“I did actually think about Amy half way down the first run thinking, ‘ I hope she’s enjoying commentating on this’.”
British skeleton slider Lizzy Yarnold on Amy Williams, the woman she’s hoping to replace as Olympic champion as she bombed down the skeleton run into first place after the first day of two.
Mrs. Evgeni Plushenko, self-described “top three Russian woman,” shows off her love in unique way #Sochi pic.twitter.com/pC4s7JXW3R
— John Leicester (@johnleicester) February 9, 2014
Russian speed skater Olga Graf briefly forgets she’s naked under her suit.
It’s possible some people are starting to make up their own slopestyle terms.
Come on Woods lad. Drop a quad spin frontside triple nipple #bbcsochi
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) February 13, 2014
“If he can’t get some sort of endorsement deal with a tumble dryer after that…”
BBC commentator Ed Leigh spins out after American Gus Kenworthy puts down a cracking somersault strewn run in the men’s ski slopestyle. Then following it with:
“I’d pay good money to be his rucksack.”
“My gran used to think I was a snowballer.”
BBC’s Tim Warwood about the early days of his slopestyle career.
The only trouble with this set up is I’ve no idea what’s going on with any of them! #bbcsochi pic.twitter.com/Y3jfBCB39d
— Sports Liberated (@SportsLiberated) February 13, 2014
“So many questions to be answered this morning. Will James Woods be able to ride through the pain barrier and get on to the podium? And how about Henrik Harlut for Sweden – will he find a belt for his pants in time for this final?”
BBC’s Hazel Irvine introduces the men’s slopestyle with tongue firmly in cheek.
“I skied a whole season with a torn ACL but it ended badly with me flying for 30m off a jump in Argentina and landing and my knee collapsing at 70mph,” says BBC commentator and former alpine skier Graham Bell.
“That sounds rather painful. I trod on an upturned plug in the dark once, that was pretty painful,” responds fellow commentator Tim Warwood.
I am bib number one today. That means I will be the first girl EVER to ski jump in an Olympic event. ALL SMILES 🙂
— Sarah Hendrickson (@schendrickson) February 11, 2014
“It looks like a mum phone call that.”
BBC commentator after Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin bursts into tears when speaking on the phone in the finish area of the women’s downhill having won joint gold with Tina Maze of Slovenia.
How proud must their parents be right now? > “@CBCOlympics: Live now with @cbchh: @3_SDL sisters pic.twitter.com/P1mBL2VFig”
— Jamie Fox (@jamiefox1) February 9, 2014
I was taking a shower and the door got locked/jammed….
— Johnny Quinn (@JohnnyQuinnUSA) February 8, 2014
…With no phone to call for help, I used my bobsled push training to break out. #SochiJailBreak pic.twitter.com/apZRefgvCO — Johnny Quinn (@JohnnyQuinnUSA) February 8, 2014
Canadian skier Justin Wadsworth gives a ski to Russian Anton Gafarov, allowing him to finish the race. #TeamCanada pic.twitter.com/kT98O1Rx11 — Mr. H. (@MrHExperience) February 11, 2014
Jacobsen comes 4th in cross-country skiing – no doubt her emotions are boiling over now following the death of her brother on Friday.
— Sports Liberated (@SportsLiberated) February 11, 2014
@SportsLiberated ha ha I am? and whilst sat in a car park!! pic.twitter.com/U3YHFwaomG
— Sharron Davies (@sharrond62) February 11, 2014
Ignoring the two countries that displayed no Olympic spirit whatsoever, a story of sportsmanship in the cross-country skiing event. The Germans arrived in Sochi with brand new skis that hadn’t even been treated but the ‘grinder’ they’d brought with them to shape the skis didn’t work. The Suisse refused to let the Germans borrow theirs as did the Austrians but the Russians stepped up giving the Germans 24 hours use of their machine.
“You don’t go to the zoo and see the sleeping lions you go to where the penguins are, where the action is.”
Increasingly renowned BBC Sport commentator Tim Warwood commenting in his own inimitable style on the Sochi TV producer’s inability to cover all the action at once at the women’s ski cross event.
Front row seats are still available in this restroom #SochiProblems pic.twitter.com/8go9EQkB2k
— Sochi Problems (@Sochi_Problemz) February 15, 2014
Ed Leigh, BBC Sport commentator: “Welcome to the board- and ski-cross track. Now, the initial plan when we thought about doing a guide for this was to come up and for Tim and I to take you down the course.”
Tim Warwood, BBC Sport commentator: “Yeah, put helmet cameras on, go thorugh the whoops and burns and give you guys a sense of what it’s like to be a rider on that course.”
Ed: “But then we came up and actually saw the course and it is so intimidating I want absolutely nothing to do with it.”
Tim: “Yeah, but we can take you on a gentle stroll down the side and show you exactly what it’s like.”
OMG NO WAY! 🙂 🙂 🙂 @allout: Whoah. Thank you @rihanna for standing up for #P6 and equality at the Olympics! http://t.co/e3LSKhUQ6P” — Belle Brockhoff (@bellebrockhoff) February 16, 2014
Sochi budget compared to Mars budget. #SochiProblems pic.twitter.com/yxRmoShZX3 — Sochi Problems (@Sochi_Problemz) February 13, 2014
Rest assured, Sochi has their best men on the job of protecting the Olympics. #SochiProblems pic.twitter.com/jBDEa7O5xN — Sochi Problems (@Sochi_Problemz) February 15, 2014
Just for the record… He he 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Mq26BDnA1Q — Shelley Rudman (@ShelleyRudman) February 13, 2014
Thankfully, injuries have been few and far between during the Sochi Winter Olympics, but extreme sports by their very nature will wreak damage. A track worker broke both legs when hit by a non-competition bobsled, a Russian ski jumper broke two ribs, and a Canadian slopestyler suffered a broken jaw when her knee hit her in the face and a Brit freeskier spent a night in hospital after being knocked unconscious on the ski half pipe. However, it’s a Russian ski cross racer who has suffered the most, breaking her back in a training run with an immediate decision to operate taken due to the severity of the injury.
The father of British Olympic gold medalist, Lizzy Yarnold, finds his moustache the centre of attention alongside his daughter’s achievement.
Wow..what a day I am trending #clivesmoustache @TheYarnold @matthewcpinsent This is the real Clive Yarnold twitter account @BBCSport — Clive Yarnold (@BarngateFarmBnB) February 15, 2014
Someone below us in the skeleton catering area has just dropped about 50 plates. Not everyone with a tray was successful tonight. — Ollie Williams (@OllieW) February 14, 2014
@kristanbromley: Very proud of my fiancé @ShelleyRudman today. She is a legend in the sport. Just not her day today. — Kristan Bromley (@kristanbromley) February 14, 2014
A woman attempting to take a picture at a hockey game in Sochi today. This may be one of my favorite pics ever. pic.twitter.com/x2X20ebCdq
— Bryan Wood (@bryanwx) February 13, 2014
guess they ran out of cones. #SochiProblems pic.twitter.com/aUuWdjoLUV
— Sochi Problems (@Sochi_Problemz) February 16, 2014
@BritishSkeleton @BBCSport @TeamGB our daughter getting ready to support @TheYarnold #inspireageneration pic.twitter.com/3BMGPTrYQK
— Charlie Seccombe (@SeccombeCharlie) February 14, 2014
