XXI Winter Olympics

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Written by Calvin Su

Fresh snow on the side of the mountain. All geared up, they walk to the lift. Riding the lift to the top of the snowy slope. Hearing the chain click each time it moves. Finally they look down the slope. Wind blowing the cold snow in their face. A deep breath and they launch themselves onto the slope. Doing 360s and flips perfectly off the ramps, they arrive at the bottom. Judges giving them their scores and they win. Not the bronze or the silver but the gold.

The 2010 winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver, Canada. The starting ceremony will take place on Friday, Feb. 12. Sports in the winter Olympic will include variations of snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, and bobsledding. The winter Olympics will end on Sunday Feb 28.

“I like the winter Olympics because of all of the action people have to go to get a common goal which is the gold medal. The train hard and they have to worry about what is going to happen and stuff,” sophomore Antony Todd said.

More than 80 countries will compete in the Winter Olympics in 20 different sports. Athletes must compete in mini tournaments to get into the counties Olympic team.

“The winter Olympics to me will be intense. If they mess up on a turn, a jump, or a spin their dreams could end right there,” freshman Chris Tran said.

In cross country skiing, athletes must ski up to five kilometers (about three miles) to 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) either solo or in teams. During the race, they have to go through hill and flat plains.

“Cross country skiers are one of the true athletes in this world,” Swimming Coach Bob Button said. “The have to have good endurance to travel far distance to get to one common goal.”

Snowboarding takes place on the slopes on the mountains. Snowboarders will have to go down a half-pipe doing tricks. At the end of the run, they will get judged on how clean they landed their tricks.

“Snowboarders are like people who skateboard but their on snow with no wheels. I like how they land all of their tricks that looks really difficult and ride away like it is nothing to them,” freshman Ben Findley said.

Figure skating takes place on the ice rink. They can either pair up with a dance partner or go solo and dance to the song they chose and get judged on how well they do.

“Figure skaters look amazing when they dance on the ice. They make ice skating look really simple but when you try it you fall down flat down on the ice,” freshman Kim Ta said.

Bobsledding will take place on a long track made of ice. Each bobsled has a team of four to operate it. The team with the lowest time will win this event.

“The games are all about team work,” Chris said. “It takes hard work and guts to get that far in those sports and are all going for the same common goal.”