Word: winterers
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Last Thursday afternoon, during the ceremonial raising of the national flags at the Vancouver Olympic village, the Mexican national anthem blared over the loudspeaker. Mexico's lone Winter Olympian, alpine skier Hubertus von Hohenlohe, stood at attention, right arm crossing his chest. That's right - Hubertus von Hohenlohe. If you're thinking that name doesn't sound very Mexican, you'd be absolutely correct. In fact, he's a descendant of German royalty, the son of Prince Alfonso Hohenlohe and Princess Ira Fürstenberg. Can't get more Mexican than that...
...With every Winter Olympics, fans eat up the weird stories about the athletes from warm-weather countries that would seem to have no business participating in their chosen sports. And although the Jamaican bobsledders failed to qualify for the Olympics this time, the Vancouver Games offer plenty of intriguing tales. In addition to the middle-aged German skier prince representing Mexico, there's a speedskater from the Cayman Islands, cross-country skiers from Bermuda, Ethiopia and Ghana, and a few other oddballs who marched in Friday's opening ceremony. Even Jamaica still got to raise its flag: a freestyle skier...
...spectrum of sports. A Pittsburgh-bred point guard, who speaks little Russian, suited up for Russia's basketball team during the Beijing Olympics. African distance runners have competed for Bahrain, and American baseball players for Italy. But the tie between country and competitor is especially loose in the Winter Games, since warm-weather places like Mexico and Jamaica can't even claim a speck of snow or ice. Errol Kerr, the Jamaican ski cross athlete, grew up in the Lake Tahoe area. Ruben Gonzalez, a luger with Argentina's team, lives in Katy, Texas; he moved to the U.S. when...
...opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics Friday night in Vancouver was the usual mix of artistry and awkwardness. The festivities included Canadian aboriginal dancers, who greeted the parade of athletes donned in sparkling regalia - a touching nod to an underappreciated aspect of the country's culture. But the 65-foot puppet of a polar bear covered in LED bulbs that emerged from the stage, while admittedly pretty cool, begged the question: Does the world really need to see a 65-foot polar bear? (See pictures of Olympic opening ceremonies...
...Banner has been told that the waves have come. And he is ready for Mavericks, the legendary surf contest timed to the optimal moment when winter storms push the Pacific's waters over singular underwater reefs to create enormous and deadly waves off the Northern California coast not far from Half Moon Bay. Like a matador choosing his cape before facing a bull, Banner, a contestant, pauses between two of his sleek surfboards. One is 9 ft. 8 in. and curved like a bow. More maneuverable, it will let him slash his turns across the face of the monstrous...