Bob Sledding 2026
We watch the Olympics all day so you don't have to.
There isn't a lot to report on, but still some good things of note.
And to start with, we dive into the past. Because it was 46 years ago today that the U.S. Men's hockey team won the "Miracle on Ice" game, defeating Russia 4-3.
The Gold Medal game today was wonderful and exciting on its own. Just like the U.S. women's team won the Gold Medal in overtime against the Canadian team - the exact same thing occurred this morning. The game was filled with moments:
The U.S. scored first about seven minutes into the game. And Canada tied things with only two minutes left to play in the second period. When Canada had a two-man advantage for almost two minutes, they weren't able to score. And later, when the U.S. team had a one-man advantage for four minutes, they couldn't score either. The U.S. got a lucky break when they had too many players on the ice, but no penalty was called. The U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck made a tremendous save, using just the narrow part of his stick's handle. At one point, a U.S. shot not only hit the goal post…but bounced off and hit another post. The winning goal in overtime was scored by Jack Hughes. Two games earlier, the U.S. was able to advance in the quarter-finals on a goal in overtime scored by…his brother Quinn Hughes.
It had to be very tough for Canada. Hockey is their national sport. And not only did they lose two Gold Medal games in both men's and women's hockey, both games in overtime, and both game to their biggest rival the U.S., but they came at a time where (especially to Canada) they have been dealing with national pride against attacks by the U.S. administration.
There was an emotional, lovely moment at the Medal Ceremony when a team photo was taken. A second photo was taken - it came about because two years ago, a young man who was going to be on the U.S. team, Johnny Gaudreau, was killed in a bicycle accident. At every game during the Olympics, the team had his jersey in the locker room. And after that first team photo was taken, two players skated over to the stands, when Gaudreau's widow and parents were sitting, got his two toddler children, skated back with them to the team, held up his jersey, and took another team photo.
If you only saw the Figure Skating Exhibition Gala on the NBC Primetime show, they cut out a lot of wonderful skating performances that people would only see on the full broadcast. And one of them is utterly bewildering that they cut out - because, if you'll recall, the USA won a team Gold Medal in figure skating, and so the entire team together got a skate a number they choreographed for everyone!! And for reasons I don't understand - since it was only about 3-4 minutes, and they could have trimmed something else,, NBC didn't show that on the Primetime show!!
That said, although this isn't the full thing, it's the second half of the Gold-winning U.S. Team's performance. Sorry, I can't find more, it's the best I can do. (I'll keep looking.) But at least what's here is terrific, and it beats none at all.
There were some other wonderful performances that NBC cut, but two especially that I thought were terrific and stood out: Niina Petrokina of Estonia did a very clever number to "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago -- where she used several male skaters from other teams as her "victims," including Ilia Malinin! And Gold Medal-winner Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan performed dressed as a giant Kung Fu Panda (yes, really), and then...well, no, I don't want to give anything away. The only thing I'd say -- since the video cuts off when he finishes -- is that when he skates off the ice, he's met at the boards by...Jackie Chan, who then gives him a stuffed panda. It's wonderful.
And NBC cut all these out! Hopefully, the network will post the full 2-1/2 hour event on YouTube or on their Olympics website www.NBCOlympics.com - though not yet. It is available on the Peacock streaming channel…though I don't know for how long. It appears to say that it will only be online until about 11 AM Pacific Time (or 2 PM East Coast time).
Finally, there was one last competition. It was a Mass Start Women's 50k Cross Country ski event. The most honored cross country skier in U.S. history, Jessie Diggins was competing for her last time, since she is retiring after the games. She came close to a medal, but finished fifth, just five seconds out of third place. She leaves with four Olympic medals - the first-ever Gold for women, a Silver and two Bronzes
More to come. But not for two years…
Comments