Shaun White Withdraws from Slopestyle to Focus on Halfpipe

On Wednesday February 5, Shaun White provided little explanation for pulling out of the Olympic slopestyle competition, which is making its debut at the Sochi Games.

White dominated slopestyle at major events across the world (the most well-known being the Winter X Games) the way he now dominates the pipe wherever he goes. White had been training tirelessly for both competitions for a year, all of his work built for the coming days. White said, again and again, that his goal at the Olympics was to win two gold medals.  And then, the day before Thursday’s qualifying rounds of slopestyle, he abruptly ended that ambition.

He released a statement breaking the news to the world Wednesday morning,  “After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA,” White said in the statement, given to NBC’s Today. “The difficult decision to forgo slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being a part of.”  White was considered a strong medal contender in slopestyle, but not the favorite. He failed to medal.

Opening Ceremony Festivities

Despite a number of qualifying events on Feb. 6, but the true beginning of the 2014 Winter Olympics didn’t come until the opening ceremony. It took place at brand new Fisht Olympic Stadium on Feb. 7, and it was a perfect start to the Sochi Games.  There was a lot of pressure on Russia to put on a great show, and those watching weren’t disappointed. From the interpretive dance performances to the Parade of Nations, ceremony organizers did a fantastic job.

While the opening ceremonies were widely considered a hit, not everything went smoothly. In what looked like it was going to be a spectacular display, five large snowflakes on an enormous screen were supposed to morph into the Olympic rings.  Unfortunately, the fifth one malfunctioned and stayed a snowflake, causing a bit of anxiety early on in the ceremonies for both Sochi and Russia as a whole, but things got better from there as the Parade of Nations kicked off.

This year, emphasis was placed upon making the Parade of Nations more visually interesting and efficient than usual. The march featured a map of the world projected onto the stage, and each nation made its way down the aisle right through the middle of the map.  There was no lingering or confusion, so the Russian opening ceremony organizers certainly accomplished their mission. Things kicked into a higher gear once the march came to an end. Russia is a country that is filled with tradition, so what followed was a performance that essentially presented the entire history of Russian culture, which was illustrated by many stunning visual displays of art, dance, acrobats, and computerized graphics.

As the opening ceremony neared its conclusion, the iconic Olympic flag made its first appearance at the ceremonies. It was then time to bring the Olympic torch into the stadium. As has become customary, a number of famous athletes from the host nation were involved.  They included tennis star Maria Sharapova.  Legendary goalie Vladislav Tretiak, who is arguably the greatest hockey player in Russian history, was involved in the torch lighting festivities as well as former figure skater Irina Rodnina.  The two teamed up to light the torch, and it made for a vivid and memorable moment when the flame erupted into a fiery blaze and sprang to the top of the iconic Olympic torch.  With the exception of one technical difficulty early in the show, it can be argued that everything else was perfect, and the Sochi opening ceremony may be looked back upon as one of the best.

Dufour-Lapointe Sisters Steal the Show 

Justine and Chloé Dufour-Lapointe took gold and silver in the women’s moguls at Rosa Khutor, ahead of reigning champion Hannah Kearney. In doing so, the Canadian siblings became the first sisters to occupy the top two steps of a Winter Olympic podium in half a century.

The Dufour-Lapointe family was denied the possibility of a unique and all but unheard of one-two-three on the podium, when the oldest of the siblings, 24-year-old Maxime, wiped out on the second run, and ended up finishing 12th.

That left her two siblings to defend the family honor in the final six. In turn, both delivered almost perfectly controlled performances, managing to maintain their speed and produce clinically executed kickers.  Justine scored 22.44 points to edge ahead of Chloé (21.66).

Russia Wins Gold, Canada Silver and U.S Bronze

The host nation won its first gold medal of the Sochi Olympics on Sunday night in team figure skating, a new event. The resurgence of Russia’s once dominant figure skating powerhouse was led by veteran Evgeni Plushenko and teenager Julia Lipnitskaia.

In an arena packed with an exhilarating home crowd, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russians skated away from Canada and the United States to win the gold.  In no discipline did they finish worse than third while compiling a winning 67 points heading into the final skate, compared to 56 for Canada and 50 for the Americans.

It was a rout built on the experience of Plushenko, who now holds medals from four Olympics. His two gold and two silver are a record for modern-era figure skaters.

The team event was capped by the performance of the 15-year-old Lipnitskaia, who picked up and wore a Russian baseball cap when she was done with her near perfect tour of the ice.  She then sat down with her triumphant teammates, all of whom had just begun to celebrate.