by Jennie

We’re into week two of the Vancouver Olympics and events are moving at a brisk clip – less than a week and it’ll all be over for another four years! Despite some carping that these may go down at the “worst Olympics ever”, there have been plenty of moments to savor. Speedskater (and Dancing with the Stars champion) Apolo Ohno became the most decorated American Winter Olympian of all time on Saturday when he won his seventh medal (he has two gold, two silvers and three bronze medals). Finland’s Teemu Selanne became the all-time Olympic hockey points leader while playing with a broken jaw (hockey players are tough!). Slovakia won its first gold medal in the Winter Olympics ever, in the biathalon.

Of course, there have been a few lowlights, as well. Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko wins the bittercakes award for his ungracious carping after coming in second to American Evan Lysacek. Somebody needs to call the whambulance for Plushenko, who at 27 is too old for such childishness. Furthermore, he has been competing for too many years not to understand the subjective nature of figure skating judging. If it were simply a quad-jumping competition, then why bother to come up with complicated and graceful routines at all?

There’s blame to go around in the case of American snowboarder Scotty Lago, who abruptly left the games early after issuing an apology for slightly risque photos surfaced on TMZ. On the one hand, the photos aren’t in the best taste, and Lago should be somewhat chastened for his behavior. On the other hand, if the reports are true and Lago’s departure from Vancouver was not so much voluntary as compelled by threats of being brought before an Olympic disciplinary committee, well, then I think Olympic officials need to unbend a bit. Lago is a 22-year-old guy who had just won his first Olympic medal in a sport that’s known for being a little bit more freewheeling and less stuffy than, say, ice dancing.

Finally, last night brought a total wtf from that very same sport, ice dancing (maybe it’s not as stuffy as I thought!). The theme of the “original dance” portion of the competition was supposed to be a routine based on a folk dance, and Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin chose Australian aborigines, in a repeat of a performance that had drawn considerable criticism at the European championships in January. The criticisms that the routine amounts to cultural appropriation, mocks sacred religious ceremonies of the aborigine people and misrepresents the culture they are supposed to be honoring all have merit. I have to say that beyond that, my overwhelming impression when seeing the pair was what were they smoking when they came up with those outfits? And where can I get some?