James Madison University - Bluestone Schoolmaam Yearbook (Harrisonburg, VA)

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medalmainiDa Skiing in the men ' s slalom event, Austrian athlete Benja- min Raich passes by a red gate. Raich won two gold medals at the Olympics, one in giant slalom and one in the slalom, Photo courtesy ofMCT Campus Maintaining a calm expres- sion. Kimberly Derrick races in the 1.000-meter ladies ' quarterfinals competition. Derrick represented the United States in the event. Photo courtesy ofMCT Campus Waving to the cheering crowd, Shizuku Arawaka triumphantly clutches her gold medal, Arawaka claimed gold for Japan in the ladies ' free skating program. Photo courtesy ofMCT Campus 120 I Features

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Winter Olympics 1191

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Hanging around the neck of Apollo Anton Ohno, a gold and a bronze medal gives the United States ' med- al count a boost. Ohno ' s successes were vital to the United States ' standing in the Torino Olympics. Photo courtesy of MCI Campus Holding tJ t3!s;Tfag above his head. Chad Hedrick celebrates after finishing the men ' s lO.OOO-meter speed skating competition. Hedrick secured a silver medal for the United States. Photo courtesy ofMCT Campus a disappointment, prompting calls for Team USA ' s coach Ben Smith to resign following the tournament. The men ' s ice hockey team also entered the Olympics with high expectations. Ranked sixth among the 12 nations competing in the tournament, the team was expected to contend for a medal, if not the gold. The team opened the tournament with a tie against Latvia, a team that failed to win a single game during the tournament. Subsequently, Team USA went on to win only one of their five preliminary games, beating only Kazakhstan and losing to Russia, Slovakia and Sweden. The team also lost to Finland in the quarterfinals. A team that consisted entirely of professional NationSfrlockey I League (NHL)-caliber players limped out of the Kynipics, disappointing both fans and themselves. Team USA was not the only team to perform be- low expectations. Team Canada failed to defend its gold medal from the 2002 games, losing three of their !; six games b 2-0 scores and going h 6me without any medals. This was shocking for a team that, on paper, was more talented than an NHL All-Star team. Finland came from behind to win the silver medal, losing to the powerful Swedes in the gold medal game. Several upsets occurred, such as Switzerland ' s 2-0 win over Canada and their 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic, both powerhouse hockey nations. In the speed skating event. Team USA proved to be inspirational. Most notably, the team made history when Shani Davis became the first black man from I find cmfcug any country to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics tor the 1,000-mcter speed skate. Davis ' s teammate Joey Cheek won the 500-meter race and afterward announced he was donating his gold medal bonus of $25,000 to a charity organized to help children in war-torn Darfur. He later won a silver medal in the 1,000-meter race, adding to his original donation. Headlines out of Torino were dominated b) the feud between Davis and teammate Chad Hedrick, 44 who won a gold, silver and bronze medal in three differ- ent events. After Davis won his gold medal, the majority of the attention was paid to the tact that Hedrick would not congratulate Davis, overshad- o owing the positive history made that day. The feud continued when Davis and Hedrick finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the 1,500-meter race and did not acknowledge each other while on the podium. At the conclusion of the 2006 Winter Olym- pics, the flame was prepared for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and Americans left Torino with a bittersweet blend of pride and underachievement. The United States team would have the 21st Winter Olympics to redeem itself. to be the unsung n£XO of the OhjflAplt games. ' ' — junior Drew Massengill % . R ' Winter Olympics 121