orangeman

Following the Roar of the Rings, or whatever it's called now, the Tim Hortons because it's Canada and curling so of course it's Tim Hortons Curling Trials. Just hoping Canada can redeem itself from the embarrassment of Pyeongchang. For that reason, I'm rooting for any rink that has an Olympic gold medal in their pocket: Jones on the women's side and Jacobs or Gushue on the men's. They all look to make the playoffs now. I don't want to root against anyone, but I watched Koe in person at the semi-finals in 2018 and he looked completely confused. Obviously he does have great international performances under his belt, and 4th at the Olympics isn't anything to sneeze at. I look forward to hopefully seeing some curling live here in Beijing this February, but the Ice Cube is limited to 2000 spectators, so I doubt a mere mortal like me will be able to get tickets. Then again it's curling, but China is not terrible so we'll see.

Jennifer Abel announces retirement. https://www.tsn.ca/canadian-diver-jennifer-abel-announces-retirement-1.1725119

Canada's hockey jerseys:

Looks cool. I always like the simple designs.

Canada unveils its hockey jerseys. https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-canada-unveils-new-men-s-women-s-olympic-and-paralympic-hockey-jerseys-1.1725406

Can't believe Canada beat Mexico in World Cup qualifying. Now Canada sits atop of the pool with 6 more games to go in the new year. Looking good, but not counting any eggs yet.

I appreciate it, and we will see. The reality is, sponsors get a certain amount of tickets and with the lower capacity that basically takes care of that. I fear that the announcement earlier that residents could attend was just PR, and in reality it'll just be a chosen few from the elite. Just an example here: I recently went to the newly opened Universal Studios here in Beijing (awesome, btw!). All VIP and fast track passes have been bought up for the next 6 months, as far as it goes. Every day it moves, the next day in 6 months is sold out before it hits the app. It's the same for travel tickets and special event tickets here all the time. I actually like living here non-covid times, but this is one of the most frustrating things. I thought the Olympics would be different since it's overseen by an international organization. We'll see.

The Ice Cube (formerly Water Cube) where curling will take place will only be at 20% capacity, or 1000 spectators. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/beijings-ice-cube-capacity-capped-20-covid-19-measure-2021-11-11/ We can expect the rest of the indoor venues to be the same, I guess. Having lived in Beijing during Covid this doesn't make much sense to me because everything here is usually business as usual, except with masks and health code. I don't know why for the Olympics in particular we suddenly have to reduce capacity. It's disappointing because, as with everything in China, it was already going to be hard to get tickets because everything is always snatched up by large companies right away and you basically have to be a local to understand how to get them (i.e. air, train and sporting events). Now we know it'll be impossible. Very disappointing because a big part of the reason I stayed here this year was for the Olympics. Now we're sure we won't be able to attend, and there will be no atmosphere, we'll just watch at home like I could have done anywhere. I live so close to most of the Beijing venues, I had dreams of scooter over to catch a hockey game before hopping to catch some speed skating. Very sad now. Having said that, Beijing is experiencing a "mild" outbreak again so things are getting crazy. Probably due to the Olympics, a new policy is going into effect tomorrow where you cannot enter Beijing if you've been anywhere that has even 1 case in the last 14 days. You also cannot go to any city with a land border or a port (i.e. Shanghai or Guangzhou). https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-city-tightens-covid-guidance-travel-chinese-areas-with-overland-ports-2021-11-14/ So basically we are locked into Beijing until after the Olympics at least. Now I know how the residents of Tokyo felt. You suffer due to hosting, but you get nothing in return. Even as a huge Olympic fan, it stings. It probably stings more as a fan.

Most international or "international" schools in China have a state-sanctioned VPN worked into their campus wifi. It's based in HK and still blocks some sensitive materials, but it's fine for all social media and almost everything you'd use everyday. The weird thing is, the one I use blocks the CBC, but not any American news sites I've tried. Anyway, I'd imagine the Olympic Village will have something similar and then NOCs will provide VPNs for athletes as well. As a side note: This site is blocked for me in China without a VPN. I guess that makes it cool.

