Run, Karla, Run!

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—The Vancouver Olympic Centre is packed with more than 5,000 fans, and America’s curling skip, John Shuster, prepares to throw the hammer. He gazes intently across the sheet, lining up his shot. He glides and releases the stone just before the hog line, shouting “Whoa,” to the sweepers as the rock careens gracefully across the ice.

Bam! Team USA’s rock knocks Denmark’s right out of the house, in a classic example of a takeout.

“USA! USA! USA!” the crow cheers as the U.S. posts two points in the third end.

His teammate, John Benton, prepares to throw the first stone of the next end, serenely gliding across the ice like a crouching tiger. He shoots the roaring rock down the sheet, as the second and third furiously sweep the path in front of it.

Shuster screams “Hard! Hard!” loud enough for the entire stadium to hear.

“Whoa,” he calls as the stone nears the center of the house.

The rock lands in the 8-foot ring and the crowd gives a hearty round of applause.

You might be thinking, “Huh?” Read the rest of this entry →

VANCOUVER, British Columbia–The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancvouer have come to an end. But not before the city passes the torch to Sochi. It’s been a wild and historic 16 days for both the U.S. and host Canada. Join me as I blog live from the ceremony at BC Place.

5:30 pm: The ceremony opens with a Canadian mime, poking fun at the cauldron malfunction from the opening ceremony. The crowd is eating it up. One thing Canadians have never been accused of is lacking a sense of humor. Well done Canada, well done. Read the rest of this entry →

VANCOUVER, British Columbia–Contrary to appearances, it seems that Apolo Anton Ohno can do wrong. After it looked like he won the silver medal in the men’s 500m, Ohno was disqualified for illegal contact with Canadian Francois-Louis Tremblay. But a consummate competitor, Ohno bounced back just 30 minutes later in the 5000m relay to anchor his team—including J.R. Celski, Jordan Malone, Travis Jayner and Simon Cho—to a bronze medal.

“I’ve have nothing but green lights this entire time here in Vancouver,” Ohno said. “The process has been amazing. For me, this has been my best Olympic games of all time.”

With the relay bronze, Ohno won his third medal of the games and the eighth of his career. He’d already sealed his title as the world’s most decorated short track skater and the most decorated American Winter Olympian with his seventh medal earlier in the week. Read the rest of this entry →

VANCOUVER, British Columbia–What a bonanza. The U.S. Nordic combined team—which had never medaled in 86 years of Olympic competition—now has four medals in the three Olympic events.

“It definitely has not sunk in,” Demong said. “But every hour or so I get two seconds of a glimpse at that reality and it gives me chills.” Read the rest of this entry →

U.S. Nordic Combined makes Olympic history again, winning a silver medal in the team competition.

Coming into the Vancouver games, the U.S. had never won an Olympic Nordic combined medal in 86 years of competition. But now, they’ve got two: first Johnny Spillane took silver in the Individual Normal Hill/10km Cross-Country pursuit. And now, Spillane along with Brett Camerota, Todd Lodwick and Billy Demong won silver in the Team/4×5 km relay at Whistler Olympic Park. Austria won gold; Germany took bronze.

“We’ve been dreaming about this day for four years,” said Lodwick of Steamboat Springs, Colo., who came out of retirement “to get some hardware.” Read the rest of this entry →

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Imagine jumping out of a 40-story building and gliding the length of a football field—and then some. In the large hill competition, ski jumpers soar for 410 feet from a hill 460 feet high in the air—at 60 miles per hour. It’s the closest thing to flying the Olympics has to offer. And the men of U.S. Ski Jumping love it.

When it comes to Olympic sports, not every team gets the fame and fortune. The U.S. Ski Jumping team is a young group of athletes gambling everything they’ve got on a dream. Without funding from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, these competitors have forged a program on their own, and put the rest of their lives on hold for the sport they love. Read the rest of this entry →

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—It’s the most exciting Olympic men’s figure skating final perhaps since the famous Battle of the Brians in Calgary in 1988. American Brian Boitano came out on top. Will the USA be that lucky again? It’s certainly possible. With only .6 points separating the three leaders—Russia’s Evgeni Plushenko, USA’s Evan Lysacek, and Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi—they might as well be tied. It’s any man’s medal going into the free skate tonight.

And not to be ruled out are Nobunari Oda of Japan, Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland and Johnny Weir of the USA, who sit in fourth, fifth and sixth place. If any of the three leaders fall apart tonight, one of them could move into medal position.

There’s going to be drama, funky costumes and odd music choices for sure. But there’ll also be some darn good skating. So stay tuned for the Men’s Figure Skating Free Program! Read the rest of this entry →

CYPRESS MOUNTAIN, British Columbia–What a day for Team USA. Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso go gold and silver in Women’s Alpine Skiing Downhill. Shani Davis defends his 2006 Olympic title with another gold, while teammate Chad Hedrick skates to bronze in Men’s Long Track Speed Skating. And then, the American men faced off in Snowboard Halfpipe. Did they pull a double medal stunner like their teammates?

You betcha.

Welcome to the big show.

With four riders competing in the final, Team USA aimed for a podium sweep. Shaun White, Louie Vito, Scotty Lago and Gregory Bretz tricked their hearts out. Read the rest of this entry →

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — Short track speed skating is famously unpredictable, often full contact and, above all, fast.

I’m here at Pacific Coliseum watching the men’s 1500 meter. The competition started off with a bang. Right out of the gates in Heat 1, Olivier Jean of Canada set a new Olympic record. In Heat 2, the USA’s Jordan Malone was disqualified. And in Heat 3, Jung-Su Lee of South Korea set yet another Olympic Record and Team USA’s J.R. Celski qualified for the semi-finals. Now, Heat 4 is underway.

But we’re waiting for the legendary Apolo Anton Ohno to take the ice. He’s going for his sixth Olympic medal. If he succeeds, he’ll break the record for most medals won by an American man in the Winter Olympics.

Will he or won’t he? Stay tuned! Read the rest of this entry →

Men’s 5000m speed skating. (Photo: Karla Bruning)

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — This is what the Colbert Nation has been waiting for at the Winter Olympics: The U.S. Olympic Speedskating team.

First up on the track is the men’s 5000 meters.

“It’s going to be intense,” said Ryan Bedford of Team USA.

Competing for the U.S. is two-time Olympic medalist Shani Davis (gold and silver in 2006), newcomer Trevor Marsicano, and three-time Olympic medalist Chad Hedrick, who won gold in this event in Torino. Today, at the newly built Richmond Olympic Oval, the U.S. has its first shot at gold with a deep field of skaters. Read the rest of this entry →