Stephanie Terusa (Slovenia) sent in an article about figure skater Adam Rippon. She commented, "Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson beautifully explains what Adam Rippon and the importance of representation means to him and young people. I almost teared up reading this."

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/02/adam-rippon-gay-olympic-athletes

2 spirit points for Stephanie (Slovenia).

Gary Keller (Japan) sent in a map of where all the Olympics have been held.

2 spirit points for Gary (Japan)

Graydon Cress (Finland) sent in his Olympics Dream Team.

Here are his 5 olympians and why he chose them:

1. Simen Hegstad Krueger (Norway) for cross country skiing, because his determination to win after falling and coming from the very back was inspiring!

2. Matt & Becca Hamilton (USA) for curling, because...come on...that mustache though.

3. Noriaki Kasai (Japan) for ski jumping, because he's a legend in his and other countries (a Polish rapper wrote a song about him, as did a Finnish punk rock group).

4. Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (Canada) for figure skating, because they are absolutely spectacular to watch.

5. Redmond Gerard (USA) for snowboarding, because he is so good and so young.

10 spirit points for Graydon (Finland).

2 bonus points for Callae Daily (Norway).
2 bonus points for Gary Keller (Japan).
2 bonus points for Pam Keller (Canada).

Maddie Des Jardins (Germany) sent in an article about Germany's Peiffer who won gold in the men's Biathlon 10km.

https://www.olympic.org/news/germany-s-peiffer-wins-surprise-gold-in-men-s-biathlon-10km-sprint

2 spirit points for Maddie (Germany).

Gary Keller (Japan) did some research on the history of medals for Japan in celebration of their recent medal success! He commented,

"Monday (2-12-18) was a good day for Japan at the Olympics …

Silver – Speed Skating (Miho Takagi, Japan)

Bronze - Mogul’s Freestyle (Daicchi Hara, Japan)

Bronze – Ski Jumping (Sara Takanashi, Japan)

Here is what I am looking for in 2018:

1. 5 more medals for Japan to tie its performance in 2014.
2. 7 more medals for Japan to tie the best performance since 1998 (see below).

The total Japan medal count in the 2014 Winter Olympics was:

Gold – 1                (Yuzuru Hanyu – Men’s singles figure skating)

Silver – 4              (2-Halfpipe snowboarding, 1-Nordic combined 10km, 1-Ski Jumping Large Hill [Noriaki Kasai] )

Bronze – 3           (1-Halfpipe Snowboarding, 1-Team Ski Jumping Large Hill, 1-Halfpipe Freestyle Skiing)

Here is a little more history regarding Japan’s Winter Olympic medals:

2010 Winter Olympics

Gold – none

Silver – 3

Bronze – 2

2006 Winter Olympics

Gold – 1

Silver – none

Bronze – none

2002 Winter Olympics

Gold – none

Silver – 1

Bronze – 1

1998 Winter Olympics

Gold – 5

Silver – 1

Bronze –4

I am surprised they don’t medal more often, Japan has some of the best skiing in the world!"

10 spirit points for Gary (Japan) for dedication to your country's history and heritage!

On the fifth day of competition, here are the standings of Our Olympics 2018:

Gold Medal:

Norway (Callae Daily) - 150 Points

Silver Medal:

Canada (Pam Keller) - 144 Points

Bronze Medal:

Germany (Maddie Des Jardins) - 120 Points

Middle of the Road:

Greece (April Rathel) - 22 Points

And as always,
May the odds be ever in your favor!

Graydon Cress (Finland) sent in an article about the Finnish snowboarding coach who stays calm on the slopes by knitting. Yes. Knitting.

https://mashable.com/2018/02/11/finland-olympic-coach-knitting/#Bo4AlT2OXqqD

2 spirit points for Graydon (Finland).

Gary Keller (Japan) sent in an article about Norway's Krueger and his unbelievable win. He commented, "Norway is not my country, but I can’t help it!!!!!  Go Norway!!!!!"

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/crashing-gold-krueger-wins-mens-30km-skiathlon

5 spirit points to Gary (Japan) for cheering for another team.

2 bonus points for Callae Daily (Norway).

