Blog Posts by Maggie Hendricks



When American Evan Lysacek won gold in figure skating at the Vancouver Olympics, Yahoo! Sports' Elvis Stojko had a huge problem with the result. Though he had no problem with Lysacek's performance, he did have a problem with the way the skate was scored.

At the time, skaters were not given more consideration for trying difficult jumps, like the quadruple jump. When competing for Canada in the 90s, Stojko became the first man to cleanly land a quad jump at the World Championships. With Lysacek not trying to repeat his difficult feat, Stojko said the 2010 result had set back the sport 20 years. In the video above, he stands by his words.

But as they traditionally do after the Olympics, figure skating officials reviewed how to score different skating elements. Quads were encouraged in the new scoring system. Canadian Patrick Chan, the reigning world champ, is expected to throw a quad at the world championships in London, Canada, next week. Top Japanese skaters Daisuke Takahashi and

(Getty)Remember Mo Farah, the British runner who won two golds in London? His win over training partner Galen Rupp was one of the most thrilling moments of the 2012 Olympics. The British crowd roared as he crossed the finish line, and he became one of the biggest celebrities of the Olympics.

But an anchor at a New Orleans television station must not have remembered the moment. After Farah won the New Orleans Half Marathon with a time of 61 minutes, she asked him if he had ever run before.

It also appears that she doesn't know the difference between a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and a marathon (26.2 miles.)

Regardless of her gaffe, Farah completed an amazing run. After spending most of his career on distances of 5,000m - 10,000m, he transitioned to a half-marathon by running it in an hour and 59 seconds and setting a course records.

Thanks, Deadspin.

(Associated Press)

South African runner Oscar Pistorius was charged with murder on Thursday after his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot at his home in Pretoria. Pistorius, who had collected considerable fame and wealth after becoming the first double amputee to run in the Olympics, reportedly kept several weapons at his home in South Africa and some early reports say Pistorius mistook his girlfriend for an intruder.

What exactly happened is still unclear — police say they had been called to Pistorious' home for "incidents" before — but a tweet he sent in November reveals that he was a bit jumpy when it came to personal safety:

Jordan Burroughs (red) competes in the 2012 Olympics. (AP)In a shocking move, the International Olympic Committee voted to drop wrestling from its schedule for the 2020 Games. The unexpected decision was made via secret ballot during a Tuesday meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland where officials were discussing ways to "streamline" the Olympics.

Though many assumed modern pentathlon would get the boot, the committee instead decided to eliminate wrestling, which has roots in the ancient Greece games and has been a part of every modern Olympics since they began in 1896. The vote was completed over several rounds and the final totals were not released to the public.

Each of the Summer Games' 26 "core sports" were reviewed and at risk:

"This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It's not a case of what's wrong with wrestling, it is what's right with the (other) 25 core sports."

Now wrestling will have to face off with seven other sports that are fighting for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics. The list includes includes baseball and softball, which were dropped from the Olympics after Beijing in 2008 and sports trying to make the Olympics for the first time, including karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing,wake boarding and wushu. The Associated Press said it is "extremely unlikely" that wrestling would be brought back so soon after the committee voted to eliminate it.

Gracie Gold will skate at Worlds. (Getty)The 2014 Winter Olympics officially open one year from today. Do you want to be the super cool person at the water cooler who can impress everyone with your Winter Olympic knowledge? Circle these dates on your calendar and start paying attention to the your favorite winter sports right now.

Feb. 20 — Mar. 3, Nordic World Championships: In Val di Fiemme, Italy, cross country skiers and ski jumpers will show off who the best in the world are. At the last Winter Games in Vancouver, the United States won medals in Nordic combined (cross country skiing and ski jumping). That was a first for the U.S. team, so check in to see if they can get a streak going. Also, women's ski jumpers will be in the Olympics for the first time, and you can see who the early favorites to win the first gold will be.

Mar. 12 — Mar. 20, Figure Skating World Championships: Figure skaters will flock to London, Ont., for the world championships in just over a month from now. It's a key event because it's where figure

Lindsey Vonn receives an airlift rescue on Tuesday. (AP)

Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn was airlifted off a mountain in Schladming, Austria on Tuesday after crashing during the world championships. Vonn's crash came during the Super G, when she slipped and then went head over heels, with her legs getting tangled up as she hit the ground. A skiing official reported that her injury was "a cruciate and lateral ligament” injury — not a tibia, as rumored before.

[Related: Lindsey Vonn's Olympic bid in doubt after crash, injury]

Here is video of the crash:

(Getty)Canadian figure skaters will fight for their right to party. According to the Globe and Mail, police were called to break up a party filled with figure skaters who had just competed in the Canadian national championships.

At 5 a.m. on Sunday, eight skaters reportedly got into a fight. One person's cheek was cut, but police said he didn't need medical attention. The skaters, who were not named by the Globe and Mail, didn't respond to hotel staff on a noise complaint. Police were then brought in, and sent the partying figure skaters back to their rooms. No criminal complaints were made, because party fouls are not against the law.

Skate Canada officials will investigate the incident. The Canadian Figure Skating Championships concluded this weekend. Defending two-time world champion Patrick Chan easily won the men's title, and defending Olympic champion ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the ice dance title.

Thanks, Deadspin.

Competitors snap pics of Franklin. (USA Today Sports)Missy Franklin won four gold medals at the London Olympics. Since then, she's appeared in front of crowds at a Denver Broncos game, "The Tonight Show," and at plenty of different awards shows. Though she's a teenager, you think these experiences would drum nervousness right out of her, right?

Wrong. She is still a teenager, and found herself quite nervous before a dual meet. Competing for Regis Jesuit High School, Franklin said she was surprised but happy that she was so nervous.

"All my teammates were like, 'What is wrong with you?'" Franklin said. "I was so nervous and I love that. It shows me that the excitement of the sport is still there, no matter where you go. It can be here or the Olympics, but I still get so excited to get in the pool every single time.

Franklin pals around with her teammate. (USA Today Sports)To the shock of no one, Franklin easily qualified for the Colorado state meet with her four swims. There was controversy behind Franklin's decision to swim, as some critics said it wasn't fair for such a decorated swimmer to compete against other high schoolers. But Erica Perhada, her competitor's coach, said Franklin actually helped her team by raising the level of competition.

"They were working as hard as they could," Peharda said. "Missy's such a great role model. She's very positive. The girls were excited. I don't think they felt like she's taking anything away from them. It's really cool that she's swimming for high school."

Franklin posed for pictures with her competitors after the meet was over. Anyone who was worried about her motives for swimming in high school meets should be calmed down by the fact that Franklin was so excited to swim with her high school teammates. Though she's an extraordinary athlete, she wanted the chance to be an ordinary high schooler. What's more ordinary than being nervous before a swim meet?