Olympics
Daft Punk Ice Dance About Alien and Astronaut Helps Team USA Win Silver Medal: Watch
Madison Chock played an alien and Evan Bates an astronaut in an epic Olympic ice dance routine set to a medley of Daft Punk songs. The pair placed first in the free dance portion of the team figure skating event, helping Team USA take home a silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Team figure skating began on February 4th and wrapped up with three events on February 7th. After Team USA had a disappointing fifth-place finish in pairs free skate and only managed fourth in women’s free skate, Chock and Bates came through with a clutch ice dance routine, narrowly pushing Team USA past Japan for the silver medal. The Russian Olympic Committee won gold by a comfortable margin. Chock and Bates’s routine began where Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories ended, with “Contact” and an astronaut n...
2022 Winter Olympics: U.S. Skaters Get Nasty With Janet Jackson In Beijing
While the opening ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China begin on Friday (Feb. 4), a few winter sports got an early jump on the international event. This year, NBC viewers were treated to Olympic ice dancing on Thursday night (Feb. 3), just a few hours ahead of the proper opening ceremony at the Beijing Games. Explore See latest videos, charts and news While figure skating (a solo competition sport) is still on the docket for 2022, early viewers got a glimpse of the pairs facing off in ice dancing on Thursday night – and Team USA did not come to play. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States demonstrated their ice dancing rhythm to the foreign nation, burning the competition while getting a little nasty on ice. Which is to say, the U.S. duo performed a med...
Former DJ Turned Skiier Benjamin Alexander to Make Olympic Debut Next Month
Benjamin Alexander’s decision to put down the decks and pick up the poles has begun to pay off. Alexander, formerly a DJ and resident of Burning Man’s iconic Robot Heart community, made a dramatic lifestyle change in 2018 when he opted to retire his DJing career in order to focus on skiing full-time. After a ski trip in early 2018, Alexander became consumed with the idea of pursuing the sport in a professional capacity. After subsequently traveling to Pyongyang to view the 2018 Winter Olympics, he set his sights high. “I ended up going to the Winter Olympics in Pyongyang as a spectator and noticed that there were only three Jamaican athletes, which I was shocked by,” Alexander told Resident Advisor. “The kernel of this idea was formed. Maybe I could ...
Former Olympic Speed Skater Allegedly Stole $10 Million and Financed Elijah Wood Movie
A one-time Winter Olympic speed skater found herself in hot water today when she was charged with defrauding the federal government of $10 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, part of which she allegedly used to help fund an Elijah Wood movie. In court papers filed in Utah, prosecutors allege that Allison Baver — who represented the United States in the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Olympics as a member of the women’s speed skating team — filed multiple loan applications claiming her production company, Allison Baver Productions, had as many as 430 employees and a monthly payroll of $4 million. According to the indictment, the Taylorsville, Utah native’s eponymous company was all smoke and mirrors, with no employees at all. And yet, Baver’s applications were approved to the tune of a...
Usain Bolt Is Dropping a Dancehall Album This Week
Legendary Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt is taking his artistry to the next level with Country Yutes, his debut full-length album. Fans of the decorated Jamaican athlete won’t have to wait long to hear the record. Bolt’s forthcoming album drops later this week on September 3rd, and ahead of the release he has unveiled one of its singles alongside a music video. With “It’s A Party” Bolt signals his affinity for bringing dancehall to the masses. A sun-soaked dancehall anthem, the track—released in collaboration with his manager Nugent “NJ” Walker—embodies the spirit of a tropical summer bash with uplifting steel drums and choral vocals. Check out the official music video for “It’s A Party” below. Recommended Articles Bol...
Bruce Springsteen’s Daughter Jessica Wins Silver Medal at the Olympics
Bruce Springsteen is an undoubtedly essential character in American pop culture history, and now his children are following in his footsteps… or, should we say hoofsteps? Jessica Springsteen, the second child of the Born in the USA icon and first-time Olympian, made her country proud all the way from Tokyo this week by taking home a silver medal in team equestrian jumping. To paraphrase her father: She certainly didn’t “end up like a dog that’s been beat too much.” Alongside her teammates Laura Kraut and McLain Ward, the 29-year-old Springsteen just barely trailed behind Sweden’s equestrian team; Belgium nabbed bronze in the sport. Though she failed to advance in the individual equestrian competitions earlier this year, Springsteen and her trusty horse Don Juan van de Donkhoeve were in per...
