I just watched a replay of Nathan Chen short program, I must missed it yesterday, it’s fantastic, I particularly love the music he had chosen.
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Wonder if the man-made snow contributed at all? I was surprised this article suggests competitive skiers prefer the harder, icier man-made snow.
Here’s his performance. They just posted it less than an hour ago. Finally!
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From what I have read, man made snow was first used (at least to a significant degree) in Lake Placid in 1980. And since, there has been increased used of it. About 80% of the snow in Sochi in 2014 was man made. And about 98% of snow in South Korea in 2018 was man made.
And they use man made snow at World Cup events. So it seems to me that more is being made of 100% man made snow in these Olympics that is really an issue or change.
Alpine events are often effectively sheets of ice. They often hose them down to create ice from what I understand. You can hear that when you watch. And if you want consistency over 30-40 skiers, you need a very hard surface.
Having skied on both, natural is better in terms of aesthetics. Man made tends to be faster and more consistent. Falling on man made snow is less fun.
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I still don’t buy it. I am rarely this stubborn but one of the most prized protections for immigrants from authoritarian countries (i.e., Eileen’s mother) is US citizenship, and to allow her daughter to renounce US citizenship and take up a Chinese one is unfathomable to me. And remember that Eileen lives in the US (as far as I know, or at least completed high school in CA) and will be attending Stanford this fall. If she really gave up US citizenship, she will need a student visa to study at Stanford, have limited ability to work (except on campus), etc. Also, once renounced, I think it is really hard to get US citizenship back (and even a green card might be difficult to secure).
cc: @vpa2019
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I tend to agree with you that it’s likely China bent their rules and allowed dual citizenship. It would explain why she’s reluctant to confirm her citizenship status publicly because it would create a big headache for China since dual citizenship is illegal there.
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Yes, I think that’s probably it. Also, her evasiveness on her citizenship (per the WSJ article) irritated me. As @sushiritto said, it’s a simple question.
Well, this mystery will soon be solved - she’ll return to the US after the Games. Watch where she lines up at immigration.
ETA: Further doubts that Eileen gave up her US citizenship, namely that it occurred in 2015 (or 2019), when she was living in CA and still a minor. Can you renounce US citizenship while still living in the US? Can minors do it on their own (while still living in the US)?
Also, she reportedly applied to be a U.S. Presidential Scholar (presumably in 2021) - I know green card holders are eligible but, if she did apply, I doubt it would have been as a green card holder (because I don’t think the US government would allow you to renounce your citizenship and opt to be a green card holder).
Lastly, more worrying for her, if it turns out that she had lied about her citizenship, will Stanford reconsider its offer? (Perhaps that’s one reason why she’s been evasive.)
ETA2: My wife also mentioned that perhaps she’ll be disqualified if she technically doesn’t qualify for the Chinese team (i.e., if she in fact still holds US citizenship and can’t technically be a Chinese citizen).
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Without fail, every Winter Olympics I want to buy ALL the coats, hats and all the stuff!
The spyder coats the alpine skiers have, yes! The snowboarder Volcom jackets, amazing! The hats the gloves, all of it.
And the white Moncler Savannah Guthrie wore on the Today Show! 
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I absolutely adore Jason Brown’s skating. While I enjoy seeing athletes push the limits with huge jumps, I also really like seeing true artistry on ice. Jason chooses not to focus on quads that he may or may not be able to land, for reasons that make sense to him … and he pours all of his training into being the best artist he can be on the ice. His skating brings me joy!
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Another fan here of both Jason Brown and Donovan Carrillo - both of their short programs were a real joy to watch!
We are staying at our S and DIL’s house out of state, helping with some childcare for our 3 month old granddaughter. Since we have a lot of downtime here, the Olympics have been on a fair amount and we are enjoying watching them.
We watched curling on Sunday during a family gathering, and it was actually a lot of fun with all of us tuned into it - we were googling the rules and the history and learning the terms and the strategies. The mixed pairs match between the Italian team and the Swedish team was really good (the Italian team went on to win the gold.) My H really enjoyed watching the strategies play out, and we all joined the conversation as to where we thought the next shot should go. If we were a drinking crowd, we could have made a fun drinking game of it!
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The gold medal match of curling was great. They said when the Olympics are held in Italy in 4 years the curling competition will be in the guy’s hometown. What a thrill that would be for him!
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Team figure skating medal ceremony postponed - rumor is a ROC skater tested positive for doping.
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How shocking! 
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For anyone I know who has dual citizenship, yes this would be a very difficult decision. For the people I know even thinking about this is caused by the fact that the US taxes foreign income for Americans who live outside the country. Mostly the amount of tax paid is not the issue. In most cases that I am aware of the amount of tax owed to the US is zero. One big issue is the complexity, which is insane. Even most tax professionals outside the US cannot handle it. The other issue is that owning a home outside the US or putting money into a foreign retirement fund results in bad US tax implications. Thus you are essentially not permitted to make responsible long term life choices. However, for some of us this is a reason to return to the US or stay in the US rather than a reason to give up our citizenship. At least for now in high tech or in biotech the US still seems to be the place to be.
Money or the possibility of bringing in an Olympic medal (gold one way or another). The US allows dual citizenship. Normally China does not. I do not know whether they have made an exception in her case, but it would not shock me if they did.
This would make a lot of sense.
Is curling on during the day? That would explain why I haven’t seen much of it; I’m stuck in the office most days. According to the schedule, it should be on again this weekend so hopefully I can see a few matches. I really enjoyed watching big air and snowboard halfpipe last night though. The skill and courage of those athletes amazes me. My heart hurts for Shiffrin. I hope she can rally and finish strong.
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According to Yahoo Sports, Kamila Valieva is the suspected skater. Her program was packed with quad jumps.
Interesting. At 15, I attributed her skill to being young and fearless. Her doping would tick me off. Would the US get the gold in the team skate?
Same. I thought she was spectacular the other day.
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Here is the article cited by Yahoo:
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1119043/valieva-legal-problem-beijing-2022
“ The exact nature of Valieva’s problem is unclear, although there have been widespread claims that the drug involved was not performance-enhancing.
Some reports in Russia have claimed the drug involved is trimetazidine, a medicine usually used to prevent angina attacks and help blood flow to the heart.
The situation is complicated even further because, under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Code, Valieva is a “Protected Person”.
That means as “an athlete who at the time of the anti-doping rule violation: has not reached the age of sixteen” Valieva cannot officially be identified if she is guilty of an anti-doping violation.
insidethegames understands that several legal teams are currently involved working on the complex case which is expected to stretch into tomorrow before a conclusion is reached.”
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How about that! Yay!
I remember watching her leading the race and getting ready to celebrate; then she did that infamous epic fail trick and I just went, “Ouch, oh noooooo!” Happy for her.
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