The 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy concluded this past Sunday after 16 days of international competition.
University students reflected on their favorite Winter Olympic sports as well as controversies that arose out of this year's contest.
Fourth-year Engineering student Kara Parsons said she watched the Olympics because it showed sports that don't always get television coverage.
"They're not on TV except for the Olympics, so you've got to take the opportunity," she said.
Other students said they enjoyed watching sports they partake in during their free time.
"I snowboard so I like watching all the different competitions," second-year College student Warren Waterman said.
Waterman said he thought the United States snowboarding team did very well this Olympics, except for one controversy that came out of the women's snowboard cross competition.
Problems arose when Lindsey Jacobellis nearly won gold for the United States in the Snowboard Cross competition, but left with the silver medal after crashing on one of the last jumps of the race. Viewers were concerned that the fall was the result of showing off.
Parsons said she thought Jacobellis was showing off by grabbing her board on the jump.
"If you look at the replays between her previous runs and her last run, there was an obvious difference between her other jumps and her last jump," Parsons said.
Another topic of interest focused on the women's figure skating competition.
Just after the Olympics began, U.S. Figure-skater Michelle Kwan withdrew from competition due to a groin injury, allowing alternate Emily Hughes to join the women's team.
"It was really sad to see after an amazing career, she wouldn't get a gold medal," first-year College student Monica Talley said.
Talley said withdrawing was the right choice for Kwan.
"If she couldn't skate then she wasn't the right one to represent the country," she said.
The commotion surrounding the various controversies did not completely deter from Parsons's viewing experiences.
"I think controversies are blown up to get attention because people want something to talk about, so I don't give them too much credit," Parsons said.
Overall, Waterman said he was entertained by the 2006 Winter Olympics.
"I think it seems like Torino did a great job holding the Olympics," Waterman said. "They got great crowds out to all of the events."
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