Left field

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Raining hockey pucks at the Olympics

Molly Riley writes:

Covering hockey at ice level is rarely without excitement but usually without injury to photographers ... until the game I was working at last Friday.

I was covering the last of three hockey games in one day from our assigned position in a seat against the glass. During second period a puck that was shot up to the net above the glass dropped straight down and hit me on the leg. I didn’t think much of it and while fans scrambled for the loose puck I thought ‘what are the chances of that happening?’

Then during the third period another puck was shot up into the net and came straight down, this time on my head.

I did not see it coming but knew what it was when it hit, and I thought 'hmmm I just got hit on the head with a puck...' It didn’t hurt much but I felt my head and found it bleeding. I cleared my cameras and laptop away, leaned over the isle watching blood drip from my head to a pool in the floor, and signaled for help.

A doctor from the crowd came down and said the cut didn’t look too deep. Soon a couple of medics appeared, moved me to a seat a couple rows up, and proceeded to wrap an over sized bandage around my head. They stood me up and as we walked up the isle, spectators in the two neighboring sections applauded. The medic told me that they were applauding for me. Embarrassed and laughing, the only thing I could think of to do was to wave to acknowledge their applause.

We arrived to the clinic onsite and after getting treatment I walked out to a group of waiting colleagues who were concerned and eager to show me the photos, some of which had already been tagged on Facebook.

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Thanks Vancouver, the Games were a blast

If it wasn't magic from Sidney Crosby, what was it? A flick of the wrist from the world's best hockey player, the dreams of 33 million Canadians were made real and the Winter Olympics ended with the flourish they deserved.

 El Sid, The Next One, Sid the Kid, #87 ... If anyone was going to find a way past Ryan Miller in overtime, and give Canada gold number 14, somehow you knew it was going to him.

The Games are over, after a closing ceremony full of deliciously funny Canadian self-deprecation. As chief organiser John Furlong said, the hockey win over the U.S. will live on for generations in Canada. For the rest of the world, I think the Games as a whole will be remembered pretty fondly too.

Here are a few things I will treasure from my time in Vancouver:

1. The warmth of the welcome from the people of this city blew me away. Vancouver is as laid back as a Californian snowboarder, and if I occasionally found myself spitting feathers at how it could take five minutes -- FIVE MINUTES -- to prepare a cup of coffee, or how two beers -- TWO BEERS -- could possibly cost 20 dollars, including two types of sales tax and tip, well, you know, that probably said more about me than The Couver.

2. Hockey. Who knew that 200 feet of ice could be the stage for such an electrifying occasion, and I don't just meant the final against the United States. Hockey has that mix of athleticism, skill and spite all great sports need and if it wasn't for the terrible music they play at the slightest provocation -- I mean, the Banana Boat Song? Ob La Di Ob la Da? Please ... -- I could really get into it.

3. Snowdudes. The various types of snowboarding and freestyle skiing seem intent on outdoing each other not only in the gravity-defying invention of the jumps and the organised mayhem of their races, but also in just how casual the athletes can be in their reaction to triumph or disaster. "Awesome" is about all they say when they win, while spectacular falls and lost medals are greeted with a shrug of the shoulder. Totally sick, man. Ill.

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Olympic ice hockey final, closing ceremony — live

We're at rinkside in Vancouver to bring you live coverage of the Winter Olympics ice hockey final between Canada and the United States. And join us later for the closing ceremony of these Games.

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Winter Olympics, day 15 — live

The final race of the Olympic Alpine skiing programme is underway, with Austria's Benjamin Raich among the favourites. There are seven medals in play on the penultimate day of competition in Vancouver, Whistler and Cypress and we'll be here for all of them, so please join us for expert commentary from our reporters on the spot.

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Winter Games, day 14 — live

The men's ice hockey semi-finals pitting the United States against Finland and Canada against Slovakia are the highlights of the day ... but with the mayhem of short track speed skating and the women's curling final there's plenty of other action to shout about... Join us here today and every day of the Games.

from The Great Debate UK:

What can London 2012 learn from Vancouver? Seb Coe answers your questions

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were hit at the very start by the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and for a while the Games struggled to recover, as organisers were faced with problem after problem, from the unseasonably warm weather to transport snarl-ups to scoring problems.

Some even wondered if Vancouver would go on to be called the Worst Games Ever but no one is saying that now, with the action picking up to provide a series of electrifying and heart warming moments while the organisation has settled down.

In fact, Vancouver looks like it will set the bar pretty high for the next Summer Olympics in London in 2012. On Friday, Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, will be talking to Reuters from the Main Press Centre in Vancouver and will address questions including what London can learn from these Games.

Coe, of course, is himself a double gold medal winner, having triumphed in the 1500m in Moscow in 1980 and again in the same event in Los Angeles four years later.

He will be answering questions in a live chat we’ll be hosting here on Friday at 1600 GMT, talking about London’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics and his own Games experience in Vancouver, where he ran with the torch on the day of the opening ceremony (see the photo above).

If you have questions for Coe, please send them in to the Live Blog within this post, or in the comments below, and join us for the chat on Friday -- either at this page or at this link -- for a first-hand look at how things are going before the Five Ring Circus heads to London.

Kevin Fylan, Vancouver

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

A crush that led to Olympic gold

Canadians basking in the warm glow of Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue's gold medal winning performance in the ice dancing were all asking the same question on Tuesday ... Are they as close off the ice as they are on it?

Turns out the answer is no, but things might have turned out diffrerently, as Allan Dowd reports...

“I know I had a crush on Scott, that’s for sure, but I wasn’t alone there,” she told reporters.

“That’s certainly changed,” Moir shot back.

And no, they are certainly not dating now.

“Just on the ice for seven minutes every time we do the program,” Moir joked.

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Winter Games, day 11 — live

Canada v Germany in the hockey is the highlight of the Winter Olympics programme today, with the host nation facing a test of nerve in this sudden death play-off.

That's not all, though, folks, with the men's giant slalom in alpine skiing one of five medal events.

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Olympics Hockey Super Sunday — live

We're running a live blog on the mouth-watering line up of hockey on Sunday, featuring Russia v Czech Republic in Group B, Canada v United States in Group A and Sweden v Finland in Group C.

We'll be talking hockey all day so please feel free to dip in. The fun starts Sunday. Early.

from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:

Suits you, sir! Our reporter tries a speedskating second skin

Larry Fine, our speedskating correspondent at these Winter Olympics, wanted to get a feel for what the athletes put themselves through. He got more than he bargained for... Over to Larry:

"First off, it should be noted that it was a size medium and I'm sure the good folks at Nike would have suggested a size or two larger for my particular build.

Undaunted by that minor problem, I tried to pour myself into a sample of the stretchy, rubbery, hooded, aerodynamically designed one-piece second skin worn by skaters at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Pour might not be quite the right word. Force, threaten or cajole might better describe the process in the men's room at the Main Press Center.

Beads of sweat first began appearing with the awkward effort of pulling the toes and high-instepped foot through the tight opening at the bottom.

Then came a laborious series of tugs and pulls to get the material sufficiently up the leg. Only a strenuous series of jumps and tugs allowed a shot at getting my arms into the black sleeves.