Women's Freeskate:
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> I would have to say this is some of the best skating I have ever seen. Such power, strength, and determination that all the ladies had. This event was so much fun to watch because each and every one skated their hearts out.
> The gold medal went to Yu-Na Kim of Korea. This is the first time that Korea has ever received a medal in figure skating. Yu-Na Kim is a real life superstar in her country of Korea. They call her Queen Yu-Na, and she lived up to it tonight. She now has the highest numbers ever achieved in this event. She has such strength and makes it look so easy. However, she is under such pressure from her country. She has wrote a book on the pressures she has. She was expected to win. That is a lot for a 19 year old to have on her shoulders. Yu-Na is said to make 9 million dollars a year for all her endorsements. Her performance tonight was unforgettable.
> The silver medal went to Mao Asada of Japan. She too is a mega star in her country. In 2006 she was the World Champion, however she was too young to compete at the Olympics. This was her debut Olympics and she skated beautifully. Mao is the only girl in history to complete 3 triple axels in competition. She too is under enormous pressure from her country to win. Although she got silver you could almost see in her face that she felt she let her country down. So sad for such a wonderful Olympic performance.
> The bonze medal went to Canada's, Joannie Rochette. Everyone's heart was with Joannie this competition. You couldn't help but give her support and root her on. She lost her mother of a massive heart attack just days before her performance. For her to medal in this Olympics was truly amazing. Her courage and determination just showed that her mother was right there with her as she skated. Joannie skated her season's best tonight.
> USA's Mirai Nagasu ended up in 4th place. Mirai is only 16 years old. She skated a perfect program. Mirai is said to have the best spins in the competition. Her parents own a Japanese restaurant in California and were not going to be able to come until Panasonic stepped forward and sponsored her. They flew her parents up to watch their daughter skate in the Olympics. Mirai's parents sacrificed so they could keep her skating and it has paid off to end up 4th in her first Olympics. Good things are expected to come from Mirai.
> USA's Rachel Flatt ended up 7th overall. She had her best performance of the season and was very happy with how she skated. When she got off the ice you could hear her say, "That was Fun!". Rachel is a very consistent skater. She is only 17 years old and is a senior in high school. An honors student as well, she was just accepted to go to Stanford next year.
> Although this was the first time in Olympic history that an American was not on the podium, you couldn't help but cheer on the ladies that made it. Spectacular skating tonight!
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Well, what can I say? We came to get a gold, but we're going home with a silver.They simply did not execute tonight. That about says it all. There were a lot of long faces tonight including our own. We go home tomorrow and take with us great experiences from Vancouver and the Olympics. Au revoir. Later skater. Diane.

From Angela Hurley:

Free dance--

What a night for Canada! For the first time in history they received an Olympic gold medal in ice dance. The dance couple who did it was Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Their performances in the competition were wonderful. Scott had said when they were out there skating they felt like all of Canada was out there on the ice with them. Our own USA team, Meryl Davis and Charlie White took the silver medal. Their performances were very well put together as well. Meryl and Charlie have skated together for 13 years and grew up down the street from one another. They are the two time US Champions and first time skating at the Olympics. Their program, to the music of Phantom of the Opera was so well trained. They pay so much attention to the detail of the music. They skated a personal best here at the Olympics. Their good friends and training partners are Tessa and Scott, the Canadian team who took the gold. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, who is our second USA team took 4th place in this Olympics. They were actually the favorite Americans to win a medal. They won a silver medal in the 2006 Olympics. This was the first time an American team had won a medal in ice dance in 30 years. They have speed and power and skated very well. I did feel their costumes were a little too much. There is talk that this may be Tanith and Ben's last competition before they retire. The 3rd USA Olympic team was Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates. They ended up 14th but skated very well for their first Olympics. They have beautiful long lines and extensions of their free legs. Emily and Evan are said to have some of the best footwork out there. Their costumes were beautiful and they skated 8 points above their personal best. They had a great Olympic experience. Both US teams of Meryl and Charlie and Emily and Evan go to the University of Michigan. Charlie and Evan are even roommates their. The Bronze medal went to the Russian couple Oksana Domnina and Maksin Shabalin. The Russians have always received a medal in ice dancing since it has become part of the Olympics. Oksana and Maksin are the World Champions. However they have a lot of controversy over two of their costumes. Their Original dance costumes were a take on the aborigines and they have gotten a lot of heat from that culture. In the Olympics they toned down their costumes and little and removed the face paint they wore at Worlds. They wanted to look more authentic and less offensive. To me they looked ridiculous and strange. Oksana and Maksin's free dance also had controversy. They both had ropes on their costumes to aid them in transitions and lifts, which to me is completely unfair and should be deducted for it. They say it will probably be a rule next year that these will not be aloud. A lot of fun to watch and see how it all unfolded. Next up, the final event, The Women's Freeskate.

US Men's Game

YEAH!!! Let's see, Zach scored both goals for the US today, showing a lot of speed and spunk. All the time he spent with me this summer, working on his quick start, has obviously paid off. I am so proud of him! Bring on the semi-finals.

Tomorrow is a big day for the girls. We are starting to feel the nerves, but have confidence in their ability. Wish us luck!

It is raining in Vancouver...

Bonjour!

It may be snowing in Whistler, but it is raining in Vancouver. Isn't it unbelievable that it is February, the trees are budding and the flowers are planted?

