# 2018 Winter Olympics Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525 "2018-02-09T16:55:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/341 "2018-02-26T20:40:26Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I still don’t know what you mean by that. I’ve googled, but found nothing out of the ordinary. > > Meanwhile, someone last week was talking about the possibility of same-gendered duos in pairs skating or ice dancing. I don’t see that happening either way. I think if a woman had the upper body strength to lift another woman, she would not have the grace and flexibility to do all the other stuff. And I can’t see a man lifting another man, unless the guy being lifted was tiny, and male figure skaters are generally tall. > > It also seems to me that the summer Olympics have a heck of a lot more events than winter. Wonder if it would be possible to even them out? I can think of five summer events that take place indoors: wrestling, judo, tae kwon do, weightlifting and table tennis. They’re not snow-and-ice events, but they’re not particularly tied to summer, either. Just an idea. The Winter Olympics consists of all events that require snow or ice. All other sports are in the Summer Olympics. To change that would not be impossible but would be a massive break with tradition. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/342 "2018-02-26T20:44:08Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > There are other jumps that use different edge to edge combinations, but they are, for various reasons, not widely used. The one I can remember being used in the past is the Walley, which is back-inside to back-outside of the same foot, and is, thus, like the Lutz, a counter-rotated jump (you enter on a curve that is clockwise in turn, and exit on a curve that is counter-clockwise in turn). I assume the main reason nobody does a Walley, or any of the other jumps besides the “big six” (loop, toe loop, Lutz, Salchow, flip, Axel) any more is, they’re not in the Code of Points, so they’re not worth anything if you do perform them. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/343 "2018-02-26T21:00:01Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I seem to recall that in the 90s the IOC went to some specific effort to bump up the event count in the Winter Olympics, because it was seen as very lacking compared to the Summer. That’s also when the winter games were moved to not occur in the same year as the summer games, which I think was a good change. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/344 "2018-02-26T23:22:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Is this the first time they have had a Skating Gala? I don’t remember the last winter Olympics I watched. May have been Calgary, I watched Shaun White win gold, I know that much. No, almost every major ISU event has an exhibition gala after the competition. The top finishers are invited, along with a select handful of others that the organizers feel would be interesting to the home crowd (hence why the North Korean pair was invited despite finishing 13th), or bring something unique to the table. The top skaters will practice a separate exhibition program with reasonable regularity, so it’s not improv or hastily composed the night before. I don’t know about other competitions (it’s probably the same), but I know in the Olympics, the gala is actually mandatory and you have to participate in the event and all the practices if invited. The ISU let the Germans out of it because Massot came down with a high fever the morning of the event, but you can’t just say “Sorry, don’t feel like it, saving energy for Worlds” or whatever. So the audience gets all the skaters that medalled. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/345 "2018-02-26T23:37:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Intresting reply, thanks; but I don’t think your link goes where you think it does. Ooops. :o [Try this…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating_jumps) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/346 "2018-02-26T23:42:02Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I assume the main reason nobody does a Walley, or any of the other jumps besides the “big six” (loop, toe loop, Lutz, Salchow, flip, Axel) any more is, they’re not in the Code of Points, so they’re not worth anything if you do perform them. I assume they’re not in the Code of Points because people weren’t doing them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/347 "2018-03-11T02:06:12Z")
Watching the Brier and the rings are the bright red white and blue. Not those wussy pastels they used in Seoul. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/348 "2018-03-11T02:19:23Z")
