A Brief Guide to the Guide - Part II - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(Based on the book, “Winter Olympics:  An Insider’s Guide to the Legends, the Lore, and the Games”, Vancouver Edition, copyright 2008 by Ron C. Judd)

A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE GUIDE – PART II

From Mr. Judd:

Sport by Sport:

This book is organized by sporting event, grouped into ice sports and snow sports.  Individual chapters describe individual pursuits by athletes – hockey , speedskating, cross-country skiing, and the like.  Each chapter begins with an overview of the sport, often including an anecdote from my personal experience at the Olympics or compelling stories from Games past that illustrate the character of each given sport.

Spectator’s Guide:

The “Spectator’s Guide” sections are a simple introduction to the sport:  how it’s competed, on what field of play, with what equipment, how one wins, and so on.  Few people really know all the rules of the events they see so infrequently.  And even those of us who do witness them more often usually benefit from a refresher course.

HISTORY’S HITS AND MISSES:

Each Spectator’s Guide is followed by a “History’s Hits and Misses” section, a grab bag of great exploits, notable flops, unforgettable moments, and trivia from the annals of the sport in question.  It’s short of the “Cliffs Notes” on the subject, the basic boilerplate history any educated Olympic fan needs to know.

Record Book:

Each chapter also features the “Record Book”, a section describing prominent medalists in the sport.  Note that I make no attempt here to include all the medalists in a sport.  Other published works, most notably David Wallechinsky’s indispensable The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics, do that and more, listing the top finishers in each event for the entirety of the Games’ history.  Instead I have attempted here to summarize, listing interesting trends (such as the Soviet Union’s decades-long lock on the gold medal in pairs figure skating, or Canada’s early dominance in ice hockey).  I have also endeavoured to single out prominent medalists, especially those with long Olympic careers and noteworthy medal hauls.  Lastly, I’ve attempted to list all of the North American medalists for each sport.  This is not intended as a slight on other deserving medalists; it’s simply a reflection of the primary audience for this book:  North Americans.

Next Stop:

Each chapter concludes with the section “Next Stop”, describing the venue where that sport will take place for the Vancouver 2010 Games.  In some cases, these sections include detailed reviews of the actual field of play from athletes who have participated in test events at the venues (most of which are new).  When appropriate, I’ve also included information on how to use the venue – for your own figure skating turns or weekend mogul attempts, as the case may be – when and if it’s open and available for public use after the Games are over.

Legends of the Sport and Olympic Flashbacks:

Interspersed throughout the book are two other features:  “Legend of the Sport” pieces highlight an athlete whose Olympic Games performance truly qualifies him or her as legendary.  The title is not bestowed lightly; you have to have done something remarkable to earn the label.  Note that several of the newer sports don’t include a “legend” because, frankly, I don’t believe they’ve been around long enough for any athlete to have earned the title.  “Olympic Flashbacks” are moment-in-time glimpses of my reporting of the Games.  Each is a column filed from the Winter Olympics and published in the following day’s Seattle Times as part of my general Olympic beat reporting.  I reproduce them here because they say, in a manner more fresh and of-the-moment, more about an event than I could ever hope to say by re-creating it from memory.  They are some of my favourite pieces filed from the Winter Olympics.

copyright 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.