Olympics Vacounver 2010
By Kelly S. Croslis

The Olympics always begin with hope, with pageantry and pride in the athletes and the countries they represent. Everyone hopes they will come away with the Gold and return home a hero. The 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia has brought a series of firsts, and records with many athletes seeing their wildest dreams come true, and for some heartbreak as they return home, knowing they have seen their last Olympics.

This Olympics brought the United States a record number of medals with 36, they most we have received in a winter Olympics, with 9 gold, 14 silver and 13 bronze. A chance for a 10th gold medal will come on the final day with U.S. hockey team when they face Canada.

Amidst the various sports the unexpected fan favorite was Curling. A sport not many people understood, brought many viewers to cheer for their team, while trying to learn the rules and theory behind the game. In snowboarding, a relatively new sport in the Olympics, the United States Shawn White is almost single handedly shaping the sport, coming away with the Gold medal, using moves he invented himself. In the women's half-pipe event, two medals were won - silver and bronze.

On the ice, speed skater Apolo Ohno became the U.S. athlete to win the most medals in a winter games with 8. Ending a 62-year drought the U.S. four man bobsled team will bring home the gold medal, something that has not happened since 1948.

The highlight of these Olympic Games will come on the final day as the United States faces Canada in Ice Hockey for the gold medal. This game will be a rivalry of epic proportion. In Canada, hockey is not just a game, it is a religion, and immense pressure is put on the players, the coaches and owners.

The American team, a group of young players, have led the Unites States to being the only undefeated hockey team in this Olympics with a record of 5-0, they must finish 6-0 to win the gold. This game, however, is about more than winning the gold medal. Their game jersey's feature "Land of the free a home of the brave" on the sleeve. The meaning is more than just a phrase we have grown up with. Each player on the team has been "adopted" by soldiers who have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the soldiers will be arriving to attend the Gold Medal game.

As the 2010 games come to an end, we look forward to the 2014 games to be held in Sochi, Russia, the countries first winter Olympics games. At the closing ceremonies in Vancouver the Olympic flag will be handed to the mayor of Sochi, and the world will see an eight minute segment of what Russia has to offer. Sochi was established as summer resort; the Olympic organizers hope is that the games will help turn Sochi into a year round destination for tourists.

As the sun set on the Olympics, the cheers in Canada were for their Hockey team who beat the United States in overtime. It was a dream for these young men to play on an Olympic team, they made it to the gold medal round and came home with silver medals - but they are hero's just the same.

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