This afternoon’s press conference with the Canadian womens hockey team regarding their gold medal win last night was heavily focused on two topics: the way the women celebrated last night and the future of their sport in the Olympics.
The Future of Womens Hockey
IOC President Jacques Rogge commented on the unlevel playing field in womens hockey and that blowouts (I’m assuming like the 18-0 Canadian win over Slovakia) are not conducive to fair Olympic play.
At the press conference the ladies addressed this, noting that when men’s hockey started out it was Canada and the Soviets that dominated but that the rest of the world caught up. Switzerland is now a contender, Sweden and Finland consistently place well and even cause a few upsets. Women’s hockey is still growing and with expanded European and international play, Marie-Philip Poulin said that it can only get more tough to compete.
The Celebration
It was reported that after the public left Canada Hockey Place the celebrations from the locker room spilled onto the ice. Caroline Ouelette told the press that the team has celebrated in that fashion after the last three Olympics. They pose for photos with logos on the ice and they all bask in their Olympic moment.
The issue is that the team did so on the ice and did not keep their champagne and beer drinking confined to the locker room. One reporter asked, “what kind of role models are you then?” The ladies replied tactfully that they waited until all public had left, they did not mean to disrespect anyone, and they have apologized. However, it was also noted that some underage players were seen with beer cans in hand.
With gold medals gleaming around their necks, these women gracefully responded to each question with poise and confidence. I’d love to hear how parents and public view this celebration.
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With many programs out there to help you sort and filter the abundance of Twitter “noise” out there, the Vancouver service FollowFormation has come up with a solution. Using the concept of Twitter lists, they have a simple user interface that allows you to pick one of their lists, select how many people you’d like to follow, click a button and be done.
As it stands, Followformation is the easiest way to follow the top Twitterers by subject matter or topic. [Mashable – July 2009]
If you’re just getting started on Twitter, FollowFormation’s recommended lists are a good place find people of particular industries or categories to follow. If you’re a seasoned Twitter veteran, it can help filter your news stream.
For the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games they asked folks like CityCaucus.com and me to create our own recommendations. Currently featured on the front page of FollowFormation, you can see who I selected as my own top people to follow for Vancouver 2010 updates.
I know this post is a bit late for the Olympics as things come to an end this weekend however making Twitter follows much simpler is always a good idea. Whenever I give talks about social media and the benefits of Twitter or blogging for business the most frequently asked question is “how will I have time for all of this?” Having a way to filter my lists (to just view Restaurants, Tourism, or Family) makes following over 3,000 people manageable for me, which ultimately saves time.
Hopefully they’ll have themes like this going forward but for now you can still Follow by Interest or Follow by City even after the Olympics. If you don’t see someone on one of their lists that you think should be included, you may also suggest a user.
FollowFormation is a BC-based service created by 18 year old Sauder School of Business graduate, Brian Wong. In 2010, Mary McNeil, the Minister of State for the Olympics and ActNow BC recognized FollowFormation’s contribution to the province’s social media landscape during the Vancouver 2010 Games.
Other lists to follow, created by users for Vancouver 2010:
The Georgia Straight’s list of Canadian Olympians
The New York Times’ list for the Winter Games
Twitter’s own list of Verified Olympians
Day 14 at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics yesterday was another big one for Canada, and for the Bollwitts personally. John and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary while Canadian women won gold in hockey. The heartbreaking story of Joannie Rochette triumphed as just days after her mother passed away, she skated her way to a bronze medal.
I also met gold medal skeleton athlete Jon Montgomery (after his Oprah show taping) and covered press conferences with Clara Hughes and the silver medalist speedskating relay team.
We took the water taxi across False Creek and walked home through the West End, under the soft blue glow of Vectorial Elevation. It’s one of the things I’ll miss most around the city when the Games are gone.
Yesterday also concluded my quick gig with BC Living Magazine’s online Olympic portal. Articles I wrote include: Predictions for the Opening Ceremony, Welcoming the torch relay in my hometown, Collecting and trading Olympic pins, and Exploring the CAN Fund Athlete’s House.
With just a few days left in the Olympics you may want to check out my post about what will be open throughout the Paralympic Games as well. On tap for today I have a press conference with the women’s hockey team and Team Canada men’s hockey takes on Slovakia in semi-final action.
Medal Count for Canada on Day 14 – February 25, 2010
Gold: 8
Silver: 6
Bronze: 3
View full medal count by country
It’s been a while since I profiled HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos of Vancouver so what better time than to showcase some Olympic photos from around the city.
Photo credit:
GillTy on Flickr
You may also read HDR Photography Tribute part 1, 2 and 3. Please click through to view other works by each of the photographers as well.
“I don’t think it’s a question of beating the men, I just think the girls are doing outstanding,” said Tania Vicent in a press conference this morning.
Her womens speedskating relay team won silver medals yesterday in Canada’s best day at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics so far. One reporter stated that compared to other countries, Canada’s women have won 80% more medals, which is an epic accomplishment. This of course set a “girl power” theme for the rest of the press conference.
Team members Marianne St-Gelais, Jessica Gregg, Tania Vicent and Kalyna Roberge sat together, discussing rookie and veteran experiences at these Games. Marianne being a first-timer and Tania having won four medals in the last four Winter Olympics.
“I think if the guys weren’t there to help us on the team we wouldn’t be where we are,” added Tania, giving a hat tip to their male Canadian team members. Each woman had the chance to respond to questions, more of which were asked in French. However, when asked if they had rituals or good luck charms they burst into a chant from Finding Nemo that they used to get pumped up.
The team spirit and comeraderie was beaming from these ladies, two of which will also compete tomorrow in individual races.
Update: Coming up next, the Clara Hughes press conference. Hughes is the most decorated Olympian who has competed in both Summer and Winter Games. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 2007 and was the flag-bearer at the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony.
Update: “The desire of an athlete runs strong and it runs deep. There is no gender in that desire,” said bronze medalist Clara Hughes as her press conference began. As with the relay team before her, many of the questions were targeted around the success of Canadian women at these Olympics.
After winning multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Games she was asked what’s next? Her response, “I think I need to take a long vacation.” The rest would be well-deserved as she is a shining example of the hard-working Canadian determination and passion we’ve seen from our athletes at Vancouver 2010.
Hughes also announced that she will be donating her medal bonus ($10,000 CDN) to the non-profit “Take a Hike“. A local Vancouver teacher started the program for at-risk youth and it takes them on adventures to learn life and sports skills. She also gave the teacher two tickets to her 3000m race yesterday and he awarded them to students who got to watch her skate to bronze.
Hughes said she has a “sense of satisfaction that is out of this world.” When comparing womens medal counts to other nations she expressed sincere appreciation for being a Canadian athlete, “no matter how crazy my dreams may be, I have a chance to achieve them because I am Canadian.”
Her performance at the Richmond Olympic Oval last night was her last and she described it so very well: “It came together with the most perfect efficiency of movement on ice for me and it was the most beautiful feeling in the world.”
She said when embarking on her Olympic journey she thought, “somebody’s going to win so I might as well try, it just might be me.” She had inspirational words for future Olympians and children everywhere, saluting supportive and encouraging parents. “Remember to dream and don’t be afraid of trying, you never know where you will end up.”