Olympic Beach Volleyball Star April Ross Listens to Excision, Avicii, More on Quest for Gold
Electronic artists have the innate ability to hype people up with their music. Just ask American beach volleyball player April Ross, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist and 2016 bronze medalist listening to EDM to fuel her quest for gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Ross recently shared the artists and tracks which pump her up to compete—and it’s not for the faint of heart. Some of her go-to artists include Kill the Noise, Skrillex, Flux Pavilion, Excision, NGHTMRE, Kygo, and Avicii, As a true testament to her level of EDM fandom, she has curated her own Olympic playlists for the last five years, incorporating songs like “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, “The Drop” by Bro Safari, and “Birdz” by Wuki and Smokepurpp. “Something about...
We’re Not Olympic Judges, but We’d Score Tom Daley’s Knitted Team GB Cardigan an 11/10
Here at POPSUGAR, we’re huge fans of the Olympics, especially when it comes to cheering on Team GB and becoming experts in sports we weren’t familiar with before 23 July. But there’s another sport that we’ve become even more obsessed with during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and that’s Tom Daley knitting and crocheting in the stands whilst cheering on his teammates. We’ve seen him crochet a dog jumper, an Olympic medal pouch, and also an epic Olympic-themed cardigan. After working on it over the last few weeks, Tom proudly showed off his latest masterpiece on his Instagram page @madewithlovebytomdaley. “When I got to Tokyo, I wanted to make something that would remind me of these games. Something that I could say I had made in Tokyo, during the Oly...
Taylor Swift Salutes “Hero” Simone Biles in New Video: Watch
Taylor Swift celebrated Simone Biles’ return to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in a short video that aired prior to tonight’s balance beam competition. Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, made her return to Olympic competition on Tuesday after pulling out of several previous events for mental health reasons. She went on to claim the bronze medal in the balance beam event. In a promo video airing during tonight’s telecast, Swift called Biles as a “hero” whose “voice has been as significant as her talents.” Advertisement Related Video “What do we want from our heroes?” Swift asks in the promo (via Billboard). “What do we expect from them? What do we need from them? What happens when they surprise us? When you have the attention of the world, everything you do takes on a bigger meaning. I...
“Rave Horse” Steals the Show at Tokyo Olympics With EDM Dressage Routine
Mopsie the “rave horse” is growing a colt following after a bass-fueled dressage grand prix freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics. Ridden by five-time Olympian Steffan Peters of the U.S., Mopsie hoofed around to an EDM mix at the Olympic Equestrian Park on July 28th, flawlessly gyrating to classics like Rune RK’s “Calabria” and Haddaway’s “What Is Love.” The unlikely (and hilarious) equestrian-rave mashup worked, leading to a top-10 finish for Mopsie and Peters just one day after the pair rode to silver with the U.S. dressage team in its best finish since 1948. Mopsie’s viral routine even reached Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg, who chimed in with some hysterical commentary. Recommended Articles In dressage, competitors are jud...
Stone Pony? Bruce Springsteen’s Daughter Jessica Fails to Qualify for Individual Olympic Equestrian Final
Bruce Springsteen met his future wife and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa at the rock venue The Stone Pony. Perhaps it was an inauspicious start for their daughter Jessica, who nearly 40 years later failed to make the finals of the equestrian individual jumping event at the Tokyo Olympics. Jessica was selected for team USA last month, and her Olympic journey isn’t over yet– she’ll compete in team jumping this Friday, August 6th. As ESPN reports, her hopes for solo gold fell apart at the 11th jump of a 14-obstacle course, when her horse, Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, knocked down a railing. Her score was good enough to keep her on the bubble for another hour, until she was finally eliminated from the competition. “All in all, I’m thrilled with the round, and I’m excited for t...
She’s Back!: The GOAT Simone Biles Will Perform Balance Beam Final At The Olympics
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jamie Squire / Getty The GOAT is back! Simone Biles will be making her return to the gymnastics floor when she competes in the Balance Beam Final Tuesday (Aug.3). After understandably taking a break from competition after she revealed she was battling the “twisties,” a term coined by gymnasts to describe when they can’t judge where they are while in the air that could result in awkward landing, which could lead to a serious injury, the world’s greatest gymnast is back. USA Gymnastics confirmed the decorated gymnasts returned in a tweet stating, “We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow – Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!” Biles has been cheering on the USA Gymnastics team f...
