<p>There are so many new competitions, ski racing,snowboard racing, ski half pike. Whatever happened to ice dancing? or is it coming up later? They stated in an ad that a Russian woman had never won gold in ladies ice skating. WTH? What about Oksana Bayuul, for one. </p>
<p>There are many people that don’t consider ice dancing a sport :-), Entertaining to watch but sport no. I also said this on another thread…there are other Olympic events that have subjective scoring just so the costume loving, ice dance lovin folks think I’m discriminatory. Couldn’t agree with the USA Today article more.</p>
<p><a href=“Olympic ice dancing was amazing, but it isn’t a sport | For The Win”>http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/meryl-davis-ice-dancing-olympics-not-a-sport/</a></p>
<p>Ice dancing finals were a couple of nights ago. All of figure skating has competed now -as of today. </p>
<p>Oksana Baiul is Ukrainian, not Russian. And yes, it’s really starting to look like the X-games. </p>
<p>Oksana Baiul is Ukrainian, part of the Soviet Union but not Russian.</p>
<p>Ah…Oksana not Russian. Thanks.
I literally have no recollection of ice dancing vs. ice skating in these games. No idea why I’m so confused about it but I am. LOL.</p>
<p>Sometimes it feels like the same events over and over and over again. To me it almost seems as thought each sport has created too many events that to the average observer are not all that different. I’m not sure why I feel let down. Is is the coverage or maybe because there are too many oldies trying to three peat? Or is it because it is almost impossible to not know the outcome prior to the event.</p>
<p>Mens hockey gold medal game tomorrow???</p>
<p>If these changes keep going, they’ll put skateboarding in the Summer Olympics. </p>
<p>If you missed the ice dancing, go back and watch it! It was fantastic.</p>
<p>The Olympics are now totally driven by TV ratings and sponsorships. The idea that these are amateur athletes competing for glory and love of the sport alone is just dead. It can’t even be sustained as a polite fiction in so many sports.When I heard that the IOC had decided to get rid of wrestling in order to have table tennis (more potential viewers worldwide), I just lost all interest. How can the Olympics be the Olympics without wrestling, a foundational ancient sport? I’m also tired of the politicking, drama and corruption of building new sites. They should build two permanent sites (summer games in Greece and winter games in Norway) and let it go. So much easier for everyone. Stripped of the idealism, it’s just another spectacle.</p>
<p>The idea that they were ever all amateurs competing isn’t rational, not in the lifetime of anyone who is posting here.</p>
<p>I disagree. I think in the 60s and 70s there were far more true amateurs competing than now, at least from the countries that didn’t have big state-supported programs. Now they are pros taking busman’s holidays. </p>
<p>There may have been far more but not all, which is what I said. The state-supported programs have been around for a long time. Those athletes were not amateurs in the sense that we like to imagine. The actual number of the type of amateurs that you’re missing may be close to the same since there are between two and three times as many countries now participating as did in the 60s and 70s.</p>
<p>I thought it was a big deal when the US decided that professionals could compete on US teams because other countries’ athletes weren’t amateurs and it was putting us at a big disadvantage. I may not have been paying attention very carefully back then so I don’t know if my perception was reality. </p>
<p>I miss the medal ceremonies. . I can only recall one being shown and I think it was only because the commentator made Bode cry and NBC was probably hoping for more tears from him. Sigh. </p>
<p>I’ve seen a few medal ceremonies. I saw the ice dancers get their medals. I saw the medal ceremony when we swept one of the skiing events. The ice dancer one was the night after the competition. They did a flower ceremony the night of the competition. I think NBC is only showing them when we have a gold, which I think stinks. </p>
<p>No because the one where they showed Bode a non American won the gold. They used to show almost all the medal ceremonies regardless. Maybe I’m just turning off the tv too soon. </p>
<p>Ted Ligity’s gold ceremony was tonight here on the east coast. But I miss it too.</p>
<p>Ice Dancing: I don’t know if I feel this way because the US won, but I loved it this year. I don’t recall seeing it at all, except a few highlights, in year’s past.</p>
<p>Why did they show it tonight when he won it yesterday? No wonder I am missing them. </p>
<p>They’ve changed the rules for ice dancing quite a bit over the years. It’s gotten a lot more fun to watch. The first long dance I remember really pushing the boundaries was Torvill and Dean with their Bolero.</p>