#1994 Olympic Winter Games

[contac]

[maryegallagher]

Lillehammer - An Ideal Getaway

by Deirdre Frost   In so many ways, Lillehammer is a favorite destination for Norwegians and for those with a passion for outdoor sports. Popular with tourists is the exhilarating luge ride down the Olympic-grade toboggan track. Other exciting activities are visiting the ski jumping arena or bobsledding and cross-country skiing in the Olympic Park. The Olympics torch bearer is visible from the…

[the-olympics-olympics]

Tom was named after Brazilian musician Tom Jobim, one of the writers of the song "The Girl from Ipanema" (along with Vinicius de Moraes, the namesake of Olympic mascot Vinicius). Vinicius's design represents Brazilian wildlife, combining "the agility of cats, sway of monkeys and grace of birds." The character's arms and legs can stretch unlimited distances. Vinicius's mission is "to spread joy throughout the world and celebrate the friendship that flourishes between people from all over the world" at the Olympic Games.

Sondre is based on the trolls depicted in Scandinavian folklore. The one-legged skiing troll was created as a result of a nationwide competition among schools, with the winning design handed in by Janne Solem. In a separate competition, the name “Sondre” was chosen for the Paralympic mascot as a reference to Sondre Norheim, one of the pioneers of modern skiing.

Sumi was the mascot for the 2010 Winter Paralympics. He is an animal guardian spirit with the wings of the mythical Thunderbird and legs of an American black bear who wears a killer whale-like hat in the artistic style of the Haida people.

[ewzzy]

I've got this double size treasury comic called Spider-Man vs The Hulk at the Winter Olympics. It came out December 1979 in time for the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid in upstate New York.

It's barely a story and very much a cash-in because the Olympics where in the USA that year. Still, I do enjoy Olympic athletes getting super weapons and forced to do evil.

This is back when Winter and Summer Olympics happened in the same year. 1994's Lillehammer games were the first to not be the same year as summer games. For now it's still 1980 and that means we've got a Summer Olympics comic to promote!

Except those summer games were held in Moscow and the USA lead a boycott where 66 countries no-showed the event. I love when there's an ad promoting a book that never comes out. Okay, so we'll delay to 1984 when it's in Los Angeles... lol no the USSR will boycott that. So before we let that ruin our major promotion we'll redraw/rewrite enough of the story to turn in into Contest of Champions!

Editor Tom Defalco claims the main reason the book ended up getting published at all was inker Pablo Marcos wasn't told to stop inking the pages and the book was half done before anyone else noticed.

[sonicgameshowdown]

[saleintothe90s]

478. 93 things about 1993, part 4

(part 3)

(source)

18. ValuJet flies for the first time (October 26)

ValuJet's first flight was from Atlanta to Tampa on October 26, 1993. By 1994, the planes with their silly mascot on them had made 15 emergency landings! 1 On June 8, 1995 one of their ancient planes had an engine fire on the tarmac in Atlanta.

We all know what happened to ValuJet just 2 1/2 years later.

19. Kenneth Junior French kills 4 because of "gays in the military". (August 7th)

He got four life terms + an extra 35 years tacked onto his sentence.

Newsweek, February 8, 1993

20. Socks Mania

People went absolutely feral over Bill Clinton's cat, Socks. There was merch:

Such as this Socks cat food container (eBay seller passalong)

This Socks watch that I still remember seeing at my local Kmart in 1996. Yes, the battery was dead. (eBay seller ha-340226)

This socks doll I also remember seeing at Kmart on a family vacation in Ohio that I desperately wanted. (eBay seller 13navybeans)

I don't have the date on it, but here is a clip of kids petting Socks at Christmas.

21. Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett get married (June)

When Roberts returned to the set of The Pelican Brief following her wedding, the cast and crew (including co-star Denzel Washington) threw her a party in which they all wore shirts that read: "He’s A Lovely Boy … But You Really Must Do Something About His Hair" on the back. 2

They only lasted til 1995, but they were cute together.

22. Base Closings (March)

Growing up, I thought this was the first time bases closed in the U.S., ever. No, a whole bunch closed just a couple of years prior!

