The Conservative Cave
The Bar => Sports => Topic started by: bijou on February 22, 2014, 05:38:35 AM
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link (http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Vic-Wild-of-Russia-wins-Olympic-gold-in-men-s-5257959.php)
This is his second gold the only snowboarder ever to win two golds in one games
American-born snowboarder Vic Wild won gold in the men's parallel giant slalom on Wednesday, and he did it for Russia.
Without the income to continue his Olympic dream in the U.S., Wild switched national allegiances three years ago, marrying a Russian woman to secure citizenship in time for the 2014 Olympics.
While the United States is the most dominant snowboarding nation in the world when it comes to halfpipe and slopestyle, funding for alpine snowboarding — where riders race down a traditional mountain like slalom skiers — is nearly nonexistent.
The United States Snowboard and Freeski Association doesn't fund the sport like it does halfpipe, according to the Wall Street Journal. It's not in the X Games, meaning domestic corporate sponsorship dollars aren't there either. Justin Reiter, the lone American male alpine snowboarder in Sochi, worked as a pizza cook to finance his Olympic dream. ...
link (http://www.businessinsider.com/vic-wild-russia-2014-2)
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I've enjoyed watching the snowboard events. When did it become an Olympic sport? I guess I never paid it much attention before.
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I've enjoyed watching the snowboard events. When did it become an Olympic sport? I guess I never paid it much attention before.
I think this is the third or fourth Olympics with snowboarding, but some of the snowboard events are new this time.
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I've enjoyed the snowboard and speed skating where 4 and 5 people are racing each other. Sort of like NASCAR with a little bumping, grinding and a crash now and then.