Fashion report
Super-combined skier Macarena Simari Birkner of Argentina was certainly easy to spot on the race hill Monday in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia - she was the one decked out in lots and lots of polka dots.
Simari Birkner helped design the speed suit she wore for the downhill portion of the race. It certainly stood out.
She’s always worn eye-catching suits, like when she donned an outfit that featured an animal print.
This one, though, she couldn’t help but rave about after her run.
“I just love my suit,” said Simari Birkner, who finished 20th in a field of 39.
Anna Fenninger of Austria was quite fashionable, too, going with a leopard print on her helmet.
Sticking around
Maggie Voisin didn’t come all this way to let a fractured leg keep her from experiencing the Olympics.
She won’t be able to compete when slopestyle skiing makes its Olympic debut today after she crashed during practice. She still managed to walk during the Opening Ceremonies and isn’t about to sprint home.
“It’s sad but I can’t dwell on this,” said Voisin, 15, a freestyle skier from Whitefish, Mont. “I want to enjoy the rest of the Olympics and enjoy what the experience has to offer.”
Even if it means watching her teammates from the bottom of the tricky Rosa Khutor Extreme Park course rather than hanging out at the top. A broken bone in her right leg ended all that, but she’s not blaming the 2,000-foot roller coaster covered in snow for her misstep.
“Unfortunately, it was just freak accident,” Voisin said.
She’ll have another chance.
“I’ll be back,” she said.
“I’m not going anywhere.”Heat wave
Temperatures at the Winter Olympics soared to 61 degrees Fahrenheit along the Black Sea coast, while it was well above freezing in the nearby mountains, where skiers were putting snow in their racing suits to cool down and ski jumpers were landing in puddles.
The weather could get even warmer by the end of the week.
Monday’s high in Sochi was warmer than the forecast highs for Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Ala., and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
It reached 35 degrees in Little Rock. After a brief cool-down today, with a forecasted high of 51, temperatures could be back in the low 60s Thursday.
Poile misses trip
U.S. hockey team General Manager David Poile won’t travel to the Olympics after getting hit by a puck last week.
Ray Shero confirmed Monday he will take over as acting general manager in Sochi.
Poile is also the general manager of the Nashville Predators. He was injured Thursday while standing in a tunnel behind the bench in Minnesota during the Predators’ pregame skate.
Poile needed facial surgery. He has returned to Nashville, but can’t be cleared to travel to Russia in time for the 12-day Olympic tournament, which begins Wednesday.
Shero says the general manager’s work is largely done already. The GM primarily leads a committee to pick the Olympic team.
Sports, Pages 18 on 02/11/2014