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Winter olympic 2010 Vancouver

singveld

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Winter olympic upon us, Feb 12 will be the opening ceremony. The best glamour event of WO, is figure skating. Watch it if you have time.


February 14, 2010
16:30 - Figure Skating - Pairs Short Program
February 15, 2010
Medal Event 17:00 - Figure Skating - Pairs Free Skating
February 16, 2010
16:15 - Figure Skating - Men Short Program
February 18, 2010
Medal Event 17:00 - Figure Skating - Men Free Skating
February 19, 2010
16:45 - Figure Skating - Ice Dance - Compulsory Dance
February 21, 2010
16:15 - Figure Skating - Ice Dance - Original Dance
February 22, 2010
Medal Event 16:45 - Figure Skating - Ice Dance - Free Dance
February 23, 2010
16:30 - Figure Skating - Ladies Short Program
February 25, 2010
Medal Event 17:00 - Figure Skating - Ladies Free Skating
February 27, 2010
16:30 - Figure Skating - Exhibition Gala
 
Ladies hot favourite

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gold for her to be lost

Kim Yuna has South Korea's full attention
The world figure skating champion is a superstar of huge proportions in her homeland and the favorite for the gold medal in Vancouver.
By Philip Hersh

February 11, 2010

Reporting from Toronto

Kim Yuna had boot problems.

The reigning world figure skating champion took the ice for her morning practice at the Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club, skated a few minutes, then limped off. Kim removed her right skate and gave it to her mother, Park Mee-Hee, who had been watching from beyond a glass wall that separates the club's lounge from the rink.

This unremarkable episode two months before the Winter Olympics would have been headline news in South Korea, where three TV networks had shown her arrival at a November Grand Prix event in Lake Placid, N.Y., then run endless loops of her fall on a triple loop jump in . . . practice.

Kim's mother pulled out a set of tools and began adjusting the blade. The problem was fixed in 10 minutes, and Kim returned to the ice.

Such issues are so common for elite skaters, whose jumping and spinning puts intense pressure on boots and blades, they merit little attention unless they occur the week of a competition.

But everything Kim does is a big deal in South Korea, where a newspaper has named her the country's "person of the year" the last two years and respondents to a Gallup poll have chosen her as South Korea's top athlete the last three years.

So it is no coincidence that Kim has attained that stature and become the Olympic gold-medal favorite as a skating emigre.

"I can't really focus on my skating in Korea because the media and everyone is watching me," she said.

She has trained in Toronto since 2006, finding comfort in the club's atmosphere of British exclusivity, what with its namesake activities and lawn bowling greens and croquet courts and $18,000 senior members' initiation fee. The protection against constant scrutiny from South Korean media that comes with such surroundings is a big part of its appeal for Kim.

"I'm not used to this type of circus," Brian Orser said. "Even in 1988, it wasn't as big as this."

In 1988, the only other time the Winter Olympics were in Canada, Orser was the country's best hope for a gold medal. He won a silver, and Canada got no gold, making Orser want to apologize to the country.

Now he is Kim's coach, the one about whom South Korean newspapers have written, "Coach Orser is the savior." Said Kim's agent, Michelle Ha: "Brian is the most popular foreigner in Korea."

In four seasons with Orser, Kim, 19, has become far more than the first Korean figure skater of any renown. She is a superstar of such proportions that Seoul street caricaturists trying to lure customers display her image to show their skill.

No figure skater ever has been more celebrated in her home country than Kim is.

"I don't really know why [the Korean people] love me," Kim said. "Maybe it's because figure skating isn't just about who won, it's also artistic.

"People don't just see me when I am figure skating. They also watch the sport and the performance."

Kim's mother struggles with the idea that her daughter is the person whose face is everywhere in South Korea.

"The Yuna I know is the Yuna during training and competition, and that image of her stays with me," Park said. "I can't feel the superstar Yuna with my skin."

