Winter Olympics?

[e-RICHIE]

I was just reading about the outcry over the NYT article describing Jessie Diggins as sprite like compared to her competitors.

Maybe because I’ve grown used to comments about cyclists’ physiques (Big Mig, Impish Van Imp, etc.), this seems to be terribly over blown to me.

Or am I being terribly insensitive?

I followed this too. And wonder about words, esp in a social media cancel culture world.

Will it get to the point that a journalist can't at all describe an athlete's physique or looks for fear of backlash?

[kdawg]

Yeah no kidding. Some of those big air skiers looked like they were wearing garbage bags. They are doing 1600-1800 degree (or more) spins, clothes flying everywhere, shirts and bare skin flapping in the wind, pants falling down if not for the suspenders doing hero's work. Call me old, but I don't get it. I get the need for flexible easy to move in clothing, but it's excessive.

I noticed that the boardercross competitors wore clothing which was a lot more sensible - not quite on the level of downhill skiers but it was a lot more fitted which makes sense for a race which is timed rather than scored.

I suppose it's exactly like flatlands BMX compared to racing - it matters. I do wonder too if the baggy clothing helps give an illusion of more impressive tricks - with it whipping around it adds to the spectacle. If someone turned up in a full downhill ski outfit they'd probably change the rules like they did to Tomac too.

I'm pretty sure it's just a style thing though and snowboarders are still in a baggy is cool phase.

[j44ke]

Still wondering how Chloe Kim did not get a concussion on her last run where she attempted some kind of insane twisty trick. That looked like a pretty significant neck snap and back-of-the-head strike on the snow.

Re: baggy clothes - I think there is a lot of padding under there including rib and back protection.

[vertical_doug]

Still wondering how Chloe Kim did not get a concussion on her last run where she attempted some kind of insane twisty trick. That looked like a pretty significant neck snap and back-of-the-head strike on the snow.

Re: baggy clothes - I think there is a lot of padding under there including rib and back protection.

She fell both times on the switch frontside 1260 which is never been landed by a woman in competition. I watched the reply after you mentioned it since the BBC announcers were really excited with her trying it. She did not hit the back of head, but twisted after scrubbing speed with her board and hit her front left side. You can see her brush her cheek after the hit, since it pushes the goggle and helmet into your face..

[lumpy]

Jessie Diggins's high school coach responded to the Times article as follows:

I’m writing to call attention to Matthew Futterman’s disrespectful and inaccurate reporting on Jessie Diggins’ Olympic bronze medal success on Feb 8th. In addition to being one of the most decorated cross country skiers of all time, Jessie is author of “Brave Enough,” an autobiographical account of her journey to her first Olympic gold medal. Amongst other things in that book, Jessie recounts her challenge with an eating disorder that nearly derailed her athletic career. She is an active advocate for the The Emily Program, specifically, and, more generally, for actions and practices that encourage constructive discussions around disordered eating in athletes. Eating disorders, or disordered eating, are sadly very common in young women athletes…conditions that are definitely exacerbated by insensitive and inaccurate reporting like Mr. Futterman’s. It is a case of ironic ignorance that Mr Futterman would write to celebrate Jessie’s accomplishment while simultaneously using her success to promote his ignorant, insensitive, inappropriate and inaccurate comment on the bodies of women athletes. Jessie is no “sprite.” She is a powerful woman, an exceptional athlete, a World Champion, a thoughtful and articulate advocate for women athletes, and now a multi-medal Olympian. A sprite, Mr Futterman, is an elf. I can also tell you from where she gets her power: hundreds of hours of training her body and her mind, on the snow, in the weight room, with her coaches. No one works harder and no one who knows cross country skiing wonders from where Jessie's power comes. Further, her competitors are not “women with massive shoulders and thighs” they are women who, like Jessie, have worked very hard to build bodies that can climb a hundred meters in a matter of seconds and then navigate an icy technical downhill….again and again for 30 kilometers. You have done Jessie, and all women athletes , a disservice with your ignorance and disrespectful characterization.
Kris Hansen, Afton MN
Former Stillwater High School (Jessie Diggins’ alma mater) Cross Country Ski Coach

[Mark Kelly]

We were talking about curling earlier in this thread so I thought thismght be interesting. Turns out there is no established explanation for how they do what they do:

https://theconversation.com/the-slip...t-works-176463

[72gmc]

The Olympics have helped me discover that I like curling (for the outfits, of course) and skicross / snowboard cross for the courses.

[sk_tle]

We were talking about curling earlier in this thread so I thought thismght be interesting. Turns out there is no established explanation for how they do what they do:

https://theconversation.com/the-slip...t-works-176463

For having tried during a team building this sport one unknown fact is it is much more physical than it looks and it can actually be quite dangerous for a newcomer. When we did that 2 people out of around 30 ended up going to the nearest hospital emergency unit, one with a broken collarbone and another one with a broken nose. You have a shoe with a grippy sole and another one really slippery, due care is necessary especially when the game ended and you have to get out of the ice rink.

