The XXII Olympic Winter Games started with a bang last week. From reports of sub-par conditions as chronicled by the Twitter handle @SochiProblems, to athletes getting locked in bathrooms and elevators, to harrowing athleticism that will continue to win over judges and medals, the 2014 Sochi Olympics is off to a promising start. This Trending News Monday, let’s check out some of the highlights out of the games so far:
America Wins the First Gold Medal
Sage Kotsenburg won the first gold medal of the 2014 Sochi Olympics in the first-ever Men’s Snowboarding Slopestyle event. An American hailing from Idaho, Kotsenburg won this event on the course that famously scared away snowboarding legend Shaun White, and injured several other athletes during practice. With an overall score of 93.5, Kotsenburg took home the first gold medal of the games for the United States.
Canadian Sisters Take Silver and Gold in Women’s Freestyle Skiing
Canadian sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-LaPointe took the gold and silver medals for the Women’s Freestyle Skiing event, adding their names to a short list of three other sibling pairs in Olympic history to both medal in the same event. The Dufour-LaPointes had a third sister, Maxime, compete in the Women’s Freestyle Skiing event, earning a 12th place finish.
Snowflake Malfunction in the opening ceremony
A special effects malfunction in the opening ceremony enraged many, as five snowflakes were supposed to transform into the 5 Olympic rings. One of the snowflakes failed to blossom into a ring, and set those watching from home into social media frenzy, quickly creating memes about the mishap, and even false reports of the designers apparent murder (he’s alive and well). Those in Russia did not even know there was a malfunction, as the footage from the practice opening ceremony was played instead of the live footage.
The LEGO Movie
In non-Olympic related news, The LEGO Movie shocked many as it dominated the box office this weekend, earning $69.1 MM. The LEGO Movie opening is the second largest movie opening in the month of February, after The Passion of the Christ in 2004. This opening is also the largest opening of any Warner Brothers Animated Feature.
This weekend was one of entertainment, patriotism and fun, which is exactly what we all needed with the return of the polar vortex and the blankets of snow covering the country.
Cover Photo Source: Iurii Osadchi / Shutterstock.com
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://wpmaster.sjadv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Our-Space-Mary-Bio-Pic.png[/author_image] [author_info]Mary is an Assistant Account Executive at SJG. She earned her BA in Communication from the University of Evansville in 2013. In her spare time, when she’s not engulfing novels in a coffee shop, Mary feels most at home celebrating life and love with her family and friends, and visiting the streets of Paris in her dreams. [/author_info] [/author]