As an endorser for Samsung, LG, Hyundai, KB Kookmin Bank (South Korea's national bank), Nike and Korean Air, as well as several other smaller companies, Kim earns a reported $9 million a year. She recently gave $100,000 to a Haiti relief fund, previously had donated $100,000 to buy school uniforms for needy Korean schoolchildren, and she pays for the Korean federation's junior skating program.

Using what it called the "Kim Yuna marketing strategy," Samsung's "Yuna Haptic" mobile phone sold a local record 1 million units in the first seven months after its introduction last May.

It seems a long way from the days when her mother worried about finding the $43 a month for 7-year-old Kim to have private skating lessons near their home in Gunpo.

On her flight to visit Seoul last month as a U.S. public diplomacy envoy, skating legend Michelle Kwan found out what Kim means to her country while talking to a Korean passenger.

"The man told me, 'Yuna is the nation's daughter,' " Kwan said. "We have our Michael Jordans and Michael Phelps and other superstars, but we don't consider them the country's sons or daughters."

There is another dimension to Kim's popularity in Korea, one that has touched off bitter debate on the Internet, where discussions of Kim's technique and personality and those of main rivals Mao Asada and Miki Ando of Japan often are laced with nationalistic vitriol.

Ando won the world title in 2007, Asada in 2008. Shizuka Arakawa of Japan, now retired from competition, is the reigning Olympic champion.

If Kim wins gold, she also will defeat the Japanese.

"Anything that involves Korea and Japan carries with it the emotional baggage of the past history between these neighbors," said Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at Stanford's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. "In the Korean mind, it is a history of Japanese invasion and occupation going back to the 16th century, which makes sports competition more than just about sports. To beat the Japanese in anything has an importance in terms of pride.

"She [Kim] can't be ignorant of the fact she has the weight of a nation and the weight of the past on her shoulders."

They are slim shoulders, atop a willowy body that seemed especially ethereal in the black tights and sweater Kim wore to practice. Her strength is concealed, as is a mental toughness Orser once wondered about.

"She knows when to turn it on and off," he said.

In 1992, Japanese skater Midori Ito apologized to her country for winning just silver in the Olympics. Kim cannot understand why she would have to say "I'm sorry" to Korea if she does not win gold in Vancouver.

"Competing or winning competitions, it's not for my country, it's for me," Kim said. "I'm doing it for myself, not to win awards for Koreans. I am not skating just to win gold. I am skating for skating."

She was little more than a jumper when her mother brought Kim to Toronto in 2006 to work on artistry with David Wilson, who has become her choreographer. Wilson asked Orser to help Kim on some technique issues, and her mother liked them both so much she asked Orser to coach her.

Since then, her mother has lived in Toronto with Kim. Her father and older sister live in South Korea.

In 2006, the 15-year-old Kim was battling a persistent knee injury and was so frustrated with the demands of the sport she told a Korean newspaper, "I hate skating." It would be nearly a month after her arrival, Orser said, before she smiled.

She was a gawky kid with braces. Four years later, the braces are long gone, and she is a sassy, sexy Bond girl who wears a gossamer dress for a lipstick commercial in which the voice-over says, "I love the way she fills her clothes / She looks just like them girls in Vogue."

She's done a fashion spread in the Korean edition of Vogue, as well as Elle, Men's Health and Allure. And that was nearly three years ago, when Kim's only major achievement was overcoming weeks off with a back injury to make her senior world debut and win Korea's first-ever figure skating world medal, a bronze, with what then was a record score for the short program.

Kim since has topped that score three times and also has the two highest scores for the free skate and total. She has set personal bests for all three this season. "It's almost impossible to combine athletics and artistry under the new judging system, but she seems to be able to do it," said Frank Carroll, who coached Kwan to one of her two Olympic medals and four of her five world titles.

"Yuna is very rare," Kwan said. "She has the speed, the beauty, the jumping, the footwork."

Kim looked untouchable at the 2010 Olympics until losing the free skate at Skate America to Rachael Flatt of the U.S. and short program at the Grand Prix Final to Ando three weeks later. Now she is merely a heavy favorite. "Of anyone in the whole Olympic figure skating, she is the shoo-in," Carroll said. "She would have to screw up badly to lose."

