Skating and Skiing

As I type this, the ice dancing competition, covered live by the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) cable channel, is over.  I didn't see any of it, but I do know whether or not Meryl Davis and Charlie White became the first American pair to win the gold medal in that event.  I was busy.  But I do know the answer to that question, which is - spoiler alert for those planning to watch the highlights tonight on NBC - at the bottom of this post.  Right now, as I type this, NBCSN is airing a ski event.  Biathlon.

But how about those Dutch speed skaters, eh?  They've swept three of the eight speed skating events, and not they just took the top three positions again at the women's 1500-meter race yesterday, with Jorien ter Mors taking the gold medal, Ireen Wust winning the solver, and Lotte Van Beek edging out Merrit Leenstra - another Dutchwoman - for the bronze. First, second, third, and fourth place.  This alone should justify adding a fourth-place medal to the Games.

How is this possible?  It's something Mary Mapes Dodge caught on to when she wrote "Hans Brinker," about skating races on frozen Dutch canals.  The Netherlands, thanks to all those canals, has a tradition of skating races that goes back decades.  It's as much a part of Holland as windmills and tulips, as much a part of their sporting culture as NFL football is of ours.  I don't know why anyone would be surprised by the speed skating outcomes at Sochi.

And it's good that the Dutch are winning all those medals in speed skating.  They haven't won any medals in anything else.  

Bode Miller, meanwhile, made a valiant comeback in the men's Super G ski race yesterday, and he almost won the gold medal.  It was such a tough course that most skiers who followed Miller either finished behind or didn't finish at all.  Ultimately, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway beat Miller out for the gold, Andrew Weibrecht of the United States took silver, and Jan Hudec of Canada - incorrectly identified as the gold-medal winner by the Newark, N.J. Star-Ledger - tied with Miller for the bronze.  It was a bittersweet moment for Miller, whose brother recently died of a seizure.  His and Weibrecht's performance was also morale booster for a U.S. ski team that has underperformed at Sochi up to now.

And speaking of skiing . . . The Paralympics at Sochi will be held in March, when American skier Heath Calhoun will compete.  He's appeared in a couple of those commercials that always get played over and over during the regular Games, and as it's hard to find the Paralympics on TV, I have a feeling that more people will see Calhoun ski in those TV ads than in real life.

(Okay, here's the ice dancing spoiler alert: Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the Olympic gold medal - and by the highest score ever!)