It's Over - And It Was Good !

Well, the 2010 Winter Olympics is over now. It had looked at first like this might not be a very successful olympic games thanks to the weather and a tragedy. Opening day was marred by the death of a Georgian luge athlete, who crashed on a practice run before the opening ceremonies had even taken place.

And it didn't look like the weather was going to cooperate. Vancouver, at the start of the games was having unnaturally warm weather for February. They even had to bring in many truckloads of snow to fill in brown spots on some venues. But the Canadians redoubled their efforts and the weather finally cooperated, and the games came off without a hitch.

North America did exceptionally well in these games. Canada set a record by winning 14 gold medals (more than any team ever had in the winter games). The United States won the total medal count for the first time and also set a record by winning a total of 37 medals. Both countries can be very proud of these record-setting accomplishments.

The United States also broke some new ground by winning medals in events they are not traditionally strong in. For the first time in over sixty years, the U.S. won a medal in 4-man bobsledding (and it was gold). The U.S. had never medaled in Nordic Combined (a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing), but out of the three NC events they scored a gold medal and three silver medals.

And then the games ended with a truly great and hard-fought hockey game between two very evenly matched teams. Canada won the game in overtime, and I give them credit because they earned it. But the U.S. players can hold their heads high because they were true warriors, and if the game were replayed it could easily go the other way.

All in all, I think the 2010 Winter Olympics was a great success. The Canadians can justifiably be proud of the job they did in hosting the games. They overcame some substantial obstacles to give the world a great show with dazzling competitions. I especially loved that in the closing ceremonies, they were able to make fun of themselves and the one technical glitch in the opening ceremonies -- the torch lighting.

Bravo, Canada!