Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Update (Day 3)
The Winter Olympics are often a difficult undertaking as this version of the games features issues that the summer games simply don’t have.
Although both games require certain facilities to operate properly in the summer games many of these are easily convertible to use after the games, whether or not the cities choose to convert them is another issue altogether.
In the winter games, these specialized facilities are far from easy to convert as tracks like the ones built for every sliding event are used only for those things.
It is also impossible to host the games without a mountain range somewhere nearby as an attempt to make it work for the skiing and snowboarding events wouldn’t make sense.
Not only do the facilities require a special level of commitment but the winter games are subject to some serious weather issues.
Although the summer games can be shut down by heavy rain or thunderstorms many of the events take place inside and the events outside can last through some rain.
It is a possibility for the summer games to suffer delays but often they are less affected simply because the summer is not as volatile as the winter can be.
Winter is all about the weather as the storms that come in these winter regions can have a massive impact on everything.
This year the Pyeongchang games have noticed that as their mountain events have all suffered some serious delays due to the weather.
At this point in the games, multiple alpine skiing medals should have been handed out to both the men and the women.
Yet not one medal has been won in alpine skiing because of the serious weather issues that have existed at the games.
The Phoenix Snow Park has been experiencing some major wind gusts that have forced the organizers to delay multiple events.
It has left the organizers with some big questions heading into the heart of the games as they have had to move multiple alpine skiing events.
There is a limited amount of time for these events to be rescheduled and the skiing hills are beginning to get compacted.
Many of the events scheduled within the first three days had to be moved to a later date giving less time for preparation for both the athletes and the game’s staff.
It will put multiple events back to back which is sure to affect the quality of the ski hill with less time to groom and get everything ready.
It is likely to reduce practice time as well while multiple skiers will have to deal with a shortened period in between events.
Alpine skiing is a sport where many skiers participate in multiple disciplines with some even involved in every discipline.
Spacing these events out provides that extra time for the athletes to prepare but without that extra time performances might not be to their top level.
Other sports have seen that effect already with the women’s slopestyle event turning into a war of attrition rather than a display of skill.
Almost every competitor fell on their run thanks in large part to high winds that threw many of the riders off course while in the air.
It was an attempt to find the athlete that could actually finish a run rather than the athlete with the best tricks.
After delaying the start of the event they went ahead but the wind picked up again midway through the event.
It affected the ability of some great athletes and unfortunately reduced the quality on one of the biggest stages for the sport.
The worst part about the issues with the weather is the fact that there is nothing that the organizers can do.
Weather is going to affect the games and there is no way to stop it so they just have to scramble to try to get everything in during the limited time they have.
It can be the worst case for the Pyeongchang games but so far they are doing the best they can to keep things running.
It is one of the dangers when it comes to hosting the winter games as the weather has had a major impact on the last three games.
For Sochi and Vancouver, it was regarding the lack of weather as the snow was limited for both years forcing them to fly more snow into the facilities.
This year the cold is a factor while the high winds on the mountains are forcing things to get very tightly compacted.
It is just a part of it all though as the games will move on and medals will be handed out even if the schedule has to change even more.
The Canadian Story:
On Top
Team Canada put together some great performances in the Team Figure Skating competition this year as they continued to add up points. With that, it only took them until the second to last event to lock up the first Canadian gold medal. With Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue along with Megan Duhamel and Eric Radford putting up first place performances, the Canadian team took home the gold.
Completing the Collection
Mikhael Kingsbury has been one of the most dominant skiers in moguls over the last four years winning everything there is to win. In 2017 he lost only one competition giving him a lot of momentum heading into the one event he had yet to win. He completed his collection on Day 3 taking home Canada’s second gold in the men’s moguls.
Fighting Through
Laurie Blouin had a rough start to the Olympics this year when she went down hard on a practice run and suffered what seemed like a concussion. She got back on her board though and while sporting a black eye fought through the windy slopestyle finals to earn a silver medal and add to the medal count for Canada.
Adding to the Count
Curling has always been one of Canada’s best sports at the Olympics and with a new event, the hope was that Canada would bring in three golds. Things are on track for the first of those as the Mixed Doubles team of John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes struggled through the start of the semi-finals but took the win after a big seventh end to guarantee a medal, now they look for gold against Switzerland
The Sport Addiction 