I Do My Olympic Wave with My Bronze Medal

The Torino Olympics are only 3 days away! I'm pretty excited for them. Ever since I was a little kid, the Olympics was always a big thing in my house. The family would sit together in the basement and watch the parade of nations during the opening ceremonies, as my dad would tape it on the VCR to be saved for the ages. Whenever the Philippines would come on we'd give a big cheer (though that never really happened during the Winter Olympics) and we'd love hearing the stories of various special athletes the network chose to focus on.

This year is extra special to me since I actually KNOW people who are competing, and I've been following one of the sports for 4 years now so I actually know what's going on.

So here I'll give my predictions, well wishes and suggestions on who to keep an eye out for...doubt I'll be right about any of them, because during the Olympics, anything can happen!

Short Track
Ahh, my favorite winter sport to watch! Four years ago a kid named Apolo Anton Ohno captured my eye and opened me to a whole new world of crazy fans, cool athletes, and friends that I still keep in touch with today. I predict that we're going to see a lot of South Koreans on the podium for the men and women, especially that sneaky little Ahn Hyun Soo. He's a quick one and he's got some great technique. If anyone's gonna break the Korean barrier, you can bet on Apolo, who's gonna win his share of medals. I doubt all of them will be gold, but you can count on at least one in there. But I can see him in the finals for all the races. The Koreans aren't as strong in the 500m, so you'll see Apolo and some of the Canadians shine in this one. For the men's relay, I predict Canada, Korea, and the US, in that order. If we're lucky, we'll get a silver - we've got a strong men's team out there as long as we keep JP Kepka on the relay team. He's got the experience and with his skating and power, we can definitely pull it off. The US women have a chance with the relay as well, with Allison Baver and cutie pie Hyo-Jung Kim having a really strong competitive season, with the added help of three time Olympian Caroline Hallisey.

Who to watch out for? Never count out Li Jiajun from China - he's a veteran and he's still winning races. Also, Matt-Damon-Look-a-like (but better looking) Mathieu Turcotte will be in the mix, as well. On the women's side, both the Korean and Chinese women are strong, but if there's someone to break that wall, it'll be Bulgaria's Evgenia Radanova.

My personal favorite is my friend Rusty Smith, who currently holds the 1000m US record and if he keeps his head on, could very well medal in it. I offered him $10 to promote yanowhatimean.com somewhere on his body during the Opening Ceremonies. I doubt it'll happen, but if it does, you heard it here first, folks! This is his third time out at the Olympics and we're all proud of him for sticking with the sport and making the team. Hopefully he's not eating too much out there right now because he LOVES that food out there in Italy!

My other favorites are Alex Izykowski, who worked so hard to make the team, and his family went through many fundraisers to raise money to go out to Italy to go out and see him. He's a great guy, and his family is so wonderful and supportive. I hope he does well! Fabio Carta from Italy will definitely be a hometown favorite, and for as much bad press as he got last Olympics (for saying Apolo should be shot with a gun - but it's some weird Italian saying that everyone misinterpreted) he is the nicest, most generous guy you'll ever meet. I also adore Canadian women Alana Kraus and Amanda Overland, who has really done well in the last few years.

As you remember, anything can happen in short track, so it will be interesting to watch this year!

Here's a desktop background I made for Rusty's site from the Sports Illustrated feature on some of the members of the US team (click for the larger picture):

Long Track
I must admit that I don't know too much about Long Track, but my ultimate favorite is Shani Davis, a fan of yanowhatimean. A friend and fellow Chicagoan, Shani has worked hard to get where he is today, and despite all the obstacles he's faced, he's made it to the top of his sport. Forget all the reports about how he failed to make both the short track and long track team - NO ONE has done that feat, so to fail in doing both isn't as big of a deal as the press makes it out to be. If he wins here, he'll be the first African American man to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. He's the idol of every kid that meets him and he's a good guy. He'll definitely win his share of medals!

Also watch out for Chad Hedrick, the charming Texan with a megawatt smile - his teeth are bigger than mine!

I'm also cheering for Joey Cheek, who's a strong contender, who once got me into a bar in Salt Lake City. They have weird laws out there.

Snowboarding
I haven't really been watching as much of this as I'd like to, but it's usually on at the same time as basketball on the weekends so Dave's usually at the TV. But I DO know that Shaun "The Flying Tomato" White is gonna tear it up out in Torino. He's been itching for this chance since he missed the team in 2002, and this year he's been winning competitions left and right.

My other favorite is Danny Kass, just because he made a quote in 2002 about his reason for being at the SLC Olympics - "I'm here for the beer and babes." Mix that with the facts that he loves Count Chocula and he trains at my favorite place to snowboard, Mammoth Mountain - Danny has won my heart.

I'm really excited to see snowboard cross, and I'd love to see American Lindsey Jacobellis win. Just because she's in that Visa commercial and she's really cute.

Figure Skating
I know that Michelle Kwan is gonna try and win that elusive gold, but I really don't think it's gonna happen. She may not even be able to make it on the medal stand. Hopefully, she proves me wrong, but she's been injured and she's old, she may not have it in her to pull out a win. I also don't think Russian Irina Slutskya will make it to the top of the podium this time around, either. I believe it's Sasha Cohen's year. She's got the skill, she's got the artistry, and hopefully if she wins, she won't disappear like Sarah Hughes and Tara Lipinski did. Sasha's gonna win it all. Poor Irina and Michelle, they'll be in the old skater's home hugging each other for solace.

OK, that's about all the sports I know enough to comment on.

What sports will you be watching?

Posted by Yano at February 7, 2006 10:11 AM

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