(source)

23. Florida tourists killed

The state government ordered that all company logos be removed from rental cars, and it abolished special license tags for such vehicles. Rental car agencies now give customers detailed safety brochures in English, Spanish, German and other languages, and they play tape recordings with similar messages over the public address systems in their rental offices every five minutes. 3

There was even a bit in the SNL episode (hosted by Shannen Doherty) where Phil Hartman played Disney's Michael Eisner, alerting tourists that you'll won't get murdered in northern Florida where Disney is:

Hi, I’m Michael Eisner, speaking to you from the Magic Kingdom here in Orlando. You know, for the last few months, Florida has been victim to a terrible tragedy: the horrific murder of nine foreign tourists in Southern Florida. We here in Northern Florida express our sympathies.. to the families of those murdered hundreds of miles away.. in Miami, the capitol of Southern Florida.

8 tourists were killed in 1993. 4

24. Miller Clear

Faced with lackluster sales, the Miller Brewing Company has ended its market test of Miller Clear, the brewing industry's first clear beer. "We're not manufacturing it any longer for the near term," Eric Kraus, a spokesman for the Milwaukee-based brewer, said on Tuesday. "We had a tremendous initial trial, but repeat business was not necessarily as good." The beer that has been made will be sold, but no more will be brewed, Mr. Kraus said. In April, Miller began test-marketing its clear beer in Richmond, Minneapolis and Austin, Tex. 4

(there's some more about it on Weird Universe)

25. Tonya Harding's dress pops (January)

Earlier this year, a snap on her costume broke at the United States championships. At the 1992 Olympic trials, her blades were mounted slightly out of position, leaving her stranded with a broken axel. Skate problems also delayed her arrival at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, where she finished a disappointing fourth. By 1993, fourth was the best she could do at the United States championships. 5

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“ValuJet - Airlinefiles.” n.d. Accessed October 13, 2023. https://airlinefiles.com/valujet?showall=1.

“TBT: Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts Got Married After Dating for Just a Few Weeks.” n.d. InStyle. Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.instyle.com/news/tbt-julia-roberts-lyle-lovett-relationship.

Rohter, Larry. “Tourist Is Killed in Florida Despite Taking Precautions.” The New York Times, September 9, 1993, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/09/us/tourist-is-killed-in-florida-despite-taking-precautions.html.

Clary, Mike. “Woman Confesses to Killing German Tourist, Police Say : Crime: She Reports Being Angered When the Couple Targeted for Robbery Would Not Stop Their Rental Car. A Third Suspect Is Held.” Los Angeles Times. September 11, 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-11-mn-34072-story.html.

Longman, Jere. “FIGURE SKATING; For Harding, Not All Sequins and Music.” The New York Times, October 26, 1993, sec. Sports. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/26/sports/figure-skating-for-harding-not-all-sequins-and-music.html. https://archive.ph/G5T63

[jontycrane]

Lillehammer

Best known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympic Games, Lillehammer is a quiet and attractive small town at the head of Lake Mjøsa, Norway’s largest lake. It was a pleasant place to spend a day or so, very walkable and low key. The Norwegian Olympic Museum is a good place to start. It isn’t huge but tells well the story of the Olympic Games from Ancient Greece through to the modern day, before…

[iambelieb]

Funding of a major sports venue (SoFi Stadium)

The funding of popular sports venue always come with criticism and different perspectives. There is a school of that believes taxpayers become burdened by the funding of a new sports venue (Matheson, 2019). Other believes the funding should rather be invested in areas such as housing, healthcare and education (Merrefield, 2024). For the purposes of this topic, I would analyse the funding of the SoFi stadium in Inglewood, California in the United States of America. The total cost of the stadium settles around 5 billion dollars and was built with a combination of public and private funding (Lubell, 2020). Home to the Los Angles Chargers and Rams, the construction of the stadium sparked arguments about the use of taxpayers' money and priorities of sitting governments.

Image 1.0 depicting some concerns about the construction of the SoFi Stadium.

