The Winter games are wrapped up and now we have time to
reflect on them. I’ve never been a big Olympics person, but this year I couldn’t
get enough of it. Who knew that curling could be so interesting? I’m still not
sure how the scoring works, but the techniques used when sliding and sweeping
are very precise. Speed skating might be my new favorite event – those racers
accelerate to over 30 mph on skates and make such tight turns, it’s incredible
that they’re able to do so without colliding with each other. Ski jumping is
great – they’re flying over 200 meters in the air at high speed, I couldn’t
imagine traveling that far in the air.
It was great seeing so many different countries winning
medals in different sports. Norway won an astounding 39 total medals – the next
closest competitor, Germany, had 31. The US didn’t finish top 3 – they finished
in fourth with 23 medals, which is still quite an accomplishment. Some smaller
countries even won a medal or two, which is what the Olympics is all about.
Liechtenstein, Latvia, Ukraine, Kazahkstan – each of these countries won at
least one medal, it’s great seeing them compete on the world level against some
of the big name countries.
Now we have to wait a couple years for the 2020 Summer
Olympics in Japan. Luckily enough we have the World Cup this summer ; I
personally can’t wait, it feels as big as Super Bowl week except it lasts for a
month. Only a few more months until we all get to cheer on our respective countries!