Olympics 2026 Thread

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

On to Curling Mixed Doubles Gold game, USA vs Sweden. The last of the semis for USA was a real nailbiter.

Edit: WTF? They just aired the start of USA vs SWE. And now they cut it off for figure skating. In the middle of the game. And they're not even showing skating yet, they're just doing commentary on the upcoming program. Soooo frustrating.

I'm looking forward to watching this one tonight; the US/Italy match was great. Avoiding looking at any results from anything today so I can watch it unspoiled, despite the high probability that my eight-year-old--who is really getting into curling--will be pestering me for the result before we watch. And you just reinforced that subscribing to Peacock was worth it for the month. (We did the same thing for the last Summer Olympics, too--I'll cancel before the next billing cycle starts).

 

[GMMichael]

Weird that I haven't noticed this yet: "death spiral" is a figure skating move!

The next death spiral thread I read is going seem completely different.

 

[Mannahnin]

I was amazed that Vonn went to the games after tearing her ACL

Seems like it was a bad idea to let her compete.

I cried a little when she crashed.

What about the relief of knowing the answer to the question: can you really do Olympic downhill skiing with a torn ACL?

the answer is: You can but not for very long.

Extreme bravery and extreme foolhardiness are not mutually exclusive, and seem to have a lot of overlap in these high-risk sports. Vonn knew what she was getting into and I think deserves some credit for being willing to push 100% -- go big or go home -- but at the same time I think that level of physical self-destruction should be discouraged in sports. It's the football problem of normalizing playing with TBI, just in a different venue.

I had an ACL/MCL repair surgery in my early 30s.* It was MONTHS before I could move my leg in any normal fashion.

That she did what she did was impressive as hell. That was some Icarus level stuff.

Besides, it wasn’t the leg damage that caused the crash- she got badly entangled in one of the flags, altering her position & trajectory enough that a crash was inevitable.

Downhill skiing is always going to have these kinds of injuries.

From what I saw and heard her knee was stable; it was getting her arm caught in the gate that caused the crash, and the break followed from that.

 

[payn]

Downhill skiing is always going to have these kinds of injuries.

From what I saw and heard her knee was stable; it was getting her arm caught in the gate that caused the crash, and the break followed from that.

Perhaps the cynic in me but I ask why these dont happen more often? I could also see a save face for Vonn and save liability for the Olympics by saying there was no foreseeable risk here and business as usual. Perhaps her knee wasnt directly involved in the crash, but how are we to know where her mind was that may have led to the pole catch error that was the cause of the crash?

 

[Mannahnin]

Perhaps the cynic in me but I ask why these dont happen more often? I could also see a save face for Vonn and save liability for the Olympics by saying there was no foreseeable risk here and business as usual. Perhaps her knee wasnt directly involved in the crash, but how are we to know where her mind was that may have led to the pole catch error that was the cause of the crash?

More often than what? I don't mean to imply any bad faith (and I appreciate the acknowledgement of possible cynicism), but it is possible that one of the greatest skiiers in the world is being honest and made a reasonable calculation of risk. Apart from Danny it was beginning to feel a bit like a peanut gallery in here.

 

[payn]

More often than what? I don't mean to imply any bad faith (and I appreciate the acknowledgement of possible cynicism), but it is possible that one of the greatest skiiers in the world is being honest and made a reasonable calculation of risk. Apart from Danny it was beginning to feel a bit like a peanut gallery in here.

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Dont mean to, but you are gonna do it anyways. No reason to get personal about this. Pro football players often want to play despite having a concussion. Should we default to them as experts because they are elite athletes in their sport?

 

[billd91]

Pro football players often want to play despite having a concussion. Should we default to them as experts because they are elite athletes in their sport?

No, we shouldn't, but that kind of question comes with all sorts of caveats. Any decision of this sort, including Vonn's, should come in consultation with appropriate medical experts as well as respect for someone making personal, if potentially short-sighted with respect to bodily damage, choices.

We don't know fully what motivated Vonn to come out of retirement and put herself through this experience. It could be she was finding it boring compared to her prior life of constant training and competition. Maybe she was having a hard time letting that go - we've seen it before (hello, Brett Favre). Frankly, I find it hard to understand anyone choosing to rocket down a mountain on waxed up slats of material because I'm not crazy. But, hey, she took her shot, took home another record-breaking World Cup win, and competed at the highest level at a location she loves. I hope she finds peace and contentment in retirement again.

 

[Mannahnin]

Dont mean to, but you are gonna do it anyways. No reason to get personal about this. Pro football players often want to play despite having a concussion. Should we default to them as experts because they are elite athletes in their sport?

No, we shouldn't, but that kind of question comes with all sorts of caveats. Any decision of this sort, including Vonn's, should come in consultation with appropriate medical experts as well as respect for someone making personal, if potentially short-sighted with respect to bodily damage, choices.

We don't know fully what motivated Vonn to come out of retirement and put herself through this experience. It could be she was finding it boring compared to her prior life of constant training and competition. Maybe she was having a hard time letting that go - we've seen it before (hello, Brett Favre). Frankly, I find it hard to understand anyone choosing to rocket down a mountain on waxed up slats of material because I'm not crazy. But, hey, she took her shot, took home another record-breaking World Cup win, and competed at the highest level at a location she loves. I hope she finds peace and contentment in retirement again.

Right. We're not talking about a 23 year old kid whose whole life has been football and is trying to make a lifetime's worth of money in likely a very short career. We're talking about a 41 year old world champion and Olympic gold medalist taking another shot.

If we want to compare to an NFL player, Vonn is a more akin to Brady coming back than to any young player being shortsighted and reckless.