Follow unique experiences of a volunteer helping during Summer and Winter Olympic Games! Learn steps for selection and training, as well as roles performed during international events.
2. Sweden
Anna Haag/Charlotte Kalla/Ebba Andersson/Stina Nilsson 51:26.3
3. Olympic Athlete from Russia
Natalia Nepryaeva/Yulia Belorukova/Anastasia Sedova/Anna Nechaevskaya 52:07.6
From Olympic News:
MARIT BJOERGEN SKIED A TRIUMPHANT FINAL LEG TO WRITE HER NAME INTO THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES HISTORY BOOKS, DELIVERING GOLD FOR NORWAY IN THE WOMEN'S 4X5KM CROSS COUNTRY RELAY AT THE ALPENSIA CROSS COUNTRY CENTRE ON SATURDAY 17 FEBRUARY. IN DOING SO, SHE JOINED COUNTRYMAN OLE EINAR BJOERNDALEN AS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL WINTER OLYMPIAN OF ALL TIME ON 13 MEDALS.
Sweden took silver and finished two seconds behind, after fantastic legs by Charlotte Kalla, Ebba Andersson and Stina Nilsson, while Olympic Athlete from Russia came third to take the bronze, 43.3 seconds behind the winners.
Norway missed out on a medal four years ago at Sochi 2014 and looked to be struggling again in the first two legs in PyeongChang. However, Ragnhild Haga, who won gold in the women's 10km free, managed to close the gap to 3.4 seconds in the third leg before she handed over to Bjoergen, with Sweden in the lead, and 0.3 seconds ahead of OAR.
The 37-year-old Bjoergen accelerated up the first hill with Nilsson snapping at her heels at the front of the field, but Olympic sprint champion Nilsson had no answer, and Bjoergen rounded the final corner and sped over the line for victory. MORE
Despite personal reservations, Mikaela Shiffrin earned her second Gold meal and first in giant slalom competition with a time of 2 minutes, 20.02 seconds. Shiffrin succeeded in besting proficient skiiers Moelgg and Brignone of Italy, and Mowinckel of Norway. On Friday, Shiffrin returns to compete in slalom.
From CBS Sports, "To be honest, it's incredible but for me the biggest thing is with my GS, it's so special in how it's been building this year, and since Sochi" (in 2014), Shiffrin said. "I got fifth in Sochi, I was two-tenths off the podium, and I thought, I'm not the best GS skier so I don't deserve to win a gold medal or even a medal in GS. At that time I set a goal to, you know, become the best GS skier in the world, and some of my GS skiing right now, it's so incredible and to be able to put a run, that run I was really taking risks and fighting for it and I'm so happy for that."
Few Winter sports seem to polarize fans more. Some find Curling to be fascinating as teams strategize for competitive position, knocking competitors stones out of position. Others shake their heads in disbelief and wonder why sweepers chase a smooth stone down the ice. Why would men and women train to advance highly polished stones toward a tee with surrounding concentric circles? Who developed this unusual sport and when? Curling reportedly originated in 16th Century Scotland, known as the "Roarin' Game" due to the sound of the stone sliding on frozen lochs and ponds... "The first Rules were drawn up in Scotland, and they were formally adopted as the “Rules in Curling” by the Grand Caledonian Curling Club, which was formed in Edinburgh in 1838 and became the sport’s governing body. Four years later, following a demonstration of curling on the ballroom floor of Scone Palace near Perth by the Earl of Mansfield during a visit by Queen Victoria, the Queen was so fascinated by the game that in 1843 she gave permission for the Club’s name to be changed to the Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC) – by which it is still known today." Reference: Worldcurling.org Modern curling competitions are held indoors. A curling playing surface (called a sheet) from Wikimedia Commons:
From NBC Sports, "The playing surface in curling is 150 feet (45.7 meters) long and 16 feet, 5 inches (5 meters) wide. The ice is set up to accommodate play in both directions, meaning the surface is symmetrical with four concentric circles, known as the house, at each end.
The center circle, or the tee, of the house is 1 foot in diameter, the next circle is 4 feet, the next 8 feet and the outside circle 12 feet. This outside circle marks the edge of the house.
