PALIN MITENK BLOG

By Anny Shaw

Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset blamed a bad ski run on watching too much porn and hearing noises from the next room


The thrills and spills of the Winter Games will be remembered long after the Olympic torch was extinguished last night.

And we are not talking about the action on the ski slopes and toboggan runs.
Vancouver has carved itself its very own niche as a rather scandalous event, where even the condoms ran out such was the 'off-piste' activity of the competitors.

Running away with the gold medal for risque behaviour Norwegian cross-country skier Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset tops the list of gaffes for blaming a bad ski run that cost him the gold medal on watching too much porn.

'My name is Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset,' he said. 'I skied the second lap and I f***** up today. I think I have seen too much porn in the last 14 days.

'I have the room next to Petter Northug and every day there is noise in there. So I think that is the reason I f***** up. By the way Tiger Woods is a really good man.'
Hjelmeset's next-door neighbour was not the only one who made the most of his downtime in the Olympic Village.

Health officials well-versed in the needs of the world's elite athletes had already provided 100,000 free condoms to 7,000 athletes and officials, which works out about 14 condoms per person.

But apparently this just wasn't enough.

With just a couple of days to go officials were forced to ship in an emergency supply of condoms after supplies ran dangerously low during the last week of the Games.

The Games was also memorable for its unique take on celebrations.

U.S. snowboarder Scotty Lago was sent home before the closing ceremony after racy photographs surfaced showing a woman kissing his bronze medal near his waist.

'Keeping my medal in a safe spot for now, ha ha,' Lago tweeted when he got home.


A female fan 'kisses' Scotty Lago's bronze medal at a party during the Games. The snowboarder was reprimanded by the US team when the photos emerged


Lago won the medal in the men's halfpipe competition and was forced to go on U.S television to defend the rather risque shots amid reports the United States Ski and Snowboard Association had forced him to leave the Olympics.

There were further red faces when rather racy pictures of Germany's curler Melanie Robillard emerged just in time for the Games.

Robillard had taken part in the shoot to raise money for local ice rinks in her area but has declared that she won't be posing up again any time in the near future.


Germany's Melanie Robillard plays against Sweden last week, and , left, her racy photo for a calendar

'I've been asked and I refused. Once is good. The first time was extremely blown out of proportion and I'd just rather not. It was a one-time experience,' Robillard said in an interview last year.

While the closing ceremony went without hitch yesterday, the same can't be said for the opening ceremony.

While glitches may have overshadowed the Games, the festive spirit that spilled onto the streets of Vancouver earned the city a gold medal in drinking.

So much so that local hospitals are reporting spikes in emergency room visits for alcohol-related sicknesses and injuries.

Photographs of members of the Canadian women's hockey team drinking champagne and beer on the ice rink after their victory over the U.S.caused a stir among officials.


Members of the Canadian women's hockey team celebrate after beating the U.S. to win the gold medal

The women celebrated their 2-0 victory against arch-rivals America by guzzling beer, swigging from bottles of champagne and puffing on cigars.

Unfortunately, they chose to do it on the ice rink, in full view of the public and cameras, rather than in the changing room.

Even worse, star player Marie-Philip Poulin, 18, the youngest in the team and scorer of the two goals, is under British Columbia's legal drinking age of 19. Photos showed Poulin on the ice, with a beer in her hand.

Another player, Haley Irwin, poured champagne into the mouth of teammate Tessa Bonhomme while gold medals swung from their necks.

And one of the women, Rebecca Johnston, even tried to drive the ice-resurfacing machine during the party.
Supporters said the events were simply a traditional ice hockey celebration.


Technical hitch: During the lighting of the Olympic torch in the opening ceremony of the Winter Games, one of the four pillars of the Olympic cauldron didn't rise up


During the lighting of the Olympic torch a technical malfunction meant that one of the four pillars of the Olympic cauldron didn't rise up, leaving speed skater Catriona Le May Doan looking awkward when she couldn't ignite the flame.

And a rare gaffe cost Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer the gold in the 10,000m race after his coach sent him into the wrong lane getting the skater disqualified.

Kramer has suggested a new coach will be joining him for the 2014 Games.

Amy Williams' gold-medal victory in the skeleton bob was undoubtedly a cause for celebration for most Britons, even temporarily thawing her frosty relations with team mate Shelley Rudman.


Sven Kramer was disqualified from the 10,000m speed skating race after his coach wrongly told him to switch lanes


Australian commentators joked about U.S. skating star Johnny Weir's costume


But after a brief handshake and a curt 'well done' it seems full rivalry was resumed.

Miss Rudman did not attend the celebratory meal held for Miss Williams, nicknamed Curly Wurly for her pre-Raphaelite locks, after the medal ceremony.

A pair of Australian TV sports commentators came under fire for describing male ice skaters' routines as 'Brokeback Mountain' exercises.

Eddie McGuire and Mick Molloy joked about organisers being shocked at discovering one skater was not gay, adding that the non-gay skater was unlikely to be controversial and flamboyant U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir - because he wore a black and pink outfit while holding a heart-shaped cushion.

The British men's curling team arrived in Vancouver as world champions and with high hopes.

But they left empty-handed without even making it to the semi-finals, sadly not making the most out of the £1.1m invested in curling over the past four years.

And finally, one of the first things you might expect to get at the Winter Games is plenty of snow.

When rain fell on the pistes instead, making them more mud bath than winter wonderland, Canada ended up flying in more of the white stuff in a desperate bid to make Cypress Mountain ski and snowboard-worthy.

But then, who need snow, when all the action appears to be off the slopes?


source: dailymail