Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010

Williams wins gold, will Brits stop moaning about the Games now?

Amy Williams became Britain’s first Winter Olympics gold medallist in an individual event for 30 years when she scored a commanding victory in the skeleton on Friday.

The 27-year-old with the curly-wurly hairstyle won by over half a second to emulate the gold won by Robin Cousins in the men’s skating in 1980.

The big question now is whether the British journalists who have been so critical of the Vancouver Olympics, floating the idea of it being the Worst Games Ever, will start singing a much jollier tune.

Most of us here have been enjoying ourselves immensely, in this pretty, prosperous and welcoming city. Now that the Brits have Borrowed the Podium, will they join the party?

More later once we get some updated reaction from the British nupes.

Winter Olympics memories — You might as well jump

What comes to mind when you think of the Winter Olympics of the past? Is it graceful ice skaters or the bruising hockey encounters? Is it the hip-swerving skill of the slalom or the knee-trembling speed of the downhill?

Our Olympic memories are reflections of the prisms through which we viewed the Games — in reality, the priorities of our national television stations.

Austrians will have so many memories to choose from but no doubt millions of a certain age would recall Franz Klammer’s downhill gold from Innsbruck in 1976 or a later generation would opt for Hermann Maier’s double gold from Nagano in 1998. For many, many Brits it is all about Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards heroically finishing last in the ski jump in 1988 in Calgary.

A lot of Italians get excited recalling the charismatic skier Alberto Tomba winning a pair of golds in Calgary in 1998; for Americans, I imagine the number one memory would be the epic ‘Miracle on Ice’ in Lake Placid in 1980 when a team of mostly college and amateur players defeated the cold war rivals, the USSR, in a game that seemed made for Hollywood.

Perhaps, it is subconsciously because of the comically bespectacled Edwards, but I have long been fascinated by the ski jump and it was one of the most enjoyable aspects of covering the Games four years ago in Turin that I was able to witness that event live, from the finish area, for the first time.

Although I am a big fan of Alpine skiing, which I have covered for more than 10 years now, and I appreciate the skill, judgement and athleticism of those who take great physical risks powering their way down the slopes, there is something particularly awe-inspiring about those who zoom down an approach ramp and fling their bodies into the winter sky, risking so much as they search for a landing a few centimetres ahead of their rivals.

Television struggles to capture the true danger involved but it does beautifully showcase the elegant sight of the skier in perfect pose, gliding through the air.

Vonn injury could keep her out of the Games

The Vonncouver Olympics may just be over before the Games have even begun.

Lindsey Vonn can’t confirm whether she’ll be able to compete at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver starting in a couple of days after the unlucky American revealed she is suffering from a shin injury that left her in “excruciating” pain.

Vonn, the 25-year-old multi-medal hope for the Untied States, appeared before a news conference in Vancouver today to tell the media the bad news.

“I was feeling great, healthy … and now I’m questioning whether I’ll be able to ski,” Vonn said. Asked if that meant she could miss the Games, she added: “Yes, that’s a possibility.”

It was a poignant moment for Vonn, whose medal hopes in Turin four years ago were wrecked by a crash in training. She now faces a race against time, and a battle with her pain threshold, just to get to the starting gate, something she acknowledged when correcting herself at the end of the press conference.

“I can assure you that when I’m at the starting gate I’ll be out there to win … If I’m at the starting gate.”