2022 Winter Olympics⛷️
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Season 2: Episode 66 Description
In today's episode: ⛷️ It's time for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. ❄️ Correspondent Kenny Curtis joins us to tell us what we can expect, and some cool things to watch out for. ✔️ Fun Fact Check: what's the longest journey the Olympic torch has been on? And, test your Olympic history knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources
Lunar New Year 2022: Celebrating the Year of the Tiger | Asia Society
Beijing Olympics: How is artificial snow made for the Winter Games? - Sports Illustrated
Winter Olympic Torch Relay Shrinks to ‘Prioritize Safety.’ - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Olympic Torch Completes Longest Relay in History | NASA
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:00
BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM. Why can't I get that tune out of my head? Oh, that's right. It's time for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Sound Bit 0:21
I'm ready to win some medals. Ready to bring home the gold, feeling great. We're really excited to you know, defend our gold medal. I think we all got some gas left in the tank.
Bethany Van Delft 0:28
I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Thursday, February 3rd and this is the Ten News.
Various Voices 0:34
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:42
Hey, Ten'ers. First off, I want to wish you a Happy Lunar New Year. It kicked off on February 1st, and it signals the beginning of spring and the start of a new year on the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, it's the year of the tiger. China is also hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics. Usually, the Olympics happen every two years rotating between Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. The Summer Olympics did happen last year, but that's because they were supposed to happen in 2020. But like a lot of things in 2020, it was rescheduled and took place in 2021 instead. So now we get back-to-back Olympics. Now back to Beijing, the city of Beijing was a surprising choice for the Winter Olympics because it's a place with very little snow. Really the coldest areas around Beijing can drop below freezing, but the monthly snowfall is measured in centimeters and isn't enough for Olympians to compete on. So what are they gonna do? They're making 1.2 million cubic tons of artificial snow. Wow. In case you're wondering, artificial snow. It's not just cotton balls that are ripped-up toilet paper that may be one of your younger siblings likes to make. It's made from the same thing snow is made from water. They pour water and pressurized air through a snow gun to crystallize the water and shoot it in the air. were huge fans blow it and spread it out. The process of making the artificial snow is projected to use 49 million gallons of water from natural resources. Wow, this isn't the first time the Olympics have done this in Sochi in 2014 80% of this thought was human-made. And in Pyeongchang in 2018 90% of it was, but Beijing will be the first Olympics that uses 100% artificial snow glow. And in case you're wondering, artificial snow can be used for the Olympic Games, which means it can certainly be used for a snowball fight. Hey, I am so excited for the Winter Olympics. So Kenny Curtis is going to tell us what we can expect and some really cool things to watch out for passing the torch to you, Kenny.
Sound Bit 3:12
USA! USA! USA!
Kenny Curtis 3:16
It's that time of year again, the Winter Olympics are right around the corner. And no matter who you're rooting for, I think we can all agree that everyone could use a little extra cheer right about now. This year's Olympic Games will be held in Beijing. Some of your grownups might remember that Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics back in 2008. And now it's officially the first city in the world to ever host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. That's a pretty cool honor. Nice. Now there will be 15 Sports showcased at this year's Olympic games, including everything from figure skating to curling to snowboarding. And there are also seven brand new medal events to watch in bobsled, short-track freestyle skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding. The new bobsled event is called the Women's Monobob. Side note this is actually a sport, not a haircut. Trust me. I double-checked, and it's particularly impressive. Bobsled is when athletes ride in a sled that's shaped like a small car and race down an icy course. Usually, it involves teams of multiple riders, but the Monobob will be the first bobsled singles event in Olympic history. Awesome. The women also have a chance to compete in the two women bobsled event and the men have their choice of two events, the two men and the format. Another new event is big air freestyle ski where he stops the spin in midair like that. Now if you watch the X Games, you've already become quite familiar with big air events. Most skiers will launch themselves high into the air and perform difficult tricks to score as many points as possible. The snowboarding big year event made its Olympic debut in 2018 and has been a fan favorite ever since. Oh, let's go, bro! This year's Olympics will also feature many events in four sports, including short track speed skating, ski jumping, snowboard cross, and freestyle skiing. This is part of the Olympic effort to create more events where both men and women can participate. Excellent! Mixed events were very popular last year Summer Olympics in Tokyo, it's been fun to see both men and women athletes working together to earn medals. So which athletes should be kept an eye on during this year's Olympics? Well, all snowboarding fans will probably be focused on Shaun White, aka the flying tomato because of his flaming red hair. Shaun is a four-time Olympian and holds the most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder
Sound Bit 5:40
Shaun White is now with a frontside double cork 1260 And he puts it down.
