OlympicTalk takes a look back at the year in Olympic sports this week.
Today, we review 50 memorable images of the year, courtesy of The Associated Press, Getty Images, national governing bodies, international sports federations and social media.
1/4: World champion ski jumper Severin Freund takes off at the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck, Austria.1/9: The morning after Boston was named the 2024 U.S. Olympic bid city.1/19: Lindsey Vonn celebrates after breaking the women’s World Cup wins record.1/19: Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn kiss after Vonn breaks the women’s record for World Cup wins in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.1/23: Gracie Gold is weirded out by coach Frank Carroll at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.2/1: Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski cover the Super Bowl.
A photo posted by Usain St.Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) on
5/3: An intruder dives at the FINA London World Series.5/21: Jordan Burroughs wrestles a Cuban opponent in Times Square, New York.7/9: Mo Farah reacts after winning a 5000m race in Lausanne, Switzerland.7/14: American Daryl Homer floats at the World Fencing Championships.
Finally been reunited with my authenticated Sydney2000 opening ceremony suit! Thanks to all involved in returning it! pic.twitter.com/kFv8aoPVSn
7/18: Cuban track cyclist Lisandra Guerra ends up with a piece of wood in her arm from a fall at the Pan American Games.7/21: Boxing at the Pan American Games.
With Greg Louganis ,Michael Phelps, Michelle Kwan… Stretching for the Special Olympics flag at the Opening Ceremony pic.twitter.com/gmHCrNGUxq
7/28: The morning after the Boston 2024 bid is dropped.8/7: The U.S. women’s water polo team celebrates its World Championship.8/8: Alzain Tareq, 10, of Bahrain competes at the World Swimming Championships.
8/8: Katie Ledecky wins the World Championships 800m freestyle.
8/8: Michael Phelps reacts after winning the 100m butterfly at the U.S. Championships.8/23: Usain Bolt outleans Justin Gatlin to win the World Championships 100m by .01.8/24: Rolanda Bell of Panama falls in a 3000m steeplechase heat at the World Championships.8/27: Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin share a laugh after the World Championships 200m.8/29: Ashton Eaton breaks the decathlon world record.
Unknown date: Brazil gymnast Arthur Zanetti performs on still rings on Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro in a promo shoot. (Adidas)10/28: Kohei Uchimura falls off high bar at the World Championships.10/28: Kohei Uchimura and Japan celebrate winning the World Championships team title.10/29: Gabby Douglas performs on balance beam at the World Championships.
12/4: Lindsey Vonn wins a World Cup downhill in Lake Louise, Canada.12/12: Lindsey Vonn with Santa Claus after winning a World Cup giant slalom in Sweden.
Retired NFL star Jared Allen was part of a curling team that beat 2018 Olympic champion John Shuster to open the U.S. Championships in Denver on Sunday night.
Allen, who retired from the NFL in 2016 and picked up curling in 2018, is on 2010 Olympian Jason Smith‘s team, which beat Shuster’s team 10-6 in the first game of round-robin play.
After all eight teams play each other, the top four advance to Friday’s playoffs. The winner of Saturday’s final is national champion and is expected to be the U.S. team for the world championship in Ottawa in April.
“I thought curling was going to be a lot easier than it was,” Allen, who was on a different team at the last nationals in 2021 that went 0-9, told the newspaper. “But I’m one of those guys who, once I start something, I’m going to see it through. Our goal at nationals is to beat as many teams as we possibly can and see where we land.”
How big of an upset was Sunday’s result? Ken Pomeroy rated Smith’s team fifth in the eight-team field before the tournament, while he had Shuster’s team second behind Korey Dropkin.
Shuster’s team won the last three nationals that they entered, plus the last two Olympic Trials since the bulk of the team formed for the 2015 season. Shuster went 11-0 at his last nationals in 2020, then 11-2 at the 2022 Olympic Trials, where the younger Dropkin beat him twice but ultimately lost in the finals series.
Allen was first linked to serious curling in February 2018 via U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Lou Nanne on a Minnesota ESPN radio show. Nanne said Allen told him at a dinner.
“[Allen] says, ‘I’m giving myself four years to make the Olympic curling team,’” said Nanne, a 1968 U.S. Olympian.
Allen, along with retired quarterback Marc Bulger, first played on a team with 2010 Olympian John Benton and fellow veteran curler Hunter Clawson.
Allen’s new team includes Smith, who played on the 2010 Olympic team skipped by Shuster, Clawson and Dominik Maerki.
Looking cool is just the tip of the iceberg for Mikaela Shiffrin, Travis Ganong and the rest of the U.S. ski team when they debut new race suits at the world championships.
Even more, they want everyone thinking about climate change.
The team’s predominantly blue-and-white suits depict an image of ice chunks floating in the ocean. It’s a concept based on a satellite photo of icebergs breaking due to high temperatures. The suit was designed in collaboration with Kappa, the team’s technical apparel sponsor, and the nonprofit organization Protect Our Winters (POW).
The Americans will wear the suits throughout the world championships in Courchevel and Meribel, France, which started Monday with a women’s Alpine combined race and end Feb. 19.
“Although a race suit is not solving climate change, it is a move to continue the conversation and show that U.S Ski & Snowboard and its athletes are committed to being a part of the future,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, the president and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
Global warming has become a cold, hard reality in ski racing, with mild temperatures and a lack of snow leading to the postponement of several World Cup events this winter.
“I’m just worried about a future where there’s no more snow. And without snow, there’s no more skiing,” said Ganong, who grew up skiing at Lake Tahoe in California. “So this is very near and dear to me.”
What alarms Ganong is seeing the stark year-to-year changes to some of the World Cup circuit’s most storied venues.
“I mean, it’s just kind of scary, looking at how on the limit (these events) are even to being possible anymore,” said Ganong, who’s been on the U.S. team since 2006. “Places like Kitzbuehel (Austria), there’s so much history and there’s so much money involved with that event that they do whatever they can to host the event.
“But that brings up a whole other question about sustainability as well: Is that what we should be doing? … What kind of message do we need show to the public, to the world, about how our sport is adapting to this new world we live in?”
The suits feature a POW patch on the neck and the organization’s snowflake logo on the leg.
“By coming together, we can educate and mobilize our snowsports community to push for the clean energy technologies and policies that will most swiftly reduce emissions and protect the places we live and the lifestyles we love,” according to a statement from executive director Mario Molina, whose organization includes athletes, business leaders and scientists who are trying to protect places from climate change.
Ganong said a group of ski racers are releasing a letter to the International Ski Federation (FIS), with the hope the governing body will take a stronger stance on sustainability and climate change.
“They should be at the forefront of trying to adapt to this new world, and try to make it better, too,” Ganong said.