Kim figured she took some pressure off herself with the flawed performances in her last two competitions. "I think in Korea, now they know I couldn't skate perfect every time," she said.

Maybe. What they really know is Kim can live up to the mythological roots of her family name.

It means gold.

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Leading storylines heading into the Vancouver Games
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More than 5,500 athletes from 80-plus countries are expected to take part in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. The third Winter Olympics to be held in Canada begins Friday and runs through Feb. 28. A look at 10 things to watch in these games:

1. VANCOUVER

Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to host a Winter Olympics. Selecting Vancouver as host city represents an interesting switch for these games, moving the event away from the cozy, snowy village feel often associated with the Winter Olympics. Vancouver was selected in 2003, one year after the Salt Lake City metropolitan area hosted the games. A successful games in Vancouver could lead to a philosophical shift in selecting host cities.

2. INDOOR OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony at BC Place Stadium will be the Olympics’ first to be held indoors. BC Place, which opened in 1983 as Canada’s first covered stadium, is the world’s largest air-supported domed stadium and is pressurized by 16 jet engine fans. After the Olympics, the home of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League will replace its inflatable roof with a retractable roof.

3. U.S. VS. CANADA

The United States edged Canada for second in the medal standings in 2006, with 25 medals to Canada’s 24. (Germany was tops with 29.) As host country, Canada has embarked on an “Own the Podium” program designed to move Canada to the top of the medals count. U.S.-Canada hockey matchups — men and women — could be particularly intense.

4. UNIQUE MEDALS

In an Olympic first, each medal will be unique. Each will feature a dierent crop of artwork by Canadian designer Corrine Hunt. The medals, which are round and undulating, are the heaviest in Olympic history at 1 to 1.25 pounds each.

5. CURLING

Each Winter Olympics, curling becomes even cooler. Curling is like chess on ice, except the competitors actually have to do something physical instead of sitting in a chair. USA Curling has 13,684 members. Membership increased 12 percent in the four years after the 2002 Winter Olympics and 14 percent since the Turin Games in 2006, and USA Curling ocials say they expect another membership bump after these games.

6.TV RATINGS

The Turin Games of 2006 were the leastwatched Winter Olympics since at least 1988. Delayed coverage in the age of immediate results on the Internet was largely to blame. But with the 2010 Games in North America instead of Italy, NBC will be able to oer more live programming in its planned 835 hours of coverage. Fox has said it will send “American Idol” up against NBC’s Olympics coverage.

7. QUATCHI, MIGA AND SUMI

Quatchi, Miga and Sumi are these Olympics’ offcial mascots. Quatchi, the largest of the three, is a hockey-loving Sasquatch that wants to become a goalie. Snowboarding is the favorite sport of Miga, a young sea bear. Sumi (yes, pronounced “sue me”) is an animal spirit from the British Columbia mountains that, not surprisingly, is a big fan of alpine skiing.

8. SKI CROSS

The only new sport at the 2010 Games is not really a new sport. Ski Cross, classified under freestyle skiing, includes contact and crashes, which should lead to exciting finishes. Like Snowboard Cross but on skis, Ski Cross features four riders racing down a course filled with jumps and turns.

9. LINDSEY VONN

Americans will love Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn. Not only is she friendly with an engaging smile, but she also is the most successful U.S. female skier ever. She is the only two-time World Cup champion from the United States, and NBC cameras will be all over her quest for gold medals.

10. FIGURE SKATING

Women’s figure skating is the glamour event of the Winter Olympics. American women have won the Ladies’ Singles gold medal in three of the past five games and have won at least silver in all five of those Olympics. But reigning world champion Kim Yu-na is from South Korea, and her top competition figures to come from Mao Asada and Miki Ando of Japan and Canada’s Joannie Rochette. Not since 1964 has the United States not medaled in the event.
 
not enough snow in winter olympic city, why they bid?

