The Olympics are over, and many of the athletes are already getting emo about it all over Twitter. Since those nubile athletes gave their all for their countries, it’s only fair that we show them the proper gratitude. So, we’ve rounded up the 10 athletes we are most proud of for kicking butt this year, after the jump. Keep reading »
I don’t know when someone decided that athletes were supposed to be virtuous role models, but apparently athletes didn’t get the memo. The International Olympic Committee got pissed off at the Canadian women’s hockey team who won gold medals and promptly cracked open some beers and champagne right on the ice. So they’re chilling on the rink, boozing it up and the Olympic Committee is all, “It is not what we want to see. I don’t think it’s a good promotion of sport values. If they celebrate in the changing room, that’s one thing, but not in public.” And then Canada’s Olympic Committee is all, “In terms of the actual celebration, it’s not exactly something uncommon in Canada.” Because, apparently, Canada wasn’t founded by lame-o narcs. [Newser]
I understand why they crack down on Olympians for illegal activities, but shouldn’t adults who just dedicated their lives to earning Olympic medals be allowed to celebrate? Apparently not, according to these instances of Olympic fun-crushing. Keep reading »
Catfight alert! U.S. skier Julia Mancuso (right) has had it with teammate Lindsey Vonn (left), and is letting the press know all about it. “People are having a hard time reaching their potential because it’s such a struggle for attention,” said Mancuso. “You come to meetings after races and it’s like it’s a bad day if Lindsey didn’t do well.” Her anger might not just be stemming from Vonn’s sometimes distracting photo shoots—Vonn also (maybe) blew Mancuso’s chances of coming in first place in the slalom. When Vonn crashed ahead of Mancuso on the course, officials had to have Mancuso start her run over because of “deteriorating conditions.”
Vonn was not pleased with Mancuso’s words. “It definitely has hurt me that she said some negative things,” Vonn told the Seattle Times. “All I can do is continue to support her like I always have been and hope that she reciprocates that.” [Newser]
I never understood why guys get off on girl fights, but there seems to be a lot of pent-up aggression with female athletes in particular. Check out these exxxtreme clashes, after the jump. Keep reading »
The 2010 Winter Olympics has some heart-wrenching stories. The games started off on a tragic note when the 21-year-old Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, died on impact during a training run, hours before the opening ceremony. Kumaritashvili’s death cast somewhat of a dark cloud over the Olympics, but there is a silver lining. As Morgan Freeman’s soothing voice will tell you in the numerous Visa ads playing during the games, there are also plenty of Olympic happy endings as well. One of the most recent inspirational tearjerkers is the story of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette, whose mother passed away suddenly from a heart attack two days before Joannie’s first skate. But yesterday, Joannie delivered an almost flawless short program that left her in third place going into Thursday night’s long performance. Joannie said that she had “no regrets” about her short program performance and while “words cannot describe” what she is going through, she appreciates everyone’s support. Kleenex, please! [Huffington Post, CNN]
After the jump, read some more inspiring tales from the Winter Olympics. Keep reading »
Cute couple alert! Turns out that gold medal figure skater Evan Lysacek and gold medal gymnast Nastia Liukin have been dating since the summer, when they met at a “Skating & Gymnastics Spectacular.” Liukin came to Vancouver to support her beau. “To see his dreams come true was amazing. Even though we’re not in the same sport, we got to connect at the same level because there’s nothing like the Olympics,” she said. “It was nice to be on the other side of things and be the support system, but I was nervous.” But why the secrecy? As far as I can tell, girls are crushing on Johnny Weir, who is even more unavailable than Lysacek. [NY Daily News]
The good thing about athletes dating is that when and if they breed, their spawn will be ultra athletes, emerging from the womb doing cartwheels. Oh, but there are more adorable Olympic couples out there. After the jump, our favorites. Keep reading »
I was interested to find out that before men compete in the Olympic ski jump competition and the Nordic combined, that women are testing out the hills for them. This is particularly noteworthy considering that women are barred from competing in these two events. And yet two women agreed to act as forerunners—the athletes that test out the jumps and runs to make sure conditions are optimal—in ski jumping this year. While these two ladies seem to be thrilled to be involved in the Olympics at all, other world-class female skiers are not cool with them participating and refused invitations to participate as forerunners because they believe it sends a message that it’s OK for women to watch from the sidelines. In fact, some female skiers were so upset about not being able to compete in 2012, that 15 of them filed a lawsuit in the Canadian courts. But the Supreme Court ruled against them. Keep reading »
Dang, athletes in Japan have some serious dress code rules to contend with in order to participate in their sport. First, we told you about snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo, who was banned from the Olympic opening ceremony by the Japanese Ski Association because he was sporting a “hip-hop” twist on the national uniform. Now, we’ve learned that synchronized swimmers could face lifetime bans for expressing their sense of style. Japanese officials have implemented a policy, which goes into effect April 1, that will ban a swimmer if she/he goes to competition with elaborately painted or designed nails, dyed hair, or pierced ears. These rules are supposed to prevent the athletes from looking like rock stars, but they seem a little harsh to me. I mean, aren’t most people paying attention to their swimming or diving skills, instead of their fashion sense? [Reuters] Keep reading »
Perhaps Olympic snowboarder Scotty Lago should have paid more attention to the media frenzy that occurred after Michael Phelps was photographed smoking pot at a party last year? On Thursday, the adorable Scotty won the bronze medal in the men’s halfpipe. After standing on the podium and hearing the national anthem, he went out to party with some of his fellow teammates at a Vancouver nightclub. At some point during the night, Scotty encountered a young, Asian woman—who we can only assume was pretty blitzed—and a friend snapped a few photos of her smooching Scotty on the cheek, and draping herself over teammate Louie Vito. Next, Scotty draped his bronze medal around his waist, so it hung over his crotch, and the girl kissed it.
It didn’t take long for the photos to appear on TMZ. Check them out here. And it’s turned into the first Olympic sexting scandal. Keep reading »
Tonight brings the conclusion of my favorite sport in the Winter Olympics, ice dancing. I love everything about ice dancing—the flashy costumes, the cheesy music, the ballroom dance moves done on skates, the faux emotion. So are you rooting for Belbin and Augusto? Domnina and Shabalin? Davis and White? I’ve come up with this theory that your fave team says a lot about your personality. Keep reading »
My favorite figure skater ever, Johnny Weir, prepared for his Vancouver Olympic performance by, um, cleaning his hotel suite. Weir told People, “I was nervous. So I Lemon Pledged everything in my room. Some people eat, some people drink—but I Pledge everything.” [People]
It appears that many Olympians have their own rituals, from lucky Pledge to lucky charms. Here are a few of the wackiest. Keep reading »
