Image courtesy of examiner.com

It was a pretty wild day for team USA at the Olympics yesterday, as two hotshot US athletes made good (or should we say gold?) on their hype. Shaun White outpaced the competition in the half pipe by whipping out his signature double twist trick on the second run. And Lindsay Vonn won gold in women’s downhill, despite near-disastrous conditions on the mountain that prevented the athletes from practicing on the actual runs they’d be competing on (remember when we said they were going to have to chopper in snow? Well, yeah.)

Unsurprisingly, American speed skaters Shani Davis and Apolo Anton Ohno skated easily (ho ho) to the next stage in their heats. And round robins continue for curling and hockey, so stay tuned for some powerhouse match-ups. Canadian pride is on the line when it comes to hockey, so Canada’s matches with Russia and the US promise to be explosive.

If you’re not watching the games…don’t miss out!

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Games begin tonight! Whether you like sports or not, I think everyone can get behind the idea of opening ceremonies–there are costumes for the fashionistas, choreography for the dance fans, and great design for creative, artsy types. And if you’re not into any of that, there’s usually some pretty cool gymnastics and fireworks.

Host cities usually pour millions of dollars into designing an opening ceremony that reflects their nation’s history and culture. In anticipation of the Vancouver opening ceremonies (what will those Canadians come up with??) we wanted to look at some of the opening ceremonies of the past.

The parade of nations in Athens brought the centuries-old Games full circle back to the land where they originated.

Beijing had one of the more exciting–and expensive–opening ceremonies in recent memory.

Atlanta went with a “Traditions of the South”, which many found controversial.

The uber-theatrical Salt Lake City opener:

And just for a throwback, here are the Helsinki Games from 1952:

The Winter Olympics offer something for everyone. I’m serious here – if you don’t like sports, there are some excellent opportunities for intense fashion critique when it comes to the figure skating events, it being a fine line between gossamer and garish and all. Plus, there’s something highly satisfying about bundling up with a steamy cup of hot chocolate to watch other people slip and slide down icy cliffs and huge moguls.

The Vancouver Winter Olympics in a couple of weeks are poised to be just as exciting – there’s only one problem. There may not be snow.

The chosen venue for the snowboarding and freestyle skiing events, Cypress Mountain, is enjoying unseasonably warm temperatures and no forecast of snow in sight. Organizers say their current plan is to truck snow down from high elevations or bring it in by helicopter, if need be. The only problem will be preventing it from melting.

Man, is there anything that global warming won’t mess up? At least the figure skating costumes remain unaffected.

Are you an Olympic fan? Are you going to be watching the Vancouver games?