Last day of competition and the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics are over. What a fantastic Olympics it has been!
Olympic Fanfare and Theme by John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra
Highlights
Curling Women's Gold Medal Match (Sweden vs South Korea)
South Korea's Team Kim (dubbed Garlic Girls by Korean Press) have made an incredible Cinderella run for gold.
Taking nicknames from their favorite breakfast foods, Kim Cho-hee 'Chocho' (Cookie), Kim Yeong-mi 'Pancake', Kim Seon-yeong 'Sunny' (Side Up Eggs), Kim Kyeong-ae 'Steak', and Kim Eun-jung 'Annie' (Yogurt Brand) faced off against Sweden's Anna Hasselborg, Sara McManus, Agnes Knochenhauer, Sofia Mabergs, and Jennie Wåhlin.
It was breakfast versus Swedish meatballs! And in the final face off, Sweden had better handle on the ice and better shots, and they take the gold after a concession from South Korea, 8-3.
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| Winners of the gold medal, Sweden shake hands with silver medalists, Korea following the Women's Gold Medal Game between Sweden and Korea PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images AsiaPac |
The Swedes played better and took an early lead that they held and extended all the way to the end.
And a fantastic job to the home team, winning silver, South Korea's first ever curling medal.
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| YeongMi Kim, SeonYeong Kim, KyeongAe Kim, EunJung Kim of Korea and Chohi Kim of Korea celebrate their silver medal on the podium following the Women's Gold Medal Game between Sweden and Korea PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images AsiaPac |
I was totally rooting for South Korea, because I love rooting for the underdogs. And they've had an amazing run! And the Swedes totally earned that gold in the match. They played better.
A fantastic job to both teams!
My only disappointment was the medal ceremony. I was kind of hoping that the Swedish anthem would be a song from ABBA or Ace Of Base.
Four Man Bobsled
Germany has swept gold in all three bobsled events, just as they did at Tornio 2006. With the four man bobsled gold, Germany has set a new record of being the first country to win six sliding golds at a single Winter Olympics.
German pilot Francesco Friedrich with Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis clocked in four runs in 3 minutes, 15.85 seconds to win by more than a half-second. The Korean sled driven by Won Yunjong and the German sled driven by Nico Walther tied to share the silver, the second sliding medal tie in these games after they finished in 3 minutes, 16.38 seconds.
The German team of Nico Walther, Kevin Kuske, Alexander Rödiger, and Eric Franke adds a shared silver to the German medal haul, making up for a terrible Sochi 2014 experience, when Germany failed to medal.
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| Yunjong Won, Junglin Jun, Seo Youngwoo and Donghyun Kim of Korea celebrate after they finish their final run during the 4-man Boblseigh PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images AsiaPac |
And Won Yun-jong, Jun Jung-lin, Seo Young-woo, and Kim Dong-hyun deliver South Korea the silver, its second sliding sports medal ever!
Switzerland's Rico Peter, Thomas Amrhein, Simon Friedli, and Michael Kuonen had the third fastest time. But there is a stupid rule in the Olympics that prevents them from getting a well earned bronze.
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| Rico Peter, Thomas Amrhein, Simon Friedli and Michael Kuonen of Switzerland make a final run during the 4-man Boblseigh Heats PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Clive Mason/Getty Images AsiaPac |
Since there is a tie at silver, there is no bronze awarded! And if there's a tie at gold, there's no silver awarded! The second place finished gets bronze instead!
Ice Hockey Gold Medal Match (Germany vs OAR)
Tied at 3-3, the game went into overtime. A power play gave the OAR the edge to score one more goal and claim the gold.
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| Patrick Hager #50 of Germany and Sergei Andronov #11 of Olympic Athlete from Russia face off at Men's Gold Medal Game PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Harry How/Getty Images AsiaPac |
At the medal ceremony, the Olympics anthem was played while Russians tried to sing their national anthem. Russia is "banned" from participating in the Games for its state sponsored doping, most notably when it hosted Sochi 2014. The Russian athletes invited to participate have been competing under the neutral Olympics flag, designated as the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR). All medals they won are NOT counted under Russia.
The last time Russia won hockey gold was at Albertville 1992, when they were the Unified Team after the break up of the Soviet Union.
Germany put in a stellar performance to take silver. It is a fantastic showing for a nation no one counted on to even make the podium. But they have surprised everyone and earned a spot to play for gold. The silver win is a great win.
