ADVENTURE SPORTS BY WINA STURGEON 4/7
OLYMPIC TORCH TROUBLES ARE A SIGN
There are protests all over the world for various causes; the genocide in Darfur, the U. S. war in Iraq and so on. None of them have any impact at all on the governments involved. That's because people gathering together with signs and chants have as much importance as a tree falling in a forest---no one even notices.
But the Olympic Torch; ahh, that is something that everyone will notice.
Protests over the Chinese annexation of its neighbor Tibet have been going on for more than half a century. The Dalai Llama first met with Chinese officials in 1954 to discuss peace between the two countries. China's invasion in 1959 drove the Dalai Lama into exile, he has not been back to his home since; nor will Chinese officials meet with him. People all over the world have protested China's actions for decades; to no avail.
Then someone grabbed the Torch.
Now both China and the International Olympic Committee are up against a hard place. The IOC presents the Olympic Games as a higher para-government, a kind of moral United Nations. Still, it could ignore Games host China's takeover of Tibet as long as the rest of the world also did.
China is proud of its emergence as a world power and wary of losing face. It could ignore the protests over Tibet, as long as the rest of the world paid no attention to those scattered protests.
But now every part of the world through which the Olympic Torch passes is rising up against China's actions, and the protests are gathering momentum. The Torch itself has been snuffed out several times, though the actual flame is carried nearby in a guarded container. The IOC is reluctantly being forced to address the issue. China now has a blinding light shining on its actions in Tibet, and there is still nearly half a year until the Beijing Games September 6-17.
When there is a meaningful symbol, a protest means something. The Olympic Torch has come to be a symbol for Tibet. Both China and the IOC are going to have to make concessions to the oft-stated Olympic ideal, "Building A Peaceful and Better World Through Sport and the Olympic Ideal," which China signed on for when it agreed to host the Games.
The Olympic Torch run throughout the world will never be the same again.
AMERICAN SLIDERS WIN BIG IN LAKE PLACID
Americans in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics may dominate the sliding sports of skeleton and bobsled, if the America's Cup Finale at Lake Placid, with its international field this past weekend, is any indication. The U. S. athletes have a great desire for revenge.
In the two skeleton races, pilot Noel Pikus-Pace won a silver and a bronze. She had been the women's favorite for the 2006 Games, but her leg was shattered in a freak accident mere months before. She wants that missed gold.
New York's John Daly won both gold medals, and though top skeleton pilot Zach Lund didn't compete, he wants the gold he was robbed of in 2006.
Lund was the world's top skelly pilot then; if not for him, the Canadians had a shot at the Olympic gold medal. Canadian Dick Pound (his real name) was the doping agency's head honcho; he's the one who personally banned Lund from the Games for using a hair restorer. Canada won in skeleton. The U. S. men, and especially Lund, have not forgotten.
U. S. bobsled pilot Mike Kohn won all four races, both in two man and four man sleds. But guess who's back? Todd Hays, the 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. The former ultimate fighter, marine and adventurer is considering trying for another run at an Olympic medal.
REMEMBER CURLING?
Bet you didn't know the men's World Championships of Curling are going on right here in America; in Grand Forks, N. D., to be exact. The U. S. is moving up the ranks, 3-1 with Monday's win over team China.
As of the moment, the stats have Germany first, Canada second, and America third.
HAULING IT ALL AWAY
At this very moment, another couple of feet of powder is falling on Utah's mountains. It doesn't matter what moment that is; the stuff keeps dumping from the sky.
But all is not wonderful for four-season areas like Park City Mountain Resort. Despite the deep layer of white stuff covering the slopes, the resort's summer program is scheduled for an early start this year.
"We have to haul away ten feet of snow," wails the resort's P. R. honcho; Krista Parry.
She isn't kidding. After the lifts close on April 13, PCMR plans to start trucking all that snow off the slopes. Thinking of the season's slow start last fall, Parry was jokingly asked about storing the white gold in a refrigerated warehous.
"A lot of people have been suggesting that," she said.