21st Winter Olympics: Day 2 Recap

Today came the first day of competition, aside from some training and qualifying runs. So much happens everyday, that I am going to try to pick out a few stories that stand out to me.

1. Luge Practise Runs

The men were practicing on the Luge track today. They have done a little bit of work on the track to make it safe. The men will now start from the women's start point, and the women will start from another point lower down on the track. Also athletes were given 7 practise runs, rather then the regular 6 to get used to the changes on the track.

2. Short Track Speed Skating

Tonight was our chance at our first gold medal in the men's 1500m Short Track. Unfortunately our best chance at this medal was from Charles Hamelin. He failed to qualify out of his heat. Our second athlete Olivier Jean was taken down in his heat. He automatically qualified for the final because he fell down as a result of another athlete. In an intense finally Jean finished 4th as two Korean skaters went down in front of him. A great finish for Jean, who is not ranked high in international skating.

3. Alpine Skiing

Today was supposed to be Manuel Osborne-Paradis's day. He is a native of Vancouver, Whistler is his home course, and in great shape to win a medal. The course conditions are not good enough to go ahead with the skiing and so has been postponed until Monday. Hopefully Osborne-Paradis will be race ready when his time comes.

4. Today was qualifying and medal day in the women's Freestyle Skiing. Canada had 3 women that were all in the top 10 in the world, including the 2006 Gold medalist Jennifer Heil. No women had ever repeated winning this event, and there is also the added pressure of winning the first gold medal on Canadian soil.

Unfortunately, Heil ended up with the Silver, which is still a great accomplishment for her. The surprise was 18yr old Chloe Dufour-Lapointe who ended up in 6th place. She will really be one to watch in the next few years.

Overall Canada had a decent day. We did some qualifying in Short and Long track speed skating, and came out with 1 medal. Hopefully things only get better!