots of hard body checks and slamming going on as the two squads fought over the puck! In the last minutes of the game, Canada makes a surprising goal, coming just 1 goal behind the US, making the score 4-3! Could this be another sudden death match like the Canadians match against the Swedes, beating the Swedes out in the end?

No! The Americans score one more goal and the clock runs out! It's a 5-3 win for the US. And for the first time since 1960, US beats Canada in a hockey match! 50 years of losses is over! The Canadians won gold in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics on American soil. The Americans now advance to the quarter finals, with only 3 games to win in the fight for gold. The Canadians have 4 games to win now in their quest. But I wouldn't count them out. The Slovakians bitch slapped the Russians earlier in the week, proving that the Russians are beatable. It's going to be a thrilling play off for the gold!

And in better news for the Canadians, the original dance portion of ice dancing is over. The theme for the original dance had to be either a Folk Dance or a Country Dance. And I luved other countries take on what country dance is!



Save a horse! Ride a cowboy!




Check out the tramp stamp on this one's back! Extra points!

Yeeeee haaa!!!

Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir win the original dance portion of ice dancing! They now lead with 111.15 points. This was their most difficult and complicated dance, and they performed an outstanding, sultry flamenco that brought the crowd to their feet! A lovely and lively performance!





















Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's training partners, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White, move up to second, with 108.55 points (-2.6 from the lead). They went with a Bollywood number that excited the crowd!



Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin drop down to third, with 106.6 points (-4.55 form the lead). They used a slightly altered Aboriginal theme and costumes that offended Australian Aboriginals.

Torino silver medalists, Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Augusto are in 4th place with 103.33 points (-7.82). I have to say, that as wonderful as their execution was in the difficult technical parts of their program, their presentation kind of sucks. I mean, the music isn't inspiring, no connection with the audience, and the new costumes are terrible! It's like they're waiters at a Greek themed restaurant!

I'll take a gyro please!

Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin are the worst dressed couple of the evening! They should've been disqualified for wearing those horrid costumes! These are the slightly altered costumes that offended the Aboriginals in Australia!



I am offended by the sight of their ghastly clothes! Green leaves and loin cloths? If they were a rain forest, I'd cut them down and put a parking lot over them!

And tomorrow is the free dance, the best and most fun portion of ice dancing! It's the final event in ice dancing. I'm expecting great performances, horrible costumes, and lots of drama in the epic battle to end Russian dominance in ice dancing!