JuicyLesson 146: Adieu Sochi … Canada’s Performance cf. 2010 … Olympic Action Shots

This is it. No more JL’s on the Olympics … after today’s that is.

First let’s re-visit my goals for the Canadian Olympic team as I presented them a while back, after Day 1 of the Sochi games if memory serves:

(A) To win the most total Olympic medals. The twenty-six total medals we won four years ago was good for third place behind America’s thirty-seven medals and Germany’s thirty.

(B) To repeat our performance in Vancouver by winning the most golds for a second straight Winter Olympics. Our fourteen golds during the last winter Games left the rest of the participants in our dust – so to speak – as well as establishing a new world’s record for golds won at a Winter Olympics.

(C) To eclipse the record of fourteen (14) gold medals Canada won in Vancouver. This total was four better than the ten golds won by the Germans and five more than the nine won by both the U.S.A. and Norway in 2010.

How did we do? ‘Well’ in a vacuum; but ‘badly’ in the context of the three goals above:

(A) FAILED [Big Time]: We did not win the most medals; our total of 25 medals was good for fourth place behind Russia (33), USA (28)* and Norway (26). We also failed to match 2010’s total of 26 medals; we only managed to get our hands on twenry-five this year. [*Canada finished in third place overall because we had one more gold medal than the U.S.A. even though Canada was “out-medalled in total by the States by a count of twenty-eight (28) medals to twenry-five.)

(B) FAILED because Russia’s 13 golds were the most won by any nation in Sochi this year. Next came Norway with its 11 golds; Canada with 10 and the USA with 8 were next in the gold medal table. At least we can say that even though we didn’t repeat as Olympic champions, our record total of 14 golds established at the Vancouver Winter Games will stand for another four years – at least.

My general impression is that the big winners in these games compared to the last Olympics [2010] are – in order: Holland, Russia and Norway, while the Games’ largest loser – again compared to the 2010 Vancouver Games – was definitely the United States of America (or more simply, “America”, as that country is referred to by the Brits) … ah, yes, the good Ol’ U-S-OF-A., which suffered a considerable decline from winning the total medal race in Van with 37 (including 9 gold) to a mere 28 in Sochi (again including 9 golds), a decrease of some thirty-two percent ;32%).

Let’s hear it for Russia (Remember Da Da. Kanada. Nyet. Nyet. Soviet.) Ahhhh! The good old autumn days of the Canada Cup. What Canadian worth his/her salt can ever forget?

And to the winners go the spoils and that would most certainly be the Russians in 2014 who like Canada, four years ago, won on their own home soil with 33 medals in total including 13 of the gold variety. So no matter how you slice it – whether gauged in terms of total medal count or in terms of golds only – Russia Wins! Russia wins! Russia Wins! For now at least … until the dirt starts oozing out [a cynical lol).

The thirty seven (37^) medals won by the USA in Vancouver still stands as the Olympic record for total medals won in a winter Olympics. [^cf. 33 total medals won by Russia this year]

Also, in a second “no matter how you slice it” moment, Norway finishes a solid and strong second place as a result of it’s having collected 11 golds (two behind Russia, and one more than Canada’s ten) while the Norwegians’ grand total of 26 medals is good for second place once again. Norway, with a relatively small (very small, actually) population of barely five million – if that – harvests a crop of twenty-six medals, only seven less than Russia, a country that stretches through roughly ten different time zones and one measly medal more than Canada’s total of twenty-five medals .,. and we have six time zones.

Time to sleep … It’s 12:50 in the AM on Tuesday … Will tackle Holland upon getting up … Shouldn’t have more than an hour’s work of writing and editing copy left to do …

I’m back. Good morning. Holland, ah yes, the Netherlands … the Orange Crush, Greased Lighnin’, whatever you want to call them. The Dutch captured a grand total of twenty-four (24) medals this year in Sochi including eight (8) gold compared with a grand total of only eight (8) medals at Van four years ago which included four (4) gold. So Holland’s total medal take between 2010 to 2014 increased by an incredible two hundred percent (200%) while the Dutch increased their gold medal take between 2010 and 2014 by a total of one hundred percent (100%). Ladies and Gentlemen! I give you IMPROVEMENT.

What will happen to the facilities built for the Olympics including indoor facilities, a huge shopping mall, housing projects and infrastructure like roads, railways, electrical and gas support studf, etc. All costing a total of over $50 billion. That’s right … Fifty billion dollars for fuck sakes. Fifty. Billion. Dollars. Sounds like not a lot, believe it or not.

Olympic Action Shots

Dutch on Ice, Ice, Baby …