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Figure skating, speed skating, and skiing have all held competitions within the last few days. It's an Olympic year (YAY! SO VERY EXCITING!) so there's an excuse for people to pay more attention than usual. I think it's odd how most Americans seem to presume that these sports only take place during the Olympics and then go away for four years. That's a lot of obscurity for a few minutes of attention and then obscurity again for many American athletes. At least some other countries stay involved over the long haul.

*Ice Skating World Rankings As of Oct. 26th (via Ice Network):

1. Yu-Na Kim
2. Mao Asada
3. Joannie Rochette
4. Carolina Kostner
5. Miki Ando

*I am at work at finding dates/results for the latest adaptive skiing events, but they are difficult to pull together because the material is scattered and I have to leave the house shortly. Rest assured it is on my mind and won't be left out.

*The ski-jumping saga, diligently reported on by After Atalanta lo these many months, is still dragging on. The shameful development that caught my eye is some official-type dude (apparently a member of the VANOC board, but not identified until the middle of the article b/c WSR edits and doesn't link to the original) is complaining that the contretemps may cause Canada to lose the games in the future. Not because Canada is actually oppressing people and that will look bad, but because the uppity women are making trouble. Boo-hoo. It's not like the IOC cares about gender equity, anyhow, since Jacques Rogge has decided that the inclusion of women's boxing means they can't possibly be sexist about anything ever. To support the cause, click here.

*US Snowboarding continues to have the most confusing, annoying web presence. I think there's something happening on November 12th, and Olympic qualifying kicks off in early December, but who the hell can really tell. The Burton Open Series resumes again in January. Three women, including China's Liu Jiayu, are tied for the lead in the FIS World Snowboarding standings, and the next competition takes place in Switzerland November 5th.

*As alpine skiing began its world cup season, Lindsey Vonn became only the tenth woman to be awarded the Golden Ski, bestowed by the International Association of Ski Journalists. Vonn finished ninth at the opening event. The leaderboard is currently topped by Finn Tanja Poutiainen. The next set of races will be held in Levi, Finland, on November 14th-15th.

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• Skating
• Ski
• Snowboard
• Speed Skating
• Sports
• Wintersports
• Figure Skating
• Ski Jump

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