What Time Is The Olympics?

Last year, I didn't watch the Tokyo Summer Olympics because I just didn't feel like it. This year, I still didn't feel like it and didn't notice the Beijing Winter Olympics was over until ESPN tweeted the final medal count with Norway winning the most total medals and golds.

Norway finishes #Beijing2022 with the most medals, while setting the record for the most golds won in a single Winter Olympic Games 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/Lo03Aq3LE5

— ESPN (@espn) February 20, 2022

This time I only watched an hour of it and that was only because I wanted to see how Mike Trico would host the Olympics when he was in L.A for the Super Bowl. Turns out he straight up hosted it on the confetti littered field. They had figure skating on after the game so I went to sleep and that was my Olympics experience. There was another tweet about it being the first time since 2006 that neither USA nor Canada made it to the semifinals in men's hockey. Of course, the fact that there're no NHL players in Beijing so the rosters are made up of college and international league players played a role in Finland winning gold over Russia. Including Chris Chelios' son Jake (aka Jieke Kailiaosi) who plays for China's Kunlun Red Star in the KHL!

I remember watching the first couple seasons of the KHL. It was basically the Russian hockey league plus Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan. The jersey name plates were in Cyrillic, multiple teams had financial issues, there was a lot of fighting going on and Ray Emery (RIP) was there. I think ESPN even showed games on ESPN3!

And it wouldn't be the Olympics without some sort of drama, this time with Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva in the middle of a doping scandal. She tested positive for trimetazidine (a heart medication that can increase athletes' endurance) along with legal substances L-carnitine and Hypoxen two months ago but was still allowed to compete due to her being a minor. Unsurprisingly, people was pissed at how Russia, once again, was busted for cheating and through a technicality, can continue like nothing happened. She finished 4th in the free skate which led to her coach yelling at her. With all that said, she wasn't alone in the doping drama.

If 15 year olds are not in control of their bodies, then why are they there at the Olympics? It should be for those 18+. But they won't do that because gymnastics and figure skating rakes in the money off those prepubescent girl bodies.

So let's close out this blog post of me talking about not watching the Olympics with something Black History Month related. Jamaica returned to men's bobsledding after their appearance in the Calgary 1988 games that inspired the movie Cool Runnings. They finished last.

Better luck next Winter Olympics!

Jordan Pierre-Gilles took the lead on the 21st lap to help Canada win the men's 5000m relay. While Erin Jackson became the first Black woman to win speed skating gold in the 500m event and first American woman since Bonnie Blair in the 1000m event did it at Lillehammer 1994.

I wonder do the athletes keep those stuff bears or give them away?

Sarah Nurse won women's hockey for Canada with her record breaking 18 points in a single games. She also surpassed fellow Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser for most assists with 13.

FUN FACT: Her uncle is Donovan McNabb!

Brakewoman Deborah Levi won 2-woman bobsled with pilot Laura Nolte for Germany.

They beat out defending champion and fellow Black German Mariama Jamanka.

And bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor surpassed speed skater Shani Davis for most medals won at the Winter Olympics by a Black athlete with 5. At 37, she's also the oldest woman to win a bobsled medal and the first woman to win 2 bobsled medals at a single Olympics joining Steven Holcomb, Steve Langton, Stan Benham and Pat Martin as the 5th American to do so. 

It seems that Black people have the most success at bobsledding in the Winter Olympics like Sylvia Hoffman here.