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Sunday’s downhill training session was canceled, which means Vonn has received a generous five-day reprieve since voicing her concerns about competing with a shin injury she sustained more than a week before the Games were slated to begin. The five additional days will give Vonn almost two full weeks to rest her shin.
“For her, it’s definitely not a bad situation to get those training runs [canceled],” said coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “It gives her more rest to heal. She’s good – she’s ready to go. Even if the training runs wouldn’t have been canceled, she would have been fine. But it has been good to give that shin more rest. Maybe it won’t bother her so much anymore.”
Had it not been for the delays due to Whistler’s soggy weather, Vonn’s first race would have taken place Sunday. Now, she won’t have her first medal test until Wednesday, when – weather permitting – she’ll compete in the women’s downhill. That also happens to be the race that will put the least amount of pressure on Vonn’s shin.

Lindsey Vonn

Other than skiing during course inspection, Vonn hasn’t taken part in any aggressive runs since arriving in Vancouver. She also skipped walking in the Opening Ceremony, instead watching from her Whistler lodging and noting on her Facebook page, “I wish I could be there with all my teammates!” On Saturday, she posted on Facebook that she once again spent the day off skis, getting in a workout and therapy.

“My shin is feeling better and better each day,” she wrote. “I am excited to get a chance to test it out tomorrow.”

Hoedlmoser said coverage of Vonn’s health has been overblown by the media, ignoring the fact that it was the athlete herself who sparked doubt about her status when arriving in Vancouver on Tuesday.

“Everybody jumped on the shin [injury], but the fact is, it’s not like it’s a season-ending injury,” he said. “It’s something that hurts and bothers somebody. It’s not nice to have, but it’s not like it’s an ACL injury where you’re done. It’s something that’s painful, but I think there was a lot of press involved in the whole thing and everybody blew it up a little more.”

With Vonn’s status improving, much of the Alpine focus shifted to the weather in Whistler, with postponements raising the specter of how long events can be delayed before the schedule pushes beyond the Closing Ceremony. But race officials said Saturday they anticipated these early delays and are confident they will be able to complete their full slate of competition by the end of the month.

“I think we can all see that it can be extremely difficult here,” said Peter Bosinger, who oversees Alpine skiing at the Vancouver Games. “But we also know that there’s every possibility to stay positive to get what we need done to accomplish ski racing here.”

source: sports.yahoo.com/olympics

Following on from its predecessor, which covered the summer Olympics, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games lets players compete in a selection of Winter Olympic events as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, or one of a number of supporting characters from both franchises. This time around the game features 27 events divided across the standard Winter Olympics-style sports and the ’dream’ events. Events include variations on skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, bobsleighing, figure skating, speed skating, hockey, and curling. Some events are more fun than others and individual players will find they enjoy different events based on their own preference. The standout mini-game is surprisingly curling, which plays like a more strategic version of bowling from Wii Sports.
Players can choose to play each mini-game individually or participate in the festival mode which features an entire Winter Olympics experience, including opening and closing ceremonies. Special dream events can be unlocked by winning coins in the normal events. These dream events are over-the-top fantasy events that add typical video game-style challenges and obstacles to the more traditional rules of the sports. Coins can also be used to purchase items and other unlockables in the shop. There is nothing mind-blowing to unlock, but it is a nice little extra, especially the library section, which provides some brief information about the history of each event.

There are a number of control options available to players, including balance board support in many of the mini-games. The implementation of the motion controls is generally good, but there are a few games which are hit and miss. While none of the mini-games are outright broken, there are definitely some that could have really benefited from a little more time in development. The balance board implementation also feels a little bit tacked on, too.

The game features workable graphics which suit the concept of the game quite well. The environments have a nice balance between the necessary realism and the visual design of both the Mario and Sonic franchises. The game is animated well, and the whole thing moves along at a nice frame rate, too. The audio is pretty standard fare for Mario and Sonic, and again, nicely straddles the reality/fantasy divide. Technically, the game is fine with no obvious faults or glitches getting in the way of the gameplay.
The game should last most players quite a long time, especially with the online leaderboards providing an extra challenge for those without a decent competitor to play against locally. There are plenty of options and modes to explore, and the events themselves offer loads of replay value.