Alpine Skiing

[redpencil]

24 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

I cannot believe the results of that bronze medal run in the mixed team parallel slalom. Norway had the faster course for three of the four runs. There was no way the US was going to beat them. In what universe is that even remotely fair? 😡

No, it was even. Tommy Ford and Mikaela Shiffrin were both on the red course, River Radamus and Paula Moltzen were on the blue course.

20 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

It was really confusing. The US had to win the last leg, by 0.4 seconds, but also under 23.62 seconds, and he came in at 24.04. I don’t get what the 0.4 second criteria was for if there was still an additional time he had to beat, and also how does a DNF not impact that criteria. 

I didn't totally catch the numbers they were saying before that last race, but basically if there's a tie in points (2-2), the tie breaker is the fastest woman's time plus the fastest man's time. Looking at the final results, Norway's fastest woman was faster than the U.S.'s fastest by 0.4 seconds, so Radamus would have had to win his race (which he did) but also make up that difference in time over Norway's fastest man. He was 0.02 slower than Norway's fastest man. The DNF doesn't affect anything other than their fastest man's time was the one who did finish his race.

 

19 minutes ago, Thumper said:

I just started watching it.  Why is one course slower than the other?  I even heard the announcer refer to the red course as the “slower” course.

They said earlier in the event that while they will always try to make the courses even, it's not possible to do it perfectly, so one course will always end up being faster. They didn't know when the event started, but as it went on it became clear that the blue course was faster.

Edited February 20, 2022 by redpencil

[greyhorse]

I thought the team event was fun to watch.  Disappointed that the US didn't medal, but the competition is tough.

I believe Mikaela went 1-3, but I think she only skied the slower red course.  She won her first one, but then I think lost two of them by .02 and .10.  I'm guessing the strategy was to have her try to get a win on the tougher course, but it became obvious that the blue skier always had an advantage.

Didn't know much about this River guy, but I like his attitude and his spunk.  Hoping to see him again.

And I know many are tired of the Mikaela coverage.  I'm not really sure what you would expect.  She's a US star.  Face of the US ski team.  One of the biggest draws of this year's Olympics.  If she skied well and won six medals, people would be complaining of the oversaturation and lauding of her accomplishments.  Now that she didn't win, people are complaining of the interviews where she's getting asked what went wrong.  Maybe the haters just don't like her period and any screen time for her is not acceptable.  I found her last interview with the rest of the team the most emotional.  You could see even through her tinted goggles that her eyes were watering and that she was choking back tears as her voice cracked while she was describing the support she got from her teammates and how much she appreciated it.  It looked like she had fun out there and she did say that this event was the most fun of her entire Olympics.  She's a champion even without the medals.  Onward and upward and hope to see her in Milano-Cortina in four years.

[Garden Wafers]

I enjoyed watching the team event yesterday, but I thought the announces were being rather disrespectful towards the other three Americans competing with Shiffrin. It felt like they were treated as supporting characters in Mikaela's Quest to Salvage Something From These Games. Also, the one announcer kept talking about how "no one" had won a head-to-head race going down the red course, except Shiffrin did exactly that in her very first race! I had to double check the Olympics website to make sure I wasn't misremembering events. 

[Crashcourse]

I just think Shiffrin rambles on and on too long when she gives interviews.  I'm sure there will be even more post-Olympic interviews, so I'll just change the channel.

[emmawoodhouse]

14 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I just think Shiffrin rambles on and on too long when she gives interviews.  I'm sure there will be even more post-Olympic interviews, so I'll just change the channel.

Her Instagram posts are equally verbose. 

[Crashcourse]

4 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Her Instagram posts are equally verbose. 

Thankfully, I'm not on Instragram. 

[pennben]

I appreciate Shiffrin talking to us throughout what has been a nightmare Olympics for her. I also respect those that wish to not speak immediately after a loss. I’m good with either. Rock on Mikaela—-finish the season strong!

[proserpina65]

On 2/20/2022 at 5:39 PM, Garden Wafers said:

I enjoyed watching the team event yesterday, but I thought the announces were being rather disrespectful towards the other three Americans competing with Shiffrin. It felt like they were treated as supporting characters in Mikaela's Quest to Salvage Something From These Games. Also, the one announcer kept talking about how "no one" had won a head-to-head race going down the red course, except Shiffrin did exactly that in her very first race! I had to double check the Olympics website to make sure I wasn't misremembering events. 

And this is exactly what is wrong with NBC's treating Shiffrin like the Queen of the Olympics.  (It's not her fault, it's theirs.)  With all the focus on her and "will she ever win her FOURTH Olympic medal?", they showed damned little of anyone else including her American teammates.

 

On 2/20/2022 at 12:33 PM, greyhorse said:

Maybe the haters just don't like her period and any screen time for her is not acceptable.

It has nothing to do with being a hater.  It's NBC's shit-tastic Olympic coverage.  They always fixated on a couple of competitors and practically ignore everyone else.  (See also Chen, Nathan.)

On 2/20/2022 at 12:33 PM, greyhorse said:

She's a champion even without the medals.

She actually has three Olympic medals already, two of them gold, which is why NBC treating her lack of success in Beijing as some kind of tragedy was such a farce.

[choclatechip45]

5 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

And this is exactly what is wrong with NBC's treating Shiffrin like the Queen of the Olympics.  (It's not her fault, it's theirs.)  With all the focus on her and "will she ever win her FOURTH Olympic medal?", they showed damned little of anyone else including her American teammates.

 

It has nothing to do with being a hater.  It's NBC's shit-tastic Olympic coverage.  They always fixated on a couple of competitors and practically ignore everyone else.  (See also Chen, Nathan.)

She actually has three Olympic medals already, two of them gold, which is why NBC treating her lack of success in Beijing as some kind of tragedy was such a farce.

Phelps rising to the occasion so many times ruined it for so many athletes. Pre-Phelps it wasn't a surprise if someone didn't medal now because of Phelps it's shocking. The  things I consider shocking in the last two Olympics was Simone Biles taking herself out of the competition so she wouldn't get hurt or put the US further behind and Valieva getting caught doping in December. 

Shiffrin not medaling wasn't that shocking stuff happens, but NBC kept making it into such a big deal. The first time she ran out of the gate Ted Ligety said it could happen because of how aggressive she skies and it was happening to other aggressive skiers. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by choclatechip45