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Canada's mild climate leaves Winter Olympics short of snow• Organisers in Vancouver having to shovel snow to the slopes
• January temperatures in host city were warmest on record
The lack of snow has left organisers hurriedly bringing it in from elsewhere

Providing snow in the midst of a Canadian winter ought to be relatively uncomplicated. But the efforts of the Vancouver games organising committee to ensure sufficient snow cover for the opening day on Friday could just about qualify as an Olympic event in its own right.


Suzanne Goldenberg on Vancouver's snow worries. Link to this audio They have tried airlifting snow by helicopter at five-minute intervals; hauling snow by the lorryload from three hours away; shooting ice and water out of a snow cannon; spreading layers of snow with a Zamboni ice-smoothing truck; and studding the slopes with tubes packed full of dry ice, to keep the snow from melting, and replenishing them every 12 hours.

"The amount of work that has been done against these conditions is really hard to believe," Jack Furlong, the head of the committee, said this week.

After an unusually mild winter, organisers first grew alarmed at a lack of snow cover last month, closing the Cypress Mountain resort – where the freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions are to be held – to preserve the scant covering of white stuff.

But as the opening ceremony approaches with no sign of more snow, organisers have been forced to launch 24/7 operations to provide adequate cover to the stubbornly bare slopes of Cypress, which lies just outside Vancouver.

So far they have brought in more than 1,000 bales of straw to bulk up the nearly bare slopes, applying a thick coat of transplanted and artificial snow on top. They have also hauled in nearly 200 lorry-loads of snow from higher and colder elevations a three-hour drive away.

Firefighting helicopters have been pressed into service, airlifting pallets of snow attached by a long rope. Snow cannon have also been called in, the official website for the games said.

"So far we are winning," Dick Vollet, who is in charge of mountain operations for the games, told a press conference.

"We are quite happy with where we are given that we are fighting mother nature, and sometimes she can be very unforgiving."

Vancouver has always had a reputation for balmy winters, at least by Canadian standards. But after some chilly days before Christmas, this winter has been especially mild.

January temperatures were the warmest on record at 4.6C above normal, and temperatures so far this month have been 3.4C above normal.

"The problem isn't the lack of precipitation," said Jim Andrews, a meteorologist at Accuweather.com. "The weather has just been too warm to sustain snow in the lower elevations."

Whistler, where the alpine skiing events are taking place, lies at a higher altitude, two hours' drive from Vancouver, and has plenty of snow for Friday's ski jump qualifying. But at Cypress Mountain there has been hardly a flake since well before Christmas – at least not naturally.

And despite Vollet's hopes, nature shows no sign of co-operating. The _current forecast predicts rain along with temperatures rising as high as 10C in the Vancouver area.

By the time the first event at Cypress Mountain, women's moguls, gets going on Saturday, all the elaborate preparations could be reduced to a slushy mess. "It's umbrella weather," said Andrews. "100% humidity and soaking rain that is real hard on whatever they are trying to keep solid for the day itself."

Among residents of Vancouver, the lack of snow on Cypress Mountain is Topic A – followed closely by traffic congestion and long commutes.

A few local people have even begun to joke about Vancouver being the site of the 2010 summer games.

"I am looking across the street at tennis courts, and there are people playing tennis in shorts. There are cherry blossoms on the trees, which tells you something about the spring-like feel here," said Marsha Lederman, a correspondent for the Globe and Mail newspaper.

She said the slopes of the ski mountain adjacent to Cypress, visible from her window, were green. "I've got crocuses on my front lawn," she added.

All the more galling for the organisers is the fact that it is an entirely different experience on the east coast of America, which is experiencing its snowiest winter on record.

Cities from Washington to New York were hit today by the second serious whiteout in days, with 40mph winds and snow falling at a rate of 5cm (2in) an hour. The United Nations in New York and the federal government in Washington were dark, schools were closed, and flights grounded.

They are not seeing any of that in Vancouver.
 