As evident in Image 1.0, there was popular belief among sections of the public that funding behind this project should have been allocated to more pressing community needs such as homelessness and public health care (Coleman, 2020). From an academic perspective, critics challenged the fairness of using taxpayers' money to support a privately-owned venue like the SoFi stadium. There were others who believed the construction of the stadium will reel in economic benefits of the city of Los Angeles including increased job opportunities and a boost to the tourism sector. From the media point of view, there was emphasis on the state-of-the-art features of the stadium, its grandeur architecture, technological innovations and advancements.

Image 2.0 showing some technological features of the SoFi stadium including a 360-video board.

Both academic and media perspective agrees on the economic impacts such a sports venue would do for the city and ultimately the country by driving tourism numbers and generation of jobs. The academic perspective on this is quite diverse and involves the allocation of public funds, opportunity cost and the potentially trade-off (Hanstad et al., 2020). This perspective raises issues around economic justifications and impacts of rather funding other community services. The media perspective focuses on areas such as the coverage of the architecture design, the innovation and grandeur features of the venue. There are others that questions the spending behind such venues and emphasise the controversy surrounding the funding of sports venues (Sant et al., 2019).

Image 3.0 showing the architectural and innovational design of the SoFi stadium.

Overall, both perspectives provide valuable insights into the complexities and arguments surrounding the funding of major sports venues. These arguments counter each other but ultimately helps form the opinion of the average sports fan, taxpayer or citizen.

References:

Matheson, V. (2019). IS THERE A CASE FOR SUBSIDIZING SPORTS STADIUMS? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 38(1), 271–277. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22096

Sant, S.-L., Mason, D. S., & Chen, C. (2019). ‘Second-tier outpost’? Negative civic image and urban infrastructure development. Cities, 87, 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.10.006

Hanstad, D. V., & Lesjø, J. H. (2020).  A positive legacy – against all odds Olympic facilities at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. Current Issues in Sport Science, 5. https://doi.org/10.36950/2020ciss008

Coleman, J. (2020, September 10). The struggle against a stadium's construction became a battle for the soul of Los Angeles. The Appeal. https://theappeal.org/sofi-stadium-gentrification-displacement-lennox-inglewood-tenants-union/

Merrefield, C. (2024, April 10). Sports stadiums and taxpayer financing: A primer and research roundup. The Journalist's Resource. https://journalistsresource.org/economics/sports-stadium-public-financing/

Lubell, S. (2020, September 2). Why SoFi stadium is revolutionary for the NFL and L.A. The Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-09-02/sofi-stadium-architecture-park

[sportvenueandeventmanagment]

Entry 4- Olympic Games Legacy

The Olympics is managed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC is a global organisation that collaborates with a range of stakeholders including athletes, national Olympic committees, and international federations. The vision statement according to the International Olympic committee is to “Build a better world through sport (Olympics, 2024, pg. 1). Ultimately supporting the path being paved by the organisation to ensure the Olympic games are creating a meaning long lasting effect on communities and the sport world. 

The Olympic Games is one of the most iconic sporting events in the world. It sees countries come together with the best of the best athletes to compete against each other. In its thirty-year history the Olympic has been hosted in over 47 cities and 27 countries, and five continents (Olympics, 2024). The game’s first kicked off in 1986 in Poland (Nowak & Nowak, 2017) and was hosted every four years until 1994 where terms were agreed on to change the games to every two years in a different city or country (History,2024) in accordance with the games occurring every two years we see both summer and winter Olympic games. The Olympic legacy has been established to demonstrate its long-lasting sustainable impacts that are associated with hosting the Olympic Games (Byun & Leopkey, 2020). In essence, there has been much discussion surrounding the sport literature surrounding preparation for the Olympic games which brought much attention to the way host cities conduct its planning for producing a long-lasting legacy for the games to ensure investments aren’t being misused compared to prior games (Kassens-Noor, 2013). Generally speaking, the Olympic games is one of the biggest known global events meaning if you don’t know what the games are you are living under a rock! 

