Monday, February 15, 2010

Colombia Cynthia Denzler / 2010 Winter Olympics

Cynthia Denzler, la única representante de Colombia en los Juegos de InviernoLa esquiadora, nacida en Estados Unidos, competirá en las pruebas de slalom y slalom grande.
In the slalom racers go down the hill one at a time weaving through gates. The object in the slalom is to go in and out of gates that are set up and get down the hill faster than any other competitor. They wear short skis to make turning easier. The binding hold the boots tight to the skis. The skiers try to get as close to the gates as they can without missing them so they wear padding on their arms and legs and to protect themselves from the gates. They also wear helmets, goggles and gloves.
Slalom can be a very dangerous sport. Skiers go straight down a hill making really sharp turns on skis in the snow. If the snow is deep and soft it is harder to go down the hill because you can sink into the snow. If the snow is thin and smooth you will go faster because your skis skid over the snow and it is easier to turn the skis in and out of the flags. You just don't want it to be icy, that's really dangerous. There are officials that make sure nobody cheats by not going in and out of all the gates. If any of the participants doesn’t go through all the gates they are disqualified. The gates are stuck into the snow so they do not blow away in the wind. The gates are tall enough for the participants to see but not too tall because the flag might bend down and the racers could trip on the flags.
There is a men's event and a women's event. Each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. There must be a total of 55 to 75 gates fro men and 45 to 65 gates for women. The times get added up and the fastest time wins! Some famous slalom skiers were Billy Kidd, Ingemar Stenmark and Alberto Tomba.
That's why I think this sport is so cool and fun!
Fernando IX University

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