Women's freestyle skiing at the Vancouver Winter Olympics: moguls, aerial, and skicross
The women's freestyle skiing medal rounds at the Vancouver Olympics are split over three disiplines: moguls, Saturday, February 13 at 7:30 pm; ski cross on Tuesday, February 23 at 1:00 pm; aerials, Wednesaday, February 24 at 7:30 pm.
Aerials
China could clean-sweep the aerial competition. Nina Li, Xinxin Guo, Mengtao Zu (1,2 and 3 in the areials World Cup standings), and Xin Zhang, 5th in the aerials World Cup standings, all look in excellent shape. Lydia Lassila, 4th in the standings, of Australia looks the only threat to Chinese domination.
We can as yet only guess at the full U.S. time. Some slots are still up for grabs. The U.S. might have Jana Lindsey, currently 9th in the aerials cup, and Lacy Schnoor, 13th, have an outside chance of a medal. And home nation Canada can pin its hopes on Amber Peterson, 10th, and Sabrina Guerin, 14th.
Moguls
The moguls are much more promising territory for the U.S. and Canada. The States has Heather McPhie, Hannah Kearney (2005 World Champion; 2009 World Cup champion), and Shannon Bahrke (2002 Olympic silver medalist), 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in the moguls World Cup standings.
Above, aerial master Nina Li of China. Below, Jennifer Heil of Canada, favorite for moguls gold.
Canadian veteran Jennifer Heil leads the moguls World Cup, while her teammate Kristi Richards is in 5th.
A few other nations have a decent shot of a moguls medal in Vancouver. Aiko Uemera of Japan is the 5th in the standings; Margarita Marbler of Austria is 7th, Nikola Sudova of the Czech Republic is 9th.
Ski cross
Judging by the World Cup rankings, there is zero chance of an American medal ski cross. The top-placed American is Caitlin Ciccone in 30th spot.
But Canada looks ready to take at least one medal in the ski cross. Ashleigh McIvor, World Cup 2nd, Julia Murray, World Cup 3rd, and Kelsey Serwa, World Cup 5th, are all capable of bagging a medal. Ashleigh McIvor is a hot gold candidate.
Sweden is pinning its hopes on Anna Holmund to place top three at the Olympics. France has two excellent competitors in Ophelie David, 1st in the World Cup standings, and Meryl Boullangeat, 8th.
Austria has Karin Huttary, Norway is hoping for gold from Marta Gjefsen Hoeie, and Swizterland has stand-out competitors in Fanny Smith and Katrin Mueller.
POST a comment about this article
By Ben Foster
Readers respond
Linni, Chicago Thanks for the write-up on getting in shape for older people. I am a 47 year old female. I used to run and bike alot, up to 12km running a day and 50km a week biking. I gave it up over the years, I felt so tired and just gave up.
Four years later and I am now 30 pounds overweight, flabby tummy, bulky arms, huge saggy breasts. I am about 160 pounds and 5' 3". My average weight has always been between 118 and 128 pounds. I have also been single (not even a date) for nearly 6 years now because of the way I feel about my body. I am inspired by what you write and think there might still be hope for me! Thanks.
How fast can you run a mile at 50?
If you're 50, normal weight, and untrained, you should be able to run a mile in 9 minutes. After three months of training, you should be down to 8 minutes. After six months, you should be capable of 7 mins 15 sex. After two years of serious training without injury, you should be close to six minutes.
John, Petoskey, Michigan I'm looking down both barrels of the big five-oh and having trouble seeing my feet. This coming from a guy who finished the L.A. Marathon three times in his thirties, not to mention many half-marathons and countless 10k's. After knee surgery I started making excuses and now I'm faced with battling my weight ... again. I lost 100 lbs. between the ages of 28 and 30. I'm sure I'll be challenged now more than ever, knowing I won't see the results from years ago, but I still desire them.
Tammi, Knoxville My husband has gotten fat and stayed that way. Knowing that all sex can be is having someone who flabby who weighs 120 lbs more than I do during sex makes me feel depressed about the rest of my life. I will print out this article and hope he reads it.
Malin, Tampa I am so sick of my husband. He is so boring in bed. I think he doesn't love me anymore, or he's just like that ..so tired and out of shape for six long years. I don't know what to do.
Don, Boulder Thanks for the great article. Great encouragement for me to get running again after a few years off after an injury. At 51 I hope to someday feel comfortable running 5 and 10k's, maybe even a marathon if I can be so lucky.