News

__**Tragic Death of Georgian Luger**__

Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21-year-old luger for the Georgian team, tragically crashed and died on February 12th on a practice run before the competitions had even begun. The Opening Ceremonies were then dedicated to him, creating a surreal scene of countries coming together to support Kumaritashvili's memory, family, friends, and teammates. Rush, the band scheduled to play during the opening ceremonies, was cancelled as the organizers thought it would be disrespectful to Kumaritashvili's dedicaion. The death of Kumaritashvili has caused several changes in the luge course in Vancouver that arguably should have been made before anyone went on it. The men were moved to the women's course and there was padding added to the steel beams on the men's course.

_ **__Joannie Rochette 's Heart-Wrenching Bronze__**

Canadian figure skater, Joannie Rochette, pulled through an overwhelming week of hardships to win a bronze medal. Two days before Rochette's performance, her mother suddenly passed away but Rochette decided to persevere and compete for her country. Two days after that, Rochette recieved the bronze medal along with a great round of applause and support for her performance following the tragedy.

**__Canadians Take Gold in Men's Hockey__**

In a long, endurance-testing battle between the USA and Canada in the finals of the men's ice hockey championships, the Canadians pulled through in the end with a thrilling goal by Sydney Crosby in the last minutes of the 20 minute overtime period. The Canadians had scored 2 goals and toward the end of the game, the USA scored their first. Then with only about 20 seconds left in regulation when Brian Rafalski scored the tying goal sending the game into overtime. The goalie for the USA was awarded the player of the tournament award but still expressed his dissapointment despite his great play. Sydney Crosby's gold medal-winning goal sent the Canadian crowd into a storm of both relief and excitement that there team was now officially the number 1 team in the world.

The Closing Ceremonies __**  The closing ceremonies were a great way to close this year's 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Once again, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was honored and the chair of the olympics personally apologized for the Georgian's great loss. There were a number of performances by world-renowned artists and as the closing performance by Neil Young was the perfect way to end the ceremonies. He sung "Long May You Run" as the fire of the Olympics was extinguished, officially closing the "Excellent, friendly games" of the 2010 Olympics.  
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