Final point is - what's this nonsense about "normal" Olympic games in Switzerland? There's only 1 Olympics which is split into summer and winter sports. They are awarded to cities after submissions and are held very 4 years ie last summer Olympics were in 2008, next will be 2012. Current winter Olympics are 2010, next will be 2014.
"Their's a winter olympics?" - Homer Simpson. They did a great episode at Canada's expense!
"To the rational mind, nothing is inexplicable; only unexplained. " The Doctor
Switzerland still on top of the medals table, Aussie has a silver....
Quoted Text
Dale Begg-Smith has won the silver medal in the Olympic Winter Games men's moguls final, the gold going to Canada's Alexandre Bilodeau.
Begg-Smith produced a near flawless run, including a back puck/pike with position and a 720 off-axis dspin, but he was overhauled by Bilodeau - who became the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil with a score of 26.75 points.
Begg-Smith was second with 26.58, making him only the third Australian after Steven Bradbury and Alisa Camplin to win two Winter Olympic medals.
Bryon Wilson, of the United States, finished third.
Torah Bright has won Australia's first gold medal of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games with a stunning performance in the second round of the women's snowboard halfpipe finals.
Bright led the field after qualifying only to crash out in the first finals round, but she produced a flawless run second time around to register a score of 45.0 that placed her in gold medal position.
None of the 10 competitors who followed could match Bright's score, handing a jubilant Bright her first gold medal - and Australia's fourth in all Winter Olympic Games.
Americans Hannah Teter (42.4), the 2006 champion, and Kelly Clark (42.2), the 2002 gold medallist, won silver and bronze respectively.
Australian Lydia Lassila won gold in a dramatic women's freestyle aerials final at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games on Thursday.
Lassila recorded a two-jump combined score of 214.74 points.
China's Mengtao Xu had a chance to snatch the gold medal from the Australian's grasp with the final jump of the competition, but she came up well short and slumped to sixth overall.
Two other Chinese athletes, Nina Li and Xinxin Guo, were second and third respectively.
Australian veteran Jacqui Cooper was fifth, while compatriot Liz Gardner crashed on both jumps in the final and finished 12th.
Lassila blew her knee out in the 2006 Olympic final in Turin, making this victory all the sweeter.
"This is vindication for all the sacrifices," said Lassila.
"I've come from some pretty bad places and rough times and I've finally done it.
"I knew I could do it, it was just a matter of pulling it off."
It is Australia's second gold medal of the 2010 Vancouver Games and third overall medal, making it the biggest haul by Australia at a single Olympic Winter Games.
- usual ceremony (olympc fire, flag). speaches, this time in particular mentioning that there was no doping at all which in my op. is not very llikely, also mentioning the deplorable accident of the Georgian skelleton athlete which "unfortunately" was unavoidable (which in my op. is not true since several athlets gave them advance warning, the first one even about a year ago . . .).
- an entertainment program with jocular views on Canada and the Canadians, among others with Michael J. Fox.
- introducion program for the oncoming Winter Games in SOCHI 2014 (Novosibirsk, Russia) which was rather classic elegant (opera singing, ballet, figure ice skating, etc.). Btw. Sochi has one thing in common with Vancouver, and that is it's rather mild climat. Today e.g. they have like 15 C ! Hey, yes and have you noticed the kind of star that they have chosen as a symbol below. I wonder whether they've noticed themselves ?
- and finally the show program with Canadian stars like e.g. Neil Young, Michael Bouble, Avril Lavigne, Anais Morisette, etc. There was btw. also a French Canadian singer with her band which I haven't known before: Marie Mai. And in the end Fireworks of course.
The Canadians tried to be rather layed back and modern. Like less is more. In my opinion that didn't always work somehow, e.g. chosing the Canadian aboriginal people as a main theme (I don't know whether you have heard of it but quite a few peple lost their homes because of the construction of the down hill ski-slope and there were demonstrations during the Games.), slam poetry at the opening ceremony, rather chaotic tap dancing, old Neil Young performing in front of the huge Vancouver Games Symbol (4 totems formed to a fireplace), the funny program with Michael J. Fox. But of course that's only my humble opinion. But as I mentioned initially I think that this idea of integrating the audience into the ceremonies was a really great and even maybe a new idea. And last but not least, I think that Canadians are very nice and friendly people and I would like to go on a trip to Canada some time.
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