If you don’t live under a rock, you’ve probably been hearing the horror stories coming from the early arrivals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Tap water is yellow, there is a mass pillow shortage, and people are trading light bulbs for doorknobs.
Within those startling headlines, there a few stories that hold some significance, and also pertain to the games themselves. Here are our three top headlines you need to know as the games get underway.
1. Jamaican Bobsled Team returns to the Olympic Games
Led by driver Winston Watts, the tropical country of Jamaica returns to the 2014 Olympic Games after missing the cut in 2010 and 2006. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the their return is how they got there.
The Jamaican Bobsled team qualified, but lacked one important necessity, money. The team took to popular crowdsourcing app, Crowdtilt, to gather the funds needed to compete in the games. Within days, the team surpassed their $80,000 goal and ended with $129,687.17. Their goal was based on travel expenses and equipment fees.
2. Shaun White pulls out of Men’s Snowboarding Slopestyle
After injuring his wrist on a training run of the slopestyle course, Shaun White pulled out of the event this week citing that the course contains too many potential risks that could cause injury, and ultimately, derail his current Olympic goals.
White has been hit with a backlash from his peers for not upholding snowbro code. Two Canadian snowboarders Sebastien Toutant and Maxence Parrot took to Twitter to promote their dismay.
“Mr White… It’s easy to find excuses to pull out of a contest when you think you can’t win…” wrote Toutant.
“Shaun knows he won’t be able to win the slopes, that’s why he pulled out. He’s scared!” tweeted Parrot.
White will still compete in the Men’s Snowboarding Halfpipe event.
3. Training halted Thursday for Women’s Downhill Skiing event
Skiing was halted in Sochi on Thursday after Italian skier Daniela Merighetti was injured on the course. There have been a vast amount of complaints by other athletes claiming the ramps are too extreme for the event.
The course was tested by forerunners that are not of the same skill set as the athletes competing, meaning they aren’t hitting the same speeds as their Olympic counterparts. Many skiers denied to continue their training sessions and the course was halted by officials to undergo maintenance.
