Winter Olympics 2018 - OFFICIAL Thread

[Tender Branson]

For those of you who care about it, preview or rate your country's expected performance, using:

* Excellent
* Good
* Fair
* Poor
* Very poor

Austria

* Alpine Skiing (Excellent)

Assuming no major injuries over the next month, Marcel Hirscher has excellent Gold medal chances in the Giant Slalom and Slalom (and maybe even in the Combined, if he tries there as well). Other Gold medal candidates for Slalom include Michael Matt and Manuel Feller.

On the speed side, there are several candidates for a medal - but the Norwegians are pretty strong this year as well.

Women: Most likely Gold-medal could be in the Super-G, because the other 4 disciplines are dominated by Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) right now.

* Snowboarding (Excellent)

Anna Gasser almost looks unbeatable right now in the Slopestyle and Big Air events. So I expect 1 or 2 Gold medals there. Also, we have outstanding chances in the parallel giant-slalom and snowboard cross events (because men and women are currently in very good shape).

* Biathlon (Good)

While there were no top-level results so far this season on the individual level, Simon Eder/Lisa-Theresa Hauser already won a single-mixed race so far (a team of 1 woman and 1 man). Which means 1 Gold medal is possible. On the individual level, Martin Fourcade (France) and Johannes Thingnes Bö (Norway) look unbeatable.

There are also some other good chances left in Bobsleigh and Luge (but I don't follow it really), Cross-Country-Skiing (Teresa Stadlober), Skeleton (Janine Flock) and even Ski Jumping (where the Austrian Team is currently in a big black hole, after doing extremely well the years before). Stefan Kraft could surprise, once he gets his good form back. But Poland is in really good shape there right now.

And we got another very positive result today at speed-skating, something where Austria usually never wins anything (dominated by the Dutch): Today, Vanessa Herzog won the Gold medal at the EURO Championships in Russia, the first Austrian Gold medal in that discipline in 24 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Winter_Olympics

All combined, I'm hoping for 3-7 Gold medals and a couple others - which would be the long-term Austrian average for Winter Olympics.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

My forecast is snow, with a slight chance of lead precipitation.

[Hatman 🍁]

Canada will do well in the sports that matter, so in other words, not the one's Austria is any good at.

[wxtransit]

Canada America will do well in the sports that matter, so in other words, not the one's Austria is any good at. Also, hockey.

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

Canada America will do well in the sports that matter, so in other words, not the one's Austria is any good at. Also, hockey.

FTFY

[NewYorkExpress]

With no NHL players, bet on an upset in Men's Hockey.

As for the US, I'd expect somewhere between 40 and 45 medals, with about a third of that gold.

Also, don't be surprised if South Korea walks away with a top-three total medal count.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

With no NHL players, bet on an upset in Men's Hockey.

As for the US, I'd expect somewhere between 40 and 45 medals, with about a third of that gold.

Also, don't be surprised if South Korea walks away with a top-three total medal count.

That would be 12-17 more medals then was won in 2014 a pretty big jump when you won the most medals in 2014; 22-32 medals would be a very good result.Also while the host country tends to gain a small bounce in total medals won jumping from 13 to 3 seems unlikely.

As for men’s ice hockey Sweden, or Finland probably have the best odds to win.

[Tender Branson]

The Norwegians are in awesome shape right now ... basically everywhere:

* Alpine Skiing
* Biathlon
* Nordic Combined
* Cross-Country Skiing
* Ski Jumping

I think they will easily win the medals table again.

The Germans are also making a surprise comeback in the Alpine Skiing area, with the first win since 1979 in the famous Kitz downhill race yesterday.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

Canada will do well in the sports that matter, so in other words, not the one's Austria is any good at.

I have always wondered why Austria/Germany is so bad at Hockey. No offense, but much smaller countries with similar climates do well like the Czechs, Danes and the other Nordic countries. At every tournament the poor Germans are always in league with teams like Kazakhstan and Belarus.

[Tender Branson]

Canada will do well in the sports that matter, so in other words, not the one's Austria is any good at.