Maddie Des Jardins (Germany) completed the challenge and sent in her dream team!

Here are her 5 Olympians:

1. Jamie Anderson for snowboarding, because it's super cool that she's the first female snowboard gold medalist!

2. Becca and Matt Hamilton for curling, because it's awesome that they're brother and sister and they are awesome curlers!

3. Marit Bjørgen for cross country ski, because she currently has the most medals of any of the athletes competing, so she's probably going to kill it!

4. My girl, Claudia Pechstein, who is the best speedskater in history and hopefully will make a ton of records this year!! Plus she is the first woman to compete in 7 Winter Olympics, which is straight up insane.

5. Adam Rippon for skating because he's adorable and amazing and should definitely be on my team.

Maddie (Germany) sent in some inspiration for other's dream teams.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/athletes-to-watch-2018-winter-olympics_us_5a7ccc1ce4b08dfc930221b9

https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/top-us-olympic-athletes-2018-winter-games-pyeongchang

http://uk.businessinsider.com/2018-winter-olympics-stars-2018-2/?r=US&IR=T/#shaun-white-usa-4

16 spirit points for Maddie (Germany). 

2 bonus points for Callae Daily (Norway), 

Stephanie Terusa (Slovenia) sent in this photo and commented, "Lin the red panda at the Cincinnati Zoo is pumped for the bobsled competition!"

2 spirit points for Stephanie (Slovenia).

Maddie Des Jardins (Germany) sent in an article about Laura Dahlmeier who brought Germany their first gold.

https://www.thelocal.de/20180210/dahlmeiers-biathlon-win-gives-germany-its-first-gold-at-winter-olympics

2 spirit points for Maddie (Germany).

Ethan Knudson (Belarus) sent in this article on Belarus world records. He commented, "My new hero: Aleksandr Bendikov of Mogilev, Belarus holds several world stacking records: 1) He stacked a pyramid of 880 coins on the edge of a coin free- standing vertically on the base of another coin which was on a table. 2) He balanced 255 nails on the head of a single nail. 3) He stacked 1,035 dominoes on a single domino.”

https://world-records.org/tag/belarus/

2 spirit points for Ethan (Belarus)

Maddie Des Jardins (Germany) sent in an article about the German figure skating team getting the chance to hang out with the German President and First Lady. She commented, "This is a really great article about the president of Germany and his wife spending time with their skaters and really talking to them, which is pretty cool!"

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/german-figure-skaters-spend-time-bonding-president-first-lady

2 spirit points for Maddie (Germany).

Pam Keller (Canada) sent in an article about a Canadian-made 'Smart Broom' that has been deemed an engineering marvel.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/09/the-engineering-marvel-of-the-2018-winter-olympics-a-canadian-made-broom.html

2 spirit points for Pam (Canada).

Ethan Knudson (Belarus) sent in this article about Belarusians plunging into ice cold water. He said, "Belarus hosted the winter swimming World Cup, and apparently the people who do it are called the walruses."

http://en.ctv.by/en/1516799103-why-belarusians-plunge-into-ice-cold-water-in-january

2 spirit points for Ethan (Belarus)

DOUBLE MEDAL POINTS DAY

Gold is worth 30 points.
Silver is worth 20 points.
Bronze is worth 10 points.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

On the fourth day of competition, here are the standings of Our Olympics 2018:

Gold Medal:

Norway (Callae Daily) - 116 Points

Silver Medal:

Canada (Pam Keller) - 112 Points

Bronze Medal:

Germany (Maddie Des Jardins) - 98 Points

Middle of the Road:

Montenegro (Christa McKirland) - 20 Points

And as always,
May the odds be ever in your favor!

Every time the USA or GB win a gold medal, you win points!

The USA took home gold for Snowboarding Slopestyle! Also, gold medals for snowboarding is worth 25 instead of 15!

Jamie Anderson - Hungary (Jonathan Rutledge) - 25 Bonus points

Stephanie Terusa (Slovenia) sent in a photo of her home decorated for the Olympics. She commented, "I finally was able to deck out my entertainment center for prime olympics viewing, just in time to watch the Shib Sibs!"

