Let The Olympics Countdown Begin
Okay, before I get to the main subject of the blog, let me thank all of you who commented on last week’s post. I did a random drawing, and Lynn Lawler won the free Rachel Spangler ebook of her choice. Congrats, Lynn!
And now, with the new-year tasks checked off, let’s turn our attention to the first big awesomeness of 2018, the Winter Olympics!
Clearly I am kind of a fan. I mean, if my writing an entire book about the lead-up to these games didn’t give that away, I don’t know what does.
Some might say I am a bit obsessed. I don’t know about that, but I have been known to make elaborate spreadsheets of view times to make sure I don’t miss a single viewing of my favorite events, which to be honest is most of them. I may or may not have even set alarms to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to see some races/meets live so as to avoid spoilers. And as to spoilers, I have developed a detailed process for posting about events that provide for adequate spoiler spaces and safety blocks without having to stay quiet for hours until people in other time zones catch up.
If all those things add up to equal an obsession, then I’ll gladly take up that mantle and wear it proudly.
And what does that mean for all of you sitting at home in your varying level of interests and knowledge?
Well for one, you get to share in my excitement, and everything is more fun when you can manufacture some excitement about it. What’s more, though, you get to share in my knowledge of sports, which will helpfully let you enjoy them a little more without having to do all the intensive researching and spreadsheeting on your own! Over the next four weeks, I will be blogging about some of my favourite events and, of course, sharing some of the things I learned while researching Edge of Glory in the hopes of giving you some background in sports you might not be as familiar with, so by the time they grace our TV screens, you will not only be able to follow the action, you’ll have a few talking points to impress your viewing companions.
For starters, Winter Olympics sports are divided into three categories: ice sports, alpine sports, and Nordic events. Why the Nordics felt the need to call their sports “events,” I do not know (maybe someone will tell me in the comments), but they did, and that give us three overviews to do.
Ice sports are, fittingly enough, played out on ice. They include.
Bobsled –
Two-man, two-woman and four-man
Luge –
Men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles and mixed team relay (new) Skeleton-
Men’s and women’s skeleton event
Ice Hockey – M
en’s and women’s
Figure Skating –
Men’s singles, ladies’ singles, pairs, mixed team event and ice dancing
Speed Skating – (Long track) 12 events – 500 m for men and women, 1,000 m for men and women, 1,500 m for men and women, 3,000 m for women, 5,000 m for men and women, 10,000 m for men, team pursuit for men and women
Short Track Speed Skating
(8 Events) –
for men and women 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, and also the 5000 m relay for men and 3,000 m relay for women.
Curling – (A personal fave!) –
Men’s and women’s, plus a new mixed doubles event
Alpine events are basically the skiing and snowboarding events where you’re pointed downhill at all times. They include:
Alpine Skiing
(A Rachel favorite you’ll hear more about) (10 events – 5 disciplines for men and women) downhill, super G, giant slalom, slalom, and super combined
Freestyle Skiing –
(five events) aerials, moguls, ski cross, ski half pipe and ski slope style
Snowboarding –
(4 events for men and women) parallel giant slalom, slope style, half pipe, and snowboard cross (another Spangler favorite!)
Last are the Nordic events, which include:
Biathlon –
(11 Events) men’s 10k sprint, 12.5k pursuit, 15k mass start, 20k individual, and 4×7.5 relay. women’s 10k pursuit, 12.5k mass start, 15k individual, 4×6 relay, 7.5 k sprint, and the mixed relay
Cross-Country Skiing
12 events (6 for men, 6 for women): individual sprint, team sprint, freestyle, pursuit, classical, and relay
Ski Jumping – (4 events) –
Men’s individual large hill, men’s individual normal hill, men’s team large hill, women’s individual normal hill
Nordic Combined –
Ski jumping plus cross country skiing (3 events, men only) individual large hill /10 km men, individual normal hill /10 km men, and team
So there you have it! So much to learn about and look forward to. Also, free books! Because what better way to foster excitement than free books?! So for each blog I write in the lead of to the Olympics, I’ll ask questions for you to answer in the comments section and then do a drawing to select the winner, who will have their choice of a free audiobook of Trails Merge or ebook of Edge of Glory.
So for this week’s drawing, I’ll ask you to look at the list of Winter Olympics sports above and tell me which ones are your favorites to watch, or which ones you want to know more about!