The Olympic games are known to make many impacts in the economy, cultural aspects, and fans. Generally speaking, cities themselves are main actors in the long-lasting legacy affect (Miles, 2014) the ability to host a large-scale event like the Olympics brings all cultures from around the world together to represent their country and celebrate all aspects included with competing at the games. In addition, the IOC takes pride in promoting sport through societies, strengthen the integrity of sport and supporting the health and safety of athletes and other sporting leagues and organisations. Overall, the IOC takes enormous efforts to ensure there is legacy behind every game which is highlighted in the ‘Legacy Strategic Approach’ which identifies the 4 objectives of embed, celebrate, partner and capture, refereeing to image one provides a breakdown of each module (Legacy Strategic Approach, 2017) which highlights the steps taken to ensure the Olympics are making long lasting effects on society. 

References

Byun, J. Leopkey, B. (2020). Exploring Issues within Post-Olympic Games Legacy Governance: The Case of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 12(9), 3585. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093585  

Legacy Strategic Approach. (2017, December). IOC Legacy Strategic Approach: Moving forward. https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Documents/Olympic-Legacy/IOC_Legacy_Strategy_Full_version.pdf

Kassens-Noor, E. (2013). Transport legacy of the Olympic Games, 1992–2012. Journal of Urban Affairs, 35(4), 393-416

Miles, S. (2014). The Beijing Olympics: Complicit consumerism and the re-invention of citizenship. Contemporary Social Science: Journal of the Academy of

Social Sciences, 9(2), 159–172.

Nowak, L., & Nowak, M. A. (2017). Timeline of the World Polonia Winter Games (1986–2016). Sport and Tourism Central European Journal, 16(3), 85-105.

Olympics. (2024, May). How many cities and countries have hosted the Olympic Games?. https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/electing-olympic-hosts/how-many-cities-and-countries-have-hosted-the-olympic-games#:~:text=To%20date%20(2024)%20the%20Games,cities%2Fpriovinces%20and%20four%20countries.

[archieroberts]

Entry 3 - SVAEM

Topic 4: Olympic Games Legacy

The Olympic Games are one of the most iconic and well-known sporting events in the world. First establishing way back in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin, the games have come an extraordinarily long way in the past one hundred and thirty years. The games have a real strong legacy and carry that on year after year (Byun & Leopkey, 2020). Initially, the games were held every four years, but in 1994 it was agreed to change it to every two years (THE HISTORY.., 2024).Generally speaking, it’s incredibly rare for somebody to NOT know what the Olympic games are due to its massive global impact over the decades. Its ability to host large scale sporting events across the world in hundreds of countries and celebrate their culture is awesome. Very excitingly, the games are coming down under in 2032, being held at Brisbane. The games have been held in Australia twice before (Melbourne and Sydney).     

The values of Olympic games include excellence, respect and friendship. The games essentially celebrate different cultures and nations through coming together to compete in sport in a friendly manner. Recognisable Olympic legends include names like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Kathy Freeman and Jesse Owens to name quite literally a few from thousands. Events held include Archery, Football, Basketball and many more. Awesomely, the games don’t just cover for able humans. It has a separate body called the Paralympics which serves as the Olympics for people who are disabled, impaired and the like. Its impact online is something that cannot be overlooked. Amassing seven and a half million followers on Instagram and a whopping 27 million followers on Facebook. These tallies amongst more clearly show an interest from fans and people around the world.

From Olympic Legacy Handbook (2012)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), who are the governing body for the games. State that ““Olympic legacy is the result of a vision. It encompasses all the tangible and intangible long-term benefits initiated or accelerated by the hosting of the Olympic Games/sports events for people, cities/territories and the Olympic Movement.”

The viewership numbers for each of the games are always strong. Peaking during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, in large part due to the global pandemic and lockdowns. With 5.5 billion viewers across the event, it was the highest recorded tally thus far in history (The Most Surprising.., 2024). Additionally, some more great numbers, such as 4.7b for the 2008 Bejing Olympics and 3.6b for London in 2012.

Thus, the Olympic games have left a lasting legacy over time and will continue to be a key asset of sport. And provide thousands if not millions of people with enjoyment and entertainment through sport.   

