On Feb. 7, 2014, the Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony will take place and begin the Olympics. These games will be hosted by Russia, and more specifically Sochi. Sochi is a city of about 350,000 people on the Black Sea, in Western Russia. These games, as with all of the winter games, will host a wide variety of sporting events. This year’s events look to bring in a myriad of viewers from all around the world.
The whole world will be watching as Sochi hosts the 22nd Olympic games. There will some skeptics in the world as very few people have heard of the city, and at 350,000 people, it isn’t very big. However, many DHS students believe that Sochi will be able to put on a successful and captivating Olympic games for the rest of the world to watch.
“Sochi will probably do a great job of running the Olympics,” senior Brandon Woo said. “I haven’t heard of it before now, but I am sure that if they were chosen by the Olympic Committee to host, then they are capable of creating a successful games.”
Most DHS students are excited and have no doubts about Sochi or its ability to run the Olympic games.
“Russia will be an interesting venue for the games this year, everyone is pretty excited that I know,” senior Kevin Scott said.
According to junior Lauren Kok, a frequent viewer of the games, the best part about the Olympics is the variety of events. A person can catch almost all the events on television from almost anywhere in the world, including Midland, Mich. Although there are fewer events in the Winter Olympics than in the summer games, there is still a huge diversity in the way of events.
“I like how I can literally watch any of the events that are going to happen in Russia,” Kok said. “I’m excited to watch so many different ones like snowboarding and hockey. Even though Summer Olympics are more popular for most people, I am more of a fan of the winter games.”
This wide variety of events is part of the reason why the Olympics are so popular around the world, especially in the colder climates due to the fact that winter games are only truly popular in climates with which they can be played or performed.
“The reason that the Olympics are huge everywhere is because of the fact that there as so many different events that a person could like,” senior Carter Annelin said. “On top of that, the games only happen once every four years, so basically people will watch something on TV that is special and unusual.”
Annelin believes that the novelty of the games brings in many more viewers to the games. This is because the events happen only for around one month every four years. Another reason many people watch the games are due to the individual stars that dominate their respective sports.
“I’m looking forward to these Olympics because Shaun White will be snowboarding again and he is so fun to watch,” Kok said. “It’s pretty amazing what he can do on the half pipe and I really think he is going to be amazing in Sochi, too.”
One of the most popular sports played in the Olympics is Ice Hockey, and the individual players from the National Hockey League (NHL) are hoping to shine in Sochi. These NHL players have a special place in the hearts of many Americans and Canadians as the NHL is placed in the United States and Canada.
“The Winter Olympics will be fun to watch because I want to see Sidney Crosby and the Canadian team dominate the United States in Hockey,” Woo said. “The Canadians won in 2010 and they definitely have a good chance to win again.”
These games will certainly hold the attention of many viewers as they are captivating sporting events to behold, and certainly captivating stories behind the events. The athletes spend so many years in preparation for each Olympics, and they are incredibly driven individuals.
“Athletes in the Olympics have insane training regimens and work their whole lives to compete in the Olympics so I will definitely be tuning in when Feb. 7 comes around,” Annelin said. “I can’t wait.”
