The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics came to a close on Sunday.
During the closing ceremonies, all of the athletes walked into the arena together.
Medals for two sports were awarded: Women’s 30km cross-country skiing (all three medals won by Norway) and Men’s 50km cross-country skiing (all three medals won by Russia). These medals are traditionally awarded during the closing ceremonies, with all of the athletes from every country watching; in the summer Olympics the same thing happens with the award of the men’s marathon medals.
At the end of the closing ceremonies, a display is always put on by the country that will host the next winter Olympics. Pyeongchang, South Korea, will host the 2018 games.
Here are just a few of the interesting events that defined this year’s Winter Olympics for Canada and internationally:
· Canada won 25 medals, including gold for women’s hockey and men’s hockey and gold for women’s curling and men’s curling.
· Russia won 13 gold medals at the 2014 games, not quite matching Canada’s record 14 gold medals which it won at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
· Some of the gold medals contained a bit of “space rock” from a meteorite that landed in Russia in 2013. (Read the TKN article about that here.)
· When Russian cross-country skier Anton Gafarov broke his ski, Canadian ski coach Justin Wadsworth gave him a spare ski so he could finish the race with dignity.
· Canadian speed skater Gilmore Junio gave up his spot in the Olympics to teammate Denny Morrison for the good of the team. Morrison won silver for Canada.
· Canadian hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser carried the flag for Canada in the opening ceremonies. She was later selected by the international athletes to join the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission, along with biathlon champion Ole Einar Bjorndalen of Norway.
· Going into the Olympics, Team Netherlands had a modest goal of winning nine medals. They ended up winning 24 medals, eight of them gold. Twenty-three of their medals were in long-track speed skating.
· In the women’s gold-medal hockey game, a long shot towards an empty net (the Canadians had pulled their goalie to put in an extra attacker) was stopped by the goalpost. Had the puck gone in, the game would have ended very differently. Thanks in part to that goalpost, the Canadian women were able to come back in overtime and win the gold.
· The spotlight was taken away towards the end of the Olympics by tragic events in Kyiv, Ukraine, which involved Russia. Read TKN’s story about Ukraine here.
· Many inspirational events also happened during the games. Read about them here.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
What was your favourite moment from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics? Why was it a meaningful moment to you?
Reading Prompt: Text Features
Today’s article includes “bullet points” (small dots) when listing different moments from the 2014 Winter Olympics. When used in this way, how do bullet points help a reader understand what they are reading?
Primary
Identify a variety of text features and explain how they help readers understand texts (OME, Reading: 2.3).
Junior
Identify a variety of text features and explain how they help readers understand texts (OME, Reading: 2.3).
Intermediate
Identify a variety of text features and explain how they help communicate meaning (OME, Reading: ).
Grammar Feature: Etymology
The word “commit” comes from Latin meaning “to unite” and “to connect.” How does knowing the origin of this word help you to understand the words: “committee,” “commission,” and “communicate”?