I have always wondered why Austria/Germany is so bad at Hockey. No offense, but much smaller countries with similar climates do well like the Czechs, Danes and the other Nordic countries. At every tournament the poor Germans are always in league with teams like Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Because we do well in sports that actually matter, like alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, biathlon, luge & bob and nordic combined.

[Tender Branson]

There was a farewell ceremony today, with President VdB/Chancellor Kurz/Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Sports Strache officially sending our Olympic Team to South Korea:







Austria will send ca. 130 athletes to South Korea, one of the largest delegations (together with Norway and Switzerland).

Only the US, Canada, Germany and Russia are likely to have larger delegations.

[Lachi]

I think Australia could get 1-3 gold. We have a really strong team this year, and there are a few events which we have a real chance in.

[parochial boy]

Canada will do well in the sports that matter, so in other words, not the one's Austria is any good at.

I have always wondered why Austria/Germany is so bad at Hockey. No offense, but much smaller countries with similar climates do well like the Czechs, Danes and the other Nordic countries. At every tournament the poor Germans are always in league with teams like Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Because we do well in sports that actually matter, like alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, biathlon, luge & bob and nordic combined.

It's 2018, no-one snowboards anymore

[Tender Branson]

Very successful alpine skier Lindsey Vonn (originally from Minnesota, but now lives in Austria), has strongly attacked President Trump in a CNN interview - making her very popular in Austria, but not so much among FOX News watchers and Trump-voters:

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https://www.si.com/olympics/2017/12/07/lindsey-vonn-usa-skiing-donald-trump-olympics

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2017/12/12/lindsey-vonn-backlash-her-trump-comments-some-hoping-break-my-neck/943541001/

Meanwhile, lots of winning for Lindsey: today another victory for her in Garmisch, Germany. In fact her 80th victory in a race and only 6 away from the all-time career record from Ingemar Stenmark (Sweden).

[Tender Branson]

Said Lindsey Vonn:

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[Tender Branson]

Meanwhile, the Norwegians are in trouble for apparent "Nazi" runes on their sweaters:



http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2018/01/31/official-sweater-norwegian-olympic-ski-team-features-symbol-used-by-neo-nazi-group.html

I actually have one of those Norwegian sweaters too. Will need to check for "Nazi runes" ...

[Tender Branson]

More background:

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https://sputniknews.com/europe/201801311061237928-norway-nazi-attacking-viking/

[Tender Branson]

Sports Illustrated's medal predictions:



The following link also has predictions for each event:

https://www.si.com/olympics/2018/02/06/2018-olympics-medal-picks-pyeongchang-predictions

[Tender Branson]

From today's opening ceremony (Moon, Pence, Abe and Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo Jong behind Pence):



Kim Yo Jong shakes hands with Moon:



---

The United Korea (North+South) Olympic Team:



USA:



Austria:



And more pictures:

[Mr. Morden]

From today's opening ceremony (Moon, Pence, Abe and Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo Jong behind Pence):

Really?  I thought that was South Korean actress Kim You-Jung. 

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Abe didn't shake her hand either.  They both look uncomfortable for sure.

[Tender Branson]

The 1st medal event has been completed:

LADIES' 7.5KM + 7.5KM SKIATHLON (= Cross Country Skiing)

Gold: Charlotte KALLA (Sweden)
Silver: Marit BJOERGEN (Norway)
Bronze: Krista PARMAKOSKI (Finland)

Teresa STADLOBER (Austria) was a good 7th.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

German biathlete Laura Dahlmeier has won gold. 🤩🥇🎊

[Tender Branson]

Ladies 3.000 meters Speed Skating:

The Netherlands won a triple-victory with gold, silver and bronze.

[Tender Branson]

Medal table after DAY 1 (or after 5 of 102 events):

1) Bavaria (2 Gold)
2) Netherlands (1 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze)
3) Sweden (1 Gold)
3) South Korea (1 Gold)
5) Norway (3 Silver, 1 Bronze)
6) Finland, Russia, Czech Republic with 1 Bronze each