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Paralympics (4)
Mar. 12th, 2014 11:43 amOn the 10th, there was rain and fog on the slopes in Sochi. Some of the downhill races were postponed, and in the biathlon, the targets were moved much closer. There were still more missed shots than usual. In one camera view from just behind the shooter, I couldn't even see the target, but they have sights (and they're younger than me). Yesterday there was a feature on how the guiding for visually impaired athletes works. Unlike ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nosrednayduj's experience of being loud downhill, the current athlete/guide pairs have microphones and receivers. Some of the cross-country guides seemed to be shouting, though. And there were sometimes problems with the guiding, despite the communication devices. There was one super-G athlete who pulled off to the side of the course and withdrew, because her guide was skiing much faster than she was, and got too far ahead. I think that was a mismatch between how each of them perceived the snow conditions, but whatever it was, maybe more practice together should have happened in advance.
A woman in the seated biathlon withdrew because her asthma was acting up (due to the fog? I don't know much about asthma, so maybe that was a coincidence). It must be very sad to get that far and have to quit.
Wheelchair curling is not as entertaining to me as Olympic curling, because there is no sweeping. The rocks sometimes still curl, though, either due to the way they are pushed or the actual conditions of the ice. The players have to pay really close attention, because apparently the ice is affected by how many stones have slid in different spots, and the sheet isn't actually totally flat after some time of play. The teams are mixed gender, seemingly with a majority of men instead of half and half. Unlike the regular Olympic teams, which seem to be from the same place and practice together all the time, the US team members come from four states, including a guy from Mashpee, MA. Maybe NBC sports shows things in more detail at 1AM (I've been recording the broadcasts), but during the regular Olympics I had not seen that the day's curling begins with a bagpipe and drum band in full kilts and such, in tribute to the Scottish origins of the sport. The coverage yesterday showed their whole bit, and then the introductions of each athlete. Also at that time of the morning, there are pretty much the same half-dozen commercials over and over (Citi Bank featuring sled hockey player Rico Roman, one of the P&G tear-jerking commercials about the mothers of the paralympic athletes, a BP ad with Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and a few others in rotation).
Most surprising thing (to me) that a commentator has said - one of the US cross-country athletes has been blind his whole life because "he had chicken pox in utero." I presume that means that his mother had chicken pox while he was in utero, but I started imagining him as a fetus with spots all over, trying vainly to scratch with his tiny uncoordinated hands.
nosrednayduj's experience of being loud downhill, the current athlete/guide pairs have microphones and receivers. Some of the cross-country guides seemed to be shouting, though. And there were sometimes problems with the guiding, despite the communication devices. There was one super-G athlete who pulled off to the side of the course and withdrew, because her guide was skiing much faster than she was, and got too far ahead. I think that was a mismatch between how each of them perceived the snow conditions, but whatever it was, maybe more practice together should have happened in advance.A woman in the seated biathlon withdrew because her asthma was acting up (due to the fog? I don't know much about asthma, so maybe that was a coincidence). It must be very sad to get that far and have to quit.
Wheelchair curling is not as entertaining to me as Olympic curling, because there is no sweeping. The rocks sometimes still curl, though, either due to the way they are pushed or the actual conditions of the ice. The players have to pay really close attention, because apparently the ice is affected by how many stones have slid in different spots, and the sheet isn't actually totally flat after some time of play. The teams are mixed gender, seemingly with a majority of men instead of half and half. Unlike the regular Olympic teams, which seem to be from the same place and practice together all the time, the US team members come from four states, including a guy from Mashpee, MA. Maybe NBC sports shows things in more detail at 1AM (I've been recording the broadcasts), but during the regular Olympics I had not seen that the day's curling begins with a bagpipe and drum band in full kilts and such, in tribute to the Scottish origins of the sport. The coverage yesterday showed their whole bit, and then the introductions of each athlete. Also at that time of the morning, there are pretty much the same half-dozen commercials over and over (Citi Bank featuring sled hockey player Rico Roman, one of the P&G tear-jerking commercials about the mothers of the paralympic athletes, a BP ad with Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and a few others in rotation).
Most surprising thing (to me) that a commentator has said - one of the US cross-country athletes has been blind his whole life because "he had chicken pox in utero." I presume that means that his mother had chicken pox while he was in utero, but I started imagining him as a fetus with spots all over, trying vainly to scratch with his tiny uncoordinated hands.
