Olympic Cookie Countdown - today is the big day!

Well, this is it.  After years, months and weeks of anticipation, today is the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics.  It is a special time and in my family, we always seem to take a moment and reflect on our changes since the last Olympics.  The 2010 Olympics were especially incredible for us because not only were they on Canadian soil, we actually had the Olympic torch pass through our town, an event we witnessed!

Today's cookie celebrates my favourite Olympic sport - speed skating!  My loyalties will be divided as I cheer for both the Canadians and the Dutch!  A really special sport in my eyes, because speed skating can trace its history back to the Netherlands as well as Scandinavia and Northern Europe. (for a lesson on the Dutch/Holland/Netherlands confusion, click here).  It is the winter sport my parents talked most about and their love of the sport was certainly inherited by me!

The speed skating events begin today and finish on the 22nd.  All 12 events are taking place at the Adler Arena in Sochi and the only country that has an athlete in each of the events is the Netherlands.  Hup Holland!!

Olympic Cookie Countdown - tomorrow is the big day!

Snowboarding Slopestyle is an Olympic event that had its qualifying rounds today (you might have heard some results on the news already).  The goal is to perform the most difficult tricks while getting the highest amplitude off jumps, with an emphasis on performing different types of tricks instead on doing on great trick repeatedly.  It is one of the most popular events at the Winter X Games and this is the first time it is an Olympic event.  All of the snowboarding events will be held at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park and the finals will take place Saturday and Sunday.

Olympic Cookies Countdown - Two More Days!

With just three days to go until the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, today we are celebrating ski jumping!  After going down the take-off ramp, the skiers jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below.  In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style.  The first of the four ski jumping events will begin on Friday and will be taking place at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.  Of the four events, women will be competing in just one and it will be the first time women are competing at the Olympics in ski jumping.

Olympic Cookie Countdown

With just three days until the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, today's cookie celebrates the skeleton.  It is a fast winter sliding sport in which an individual rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down.  Athletes can experience forces up to 5g!  Equipment includes helmets with a chin guard, a skin-tight racing speedsuit, spiked shoes, goggles and the sled.  At the Olympics, the events will be held at the Sliding Center Sanki near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.  The events will be held from February 13-15.

Olympic Cookie Countdown

Today's cookie is representing short track speed skating.  An official olympic sport since 1992, this event has multiple athletes (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track.  The most distinctive part of this sport for me is the way the skaters put their hands down onto the ice as they turn the corners and it almost defies logic how far they are leaning.  The gloves they wear help prevent injuries from skates.  I find this sport incredibly impressive.  The eight different events will be held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia from February 10th until the 21st.

Olympic Cookie Countdown!

Today's cookie celebrates the parallel giant slalom, a snowboarding event that involves head-to-head racing.  The parallel giant slalom has been an official olympic event since 2002.  At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, all the snowboarding events are taking place at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on February 19th and 22nd.

Olympic Cookie Countdown - Six Days Left!

Just six days left until the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics!  Today's cookie celebrates moguls.  Mogul skiing is a type of freestyle skiing where skiers display tricks, jumps and turning abilities on a mogul slope.  The moguls (a series of bumps on a trail) are either formed naturally or are constructed.  Skiers absorb the impact of the bumps by bending at the knees and hips.  In a good run, shoulders should remain parallel to the finish line, turns should be quick and short and skis should not leave the snow surface.

Moguls and all the other freestyle skiing events will take place at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.  The events are scheduled for February 6, 8 and 10th.  I will be watching!

Olympic Cookie Countdown!

One week from today is the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics.  I plan an evening with snacks and cuddling on the couch to watch (even though I will be taping it earlier in the day and not watching it live because the actual ceremony takes place at 10am our time).  

Today we are highlighting the sport of luge, which is a small one- or two-person sled on which the athlete lays supine (face up) and feet-first.  Steering is done by flexing of the calves or exerting shoulder pressure.  The luge can reach speeds of 140 km per hour and because the sport is timed to a thousandth of a second, it is one of the most precisely timed sports in the world!

The luge events will be held at the Sliding Center Sanki near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.  There are four events and they are scheduled for February 8-13.

The Olympic Cookie Countdown Continues

Today, with only 9 days until the start of the Olympics, we are celebrating hockey!!  Officially it is called "Ice Hockey", but of course in Canada the "ice" part is a given.  The competitions will be played at two venues located 300 meters from each other in the Olympic Park.  The Bolshoy Ice Dome will resemble a Fabergé egg.  The Shayba Arena is a moveable structure that will be used after the Olympics in another Russian city.  Both arenas are international sized as opposed to the North American size used in Vancouver in 2010.  Twelve teams will compete in the men's tournament, eight in the women's.  The Ice Hockey events will begin on February 8th and conclude on the 23rd.  I know most of my Canadian friends will be watching these events - will you?  Go Canada!

Sweet Handmade's Olympic Cookie Countdown

With only 10 days to go until the start of the Winter Olympics (!) we are celebrating the beautiful sport of figure skating.  The events will be held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia.  There are the traditional pairs, ice dance, ladies single and mens single events and for the first time a team event in figure skating will be held as well.  In fact, the team event will start a day before the Opening ceremony on February 6th and the figure skating will wrap up on February 22.  This is one sport I love to watch at the Olympics - what about you?

The Cookie Countdown to the 2014 Olympics Continues

Today's cookie is dedicated to Half-Pipe Skiing which is making it's official Winter Olympic debut in Sochi!  Competitors perform tricks while riding snow skis on a half-pipe.  A sport considered more dangerous than traditional ski events, helmets are a requirement during competitions and some practice facilities have airbags on the side of the pipe during practice runs.  Look for the half-pipe men's competition on February 18th and the women's on February 20th taking place at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia!

Olympic Cookie Countdown

Just 12 days are remaining until the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi!  Today's cookie represents the sport of Bobsleigh.  It has been a part of the Winter Games since 1924, with the exception of the 1960 games in Squaw Valley when the organizing committee decided not to build a track in order to reduce expenses!  The 2014 events will be held at the Sliding Center Sanki near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia from February 16-23 and will include 2-man, 4-man and 2-woman events.

The Continuing Countdown to the Olympics in Cookies

Aerials first became an official Olympic event in the 1994 games.  It is one of a number of disciplines of freestyle skiing, including the more traditional events which includes moguls and aerials and the newer branch called "new school" which includes halfpipe, big air, slopestyle and big mountain or free-skiing.

For aerials, the athletes ski off 2-4 meter jumps built out of snow and get propelled up to 6 meters into the air.  Once in the air, they perform multiple somersaults and twists before landing.  Amazing!

Beginning on February 14th, the competition will be held to the West of the Rosa Khutor plateau at "Rosa Khutor" Extreme Park.

And to get you even more excited, just 13 days until the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi!!