Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were named Canada’s flag-bearers for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Category: Olympics
Shaun White qualifies for Korea
White’s winning run Saturday included two of the toughest tricks on the halfpipe — the Double McTwist 1260 that he patented and the frontside double cork 1440. …
easing military tensions on the Korean peninsula
If North Korea participates in the Winter Olympics, it will be a truce. And — perhaps — the beginning of improved communication / cooperation.
IOC to convene Olympic participation meeting with North, South Korea
Number of North Korean athletes, issues over flags and anthems to be discussed
Heart this cartoon on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/joehoffecker/status/951817117468422144
I’ve not heard of any athlete refusing to go for reasons of personal safety.
The U.S. Olympic Committee is committed to compete though a few American politicians have discussed boycott.
WADA Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE)
Athletes may have illnesses or conditions that require them to take particular medications.
If the medication an athlete is required to take to treat an illness or condition happens to fall under the Prohibited List, a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) may give that athlete the authorization to take the needed medicine. …
A few examples:
This list evolves over time “based on the evolution of medical best practice“.
Athlete medical records should be private. But in 2016 Russian hackers broke into the WAG database and revealed that athletes including Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Simone Biles had received TUEs.
Russian boxer Mikhail Aloyan, who won a silver medal in Rio, had one, as well.
Simone had received an exemption for her attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
There are those who feel that some TUEs are another form of cheating. If you agree, lobby to have those medications taken off the list.
For now, TUEs are legal.
Everyone I know agrees that Răducan, 2000 Olympic Champion, should not have been stripped of the gold medal for testing positive for pseudoephedrine, a banned substance at the time. Some medications should be allowed.
___ In a separate issue …
The International Olympic Committee finally took meaningful action against what it acknowledged had been “systematic” cheating by the nation at London 2012 and Sochi 2014, outlawing its flag, uniform and anthem from Pyeongchang 2018. …
Russian deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko, who was sports minister at the time of the scandal, was also handed a lifetime Olympic ban …
Better late than never.
It’s false equivalency to claim that what Simone did is the same as a nationally organized, top down deliberate system of cheating.
I’m very unhappy for the clean Russian athletes, including all of the Artistic gymnasts. But I support the IOC sanction. Otherwise Putin’s team would continue deliberate cheating as vigorously as possible.
2018 Winter Olympic mascots
Vera Van Pol documentary
Episode 26 will feature 24 year old Dutch Olympian Vera Van Pol.
Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics logo
explaining Olympic Solidarity
Olympic Solidarity … helps athletes in the developing countries to compete on a level playing field with athletes from other parts of the world. …
Click PLAY or watch an IOC promo on YouTube.
I’ve attended two and led several, including one in the Philippines. Solidarity is one of the best programs of both IOC and FIG.
Aly Raisman’s Fierce – a review
Before starting the book I was predisposed to like it.
1) Aly Raisman is one of those few international gymnasts who speaks with authority.
2) She wrote the book with Blythe Lawrence, Gymnastics expert.
Blythe has several other books including Great Moments in Olympic Gymnastics. (2014)
I bought the audio version with an accompanying PDF including photos. It’s available too in hard cover and Kindle.
Most reviews of Fierce focused on Aly’s reveal of having been abused by the U.S. National Team doctor. It’s damning for Nassar and USA Gymnastics. Of all his victims, Aly Raisman has the largest audience. She successfully got the message out to the general public announcing it on 60 Minutes the week of the book launch.
Indeed, protecting everyone from predators has been her mission since.
We appreciate Aly’s time, energy and bravery in taking on this most important issue. She’s done more, personally, to educate Americans than has USA Gymnastics collectively.
If, like me, you are still trying to understand how one of the USAG medical team could abuse so many gymnasts for so many years without being caught, read Aly’s chapter on the Survivors.
___
Fierce is as good a gymnastics celebrity biography as I can recall. I enjoyed it start to finish.
Her relationship with her coaches and Marta Karolyi is heartwarming. A great insight from one of the most decorated American gymnasts.
Aly has already had one of the greatest careers in international gymnastics history, but the book modestly focuses on her failures. Her many 4th place finishes. Her lowest moments.
As a child she was never the best gymnast in her group. The future Olympic Floor champion had problems learning back twisting on Floor. For months she was the only girl in her group training layout rather than full twist.
Like Shawn Johnson, she (mostly) went to regular school. She played many other sports, especially soccer, and attended physical education class when a principal would not count Gymnastics training as equivalent.
Her many young gymnast readers can relate.
I was shocked to read about her self-doubts over the years. Watching Aly from the cheap seats she appeared to be the best prepared, the most consistent medal contender in the world. Fierce and confident.
The section on her participation in the 2015 ESPN Body Issue is excellent. Another important message.
For her second Olympics Aly worked with a dietician. She details her program. I’d advise gymnasts not to blindly copy what worked for Aly Raisman. Get your own dietician. Every body is different.
One takeaway I got from this book is that USAG should abandon The Ranch as a training centre.
Aly Raisman was twice the Olympic team captain. Has 6 Olympic medals, 3 of them gold. Yet there’s no rah rah hyper patriotism in this biography. She’s much more interested in her family. Her teammates. Her friends.
It’s upbeat but not a fluff piece.
My only complaint is that I’d like to know more. She scarcely speaks of club teammate Alicia Sacramone, for example. I’d like to have had more insights into what happened at all those secretive team camps.
To sum up, however, I’d highly recommend this book as a Christmas gift.
Click PLAY or watch Aly’s Gold medal Floor from London on YouTube.
related – Jessica and Spencer posted an audio review – GymCastic #282
Russian gymnasts support their Winter Olympians
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