The Ice Cube (formerly Water Cube) where curling will take place will only be at 20% capacity, or 1000 spectators. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/beijings-ice-cube-capacity-capped-20-covid-19-measure-2021-11-11/ We can expect the rest of the indoor venues to be the same, I guess. Having lived in Beijing during Covid this doesn't make much sense to me because everything here is usually business as usual, except with masks and health code. I don't know why for the Olympics in particular we suddenly have to reduce capacity. It's disappointing because, as with everything in China, it was already going to be hard to get tickets because everything is always snatched up by large companies right away and you basically have to be a local to understand how to get them (i.e. air, train and sporting events). Now we know it'll be impossible. Very disappointing because a big part of the reason I stayed here this year was for the Olympics. Now we're sure we won't be able to attend, and there will be no atmosphere, we'll just watch at home like I could have done anywhere. I live so close to most of the Beijing venues, I had dreams of scootering over to catch a hockey game before hopping to catch some speed skating. Very sad now. Having said that, Beijing is experiencing a "mild" outbreak again so things are getting crazy. Probably due to the Olympics, a new policy is going into effect tomorrow where you cannot enter Beijing if you've been anywhere that has even 1 case in the last 14 days. You also cannot go to any city with a land border or a port (i.e. Shanghai or Guangzhou). So basically we are locked into Beijing until after the Olympics at least. Now I know how the residents of Tokyo felt. You suffer due to hosting, but you get nothing in return. Even as a huge Olympic fan, it stings. It probably stings more as a fan.

I live very close to the Shougang Big Air venue here in Beijing. I visited it a couple of weeks ago. It's in a park created from a reclaimed industrial area. There's a nice brew-pub there I went to a few times without realizing an actual venue was right there. It's an Olympic park with various Olympic offices and broadcasting centers. It's quite nice, but I wonder how it'll read on TV. As others have seen from the stock photos here, it is still quite industrial looking with what looks like nuclear reactors right next to the hill. It's cool post-industrial in person, but we'll see how it comes off on TV. There's a nice Chinese building in front of it, too. I'm not sure what it is, if it's related to the venue. I couldn't get too close because things are still under construction, covid and general Chinese security.

Great for MacNeil but I don't know how McKeon didn't win this.

Haha, came here to say this. No, I had to turn it off and go out. So, yes, it is me.

Really busy at work these days, but finally had time to tune into the Paralympics, turned on the swimming. Had the pleasure just now of watching Canadians get 5th, 4th and 4th. Maybe it's not the Canadian athletes. Maybe it's me.

Nordic and alpine skiers haven't been medal producers for Canada at the Olympics for a very long time, so I'm not concerned about them dampening our medals in 2022. Short track is concerning, but there are some good athletes. While Canada is rebuilding there a bit, the rest of the world is catching up. It used to be South Korea, China and Canada with some stars from the USA mixed in. Now Russia, Netherlands, Italy and several other European countries are very competitive and there just isn't room for everyone on every podium. The same could be said for curling. The growth of the sport worldwide is great, and exactly what inclusion at the Olympics is supposed to do. But it also means Canada isn't as dominant as before. Having said that, since 1998 (the first time curling was a sport, the first time women's hockey was included and NHL players came to the Olympics), Canada got at least 3 medals out of those four events each time with at least a gold until 2018. In 2014 they got all 4 gold, in 2018 they got a silver and a bronze. Mixed curling gave us another gold, but it was by far our worst showing ever in those events (and I've said this before, but I was there in person to see it! With an American friend! AHHH!). They're going to have to do better that 2018 to keep Canada up there. In the early 2000s Canada hoarded speed skating medals. When that declined, freestyle took over. Freestyle and snowboarding will have to do more heavy lifting as figure skating declines. Short track got 5 medals (1G) and 3 (1G) at the last two Olympics respectively. I think they can get thereabouts again. Speed skating may have a pick up with young talent. Sliding sports will decline from 2018, likely. In sum, I expect less than 2018 but if hockey and curling perform again, we could see 3 medals (1G) turn into 5 golds which would turn things around dramatically.

I don't know what other countries think, but like I said the statistics have shown that for many SOG and even WOGs, Canada has the most 4th place finishes in relation to top-3s than any other nation. In addition, for many Olympic cycles Canada had the worst World Championship to Olympic medal conversion rates. It's not just a feeling, it's an empirical truth about Canadian athletes. This has been changing recently, with an athletes like Kylie Masse, Maggie MacNeil and Damien Warner who can perform consistently on big stages (when not injured). And then you have Penny Oleksiak and Andre De Grasse who show up especially for the big moments. None of this is meant as a condemnation of any particular Canadian athlete, or Canadian athletes in general. I guess you just have to be Canadian to understand the angst. Outside of hockey and curling (which both managed to disappoint us in 2018, and I was there in person to witness it!) we just expect to lose even if our person/team is ranked high. I guess that makes winning even sweeter, though. Canada finished 11th on the medal table. I'd guarantee every country in the top-10 looked at a sport, or several individual athletes, and said, "Yup, that's OUR sport/event!" Canada doesn't have that, at least not in the SOG. The closest we got this time, the first time probably in our history, is "We should at least get a few medals in swimming and athletics. Even if some fail, others should get something, right???!!!" Most Canadians predicted 15-20 medals with 1-3 golds, with nothing specific. It's just that we should get more but with a failing rate of 50%, that's how it should work out. Turns out we broke our records, but realistically no huge surprises came through to account for our glaring disappointments so we probably should have got 30 with 10 golds. But whatever, this is how it is and we're happy.