References:

Byun, J. Leopkey, B. (2020). Exploring Issues within Post-Olympic Games Legacy Governance: The Case of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 12(9), 3585. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093585  

Byun, J. Dowling, M. Leopkey, B. (2023). Governance of Post-Olympic Games Legacy Organizations: A Comparative Study. Journal of Sport Management, 37, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2021-0224

Contreras, J. Corvalan, A. (2014). Olympic Games: No legacy for sports. Economics Letters, 122(2), 268–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2013.12.006

Davis, J. (2019). Futurescapes of urban regeneration: ten years of design for the unfolding urban legacy of London's Olympic Games, 2008-2018. Planning Perspectives, 34(5), 877–901. https://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2018.1541757

Minnaert, L. (2012). An Olympic legacy for all? The non-infrastructural outcomes of the Olympic Games for socially excluded groups (Atlanta 1996–Beijing 2008). Tourism Management (1982), 33(2), 361–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2011.04.005

THE HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES. (2024). Paris 2024. https://www.paris2024.org/en/history-of-olympic-games/

The Most Surprising Olympics Viewership Statistics And Trends in 2024. (2024). Gitnux.org. https://gitnux.org/olympics-viewership-statistics/

[cuddlypuppieslover31]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Vintage Hanes USA Olympics Unisex Men's XL Red Embroidered Sweater 1994.

[cc-plays-mario]

Mario Game list

I'm playing my way through all the Mario games I can get my hands on. As there are so many, I'm not listing party and sport games as I'm not interested in playing them. Games that cross multiple consoles will only be listed once. If it's green I've completed it. List under the cut

Switch

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017)

Super Mario Odyssey (2017)

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2018)

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (2019)

Yoshi's Crafted World (2019)

Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019)

Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020) - 100%

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (2022)

Super Mario Bros. Wonder(2023)

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (2024)

Princess Peach: Showtime! (2024)

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (2024)

Wii/Wii U (I'm waiting for the online emulator)

Super Mario 3D World (2013)

Dr. Luigi (2013)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (2015)

Yoshi's Woolly World (2015)

Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016)

Super Paper Mario (2007)

Super Mario Galaxy (2007)

Dr. Mario Online Rx (2008)

Mario Kart Wii (2008)

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009)

New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009)

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)

3DS, DSI, DS

Super Mario 3D Land (2011)

Mario Kart 7 (2011)

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012)

Paper Mario: Sticker Star (2012)

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (2013)

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (2013)

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013)

Yoshi's New Island (2014)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (2015)

Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure (2015)

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015)

Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World (2017)

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (2017)

Luigi's Mansion (2018)

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey (2019)

Super Mario 64 DS (2004)

Yoshi Touch & Go (2005)

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005)

Mario Kart DS (2005)

Super Princess Peach (2005)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (2006)

New Super Mario Bros. (2006)

Yoshi's Island DS (2006)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem (2010)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (2009)

Dr. Mario Express (2009)

Wario: Master of Disguise

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3

GameCube

Super Mario Sunshine (2002)

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)

Wario World

Game Boy Advance

Super Mario Advance (2001)

Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001)

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (2001)

Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (2002)

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003)

Dr. Mario & Puzzle League (2005)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004)

Mario Pinball Land (2004)

Yoshi Topsy-Turvy (2004)

Yoshi's Universal Gravitation (2004)

Wario Land 4

N64

Super Mario 64 (1996)

Mario Kart 64 (1996)

Yoshi's Story (1997)

Paper Mario (2000)

Dr. Mario 64 (2001)

SNES

Super Mario World (1990, SFC; 1991, SNES)

Super Mario Kart (1992, SNES)

Mario Paint (1992, SNES)

Mario & Wario (1993, SNES)

Mario is Missing! (1993, SNES)

Mario's Time Machine (1993, SNES)

Super Mario All-Stars (1993, SNES)

Yoshi's Cookie (1993, SNES)

Yoshi's Safari (1993, SNES)

Tetris & Dr. Mario (1994, SNES)

Wario's Woods (1994, SNES)

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995, SNES)

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, SNES)

Game Boy

Wario Land II

Wario Land 3

Wario Land 4

Super Mario Land (1989, GB)

Dr. Mario (1990, GB)

Yoshi (1991, GB)

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992, GB)

Donkey Kong (1994, GB)

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (1999, GBC)

[the-olympics-olympics]

Both of the Games that these mascots represented were historically significant in their own ways - for better or worse.

