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through serious bruises on her shin
Given the ugly (yes, I will stick by that word) ideological beginnings of the Olympics, which was simply arm-twisting by the native population, I wasn't going to watch much of them.
But, the innocence of the games, which really is about winning and losing in those straight terms - however much some would say there are biased judges - is hard to ignore. It is fun and inspiring to watch hard working athletes give it their all, ignoring injury or bad weather, to come out as possible champions.
That is what skier Lindsey Vonn did with her spectacular downhill run after a seriously bruised shin, winning the gold.
And a mock "cold war" was staged between American and Russian skaters, with the American Evan Lysacek taking gold after an immaculate and flawless performance. Russian Evgeni Plushenko couldn't accept his loss to silver status, saying that he was the only one to attempt a quadruple-triple toeloop (I think that means he made four turns while still in the air!). He may have the prowess to perform spectacular jumps and turns, but he wobbled and faltered on his landings. Even spectators like me could see the inferiority of his skating compared to Lysacek. Nonetheless, this "cold war" went on for a little while with accusatory words coming from the Russian.
But, one thing that struck me about these games is the extreme physical and mental demands of the sports. Quadruple jumps; skiing at unimaginable speed on snow turned to ice; snowboarders who make that extra death-defying turn while still in the air; lugers without any protection speeding down tunnels of ice; speed skaters who can slice off their opponents' shins with the blades on their skates if they get too close.
I don't think such extremes exist in the summer Olympics. Yes, Olympic records are getting higher and higher, but what is the physical danger in running down a 100 meter lane? Jumping higher is a requisite for high jumpers, but the worst that could happen is that the jumper land on the metal pole.
I admire these winter athletes immensely. It not only takes superior physical abilities, and thousands of hours of practice, to get to their level, but also intense mental acuity to perform the razor thin turns while slaloming down the ski slope, or the last extra twist while still in the air on a snowboard.
But I also feel sorry for them. They are being required to go for more and more gutsy moves, ignoring the limits of their (great) abilities. And they will be suffering the consequences unless the posts are brought down a little.
