Posts tagged olympics
Sochi Olympics will test gay rights
@USAToday reports:
“New Zealand speedskater Blake Skjellerup is focused on making his second Olympic team. He got a taste of what to expect at the Winter Olympics, which begin one year from today, at a recent race in Sochi, Russia.
But he’s also concerned about the anti-gay legislation working its way through the Russian parliament. After competing in the 2010 Vancouver Games, Skjellerup publicly acknowledged he’s gay.
The bill, which is expected to pass, would outlaw “homosexual propaganda” making public events that promote gay rights and public displays of affection by same-sex couples illegal. St. Petersburg and a number of other Russian cities already have similar laws.
A call to the Russian Embassy seeking comment was not returned.
“I don’t want to have to tone myself down about who I am,” Skjellerup said. “That wasn’t very fun and there’s no way I’m going back in the closet. I just want to be myself and I hate to think that being myself would get me in trouble.”
Given the growing homophobia, openly gay Olympic athletes and others hoping to attend the Games have reason for concern.”
Lindsey Vonn Hospitalized After Crash in Super-G - @nytimes
Looks like an injured ACL and LCL for reigning Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn. :(
Hot. Cool. Yours. | Sochi Announces Its Olympic Slogan | POWDER Magazine Hates It
Powder Magazine has it right:
“Yesterday, to highlight the fact that there are 500 short days until skiers will be doing flippy spinny things in the Olympic halfpipe, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committeeannounced their Olympic Slogan.
It’s bad. Real bad. “Жаркие. Зимние. Твои,” which translates to: “Hot. Cool. Yours.”
Excuse me?
USA Today, which is not known for its witty platitudes, noted that the slogan sounds like a title for the next Katy Perry album…”
Shaun White -- Apologizes For Alleged Drunken Attack | TMZ.com
It’s not every day that someone from our sport graces the upper echelons of gossip journalism, but the carrot-topped snowboarding wonder Shaun White managed to get the blogs abuzzing with a drunken bender that ended badly.
London 2012 in Pictures - Photographs - NYTimes.com
If you’re inspired by the incredible achievements of Olympians like Oscar Pistorius, don’t miss the spectacular full-screen amazement that the New York Times is serving up on its Olympic photography blog.
Jeff Sheng presented his project “Fearless,” his ongoing photo series of over 150 LGBT high school and college athletes, at Pride House 2012 at the London Olympic Games. The photos have been edited into a fascinating compilation; check it out!
Yes, we’re winter enthusiasts, but the Summer Olympics makes for some amazing photography. (incredible shot from Reuters)
10 openly gay and lesbian athletes at 2012 London Summer Olympics – Outsports
From the great guys at Outsports:
“The number of openly gay and lesbian athletes at the 2012 London Summer Olympics is on par with the totals for Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
The 10 openly gay and lesbians athletes areMatthew Mitcham (Australia, diving);Edward Gal (Netherlands, equestrian);Judith Arndt (Germany, cycling); Seimone Augustus (U.S., basketball); Imke Duplitzer (Germany, fencing); Megan Rapinoe (U.S. soccer); Marilyn Agliotti (Netherlands, field hockey);Maartje Paumen (Netherlands, field hockey); Natalie Cook(Australia, beach volleyball); and Jessica Landström (Sweden, soccer). In addition, Pia Sundhage, U.S. women’s soccer head coach, is openly gay.”
Fever Pitch | Megan Rapinoe in Out Magazine
“Megan Rapinoe is learning to be comfortable in the spotlight. She’s got to be; it’s enthusiasts who keep soccer alive.
“We need fans; we need people to watch our games,” she says. “I don’t think it happens like it does in male sports, just because we’re playing. We do a good job of opening up and having our fans know us. But there’s a line we don’t cross, because then they will dive in.”
Some fans already have. Who can blame them? Rapinoe — also a member of the U.S. women’s national team and a midfielder for the Seattle Sounders Women — is one of the most well-known women’s soccer players in the world…”
Transgender Athlete Looks to Qualify in Hammer - NYTimes.com
An incredible story is unfolding this week in the preface for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Keelin Godsey — a transgender man — is competing in the women’s hammer throw at the US Olympic trials. He may become the first transgender athlete to qualify for the United States team.
The IOC has taken a bold position to welcome transgender athletes into competition, and it would be an incredible story if Keelin is able to compete on a global stage. Congratulations on your achievement, Keelin, and best of luck on Thursday!
The @HotelMonacoSLC is near some of the 2002 #Olympics venues! #slcbums (Taken with instagram)
Utah resorts still capitalizing on Olympic success
From the AP:
“Before the buildup for the Olympics 10 years ago, Snowbasin in Utah was little more than a mom-and-pop operation, with aging lifts and amenities and offices in a single-wide trailer.
Now even its bathrooms are turning heads, with the Italian marble day lodge restrooms recently voted top five in the U.S.
Plenty has changed since the 2002 Winter Games put Utah’s ski industry on the map.”
Snowboard Halfpipe Trick Library
Stoked to learn more about snowboarding tricks in the halfpipe after watching Team USA rock the Olympics? Check out the very very cool halfpipe trick video library that the New York Times has just posted, complete with voiceover talk-thrus from cuties like Canada’s Jeff Batchelor.
Inside the Action: Snowboard Halfpipe
Wanna be able to talk snowboarding Olympic events with the best of ‘em? Just watch this cool & informative three-minute video, and you’ll know the techniques and scoring elements of snowboarding halfpipe competition… as we psych ourselves up for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver! From the gang at the NYT.