Magique's Olympics were the last time the Winter Olympics were held the same year as the Summer Olympics; beginning in 1994 they would have the Olympics every two years, alternating Summer and Winter. It was also the first Olympic Games since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany. Five of the former Soviet republics competed as a "Unified Team", and Germany competed as a single nation for the first time since 1952.

Waldi's Olympics were notable for different reasons. The most well-known event at the Munich 1972 Games was a terrorist attack known as the "Munich Massacre", after which competition was suspended for 34 hours for the first time in Olympic history. The Games weren't all tragic, of course; Munich 1972 marked the Olympic debut of influential gymnast Olga Korbut, and Mark Spitz's record-setting seven gold medals in a single Olympics - a record that stood until Michael Phelps in 2008.

[mitchbeck]

HARTFORD WOLF PACK REPORTERS NOTEBOOK

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Hartford Wolf Pack players will report to the New York Rangers training camp in only a few weeks. But that is not the only news, as more players are moving about and signing contracts around the world. But while some are signing to keep playing, others call it a career. Ex-CT Whale and Ranger defenseman Michael Del Zotto retired from hockey after 14 seasons, his last with the Anaheim  Ducks. He split last year with the Charlotte Checkers and the San Diego Gulls (AHL) after 736 NHL games and a Stanley Cup. Del Zotto was initially drafted by the Rangers in 2008. Another player calling it a career is ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger goalie Kevin Poulin. He retired from hockey after playing with the Laval Rocket with an above .500 record in the AHL. Poulin played for five teams and accumulated a career record of 115-106-23 with a .910 save percentage over nine seasons. He spent 13 years in pro hockey and earned a bronze medal for Team Canada at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea. SIGNINGS Ex-Pack Joey Keane renews his deal with Spartak Moscow (Russia-KHL). Ex-Pack/Sound Tiger Jean-François Bérubé leaves the Florida Panthers organization and returns to the LA Kings organization. Five more AHL’ers move on to Europe. Bobby Lynch leaves the Rockford IceHogs for Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL). Goalie Anton Khudobdin also leaves Rockford for Sokol Krasnoyarsk (Russia-VHL). Dylan Sikura leaves the San Diego Gulls and Rockford for Skellefteå AIK (Sweden-SHL). Chase Pearson leaves the Grand Rapids Griffins to go to HC Dukla Michalovce (Slovakia-SLEL), and Erik Brown departs from Bridgeport to Sport Vassa (Finland-FEL). That makes 83 players in total heading to Europe. Ten go to Russia, making 17 to the KHL. 30 of the 32 AHL teams have seen at least one player sign overseas. Sweden leads all countries with 31 players signed. ERIC BOULTON & SONS Eric Boulton, who played with the Rochester Americans (AHL) during his career. He played against the Wolf Pack, most memorably in the 2000 AHL Calder Cup final. He was also a Sound Tiger for two games at the end of his career. The Rangers originally drafted him in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL Draft, but he never played in New York. He spent half a season in Binghamton. Boulton has both of his sons involved in hockey. His 17-year-old son, Ryder Boulton, will play for the London Knights (OHL) this season. He spent last year with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres U-16 AAA team, where his father was the assistant coach and an Islanders pro scout. 19-year-old Sawyer Boulton is in American junior hockey. He goes from the El Paso (TX) Rhinos (NAHL) to the Rochester Jr. Americans (NAHL) this year. MOVES The Pittsburgh Penguins dealt Peter DiLiberatore (Quinnipiac University) to the Arizona Coyotes, where he will likely play with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL). Another former member of the national champion Quinnipiac Bobcats and a grad transfer from Wisconsin (Big 10), Ty Smilanic, is slated to be in the rookie camp of the Montreal Canadiens, hoping to get a deal to play in Laval or the Trois-Rivières Lions (ECHL). Jacob Nordqvist, who played his grad transfer also with the national champion Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) team after four years with Lake Superior State (CCHA), signs with the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL). Now that makes 26 ECACHL pro signees. The Hockey East conference still leads all conferences with 38 singings, while the NCHC has 37, the CCHA has 35, the Big Ten 32, and the AHA has 20. As for the rest, the NCAA Independents have 13, Europe has 65, and Division III has 34. Canadian colleges have four, and Canadian major junior leagues have only two. Undergrads leaving early is at 39, and the total number is now 305. Grad transfers 70 and in-school-104. NEWS UCONN promotes Assistant Coach Tyler Helton to Associate Head Coach. After four years as an undergrad since 2013, he has been a part of the UCONN Hockey East version since its inception. The Huskies got a verbal commitment from California native Colin Frank of the Dubuque  Fighting Saints (USHL) for 2025-26. Jake Sanderson, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler Geoff Sanderson, signed a one-year extension with the Ottawa Senators to his original ELC deal. The U-17 tourney schedule was announced. It will be held in Charlottetown (Eastlink Centre)/Summerside (Credit Union Place), PEI (Prince Edward Island) November 2-12. It features six teams: Canada Red, Canada White, Czechia, Finland, Sweden, and the US. The medal games will be held on November 11 at noon and 5 p.m. AST. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[googleolympics]