Leaving the Familiarity of Home, a Japanese Skater Finds Solace
Miki Ando, who finished 15th at the 2006 Olympics, moved to the United States partly to avoid the spotlight in Japan.
SIMSBURY, Conn. — The ice rink in this sleepy corner of Connecticut is a long way from Nagoya, Japan, Miki Ando’s hometown. But Ando, one of the world’s top figure skaters, has found solace here as she prepares to take on her rivals at the Olympics in Vancouver in a few weeks.

Ando, the 2007 world champion, is the only woman skater to successfully perform a quadruple jump in competition. Her impressive record in major competitions includes a second-place finish at the Grand Prix final this year and two first-place finishes in Japan and in Russia.

Yet she performs in the shadows of Kim Yu-na of South Korea and Mao Asada of Japan, who have both won world championships. While three world champions will be competing in Vancouver, the conventional wisdom is that Kim and Asada will battle for the gold and silver medals. Ando and her coach, Nikolai Morozov, believe she has a legitimate shot at rewriting that story line.

“There’s pressure on everyone, but it gets worse for people who are expected to win,” said Morozov, Ando’s coach for three years. “Sometimes, it’s very good to be out of the spotlight.”

After Ando finished 15th at the Turin Olympics in 2006, Morozov asked her to move to the United States partly to avoid the spotlight in Japan. There, she was a superstar, but also a celebrity in constant demand. Paparazzi camped out in front of her home, so she started wearing dark glasses and hats. Meeting friends became more difficult, but when she asked fans for some privacy, the news media branded her selfish.

“I feel much more comfortable in America,” Ando said recently after completing her afternoon workout. “I mean, I love Japan but I had a hard time.”

She spends most of her time in Hackensack, N.J., but has decamped to Simsbury, 20 miles west of Hartford, because of its Olympic-size rink and lack of distractions. While a youth hockey game raged in the next rink, Ando and one other figure skater had the main ice to themselves.

The isolation, though, has its drawbacks, especially for a 22-year-old woman from Japan who spoke no English when she landed in the United States three years ago. Ando said Toyota, one of her sponsors, has prohibited her from driving, lest she be injured. So Morozov ferries Ando and another of his skaters, Nobunari Oda, to practice, restaurants and shopping malls, and to get a massage.

Ando’s mother visits occasionally — her father died when she was young — but otherwise, she has had to fend for herself. She befriended American skaters, who helped her learn English, which in turn has added to her comfort level and confidence.

“Three years, it was so hard for me to live in the United States,” Ando said in respectable English. “If I can speak in English without a translator, I can meet many people from different cultures, which will make my life better.”

Learning English has also helped her communicate with Morozov, who pushed her to shed her natural deference toward coaches and elders and express her opinions and show more emotion on the ice.

Take the music chosen for her short program, Mozart’s “Requiem.” Ando studied the history of the piece, which Mozart was unable to complete before he died. To better connect with Mozart and the song, Morozov asked Ando to think about her father when she listened to the music.

“I feel so sad, but my father is inside, and I want to show this,” Ando said.

Reminders of Japan are not just memories, though. She personally wrote 300 New Year’s cards to her fans, many of whom returned the warm wishes on the blog Miki Ando and Fans.

At media day in Simsbury, a gaggle of Japanese television crews showed up to film her. She held a news conference and did one-on-one interviews with yet more newspaper reporters.

Ando said performing in front of the Japanese cameras and, by extension, everyone back home in Japan weighed on her. Four years ago, that extraordinary attention would have become a distraction. Now, Ando said, she feels more self-assured in her abilities and her relationship with Japan.

At Turin in 2006, “it was so exciting and fresh,” she said. Now, “I feel that I am representing my country, not just myself.”

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Olympic Outlook: Japanese Women

Japan is sending the strongest group of ladies to the Olympics this season. I could see any one of these women on the medal podium, and frankly will be surprised if there is not at least one Japanese flag being raised to the rafters after the ladies free skate.

