Top Olympic Moments

I find the Olympics inspiring, but not for the winners; they bore me. The two most amazing things I’ve seen so far have been by a fourth-place and a seventh-place finishers, both Americans going balls-to-the-wall.

Moment #1
Kelly Clark’s final run in the Snowboard Half Pipe
I was watching the women’s runs and they weren't that interesting. The Men are physically able get higher and do cooler tricks, and thus it’s more fun for the casual viewer like myself. Then Ms. Clark (2002 Gold Medalist) shot down the pipe, and holy shit, that all changed. She was getting huge air, pulling out tricks unheard of, and could rival even some of her male counterparts. On her very last trick, which she didn’t need to easily secure a Gold Medal, she slipped on the landing and finished fourth. I don’t care. Even the announcers were excited and commented that even with the slip-up, it was the most intense run ever for the Olympics. The medalists’ runs were lame. She made history.

Moment #2
Jarret “Speedy” Peterson’s Final Aerial Ski Jump
With a name like “Speedy” you know he’s either a great jumper or a lousy lover (ba dum dum crash). NBC had been building up all night to this moment. At every commercial break and then on returning, they'd gush over this thing. Not only does he have a nickname, but his big trick has one too: “The Hurricane.” It makes for good TV. The Hurricane is a quintuplet twisting triple backflip, and maybe a somersault sextuplet or something. This is when others were doing double triple thingies. Boooo-ring. Of course, Speedy is the only person in the world even capable of this. Hur -i-cane! Hur -i-cane! Hur -i-cane!

So he pulls it off, makes history, lands with a pound, and places seventh. He didn’t care. The announcers didn’t care. I didn’t care. Nothing can deny that was the most awesome thing ever to happen in that sport.

I’ve watched this several times, and it’s still incredible. Watch it here.

Final Note: I can’t stand figure skating, but I watched a little last night. While 7th-place Emily Hughes was having the time of her life (and it showed), Miki Ando of Japan was a disaster on skates. Did she escape from Skating with Celebrities? Was I watching FOX? It was dreadfully painful (read as: fun) to watch her keep falling over and over, and still have to finish the program.

And For the Record: I applaud Lindsay Jacobellis in her performace of the Snowboard Cross Finals. So what if she fell down having a good time in her race? God forbid if people actually enjoy themselves.