Canada won bronze after playing Czech Republic.
Cross-country Skiing Women's 30km Mass Start Classic
Marit Bjoergen is the Queen of the Winter Olympics!
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| Marit Bjoergen of Norway is lifted by Heidi Weng of Norway, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg of Norway and Ragnhild Haga of Norway after winning the Ladies' 30km Mass Start Classic PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images AsiaPac |
Marit Bjoergen won the Women's Cross-country Skiing 30km Mass Start. She clocked in at 1 hour, 22 minutes and 17.6 seconds — more than 1 minute, 49 seconds ahead of silver medalist Krista Parkakoski from Finland. Sweden's Stina Nilsson won bronze.
Marit Bjoergen had time to stop and pick up a Norway flag to wave triumphantly as she crossed the finish line.
Marit Bjoergen had such a large lead in the race, that in the last 7km, the skier following her, Austria's Teresa Stadlober lost sight of her and took a wrong turn! By the time she realized this and corrected herself, it was too late. She had been in second place but accidentally took a wrong turn and finished ninth.
Marit Bjoergen is the only athlete to win five medals in the Pyeongchang Games. She now has a record 15 Olympic medals in the Winter Games overall, making her the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time!
This win also gave Norway its 14th medal overall in cross-country in Pyeongchang. This breaks the Olympic record of 13 set by the then-Soviet Union at Calgary 1988. Norway is now the most successful Winter Olympics nation. It has won a record 39 medals and tied Germany with 14 golds apiece.
And so ends a dramatic and fantastic PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. We witnessed some great and surprising performances and the heartbreak of some tough losses. To witness champions coming from all over the world and getting along is inspiring. This Olympics is historical for many reasons.
I am glad to see the IOC still banning Russia from being represented at the Games for state sponsored doping. The IOC still has a very long way to go to keep the Games clean and keep doping nations out! Champions don't cheat! Dopers are losers!
Yet amid the controversies that always plague the Games, it was wonderful to see athletes from all over the world display what the human spirit and human body is capable of, and how inspiring it was to watch them overcome the challenges and win a place on the podium. Anything can happen at the Olympics. And they did!
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| Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek of Italy perform during the Figure Skating Gala Exhibition PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Getty Images AsiaPac |
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| Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada perform during the Figure Skating Gala Exhibition PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Getty Images AsiaPac |
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| Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada perform during the Figure Skating Gala Exhibition PyeongChang 2018 February 25, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 24, 2018 - Source: Getty Images AsiaPac |
But most of all, it was a monumental event to see Korean athletes from the North and South walk and play side by side. It is a signal of hope that someday, maybe there might be a better future for a possible reunified or at least peaceful Korea. It shows that underneath the politics and propaganda are real people. And by seeing real people working together, there is hope for better relations and a peaceful future.
The Closing Ceremony end the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, and the torch will be passed on to Beijing 2022. Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
All things considered, I think that the South Koreans did an excellent job putting on the games. The venues were first class and everything seemed to be well run. None of the ridiculous issues like the sewer polluted waters in the boating venues or the green pool water in Rio or the unfinished dorms with non-functioning fixtures in Sochi. Well done South Korea!
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, the TV ratings were down for this Olympics. That's the fault of the idiots at NBC or the incessant inane "real people" Chevrolet ads.
And a big thank you Eros for again providing the amazing summaries each day of the games. Well done!
LX, You're Welcome!
DeleteI get annoyed when NBC keeps cutting off from live competition just because the athletes competing aren't Americans! And it is irritating how they overhype our athletes, putting pressure on them, then everyone looks ridiculous when the expectations aren't met.
NBC painted themselves into a corner by building up these exaggerated stories about American athletes being so much better when the world has athletes that outclass us in some sports, so evident in figure skating, long track and short track speedskating, and even Alpine!
I'm just glad they replayed some of the fantastic action, especially with the Cross country and speedskating events.
I'm hoping that NBC learns from this experience and does a better job in Tokyo 2020.
But South Korea put on a fantastic Olympics, especially given the concerns about North Korea and the controversy with the Russians. And they learned early on from their mistakes how to deal with the harsh weather affecting the outdoors sports. But overall, I loved it! Especially the awesome tiger mascot! I love a mascot that I can recognize and looks great as a toy!