Miki Ando

Asada gets the headlines, but Miki Ando has been second to only Yu-na Kim in international success this season. And don't forget her 2009 world championships bronze medal.

Ando is the only Japanese lady with Olympic experience; she was 15th in Torino. However, the very next year, she won the world championships. She was forced to withdraw from worlds in 2008 with an injury, so she could not defend her title.

Ando has been a leader on the ladies technical side - years ago she became the first female to land a quadruple jump in competition. She won't likely be attempting one at the Olympics.

Ando has not been perfect this season, but she was good enough to win both of her Grand Prix events, and she came in second to Yu-na Kim at the Grand Prix Final. She was actually leading Kim after the short program - if she could do that and skate a bit cleaner in the free skate with no downgrades, she may actually be able to turn this into a competition.

Choreography and artistry are not necessarily Ando's strengths, although she has some very bright moments in her programs this season where things come together nicely.

Quick Take

The Programs: I really think her short program is a good fit for her, and it's been getting good scores. I don't love her Cleopatra free skate, but I really do like her footwork sequence towards the end. It might be just what she needs to sway the judges over at the end of a long program that would otherwise be quite forgettable.

Latest Performance: This one is hard to judge because it was the Japanese nationals and she already had her Olympic spot secured. However, she has been consistently imperfect this season - but good enough to win and medal in most competitions.

Strengths: Ando has long been known as a technician, so she'll really have to try to be clean and fully rotate jumps in order to take advantage of that.

Weaknesses: Well, hopefully the emotions of the Olympics will help Ando connect better and sell her program more.

It gives me the creeps when: She wears any of the outfits she has worn in her free skate this season. Yikes, cannot wait to see if she changes one more time for the Olympics.

I think it's awesome when: She lands all of her jumps. Even if there is a downgrade here or there, she's been pretty consistent this season.

Outlook: I'd say the outlook is good for Ando to get on the podium. But, her country-mates provide a bit more flair and excitement, and Kim will overshadow her with her technique and artistic prowess. Ando will have to try hard not to fly under the radar.

Mao Asada

Before the last Olympics, there was a lot of lamentation that the "best ladies skater" Mao Asada was too young to qualify for the competition; she had won the Grand Prix Final that season and was wowing everyone with her triple axel prowess. Unfortunately, now it is Asada's chance to show everyone what she can do on this grand stage, and I'm not sure if she's prepared for the task ahead.

Asada won the world championships in 2008, and things appeared to be on track. Her rivalry with Yu-na Kim was still very much a rivalry, and she landed two triple axels in the 2008 Grand Prix Final, which was an awesome feat. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. She came in third at the Four Continents championship and could not even manage a medal at last season's world championships. Then she started out Grand Prix season with a error-ridden second place performance at Trophee Eric Bompard, and then came in fifth at Rostelecom Cup. She did not even qualify for the Grand Prix final.

Many have criticized Asada's programs this season and her strategy of attempting a triple axel in the short program and two triple axels in the free skate. Asada has a lot of beautiful skating qualities - nice line and flexibility, speed and maturity. But she seems weighed down by her depressing programs this season. And her triple axel does not appear consistent enough to warrant using it so much - she often gets downgrades for it.

Asada is coming off of wins in both her nationals and at Four Continents. She was not perfect in either, although it wasn't falls keeping her down, but a popped jump in her short at Four Continents and her triple axel downgrade in the free skate. The free was great overall, though, and exactly the type of performance she'll want in Vancouver.

Quick Take

The Program: I don't think these programs are the best way to showcase Asada as a skater. They are both kind of depressing to me, but they are both fine as far as skating programs go. I think the wind up to both the triple axels right off the bat in the free skate takes a lot away in the first minute of the program...there is no way to cover that that section is jumping and jumping alone.

Latest Performance: At Four Continents, Asada's short program was a disaster. Her triple axel was downgraded, and her flip only counted as a single. She would have been in way worse place than third if that were the Olympics. However, her free skate was great - but she left points on the table when she was downgraded on her second triple axel.