10 spirit points for Stephanie (Slovenia). Looks great!

Lori Cress (Switzerland) sent in a photo of Team Switzerland in Snowboarding Women's Halfpipe.

5 spirit points for Lori (Switzerland).

Gary Keller (Japan) sent in an inspirational interview with Chris Mazdzer after taking silver in Luge.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/chris-mazdzer-after-winning-silver-mens-singles-luge

2 spirit points for Gary (Japan).

Maddie Des Jardins (Germany) sent in an article about Germany's Andreas Wellinger winning Normal Hill gold. She commented, "THIS MAN IS SO CUTE! His jump is INCREDIBLE (and after watching Eddie the Eagle I am so extra impressed) and he cries after and is so cute and I feel like men usually don't want to be seen crying and he even talks about it in a quote and is just THE SWEETEST I LOVE HIM

'I think it was a new record but it's not important today,' Wellinger told reporters. 'Waiting down the hill for more competitors, it's not that easy. I was crying a bit and my teammate said 'you can win the gold medal'. I said I wait because the other guys can jump as long as I. And at the end it was unbelievable.

'I can't believe it, especially the second jump was amazing. To be on top like this, I can't describe.'"

https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/germanys-andreas-wellinger-steals-normal-hill-gold-monster-jump

2 spirit points for Maddie (Germany).

Gary Keller (Japan) sent in vintage photos of Olympics past.

https://weather.com/photos/news/2018-02-08-winter-olympics-history-photos

2 spirit points for Gary (Japan)

Tamara Knudson (Netherlands) sent in two articles on the Netherlands gold medal sweep. One article focused on the Dutch victory while the other gave the American president a bit of trouble.

https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/the-netherlands-celebrated-their-olympic-win-by-trolling-donald-trump/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/42968045

4 spirit points for Tamara (Netherlands).

Callae Daily (Norway) completed the challenge and sent in her dream team!

Here are her 5 Olympians:

1. Evgenia Medvedeva - Figure Skater - OAR

2. Shaun White - Snowboarder - USA

3. Germany's bobsled team

4. Canada's curling team

5. Lindsey Vonn - Skiier - USA

10 spirit points for Callae (Norway)

2 bonus points for Maddie Des Jardins (Germany) and Pam Keller (Canada).

Jonathan Rutledge (Hungary) sent in a video about the Liu brothers of Hungary.

https://cayman27.ky/2018/02/winter-olympics-hungarys-liu-brothers/

2 spirit points for Jonathan (Hungary).

Ethan Knudson (Belarus) sent in an article about Belarus and their aerial skier program that combines skiing with gymnastics, trampolining and diving.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/aerial-skiers-belarus-looking-more-olympic-gold

2 spirit points for Ethan (Belarus).

Maddie Des Jardins (Germany) sent in an article summarizing yesterday's events at the Olympics.

http://www.dw.com/en/winter-olympics-day-2-roundup/a-42533986

Also, she sent in a further update on Germany and Loch. She commented, "This one is sad - Germany was expected to win at luge and Loch was going to be only the second person to win 3 consecutive gold medals at the Winter Olympics in luge, but he didn't get a medal at all. This video is super intense and HOW DID LUGE EVEN BECOME A SPORT?!?! WHO TRIED THIS AND CONVINCED OTHER PEOPLE TO TRY IT?!?! IT LOOKS TERRIFYING AND THIS VIDEO MADE ME VERY TENSE."

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/11/chris-mazdzer-luge-winter-olympics-2018-felix-loch

4 spirit points for Maddie (Germany).

Kim Klingaman (Croatia) sent in an article about athletes switching nations.

"The US has experienced the biggest talent drain, with 37 American-born athletes competing for other nations, followed by 21 from Canada and 19 from Russia."

http://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/08/sport/winter-olympics-athletes-switching-nations-pyeongchang/index.html

2 spirit points for Kim (Croatia)

Tamara Knudson (Netherlands) sent in this article about a Dutch law against insulting the king.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/05/dutch-divided-over-law-against-insulting-the-king

2 spirit points for Tamara (Netherlands).