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. I've been told we're in the Golden Age of Canadian basketball for two Olympic cycles now, and the Canadian men haven't qualified for either while the women barely made it to the quarters once.

I wouldn't give up on diving. It was a disappointing Olympics, but there are several young men on the up and up. To me, canoe/kayak should be much better in Canada. It is a popular sport in our country and I don't really understand why we're not more competitive internationally. I didn't know people who did it competitively growing up, but half the people I grew up around did it recreationally. Would it be that hard to find talent among all those people? With boxing, I feel like ever since Lennox Lewis Canadians think we're this big boxing country. In reality, Canada hasn't gotten a boxing medal since 1996, and no golds since Lewis in 88. The inclusion of women was supposed to result in medals, and the only reason why some of them have gotten close is because of the small field and guaranteed bronze for reaching the semis. Even then, I can think of only 2 times they got one win away from a medal. Simply put, it just isn't happening and more money isn't going to make it happen. For me, cycling is where it's at. The RBC program produced two medalists in the track sprints, and we have a good record in the pursuit. There is room there. Not to mention good showings historically in mountain biking and potential in BMX.

1. 8/10 Canada had its most successful non-boycotted SOG in terms of gold medals (7, tied with 92) and total medals (24). However, there were some notable disappointments. 2. Surprises: W8 gold medal in rowing. They've historically done well in the event, but were not gold medal favourites going in. Women's soccer getting gold was amazing, especially beating the US in the semis for revenge for having 2012 stolen from them by a corrupt ref. Mitchell winning gold in track sprint on the last day was a great ending, and Genest getting Keirin bronze previously bodes well for our sprint track cycling team moving forward. Seeing our big stars from Rio, Penny Oleksiak and Andre De Grasse succeed again was great. Disappointments: Women's beach volleyball. In a matter of a couple of hours we went from looking forward to a possible all Canada semifinal to having both our teams lose quite easily in the quarters. Women's basketball and rugby teams were supposed to be medal threats and didn't even make it out of group play. This was the first SOG with no wrestling medals in a very long time. In boxing, Mandy Bujold fought so hard to be there through arbitration and courts just to be completely outmatched in her first round. One medal in diving, with only one individual diver making it to a final, was a big disappointment. Overall, Canada historically has an issue with finishing 4th. There have been quite a few articles written about it in the past, and as a nation we always try to figure out why. This time I believe we got 12 4ths, along with 3 other bronze medal losses (in combat sports, so technically you finish 5th). That's 15 near misses for a country that got 24 actual medals. I'm not sure about this year, but it has been proven in many other Olympics that Canada gets the most 4th/5th places with regard to their actual medal count. Some of these 4ths were shocks (men's 4x100 freestyle relay) and some were due to injury (Rosie in trampoline), but it's still incredibly frustrating as a Canadian sports fan. Some will say it's a sign of how powerful the whole team is among a variety of sports, but you start to believe your country just lacks the killer instinct to get to the top. So that's why I only gave an 8/10. There was a point where Canada had more 4th places than gold+silver+bronze, and we were getting 2 a day with no medals. In the end the numbers got better, but it was frustrating for a bit. 3. Canada had no stated goal, but I'd think breaking medal records probably does it. 4. Idk which sports will get more funding, but one of our banks (RBC) had a development program for athletes that showed promise. Many of them had fantastic results - Kelsey Mitchell won track cycling gold and she just took up the sport in 2017 due to this program! Her teammate Lauriane Genest is also part of this program and got a bronze. Another member, Avalon Wasteneys, got gold as part of the W8 rowing team. Pierce Lepage finished 5th in decathlon (same spot as Warner in his first Olympics). They're already looking for more athletes to support for Paris, so I can see this continuing to be a huge success.