The Olympics have drawn to a close and despite the skepticism, speculation, and minor mishaps Russia pulled off a very successful Games. Here, we bring you the two weeks in review from the highlights including a podium in slopestyle to the humor of the intwerwebs puns circulating around. In case you missed it, here are the Olympics in review, as brought to you by SnowBrains:
What Is & Where is Sochi
No one had heard of the town called Sochi until Russia won the bid for the Olympics, and many were surprised to learn its regarded more as a beach town than anything else. With the rapid development for the Olympic Games, there was speculation around the damage constructions was doing to the environment and the people. And being a beach town, there was the question of whether there would even be enough snow, prompting Russia to call in Shamans to help pray for snow.
Can the Russians Pull Off the Olympics?
After Shaun White bailed on Slopestyle because of a course that was “too dangerous”, multiple injuries in practice in both slope style and in the women’s downhill training runs, people were beginning to wonder if Russia would successfully pull off The Games. However, Russia quickly laid all the speculation to rest, producing a most impressive two weeks of competition.
Onto the Games and US Podiums
The US stood and delivered in the new events this year, winning gold in Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle, Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle, and sweeping Men’s ski slopestyle. The US men and women also delivered in half pipe skiing and snowboarding, with David Wise of Reno taking home gold as well as South Lake’s Maddie Bowman. In the Men’s GS, Ted Ligety became the first American to win the event and made history winning his second Gold Medal in the Olympics.
Lake Tahoe stood and delivered in these games as well, winning more medals than Great Britain and 67 other countries. This only helps to solidify Tahoe is home to the best skiers in the world!
The Humor
And then there was the humor. From At-At’s picking off Men’s mogul skiers to a dramatic ice rescue after a skater broke through, the internet continuously cranked out some humorous content to augment the games.
The Results
With the final count in, unfortunately the US came in a close second in the Medal race, losing out to Russia who swept the men’s 50k Cross County event for the win. None the less, US athletes had an impressive showing taking home 28 medals in all.