The goalie for the US women’s hockey team got a big cheer when she was introduced—gold medal still around her neck—at the first intermission of the Minnesota high school boys’ championship game. 🙂 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/349 "2018-03-13T19:26:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Is this the first time they have had a Skating Gala? I don’t remember the last winter Olympics I watched. May have been Calgary, I watched Shaun White win gold, I know that much. I think the first one was in Sarajevo in 1984, as I definitely remember Scott Hamilton being in one. There was a story about how the audience was calling for an encore, but Hamilton didn’t want to do one until Jayne Torvill (of Torvill & Dean) all but dragged him out back onto the ice. There was definitely one in 1988; Debi Thomas had two different routines - one where she dressed like Michael Jackson (and performed to “Billie Jean,” IIRC), and another where she performed like someone at her first skating recital. IIRC, the ticket to the one in Vancouver was the fourth most expensive ticket for those Olympics, after the opening and closing ceremonies and the men’s ice hockey gold medal game. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/350 "2018-03-20T00:56:15Z")
Post-script on the figure skating pairs competition–L’Equipe published an [interview](https://www.lequipe.fr/Patinage-artistique/Article/Bruno-massot-je-n-aurais-jamais-eu-ca-en-france/885594) with Bruno Massot today and it is pretty horrifying. Didier Gailhaguet (head of the French skating federation and of 2002 SLC infamy) demanded 100,000 euros to release him to Germany and held him basically hostage and incapable of working (competing or shows to pay the bills) for 1.5 years before finally releasing him for a smaller ransom. During that time, he was surviving on 200 euros a month and on the verge of living out of his car. He is happy to represent Germany because they literally kept a roof over his head and food in his mouth when he had nothing, even with no guarantee that he would ever be free to skate for them. He said it is time for him to stop lying to cover for Gailhaguet and tell it like it was, and that he doesn’t have to be afraid of him anymore because he is with Germany. I knew there was a kerfuffle with getting Savchenko/Massot together but I had no idea it was this awful. How can this be legal under EU law to basically indenture someone like this and prevent them from working? Seems ripe for a lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/351 "2018-03-20T19:56:32Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > Post-script on the figure skating pairs competition–L’Equipe published an [interview](https://www.lequipe.fr/Patinage-artistique/Article/Bruno-massot-je-n-aurais-jamais-eu-ca-en-france/885594) with Bruno Massot today and it is pretty horrifying. Didier Gailhaguet (head of the French skating federation and of 2002 SLC infamy) demanded 100,000 euros to release him to Germany and held him basically hostage and incapable of working (competing or shows to pay the bills) for 1.5 years before finally releasing him for a smaller ransom. During that time, he was surviving on 200 euros a month and on the verge of living out of his car. He is happy to represent Germany because they literally kept a roof over his head and food in his mouth when he had nothing, even with no guarantee that he would ever be free to skate for them. He said it is time for him to stop lying to cover for Gailhaguet and tell it like it was, and that he doesn’t have to be afraid of him anymore because he is with Germany. I knew there was a kerfuffle with getting Savchenko/Massot together but I had no idea it was this awful. > > How can this be legal under EU law to basically indenture someone like this and prevent them from working? Seems ripe for a lawsuit. One issue is that there’s no way for a pairs team to compete if they consist of two members from different countries. I’m not sure how the rules could be changed to accommodate such teams, but it certainly leads to unfair situations like this one. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/352 "2018-03-20T21:34:52Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > One issue is that there’s no way for a pairs team to compete if they consist of two members from different countries. I’m not sure how the rules could be changed to accommodate such teams, but it certainly leads to unfair situations like this one. Your point is well-taken, but this seems specific to Didier Gailhaguet to me. The Danish federation just released a skater to compete for Canada with no fuss. Heck, Aljona Savchenko switched from Ukraine easily. It is done, sometimes with a bit of wrangling, sometimes not. But to hold someone hostage like this for so long, to ban them from competitions and shows and make them incapable of supporting themselves in their field, for a year and a half? To leave them scraping by on pasta and nearly homeless? Beyond the pale and unprecedented. Massot said he cannot understand why Gailhaguet remains where he is, because everyone knows what kind of person he is. That it took 2.5 years and the security of a second passport for him to overcome his fear and speak honestly about how he was treated, makes quite an impression. Country switching happens all the time in the Olympics (hello, Liz Swaney!) but not like this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525.md?page=17)