The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver Come to an End

My daughter predicted what the score would be for the men's hockey final game today at the Olympics with a score of 3-2 even before the game started but she was expecting/hoping that the US would be the victor and get the gold medal. We watched the game until the US tied the game with 2-2 with only seconds remaining and did we cheer! Then the game went into overtime (but it was time to drive her to the rink where she teaches Basic Skills in skating and skates herself).

We heard the news when we returned home and saw the Canadian men's hockey team with their gold medals and the US men skating off the ice looking pretty dejected.

The New York Times already posted an article on this intense game, which concluded these 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. It also has a graphic of the medal talleys for various countries with the US garnering the largest number of medals with 37; Germany, in second place with 30, and Canada, in third with 26 (not bad for all that this country and its people invested in these games). In fact, Canada won 14 gold medals at these Olympics (the most of any country), whereas the US won 9, as did Norway, with Germany getting 10 gold medals. I was born in Canada so I am pleased that these games, overall, were quite successful and filled with many wonderful athletic memories.

At the same time, we saw tremendous courage in such athletes as Joannie Rochette, whose mother passed away in Vancouver just 2 days before Joannie skated her short program. Joannie, who is from eastern Canada, went on to win the bronze medal in women's figure skating this past Thursday. She is a true heroine and Olympian.

These Games were marred by the death of the Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, at age 21, during a training practice run, just hours before the opening ceremonies.

Many of the male hockey Olympic medalists (especially the gold and silver medalists) will very soon be back with their NHL teams and the figure skaters will be getting ready to compete again in the 2010 World Figure Skating Championship that will take place in late March in Turin, Italy.