Vancouver Day 3 (And a Note from Quebec): Silver Hair is Good

My daughter Liz was telling me the other night how exciting the Olympics are for her this time around especially since so many people--from the US, from Australia, from Bulgaria--are people who are her friends and with whom she has trained in Salt Lake City (it was watching the Torino Olympics that triggered her own decision to be a speed skater).  I share the excitement, but tend to approach from a different perspective. Relatively few events have reached the medal rounds, but the 21st Winter Olympics are starting to show evidence that there are championships, and not just champions, after 30. Medals aside, it's been really interesting to see how many athletes are making their Olympic debut at 27, 28, 29; and how many over thirty are putting in outstanding performances. For those older "debutantes" perhaps their best days are yet to come!  Of special note so far:

Armin Zoeggler, Italy, 36.  Bronze medal in Luge to go with his Bronze from Lillehammer (1994), Silver in Nagano (1998), Gold in Salt Lake City (2002) and Gold in Turin (2006).  The spill in the practice brought chills, especially after Friday's tragedy on the luge run, but it was inspiring to see him keep the pressure on those fine young German sliders.

Adam Malysz, Poland, 32.  Silver, Ski Jumping (Normal Hill), to go with his Bronze and Silver from Salt Lake City. For one bright shining moment, I thought he had his Gold!

Hongbo Zhao, 36 and Xue Shen, 31, China.  First Place after the Pairs Figure Skating short program.  I mention them today because their score of 76.66 is the highest ever in Olympic competition, under the modern scoring system; and because they've been skating as a team for 18 years!!!  Twice they have had Bronze medals, and judging by tonight, it will be hard for anyone to deny them the top of the podium!

Meanwhile in Quebec, Rochester Speedskating's Jim Cornell won the 2010 North American Marathon Championships, finishing second in the 25K (first in his age group) and first in the 50K!  He is shown above with women's champion Suzanne Dion and the Mayor of Joliette PQ.

It's certainly heartening to see champions of that age who are called something other than designated hitters!