Evendays

What’s it like to have the Gold Medal within your grasp, the sure thing, and then lose it? What’s it like to expect the Silver (you’re 60 yards behind with 6 seconds left in the race) then see your opponent on her derriere in the snow as you glide by for the gold? Son 2 called me on the intercom: “Switzerland’s just won the gold in the women’s snowboard-cross competition. You’ve got to see how it happened.” (I thought he was making the sport up.) Caught up in the moment, the American Lindsey Jacobellis did a “grab” move on a jump near the finish and fell. The three of us from the Swiss vantage point thought she was doing her best to please the crowd when she ate it. USA Today says she was just stabilizing her board in a crosswind. It was a crummy way to lose. But I’ve seen football players, completely alone, drop the ball before the end zone, and a grounder go between a first baseman’s legs. Not fun ways to lose. And probably not the end of the world. Any famous mess-ups that you can remember? FYI: The Swiss have 6 medals including the Silver in Men’s ice-skating and the Gold in women’s skeleton. Don’t you just love the Olympics?