Players start a stone moving from a rubber block called the hack. The hack is 126 feet from the tee line, which is at the center of the house. Players swing the stone back and then forward before pushing off from the hack and sliding along the ice. Players must release the stone before the front edge touches the hog line, a line running width-wise through the center of the tee at the other end..."
historic photo of Team Canada, stillmed.olympic.com
Free Guard Zone
"The area in front of the house, between the hog line and the tee line (not including the concentric circles of the actual house) is known as the Free Guard Zone. No stone in this area may be removed from play by the opposition until the first four stones in an end have come to rest. Players are allowed to bump other stones with shots, but are not allowed to knock a stone out of play.
Any shot played when the Free Guard Zone rule is in effect that results in an opposition stone being knocked out of play is an infraction. In this case, the played stone is removed from play and any other stone that was moved is replaced. For any stone lying within the house, normal rules apply at all times..."
Sweeping
"After a stone is thrown, players are allowed to sweep the ice in front of the stone. Sweeping clears the ice of any debris that might slow the stone down or send it off course. Sweeping also melts a thin layer of ice that reduces friction and thus increases the distance the rock travels.
Sweeping is allowed by any player on the throwing team between the two tee lines. Players are not allowed to sweep opponents’ stones in that area.
Behind the tee line at the playing end (where the stones stop moving), only one player from each team may sweep at any one time. This may be any player of the delivering team, but only the skip or vice-skip (third) of the non-delivering team.
Only stones in motion – termed “running stones” – may be swept. Players may not touch any stones while sweeping. Also, they may only sweep in front of the stone, in a direction perpendicular to the direction of motion.
Players are allowed to sweep stones that are set in motion by other stones..."
Violations that serious impair scoring, include Hogline violation, touching a moving or stationary stone, playing out of order and incorrect sweeping.
Surrounded by family, friends, teammates and coaches, Shaun White celebrates his third Olympic Gold, the first US male athlete to win three Gold medals in the same individual sport!
From Yahoo Sports, Jeff Passan, MLB Columnist
"Shaun White reached deep into his bag of unparalleled tricks to win his third Olympic gold medal Wednesday, edging out the strongest halfpipe snowboarding field in Winter Games history with a near-flawless run on his final attempt.
The 31-year-old White, who finished fourth in the 2014 Olympics, put his stamp on the PyeongChang Games in a thrilling return to riding excellence following troublesome years that included graphic sexual-harassment allegations and a settlement with his accuser.
Trailing Ayumu Hirano’s score of 95.25 going into the final attempt of the competition, White delivered a run that included back-to-back 1440s to win the gold with a 97.75. Australia’s Scotty James took bronze.
After an opening run of 94.25 by White, Japan’s Hirano overtook the American on his second run with a high-flying array of tricks that included back-to-back 1440s of his own. That set up the dramatic finish with White going last in the competition, and he came through with his strongest run of the day.
White’s gold was historic as it was the 100th for Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. He had previously won gold in the halfpipe at the 2006 Turin Games and the 2010 Vancouver Games before a letdown in 2014..."
They see their sibling relationship as a strength in their sport.
"We're both a little less timid around each other," Matt said in an interview with USA Today last year. "Some of these teams that are newish, they kind of have that honeymoon phase where they don't want to yell at their partner or criticize or anything, walking on eggshells ... We're way past that."
Logan and Reese Hanneman, Team USA
"We have been competing against each other, in one sport or another, for our entire lives, and the brotherly competition and cooperation has undoubtedly propelled us to this point," Reese, the older of the two brothers, said in an interview with Alaska newspaper The Daily News-Miner.
Pyeongchang is the first Olympics for both brothers.
Sven Kramer set three Olympic records after winning the 5000m with a time of 6:09.76. In addition to breaking the 5000m Olympic record, Kramer is the first man to win eight Olympic speed skating medals and the only to win Olympic gold in the same event three times.
"It's amazing. Every four years I still have progression, and that's nice to see," Kramer said following the race. "I've won a lot and lost a lot, but this is really special for me."
www.troulw.nl
Next up for Kramer is the 10,000m on Thursday, Feb. 15. Gold in the 10,000m has alluded Kramer who has earned silver in the event consectuive Games. Kramer is also scheduled to compete in the team pursuit and mass start in PyeongChang.
"Kramer has got a couple of other races and hopefully we can knock him off on one of them," speed skater Peter Michael (NZE) said after the race.