[j44ke]

For having tried during a team building this sport one unknown fact is it is much more physical than it looks and it can actually be quite dangerous for a newcomer. When we did that 2 people out of around 30 ended up going to the nearest hospital emergency unit, one with a broken collarbone and another one with a broken nose. You have a shoe with a grippy sole and another one really slippery, due care is necessary especially when the game ended and you have to get out of the ice rink.

Don’t forget hernias. Swing that stone incorrectly (it ain’t bowling) and you’re a quick candidate for some Gore-Tex surgical product.

Also no beer on the ice even though the sport is made for doing while holding a beer.

[bironi]

Mark,
Back to the curling.
I saw perhaps the same article or base material for it quite a while back.
Interesting, but a bit deep into the hole for me.
On a lighter note, I did catch a brief video of the Canadian men's team warmup this morning.
I was amazed to see some dude pretending to send a stone (delivery).
Others were sweeping, etc.
Got a chuckle with my morning coffee.
By

[echappist]

Don’t forget hernias. Swing that stone incorrectly (it ain’t bowling) and you’re a quick candidate for some Gore-Tex surgical product.

Also no beer on the ice even though the sport is made for doing while holding a beer.

I'd get a herniated disc if i were to be in this position for prolonged periods. Hell, I was probably in a similar position bent-over my dinner table while trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle, and my back muscles were just killing me for a few days.


@sk_tle's post also clarified to me why the dude in the photo above is wearing "mismatched shoes". I thought it looked a bit unusual, but had thought it was more of form over function.

Also, as I learned, the guy above is apparently a veritable local legend here in Madison (the tattoo on his forearm is that of the city "skyline"), joining the ranks of Madisonian Olympians such as the Heidens and Carpenter-Phinney (hey, I actually managed to get this post semi-relevant to cycling).

[vertical_doug]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...100-years.html

the source of stones
great photos and the rocks are cool

[bironi]

I'd get a herniated disc if i were to be in this position for prolonged periods. Hell, I was probably in a similar position bent-over my dinner table while trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle, and my back muscles were just killing me for a few days.


@sk_tle's post also clarified to me why the dude in the photo above is wearing "mismatched shoes". I thought it looked a bit unusual, but had thought it was more of form over function.

Also, as I learned, the guy above is apparently a veritable local legend here in Madison (the tattoo on his forearm is that of the city "skyline"), joining the ranks of Madisonian Olympians such as the Heidens and Carpenter-Phinney (hey, I actually managed to get this post semi-relevant to cycling).

Perhaps the shoe brands might be Adidas and Puma.
Beer brands up the legs leading to the beer gut.
Or a video of him on the ice with the 15 year old queen of ice skating.
Olympics 2022!
I still watch.

[sk_tle]

@sk_tle's post also clarified to me why the dude in the photo above is wearing "mismatched shoes". I thought it looked a bit unusual, but had thought it was more of form over function.

That is the way they propel themselves and move on the rink. You slide on the foot positionned at the front by pushing with the other one.

[vertical_doug]

The cross country section of the Large Hill Nordic Combined was utter chaos.

[Marvinlungwitz]

^^^

Interesting, especially as Ms. Diggins wrote that she had difficulty accepting what she felt was her over muscled body.

In any case, it seems the new norm is to not comment at all on physique, and I'm a dinosaur.

(Now if I can only get my wife to stop complaining that I'm becoming a "skinny old man who looks like he's going to get blown over in a strong breeze").

[72gmc]

I hadn’t thought about back strain but yes, that sweeping position looks like it would hurt.

[kdawg]

As usual the ice skating judging is something else - the Russian girls with the failed drug test made errors and somehow came out in first place when others did things that I think were just as technical but performed better.

Even with the world watching it seems like blatant favoritism.

[72gmc]

Even with the world watching it seems like blatant favoritism.

Probably, and a sport that values big tricks over complete performances. I understood figure skating better years ago, when they used to show the compulsories and explain the required skills each skater had to demonstrate.

[j44ke]

Sofia Goggia left out a pair of "flying" skis for Mikaela Shiffrin to use on the downhill of the combined. Shiffrin used them and placed 5th before the slalom tomorrow.

Goggia got the silver in the women's Olympic downhill after doing this a few weeks ago.



After the Olympic downhill she said

“I wasn’t scared. I just said to myself: ‘I’m here. Let’s play.’ ”

And she got silver.

But she wasn't going to race the combined with a partially torn ACL. So she loaned Shiffrin the flying skis.