Kenny Curtis 5:44
His Olympic adventures are the stuff of legend, including winning the gold medal on the halfpipe in 2006, when he basically had laid an egg on his first two rungs, but nailed his third one with a nearly perfect score and got the goal. John's making his fifth and last Olympic appearance. And even though he's already the most decorated male snowboarder, he's still looking to go out with a bang. If anybody was writing him off. He has just proved snowboarding wrong. Again. Chloe Kim is also a fun snowboarder to watch. She won her first gold four years ago at the 2018 Olympics when she was only 17 years old. Are there any boundaries to what this athlete can't achieve? Wow, yeah, Chloe is on. She is the youngest American to medal and snowboarding and plans to continue her winning streak in Beijing. And for all you curling fans, the legendary John Schuester will be back to compete in his fifth Olympics. After winning the gold in 2018. Schuster is looking to make it a clean sweep. Get it sweet because you know brooms in Okay, and bring back the gold later this year. But my personal favorite us athlete is Emily Sweeney. Sweeney competed in Lodz at the last winter Olympics in 2018. Fighter now Lucia is basically a very intense form of sledding where you lay flat on your back and lean your body in different directions to steer. It can be dangerous because it doesn't offer much protection for your body. And well, that's exactly what happened to swing. In her final run. She had a horrible crash where she broke her neck and back. Sweeney has spent the last few years recuperating and is now ready to return to Olympic action. I can't wait to watch her epic comeback she searches into first but it doesn't matter which athletes you like or what country you root for. The Olympics are fun for everyone. It's the perfect sporting event to help us get through winter. And hey, who knows maybe we'll even be inspired to hit the slopes ourselves. The opening ceremonies are on Friday, February 4th, so make sure to watch and let us know which sporting event is your favorite.
Bethany Van Delft 7:45
On February 4th, a runner will carry the Olympic torch into Beijing to light the Olympic flame and open the Olympic Games. This year, the torch only took a short three-day journey due to COVID precautions. But the longest journey for the Olympic torch was back in 2014 when the torch traveled 40,000 miles in 123 days, including a trip to the International Space Station. What? Don't worry, a fire in space is a terrible idea. So they didn't light the flame. But they did take the torch on a spacewalk. Now let's see what else is going on. Here's the Ten News head writer Ryan Willard with your headlines.
Ryan Willard 8:54
Thank you, Bethany. Iguanas are falling out of trees in Florida. Last weekend was a brutal winter storm for the Northeast which dumped up to two feet of snow in certain parts. And in southern Florida, temperatures dropped all the way to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so cold in Florida that the US National Weather Service of Miami warned the public that immobilized iguanas could fall out of trees. Don't worry, they're okay. But when it gets that cold iguanas can lose their bodily functions, including the ability to hang on to the trees they're sleeping on. Have you seen a lightning bolt? Did you see the biggest lightning bolt ever? An almost 500-mile long lightning bolt set a new world record for the longest flash. Normally, lightning rarely extends over 10 miles and usually lasts under a second. But in 2020, the record-setting lightning bolt extended a total of 477.2 miles and spread over Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Shocking right? The previous record was recorded in Brazil in 2008 and reached 440.6 miles. An eight-year-old sort of self-published their own book after handwriting and illustrating an 81-page book titled, The Adventures of Dylan Helbig's Christmas, the eight-year-old snuck it on to the shelf in the public library. After telling his mother what he did, they returned to find that the book was a hit with the librarians. The librarians cataloged the book in the graphic novel section, and now there's a 55 person waitlist to check it out. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my mother to read the 10-page book that I wrote. So back to you, Bethany.
Bethany Van Delft 10:42
Lucky you, it's...
Sound Bit 10:43
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 10:47
Trivia on the Ten. Women competed in the Olympics for the first time ever in 1900 in Paris, competing in five events. But, when was the first year that every participating country sent women to the Olympics? Was it a) 1992 b) 2008, or c) 2012? Did you guess it? The answer is C 2012. It was only 20 years ago that every participating country sent female athletes to the Olympics. Are you kidding me? That's crazy pants. for a really long time. Women weren't even permitted to participate in all of the events like running the Olympic Marathon or boxing and female competitors in badminton and boxing had to fight the Olympic Committee for the right to wear shorts instead of skirts seriously. Oddly enough, there haven't been any men who have fought to wear skirts instead of shorts. That day might be just around the corner. And when it happens, we'll do a who wore it best. That's all for today. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Might Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and it is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is training for their 2030 bobsled run and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Adam Barnard, Tessa Flannery, and Nathalie Alonso. Kenny Curtis contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creative Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to the Ten News. I'm gonna go read my horoscope for the year of the tiger. I'm a snake, what are you?
