For those of you who have been keeping up with these blogs (hi mom), you’ll know that most of what I’ve written so far has had a rah-rah Olympic tone to it. I know there have been some problems early in these Olympic Games; I’m not oblivious to them. It’s just that I feel the positives really do outweigh the negatives. Maybe I’m getting caught up in all the hype (can you blame me?). With that being said, here are some issues I’ve had thus far:

  1. The weather. Personally, I’m loving this weather. I’ve been strolling around outside at night wearing nothing but a hoodie (and a pair of pants, of course) without even a “shiver” of doubt (pun fully intended). During the day, I might as well be wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. That’s how nice the weather has been. After spending the last few months in Ottawa (even though this winter has been considerably better than last), this has been a welcomed change. One problem: these are the WINTER Olympic Games. It shouldn’t be 10 degrees Celsius outside. It should be cold, and it should be snowing! A number of events have been postponed up at the mountains due to Mother Nature not co-operating. In fact, Maelle Ricker (Canada’s most recent gold medalist) was almost eliminated from the women’s snowboard cross competition after she fell on her first run, and officials questioned whether there would even be a second run because of the heavy fog. Luckily, there was. You know the rest of the story. And speaking of women’s snowboard cross…
  2. Before I get into the negatives, let me say that I was on the edge of my seat watching the women’s snowboard cross competition and Ricker bring home the gold on Tuesday. These Olympic Games were my first exposure to women’s snowboard cross, and I’m now a fan. This is a very exciting sport and Ricker did Canada proud with her performance. However, the qualification rounds on Tuesday made me cringe. For those of you who tuned in, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. It seemed as though every rider took a major spill at one point or another during the course. Maybe the course is difficult. In fact, I’m sure it is. And maybe the heavy fog had something to do with it. It probably did. But, aren’t elite athletes supposed to get past these hurdles? When I was doing some research for my women's ski jumping piece for the Charlatan, here are some numbers I gathered from the International Ski Federation’s communications manager Riikka Rakic.
    • In the 2006-07 season when the International Olympic Committee decided to include women’s snowboard cross in the 2010 Olympic Games but not women’s ski jumping, there were 38 ladies from 14 nations competing at the elite level in women’s snowboard cross. At the same time, there were 82 ladies from 14 nations competing at the elite level in women’s ski jumping. Similarly, for the last complete competition season, there were 56 elite women from 22 nations competing in snowboard cross, and 105 elite women from 16 nations competing in ski jumping.

    Based on these statistics, if women’s snowboard cross is included in the Olympics (which I have no problem with) shouldn’t women’s ski jumping be too?

And those are my beefs, Canada.