What an amazing story to watch unfold yesterday with the Canadian figure skater. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. To skate that well after her mom had just passed away is amazing and heart-warming. All of the skaters did so well. What an incredible night for skating!

Quarterfinals for the men start today. Hope the men continue on for the US. We went to the Proctor and Gamble sponsered relax area for all US athletes. We got to talk to the girls about the game and visit. Katie, my daughter-in-law, had her picture taken with one of the US snowboarders, Louis Vito. She is a 5th grade teacher and her students love the US snowboard team.

These are long and busy days but we are enjoying every minute of it. Don't miss the US hockey games coming up!

Andy, Natalie Darwitz, Gigi Marvin, and Diane
Diane and U.S Men's hockey player David Backes
Lamoureux twins, Diane and Andy
Sweeden vs. U.S semifinal


Wow, my girls are in the gold medal round. Mark has them well prepared and clicking on all cylinders. Are they fast or what? They have worked so hard the past two years. Andy and I got to visit with them (as well as some of the men's players) at the Proctor and Gamble (A private location for the U.S. athletes). We can't wait for the gold medal game against Canada in a few days.
We also attended a figure skating event and were able to see a couple of Canadians take home the gold. This was great for their country because they are very down after the Men's game and they needed it.
This has become a lifestyle not an event. Below is a recap on the Men's Freeskate written by Angela Hurley.

Recap on Men's Freeskate:

Evan Lysacek finally won Olympic Gold! This is the first time a USA Men's skater has done this since 1988, when Brian Boitano won. Such an exciting night for Evan. He worked very hard to get this and had the "Skate of his Life". Although not without criticism. Since that night the men skated, there has been ongoing debates on if Evan should have taken the Gold. Russian skater Yevgeny Plushenko, who received the silver medal, feels he should have won gold on account that he had a quadruple jump in his program. Evan did not.Yevgeny, who won Olympic gold at the 2006 Olympics, had retired for 3 and a half years until coming back 11 months ago because he missed the competition. His dream was to win back to back Olympic gold medals just like Dick Button did in 1948 and 1952. Yevgeny definitely has an advantage on his jumps, however his on ice elements are not as strong. This one is hard because to me the program they do is a whole package and not just about jumps. Yevgeny's choreography was nowhere near the level that Evan's was. We also have to remember their are 12 required elements to be done in the 4 and a half minute program, not just one jump. Yevgeny is an amazing skater but I think they picked the right winner.Evan did his personal best and it all came together for him to win the Gold. From his amazing choreography to his beautiful costumes, who were designed by fashion designer, Vera Wang, to his coach Frank Caroll who is 71 years old and final got his Olympic champion, Evan just had the total package. Another thing Evan had to live up to was no reigning World Champion has not come to the Olympics and won Gold. Dick Button did it, Hayes Jenkins did it, David Jenkins did it, Scott Hamilton did it, and now Evan Lysacek has done it.
Another US skater, who gets a lot of heat for comments he makes off ice is Johnny Wier. He finished 6th. I thought he skated very well and the judges probably should have given him more credit for his performance. Johnny almost retired last spring but decided to come back and give it his all. His program was Fallen Angel. He chose this because that is how he feels about his career since the 2006 Olympics. Johnny is a free-spirit and is not afraid to be himself.The other USA skater Jeremy Abbott finished 9th in his first Olympics. He was however the National Champion coming into to the Olympics. A wonderful skater who doesn't have the expeirience that the other two Americans had and his nerves got to him.The Men's Olympic event is always such a great event to watch and I'm sure people will be talking about it for years to come. Next up Ice Dance.
Stay tuned for more pics and videos

Crazy day at the games

Wow... Huge win for the US. Over 1/2 of Canada was estimated to watch this game. This loss was devistating for them. The Canadians are not happy people right now... The main thing the Candians are talking about on the news is how the Americans are cleaning house on the medals.
We also were able to see Ohno win his bronze medal. The feeling in the rink was incredible. I cannot explain how fast the skaters are in person. Ohno is so extremely fun to watch. He knows just when turn on the jets and when to skate effeciently enough to conserve energy.
Finally, we were able to catch some bobsled action up in Whistler. Once again TV does not do the winter games justice. These guys were clocking up to 100 mph in these sleds. If you were to blink you would miss them. The guy in the second test run fliped on his side right in front of us. We did not think he was going to walk away from this. There were paramedics running from all angles to come to his rescue. I thought it was going to be another incident like last week but thank God he was okay.
We have not had any time to do much blogging because of how busy things have been but keep posted tonight and tomorrow because we have some great pictures and video.

A Day Spent at the Rink!

I spent the day at Canada Hockey Place watching men's hockey. Sweden had incredible skill, huge size, but Belarus gave them all they could handle. I then watched Jagr dominate Latvia. The town was bustling with activities, and the trains were packed. I made many new friends from all over the world. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Excitement in the air!

Well, since the first of the year, I am finally starting to feel the energy surrounding this years winter games. The commercials are on, the athletes are preparing, and I have received my first set of event tickets in the mail! I will be spending a week in Vancouver with my son and his wife, watching the talented athletes take over Vancouver this coming February.

As I take in the sites and sounds of Olympic Village, I hope that you log on and follow me on this little adventure. One that I am sure I will remember forever.

--Diane