They are the largest sporting celebration in terms of the number of sports on the programme, the number of athletes present and the number of people from different nations gathered together at the same time, in the same place, in the spirit of friendly competition.

Organised every four years, they include a summer and a winter edition. Athletes from all 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Olympic Refugee Team are eligible to compete in a wide range of sporting disciplines and events, watched by a worldwide audience.

The first edition of the modern Olympic Games was staged in Athens, Greece, in 1896, while the first winter edition was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Since 1994, the Olympic Games have alternated between a summer and winter edition every two years within the four-year period of each Olympiad.

[chrismikhak]

A Look at Olympic Medal Counts by Country

While the origins of the Olympic Games extend back more than 3,000 years, to ancient Greece, the modern event started in Athens in 1896. The international athletic competition has been held consistently since this time, though individual events have been canceled or delayed due to wars and other global incidents. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Olympic Games have been held as alternating events, taking place every two years. More than 200 countries have sent at least one athlete to a Summer or Winter Olympics, winning thousands of combined medals.

When looking at the Olympics as a single event, combining sports from the Summer and Winter programs, the five most successful countries are the United States, the Soviet Union, Germany, Great Britain, and France. While hundreds of nations have increased their medal count over the years, just over 100 countries have managed to secure a gold medal.

The United States leads both the overall and gold medal counts, at 2,976 and 1,180, respectively, prior to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Unlike many nations’ medal tables, America’s medal count decreases from gold to silver to bronze, with 959 silver medals and 837 bronze medals. Other nations, which competed at the Olympics between 1952 and 1991, have similar tables. In contrast, most countries have more bronze than silver, and more silver than bronze.

As the Olympics’ most accomplished nation, America has dominated several programs. The country has excelled at track and field events, though as the largest Summer Olympics program, track and field often makes up the majority of a nation’s medal count at the Summer Games. Behind track and field, wrestling and shooting each add 15 medals, including three golds each. That said, basketball is America’s most dominant sport, with a combined men’s and women’s record of 218-9.

America, and Germany are two of the only nations with more than 1,000 Olympic medals, followed by Great Britain at 966 and France at 909. France has a significant lead on Italy, the sixth most successful nation at the Olympics, with 139 additional medals. However, the gold medal gap is just nine.

For some fans, analysts, and athletes, gold is all that matters. America maintains a healthy lead of more than 700 gold medals. The gap between No. 3, Germany, and No. 4, Great Britain, is less than 50 medals, while the People’s Republic of China has 16 more gold medals than Italy, despite trailing Italy’s total medal count by 68. Canada ranks No. 13 overall but would fall to No. 18 based on gold medals.

In some cases, particularly with smaller nations that excel in one or two specific programs, a country’s medal table is heavily weighted toward gold medals. The Bahamas, for example, has won eight gold medals, 50 percent of the nation’s 16 total medals. All but one of the country’s golds have come from track events.

National medal tables look different when separating the Summer and Winter Games. The United States falls to No. 2 when considering only the Winter Games. Norway edges out the United States in both total medals, 404 to 321, and gold medals, 147 to 111. Germany retains its No. 3 position, followed by Austria and Canada.

The Summer Olympics are more indicative of the overall medal count, though Great Britain edges out Germany with 53 more golds and 78 more medals overall.