Sochi 2014 Olympic Update (Day 4)
The Olympics have long been considered an organization that includes all athletes no matter age, gender, colour of skin, or sexual orientation. It never matters if anyone seems different from the rest as the only thing that truly matters is whether or not they have the physical capabilities and the drive to be an Olympic athlete. The Olympics will let anyone in as long as they meet the athletic requirements of their sports and that has been a source of pride for the IOC. That source of pride for the IOC has long been under fire from the public as although on the surface it seems like an all-inclusive club the IOC has kept some people out of competition. This year that would take another step forward as the Olympics would allow another step for women in the Olympics. It has been the one struggle of equality in the Olympics as they have seemed to favour the male sports over the female sports. There are more male sports in the Olympics than there are female and for many that is simply not right. In an age where women are seen as equals to men they should be able to play every sport that the men play. There may need to be certain adjustments to rules to account for the physical differences between men and women but still there should be equal opportunities. This has been the theme of the recent evolution of sports as women have increasingly seen opportunities in sports grow throughout the world. Yet still the Olympics would see some events that were limited to only men including Ski Jumping. It was one of the oldest sports in the Winter Olympic program and had always been a men’s only sport. Then in 2006 the International Ski Federation would bring the women into the competition for the 2009 World Championship. With the first step taken towards equality in the sport the women would try to get their side of the sport into the 2010 Olympics. It seemed to have everything that it needed to make it in as there was an international championship and a governing body with enough competition to compete in the Word Championship. Yet the IOC would not approve the new sport for the 2010 Olympics and the spot would take a step backwards. With the decision the controversy had started about just how inclusive the IOC was when they wouldn’t allow an event that seemed to meet all of the requirements of an Olympic sport. For the IOC it was a cause of the lack of competition that would keep the women out as that was the official reason to deny their inclusion into the Olympics, despite having enough competition to hold a World championship. The women who wanted to make their debut in the 2010 Olympics would file a lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee claiming that holding the men’s competition without the women’s competition would violate the Canadian charter of right and freedoms. The judge would throw the case out stating that the charter did not apply to the IOC and that they were being discriminated against but there was no legal standing to reverse the decision. The women would continue to fight though and continue to try to prove that they belonged in the Olympics. In 2011 the IOC would finally correct their mistake as they would accept women’s Ski Jumping into the Olympics for the 2014 games. On Day 4 of these Olympics the women would make their debut and would find out the very first Olympic champion for Women’s Ski Jumping. Carina Vogt of Germany would win the first Gold medal for women in the sport and will now go down in history as the first women’s Ski Jumping Champion. The IOC is a very inclusive organization but no organization is perfect. Although they did make a mistake when not allowing women’s ski jumping into the Olympics they corrected that mistake and continue to try to evolve. There are plenty of detractors for the IOC and there are many problems in the organization but the fact is they continue to evolve along with sports and will make mistakes along the way. As long as they continue to correct these mistakes as they come the IOC will remain an example of using sports as a great equalizer.
Canadian Story:
Extreme Park Favours Canada
The Slopestyle course has been great for Canada and that would continue in Day 4 as the Canadians would take two more medals to open the day in Ski Slopestyle including another gold medal from Dara Howell
Just Short of an Upset
Alex Gough would set a record earlier in the luge season becoming the first non-German woman to win a World Championship event but in the Olympics she couldn’t repeat her performance although she would have the best Canadian performance in the event finishing 4th
Curling in Question
The men’s curling team would enter the Olympics as a team with little competition but after the second day of the curling tournament they are now sitting at 1-2 after losing to Sweden while the women, who had better competition are now at 2-0
No Medal but still and Impression
The Canadians would not finish in the medals for the inaugural Women’s Ski Jumping competition but they would finish respectably as Atsuko Tanaka would end in 12th while Taylor Henrich would finish in 13th
Day 4 Medal Results:
Biathlon
Women’s 10km Pursuit
1. Darya Domracheva (Belarus)
2. Tora Berger (Norway)
3. Teja Gregorin (Slovenia)
Cross-Country
Women’s Individual Sprint Free
1. Caspersen Falla Maiken (Norway)
2. Ingvlid Flugstad Oestberg (Norway)
3. Vesna Fabjan (Slovakia)
Men’s Individual Sprint Free
1. Ola Vigen Hattestad (Norway)
2. Teodor Peterson (Sweden)
3. Emil Joensson (Sweden)
Freestyle Skiing
Women’s Ski Slopestyle
1. Dara Howell (Canada)
2. Devin Logan (USA)
3. Kim Lamarre (Canada)
Luge
Women’s Final Run
1. Natalie Geisenberger (Germany)
2. Tatjana Huefner (Germany)
3. Erin Hamlin (USA)
Ski Jumping
Women’s Individual Normal Hill
1. Carina Vogt (Germany)
2. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (Austria)
3. Coline Mattel (France)
Snowboarding
Men’s Halfpipe
1. Iouri Podladtchikov (Switzerland)
2. Ayumu Hirano (Japan)
3. Taku Hiraoka (Japan)
Speed Skating
Women’s 500m
1. Sang Hwa Lee (South Korea)
2. Olga Fatkulina (Russia)
3. Margot Boer (Netherlands)
Day 5 Medal Events:
Alpine Skiing
Women’s Downhill
Figure Skating
Pairs Free Skate (Final Pairs Event)
Luge
Doubles Final Run
Nordic Combined
Individual Normal Hill- Cross-Country Race (Final Event)
Snowboarding
Women’s Halfpipe
Speed Skating
Men’s 1,000m
The Sport Addiction 