Who's saying what at the Beijing Olympics
Sports
With the Beijing Olympics into their second week, there’s been plenty of drama, both on and off ice
BEIJING (AFP) - With the Beijing Olympics into their second week, there’s already been plenty of drama, both on and off the ice and snow.
Events have been overshadowed by the news that 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, the favourite in the figure skating women’s individual event, tested positive for a banned substance before the competition.
But the sport has still yielded shock upsets, inspirational tales and heartwarming moments galore.
Here are some of the week’s best quotes:
"When I was three years old I would tell my mother, I want to be an Olympic champion, which I have become, thank God... I believe my next dream will come true too."
-- Valieva speaking before news of the drug test, after her stunning Olympic debut which helped the Russians to gold in the team event
"This is a very fragile little girl and yet she is a concentration of all the best qualities of a figure skater."
-- Russia’s Nikita Katsalapov on Valieva after the team event
"A lot of athletes have said before that pressure’s a privilege, and it truly is, to be in the position that I come to the Olympics and I’m a contender, and actually expected to medal in multiple events. That’s spectacular. But it’s an enormous letdown when it doesn’t happen."
-- American Mikaela Shiffrin on sliding out of her two favoured events, the giant slalom and slalom
"Snowboarding, thank you. It’s been the love of my life."
-- The United States’ Shaun White on his last appearance in the final of the men’s halfpipe
"Jumping the whole season really good, and then you come to the most important competition of the year, the whole four years, and nothing works... And then to turn this around, it really means a lot to me."
-- German ski jumper Karl Geiger on winning bronze on the large hill
"When I think about it, all the pictures and the gold medal of my father, it’s hard for me not to cry."
-- Austrian Johannes Strolz after winning the men’s alpine combined 34 years after his father Hubert did
"It was amazing, it was kind of an out-of-body experience... Every second was so slow, but we enjoyed every second."
-- French figure skater Guillaume Cizeron after he and Gabriella Papadakis placed top in rhythm dance
"Many people told me during the beginning of my career that this was a crazy dream for a kid... They were always laughing or telling me it was impossible for a Mexican to qualify... I never wanted to think like that and I always tried to push harder."
-- Donovan Carrillo, after becoming the first Mexican figure skater to progress to the free programme in the men’s individual event
"The biggest challenge for me now is just to be as open as possible, because I hope that maybe one day, a little girl can hear my story and be inspired to keep going, to never give up, to learn that it’s OK to have a bad day, but you can move on if you come out in a better place at the end of it all."
-- US snowboarder Chloe Kim
"Even if I didn’t land it, I felt it would send a message out to the world and hopefully encourage more girls to break their own boundaries."
-- China’s Eileen Gu after winning the freeski big air final with a tricky jump
"My mum and I grew up quite poor... She would scrap together some dollars to try to pay Raf. And Raf obviously knew about the situation and thanks to the kindness of his heart was able to just continue taking me in... He would give me the money back sometimes, but I would always to stick it in his pocket and run away."
-- Figure skater Nathan Chen thanks his coach Rafael Arutyunyan after winning gold in the men’s individual event
"Not too bad for a 37-year-old mom."
-- Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States comments on having the best start of the day in the women’s monobob heats
"I always want to go as fast as possible. Just coming down is not an option, that’s not my DNA. It’s always full gas."
-- Ghana’s Carlos Maeder after the first run of the men’s giant slalom, which he did not finish
"This morning I was trying to convince myself that I’m a skier! It’s not that easy."
-- Czech star Ester Ledecka on switching her snowboard for skis
"We’re like Thelma and Louise... Maybe that was a bad example. Let’s say Bert and Ernie."
-- Canadian curler Brad Gushue attempts to describe his long partnership with Mark Nichols
"We try to be as close as we can to traditions. But it’s cold. We have our undies, for sure."
-- Beijing Military Pipe Band captain Zhang Ali on whether he and his fellow bagpipers wear anything under their kilts
