Tirico kicks off Prime Time with the last moments of Women’s Moguls. The analyst noted that a competitor had not competed for awhile “due to a knee injury”. I have no idea how that could have happened. US takes gold AND silver.
Of course, the “Event of the Night” is the Ice Dancing rerun. But first the Men’s Super-G (Super Giant Slalom aka really big flags you must work your way around). Swiss skier Marco Odermatt’s parents show off his trophies in a video package, followed by a pained comparison to Swiss banking from the commentator. Ryan Cochran-Siegel, who had just “decorated” a gondola due to food poisoning, took the silver.
We get the early Ice Dance competitors (along with a Tucci pizza tour), then it’s Speed Skating--1000m. I missed most of this when it aired live. The big star is Jordan Stolz, and he gets a video review by previous QISEans. Snoop watches the event alongside legend Eric Heiden. There’s another Stolz profile (his childhood and the sacrifices of his family) before he takes the gold.
The Event of the Night--Chock and Bates. Madison is a machine--you really don’t see much humanity behind her eyes. I feel badly for her partner/husband, especially when they got so-so-silver.
Over to Women’s Half Pipe Qualifiers and Chloe Kim, who went in with a torn shoulder but did well. Torico provides a Vonn update, including a hospital bed pic with an armature holding her leg in place. Medal count time--Italy tied with Norway at #1, with the US just behind.
Late Night kicks off from the “Starbucks Winter House”. Taylor sends us to another view of Women’s Moguls, before interviewing the goofy influencer brothers. Then back to the Half Pipe--both the women and men, with the Americans qualifying. The Two Coreys drop in for an interview to wrap up the night.
Over to the Today Show--Alexander is back with the daily review. Breezy crashed at the Super-G, but on the plus side, she got a marriage proposal. The happy couple did an interview with the 30 Rock gang. Then it’s a Chock and Bates interview, with Madison clearly trying to salvage her image.
Off to Daytime--Lowe at the Duomo sends us to Men’s Moguls Final. Australia wins in an upset. Throughout the event, the audio kept being digitally garbled. A quick Medal Count--Italy #1, Norway #2, US #3.
Remember Vladyslav Heraskevych, the Ukranian slider who refused to take the images off his helmet of fellow athletes killed in the war with Russia? Well, the QISEOC officially kicked him out the competition. QISEOC--a proud tradition of taking the wrong side (Jim Thorpe, Berlin 1936).
Off to Luge Relay--four sleds (women’s single, men’s single, women’s double, men’s double) go down the same track in turn, with the previous one hitting a pad at the end releasing the gate for the next. It’s a wild ride.
I finally learned some details on the Sportsball event involving baskets and stars going on this weekend. Hey NBC, you made a commitment to show QISE!
Chock and Bates continue their consolation tour at the Duomo with Lowe, who really tries to get a rise out of Madison. Over to Women’s Halfpipe, with Chloe Kim hunting for her third gold in the midst of a snow storm. Some adroit commentary: “It was going well until it wasn’t”. Lots of competitors went down--Kim gets the silver.
Tirico steps in early again, sending us to Short Track. This is the NASCAR of QISE, with plenty of crashes. The US seems to have fallen out of the top ranks--no more Anton Apolo Ohno. Tirico takes us around the games including Men’s Hockey--the US is all NHL players, shades of the Dream Team. Meanwhile, Italy’s Lollobrigida wins a second gold in the Women’s 5000m Speed Skating. We then have a record, this time in longevity--Rich Ruohonen of USA Curling becomes the oldest active Winter US QISEan at 54 years, 318 days (3rd oldest overall). They put him in as a sub when a match was going south anyway.
Back to Short Track. This is a sport with “A” and “B” finals, but a rule change has essentially made it impossible for anyone in the B final to medal--so why hold it?
Over to Women’s 10K Cross-Country Skiing Freestyle and Jessie Diggins, who gets a video package about the large team getting her there. She plays thru pain (bruised ribs) and gets the bronze.
That’s it for today.
#Its_a_me_QISE