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USOC head defends high-tech speedskating suits
The head of the U.S. Olympic Committee defended the speedskating suits that were dumped midway through the Sochi Games.
CEO Scott Blackmun said Tuesday in a statement that "we are disappointed" by the performance of the U.S. team, which has yet to finish higher than seventh at these Olympics.
The Americans came into the games with more speedskating gold medals than any other country, and the most overall medals by any U.S. Winter team. But they have been a major flop in Russia, with much of the blame falling on the high-tech skinsuits developed by Under Armour with help from aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin.
"We do not believe the suits were the problem," Blackmun said, adding that companies such as Under Armour and Lockheed Martin provide necessary innovation.
Silver medal ice dancers bemoan coach's unavailability
Canadian ice dance silver medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir on Tuesday bemoaned the split allegiance of coach Marina Zoueva, who also works with American gold medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Virtue and Moir have been longtime students of Zoueva's, as have Davis and White.
"We sometimes felt like [Zoueva] wasn't in our corner," Moir said, more in the way of stating a fact as he and Virtue perceived it than as a complaint. "We had some odd things happen this year that hadn't happened before. For the first time, she wasn't there."
He mentioned Zoueva not being at the Canadian championships this year. That event coincided with U.S. nationals, which Zoueva did attend. Each couple won its national title.
The Canadian pair insisted they understood why Zoueva spent so much time with Davis and White, and they praised Zoueva for how she handled the dicey situation.
