Front Page Talking Points

FOR THE WEEK OF FEB. 17, 2014

Warm days make the last week of Olympic action in Russia seem like the Spring Games

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1.gifCatch up on the latest medal counts. Where does the U.S. rank overall?

2.gifPick any photo of an athlete at Sochi. List at least two emotions that the Olympian displays – or that you feel.

3.gifNow share a Olympic coverage quote that is uplifting, heart-tugging or amusing.

This is the final week of Winter Olympics competitions in Soshi, Russia, as the 17-day games heads toward a closing ceremony Sunday, Feb. 23. For now, the action continues with drama, disappointments and triumphs by young athletes every day – amid unexpectedly warm weather that creates problems at outdoor events. “The snow around here looks like soup, a creamy bisque,” Washington Post sportswriter Sally Jenkins wrote Sunday. That causes risky wipeouts by skiers and boarders, several of whom were injured. "The logo for this Olympics ought to be a stretcher," added Jenkins.

Organizers are compensating for the lack of hard-packed snow with a mix of chemicals, water injections and snow that was stockpiled earlier and covered with thick reflective blankets to minimize melting. In any case, slushy snow didn't keep two U.S. skiers from winning medals Sunday in the Super-G race – a silver for Andrew Weibrecht and a bronze for Bode Miller, his sixth in a series of five Olympics. Miller, 36, now is the oldest Alpine medalist in Olympic history. (See video below.)

News coverage from Sochi includes reports on which athletes burn the most calories (cross-country skiers and figure skaters) and how nutrition advisers accompany some teams to provide high-performance diets. The U.S. women's hockey team, for instance, hired a dietician to plan meals and monitor players to assure they drink enough water and take proper vitamins. The American ski and snowboarding teams brought along a chef to prepare nutritious meals. In a different area, a special effort backfired for U.S. speed skaters when new high-tech racing suits were blamed for slowing the racers and quickly abandoned.

U.S. skier says: "I feel old." – Bode Miller, 36, bronze medalist

Chef says: "Nutrition can make a good athlete great. . . . Nutrition is the fuel for performance." – Allen Tran, chef for U.S. skiers and snowboarders

Journalist says: "This isn't really a Winter Olympics. It's a spring Olympics, with temperatures ranging from 50 to 65 degrees." – Sally Jenkins, Washington Post

Front Page Talking Points is written by Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024

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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.