Winter Olympics are over. Risk and drama galore!

A recap of the 21st Winter Olympic Games would be one of risk and drama. Let's face it, all events at the games have risk factors. Skiing, Speed skating, Luging, etc. Those athletes are going fast. Are they going too fast? I read an interesting article in February 26 edition of THE WEEK asking this very question.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, photo by Elise Amendola/AP

The games started on a sad note with the death of the 21 year old Georgian lunger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was thrown from the track during a training run before the Opening Ceremonies. Unfortunately, I saw the footage. So you do not have to see it (if you haven't already), he caught a wicked curve and flew off the track and slammed into an unprotected metal pole. A side note: the track in Vancouver is the fiercest and fastest in the world. It wasn't the best way to start off these Winter Olympics and the Canadians did a good job dealing with it. Hey, they're Canadians!

Alexandre Bilodeau, Getty Images

It was great watching Canadian freestyle mogul skier Alexandre Bilodeau be the first Canadian to gold medal on Canadian soil early in the first 10 events. Though, not so much fun watching the mens Canadian hockey team beat the US hockey team in overtime. Grrr. But seriously, the US Ski Team and all US athletes did our country proud and brought home a leading total of 37 medals! 9 GOLD, 15 SILVER, 13 BRONZE. U-S-A! U-S-A!

And there was drama you say? Well, it was extenuated by the media of course. Especially since it was between the US Ski Team's leading ladies Lindsey Vonn and Julie Mancuso. Julia, who won GOLD 4 years ago, won 2 SILVER this year. Lindsey got a GOLD and a BRONZE. So in a nutshell,  Julia was flagged on her first defending GOLD Giant Slalom run after Lindsey crashed right before her on the course. By the time Julia got back up the mountain to redo her first run, the course was trashed (I guess she knows how the girls lower on the ladder feel) and left her in 18th place. Julia got emotional and the media brought out Lindsey and Julia's "we're friendly, but not friends" competitive relationship. Julia was defending her GOLD, and got emotional when she didn't perform how she wanted. After Julia's killer 2nd run, she didn't medal and finished in the top 10. I can understand, even though others have pegged her as a drama queen.

Left to Right: Julia Mancuso, Lindsey Vonn (Andrew Mills)

They say Lindsey is the Golden Girl but didn't Julia win GOLD first in 2006? I like both of these fierce ladies, but it seems the media wants to hop into bed with Lindsey. She gets an interview on The Tonight Show, Julia gets the George Lopez Show. I understand Lindsey's the one who got the GOLD this year (and the World Cup), but I hope Julia got the acclaim Lindsey is getting for her GOLD 4 years ago. I don't remember since I wasn't "back on the mountain" yet.

The next Winter Olympic Games are in Sochi, Russia. Getting excited?