Strengths: I believe she's the only woman attempting a triple axel at all at the Olympics...let alone three of them. She's fairly strong on the components side as well.

Weaknesses: Her triple axels have a good chance of getting downgraded, and she doesn't even do a lutz or salchow in her free skate. She is a very unbalanced skater in that way (although she has a history of flutzing, which would explain her strategy here). If she doesn't land those triple axels, everything seems to fall apart. It's truly an all-or-nothing strategy.

It gives me the creeps when: Augh the free skate depresses me.

I think it's awesome when: As much as I disagree with her strategy this season, I can't help but be impressed when she lands (or almost lands) all of those triple axels. I hate that she's pretty much a one-trick pony though because she could still be competitive without leaning on them so much.

Outlook: For Asada I think it's very much up in the air. If she errs, she starts to fall apart. But if she is on, especially if she lands those triples in the free skate, I would definitely watch out for her. There's no reason she shouldn't have a very good chance at being on the podium.

Akiko Suzuki

Akiko Suzuki has very quickly become one of my favorite ladies to watch. She has that intangible ability to completely draw me in with her skating. Her programs might not pack the most technical punch, but it's hard not to get into it when she delivers that footwork.

Suzuki has been competing for a very long time, and is an example of hard work finally paying off. After years of hovering around the 10th or worse slot in the Japanese championships, she worked her way down to the silver medal this year.

Her first big international splash came in the 2008-09 Grand Prix season when she won the silver medal at the NHK Trophy. She's followed that up with some successful outings this season - first she won Cup of China. At Skate Canada, she only placed fifth and seemed to lack some of the fire she displayed at Cup of China, but she got that pizazz back in time for the free skate at the Grand Prix final, where she propelled herself to a bronze medal. She recently placed second to Mao Asada at Four Continents.

Quick Take

The Programs: These are both great programs from a spectator's standpoint. It's easy to write off her free skate when you hear she is skating to West Side Story, since it's been done so often, but Suzuki does not disappoint in the program. And I can't help but get into her short program as well. Can't wait to see both at the Olympics.

Latest Performance: Suzuki was not amazing technically at Four Continents. She singled her triple loop in the short program, and she received a downgrade on her loop in the free skate as well when she popped it. She had another wonky landing, too.

Strengths: Like I mentioned above, she can really get you into her performances. I love her footwork.

Weaknesses: She is not technically as ambitious as the other ladies. She only does a triple loop in her short program rather than attempt something more difficult. And she won't be trying a triple/triple combination.

It gives me the creeps when: Akiko does not give me the creeps!

I think it's awesome when: She just relaxes and lights up the crowd like she did at Four Continents - what a show!

Outlook: I think Suzuki is a bit of a longshot to medal, if only because she is going to have a lower technical base than other skaters, I assume. However, if others err and Suzuki is clean, she could very well surprise everyone once again.
 
Snow Angels -- 10 Winter Olympics Hotties

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Lindsey Vonn, Downhill

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Kiira Korpi, Figure Skating

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Gretchen Bleiler, Snowboarding

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Bree Scaaf, Bobsled

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Kim Yu-Na, Figure Skating


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Hannah Teter, Snowboarding

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Tanith Belbin, Ice Dancing

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Torah Bright, Snowboarding

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Chemmy Alcott, Skiing

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Irina Movchan, Figure Skating
 
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VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 11: Figure skating pairs Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China and practice ahead of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on February 11, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.

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Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany practice at the Pacific Coliseum ahead of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
 
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1. Figure skating pairs Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett of United States practice ahead of the game.
2. Figure skating pairs Mark Ladwig and Amanda Evora of United States practice ahead of the game.
 
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WHISTLER, BC - FEBRUARY 10: A general view of the Whistler Olympic village during the media tour.

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Security personal is seen at the Whistler Olympic village.

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New Zealand athlete Ben Griffin (L) and his team mate Tim Cafe are pictured at the dining hall at the Whistler Olympic village.

