blogtrot

The Olympics feature a multitude of events and competitions in a wide variety of sports, and as always there are some events that are worth a little more dollar after the fact than others. We take a look at the events that ten years from now, you’d love to be able to say ‘I was there’.

Bilodeau Wins Gold
Quick. Who was the first Canadian athlete to win a medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games? If you said, Alex Bilodeau,you’re wrong, it was actually Jenn Heil. You see, Bilodeau won the first gold on Canadian soil, but it happened so early on in the Olympics, and was so highly publicised, it really did seem to drown out Heil’s Silver medal for Moguls. Now, if you were on the mountain when Alexandre Bilodeau won his gold, then you have bragging rights for quite some time. It
was a huge moment in Canadian sports history, and Bilodeau himself was just such a great story.

Ice Hockey: Slovakia/Russia
The first of three hockey games on the table. Slovakia had played the night before losing a heart breaker to Czech Republic, while Russia was well rested. A game filled with star players like Ovechkin, Hossa,Malkin, Chara, it was supposed to be filled with highlight reel plays and a bit of a Russian rout. Well, backed by an extremely boistrous crowd, Slovakia tied the game late, and actually went on to win the game in the biggest upset of the tourney in a shootout. The fact that the winning Slovak goal was scored by Vancouver’s own Pavol Demitra was the cherry on top. Of course, it didn’t hurt to see Alex Ovechkin
take three whacks at a shootout.

Moir/Virtue Ice Dance Gold
Who would’ve thought that a sport called Ice Dance could capture a country’s imagination? But, that’s just what happens when two great competitors and personalities in Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue dazzled the folks at Pacific Colliseum and taking not just the first Canadian gold in Ice Dance, but the first North American gold. Seeing Scott Moir belt out the anthem on the podium was one of those moments that you would’ve loved to have been standing in an electric Pacific Colliseum.

Ice Hockey: Canada/Russia
So many were disappointed that two of the hockey superpowers were not meeting in a gold medal game. The fact that one of these teams
would go home without a medal was absolutely staggering and unpredictable. Furthermore, the fact that Canada struggled, put them in the position of a semi-underdog going in. The fact that Russia had lost a game to the Slovaks meant nothing. The fact that Canada lost
to some amazing goaltending in the US team had so many questioning the mettle of this Canadian team. Well, this was a game where you can
say in the first ten minutes the amount of energy that was on the ice was the most you may ever see. There was no impassioned plea from Espo or Gretzky, instead it was as if Team Canada were a group of rabid dogs, kept hungry for three days and in cages, because when that whistle blew, the Russians didn’t know what hit them. An absolute clinic of passionate, rough, dismantling hockey.

Joanine Rochette takes to the ice
When the country heard that Joanine Rochette’s mother passed away suddenly after arriving in Vancouver, their hearts went out to her. When they heard that she was going to carry on with her performance, all of us got a little stronger. Watching her take to the ice for the first time, skating a phenomenal routine for the first time, fighting back tears, and skating off the ice was as pure a display of passion, pride, and courage as you’ll ever see. If you were there for it, consider yourself lucky, we’ll consider you inspired. Word has it that Mike Babcock, coach of the Canadian mens ice hockey team showed a video of her performance before a game to show what true courage is.

Ice Hockey: Canada/USA
It was the 2002 rematch, except this time it was a new game for a new generation. Sure, it came only 8 years after Salt Lake City, but there was a very clear changing of the guard. The game followed the disappointment of Torino, and a Canadian team that was questioned more than any other before it. It didn’t matter how well they had played, it didn’t matter how well their goaltender performed, everybody had a lingering question about the Canadian side.
The USA team was younger, exceptionaly faster, and had a goaltender that didn’t falter for even a period during the Olympics. The Americans had never trailed in a game, and they had already beat Team Canada once. Many predicted it to be a great game, but nobody predicted the epic that it became. It was the ultimate ending to a two week succesful Olympics. It was the real closing ceremony. It wasn’t a 5 -2 finish, or a thrashing at any one players hand, it was a battle for
every puck, and an ending that couldn’t be written any better. It was Henderson. It was Lemieux. It’s now Crosby.

Shaun White puts on a show
Folks question why womens hockey is in the Olympics, why is the half pipe in there? Can anyone even come close to touching the flying tomato? If Shaun White had hurt himself during his first run in the snowboard half pipe, and didn’t board again, he still would’ve won the gold. That’s how good it was. It was so impressive, that
he had folks who had never seen the event or even had any interest in the sport talking about it the next day. While, there isn’t anywhere close to being real competition, largely thanks in part to White’s earning and a private helicopter accessible halfpipe, he truly is the Michael Jordan of the sport. He’s a clean young kid who by
flying through the air encourages youth all over to become active. He’s more than Michael Phelps, and more importantly he hasn’t got busted sucking on a bong.
Yet.