Olympic Pictograms

Youtube Link

Designer Steven Heller gives an overview and critique of Olympic pictograms used over the past 74 years for the New York Times. When you only see these every few years, you don’t realize how different they are for each Olympiad. -Via: The Presurfer, Via: Neatorama

Skiing Blind

The final day of the Winter Olympics this Sunday has only two events: the gold medal men’s hockey game and the 50km cross-country skiing race. Brian McKeever will be skiing for Canada. This race will make him the first Olympian ever to participate in both the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in the same year. McKeever is legally blind.

In 1998, McKeever was a promising 19-year-old skier when he was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a type of juvenile macular degeneration that gradually leads to blindness. Twelve years later, McKeever only has 10 percent of his vision, and that tiny fraction is in his peripheral vision.

Rather than rolling over when he lost his sight, though, McKeever got back on his skis.

Read about how McKeever does it at mental_floss. Link, Via: Neatorama

Digg Dialogg: Julia Mancuso

You submit and vote on the questions you want to see answered. The most popular ones are asked during the video interview. It's like having an all-access pass to some of the most prominent people in the world!

Julia Mancuso is an alpine ski racer on the US Ski Team, winning a gold medal in the Giant Slalom during the 2006 Winter Olympics. She made her World Cup debut at age 15, winning her first of many medals just two years later. Nicknamed ‘Super Jules’, a run at Squaw Valley pays homage to her wins and was recently renamed “Julia’s Gold.” LINK

Winter Olympics

Tomorrow, February 12, the world will gather to watch top athletes from around the globe compete in the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Athletes from Team USA, who have been training their entire lives will take the stage to represent our country. I'm writing with the hope that you could share the news about Team USA with the readers of Anything & Everything.

Anyone who registers on Teamusa.org will have access to the latest info and will receive exclusive updates throughout the games. I've put all that information including some very cool Team USA widgets and banners into this social media news release here:

http://teamusanews.org

2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games Medals

None of the 615 Olympic and 399 Paralympic medals will be exactly alike and rather than stick to a flat metal disc with engravings on front and back, British Columbia designer Corinne Hunt, along with architect Omer Arbel, made the medals wavy and undulating.

The Olympic medals will display an orca while the Paralympic medals will feature a raven."The orca or the killer whale is really a beautiful creature that is strong, it has many wonderful physical characteristics but it also is a creature that lives within a community," Hunt explained. "The raven is a totem rising, it's a creature that is all things, and I think Paralympic athletes have that in them," she added. The Olympic medals are circular in shape while the Paralympic medals are more square.

The reverse side of the medals displays the name of the Games in English and French, as well as the Vancouver 2010 logo and the name of the sport for which the medal was issued. The Paralympic medals will also have braille type. The Games motto, "With Glowing Hearts," will be written on the medal's blue and green ribbon. LINK

Miracle-Herb Brooks" Pre-Game Speech

Herb Brooks' pre-game pep talk before the famous 1980 "Miracle" game against the Soviet Union. as performed by "Rizzo" (4 yrs old). LINK: Youtube



Pre game pep talk by Coach Brooks before gane with Russia 1980. LINK; Youtube

The Olympic Flames

“Soaring spectacularly into the night sky, a massive fireworks display emphasizes the magnificence of the new Olympic National Stadium in Bejing.” w/ photos. LINK