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Italian athletes sit in the dining hall at the Whistler Olympic village.

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Skeleton athlete Melissa Hoar of Australia exercises at the gym at the Whistler Olympic village.

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Athletes seen at the merchandising store at Whistler Olympic village.

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Biathlon athlete Sarah Murphy of New Zealand jumps on her bed at her suite at the Whistler Olympic village

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Biathlon athlete Sarah Murphy of New Zealand runs at the Whistler Olympic village.

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Cross Country athlete Virpi Kuitunen of Finland walks at the Whistler Olympic village.
 
Winter Olympic Torch Relay

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The Olympic flame is passed between two torches in Arnprior, Ontario on day 45 of the Olympic Torch Relay, December 13, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF)

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Former Canadian Olympian Barbara Ann Scott carries the Olympic Torch in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa December 10, 2009. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)

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Leslie Beck carries the flame through Downtown Toronto, Ontario on Day 49, December 17th, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF)

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Mathew Piccioni passes the flame to Community Cauldron Lighter Ryan Bennett in Brampton, Ontario on December 18th, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF)
 
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Gordon Singleton lifts the flame before a crowd in front of the falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario on December 20th, 2009

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Taylor Robertson carries the flame in Wasauksing, Ontario on December 30th, 2009

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Torchbearer Shania Twain lights the cauldron in Timmins, Ontario on January 1st, 2010

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Gunther Wirtz, the Community Torchbearer for Marathon, Ontario, carries the flame past firefighters on January 3rd, 2010

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Danielle Ethier (right) and Orville Smoke exchange flame in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba on January 7th, 2010

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John Nelson carries the flame aboard an old model tractor in Neepawa, Manitoba on January 8th, 2010
 
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Torchbearer Alexander Miller carries the flame followed by 28 horse riders in Sioux Valley Dakota, Manitoba on January 9th, 2010

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Flame with view of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta on January 16th, 2010

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Torches meet in front of the World's Largest Dinosaur (center, 86 feet tall, wearing official Vancouver 2010 Olympic mittens) in Drumheller, Alberta on January 16th, 2010

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Nancy Wilson carries the torch through sandstone Hoodoos near Drumheller, Alberta on Day 79 of the relay, January 16th, 2010

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A crew waves to the crowd as the flame travels aboard a handcar on the tracks of CP Rail in Lethbridge, Alberta on January 17th, 2010
 
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Kyle Yoshida carries the flame on the Calgary 1988 Olympic Oval in Alberta on January 19th, 2010

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Torchbearer Tyler MacRae snowboards down the halfpipe with the Olympic flame at Canada Olympic Park, site of the bobsled, luge, and ski jumping events at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, in Calgary, Alberta on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

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Flame Attendants move the flame from the torch back into the lantern in Banff, Alberta on January 21st, 2010

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Ross Bidinger carries the flame over a frozen lake in Windermere, British Columbia on January 22nd, 2010.

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Sarah Mulhall swims with the olympic flame at the hot springs pool in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia on January 22nd, 2010

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Anastassia Famina carries the flame with style in Salmo, British Columbia on January 23rd, 2010

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Stacey Rotheisler carries the flame along the pier in Peachland, British Columbia on January 25th, 2010
 
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On Day 90 the Flame travels through a rail tunnel in British Columbia. Photo taken January 27th, 2010.

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Jamie Lee skates with her torch in Fort St. John, British Columbia on February 1st, 2010

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Don Tite carries the flame aboard a coast garde boat in Bella Bella, British Columbia on February 2nd, 2010

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Collette Child carries the flame in a canoe in Port Hardy, British Columbia on Day 96 of the relay.

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David Hamilton carries the torch onto a ferry in Saltery Bay, British Columbia on February 4th, 2010.

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A passenger photographs the Olympic flame aboard a ferry as it arrives in Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010.

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Torchbearer Kristen McBride is cheered on by thousands of spectators during a community celebration in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010.
 
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