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Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympic ceremony was held in Torino, Italy. A winter version of the Olympics began in 1908
when figure skating made an appearance at the Summer Games in London. Today, the biggest publicized and watched
event of the Winter Olympics is the ice skating competition. The most controversial event being the luge.
The world became more fascinated with the Winter Olympics and the ice skating events in 1994. Figure skater
Nancy Kerrigan was attacked as she left a practice. She was hit with a metal bar in the knee. Until then, she
stood a very good chance of taking home the gold medal in that event. In her absence, Tonya Harding was given the
opportunity to represent the United States team.
Soon evidence was pointing to the assault being set up by Tonya Harding and her ex husband to get Tonya into
the competition. Tonya claimed she did not know about the attack until after it happened, but she did not report
what she knew to the police.
Nancy Kerrigan recuperated enough to compete. The media was recently in portraying Nancy as the victim of an
evil plot. Millions of viewers watched the competition, cheering for Nancy to claim the gold medal. In the
finals, Nancy was in first place. Tonya in tenth. In a very controversial decision by the judges, Nancy was given
the silver medal.
Nancy Kerrigan accepted her silver medal with honor and grace. While we will never know if she would have won
the gold if the attack had not occurred, she earned the respect of many nations by performing her best in spite
of what happened to her.
The luge events are full of on the edge of your seat action. However, they have been very controversial over
the years. At this years Winter Olympics the luge test events were called off after a series of accidents. There
have been several serious injuries in this event including the loss of a leg, and even the loss of life.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Shani Davis, became the first African American athlete to win an Olympic medal in
the speed skating event. The Winter Olympics continues to offer views an action packed series of events to watch.
From skiing at neck breaking speeds to the double turns of the figure skaters, there is always plenty to watch.
Don’t worry if you happen to miss that controversial event as our media promises to have it available for your
viewing again and again.
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