Today is day 1 of the A to Z blogging challenge. London is a little more than a year away (and the Innsbruck Youth Olympics are less than a year away now), so it’s time to brush off the Olympics blog and get ready for the next one.

The last time the Olympics were held in London, the world was just pulling out of World War II. The Olympics were actually cancelled in 1940 and 1944 because of the war — the world just wasn’t feeling the Olympic spirit at the time. So in 1948, London held the Olympics. They called it the Austerity Olympics. Although the war was over, rationing was still in effect, and there were still some people left homeless by the war. It was a difficult time economically, and London took a less showy approach to the games.

I don’t know how the games will go in 2012. Some in London have called for austerity once again, but who knows whether that will happen. I was thinking the other day about how the economy could affect athletes for years to come. Are there kids my daughter’s age who could be Olympic champions, but who have parents that send their child to the gym less (or not at all) because they can’t afford it? Are there athletes who have had to hang it up because of the lack of funds? I’m sure that this has happened.

Whether London 2012 is another austerity Olympics or not, we’ll have to wait and see. Sure, the Beijing Opening ceremonies were fantastic, but is that really why we watch the games? The most important thing is the competition. That won’t be ruined by any austerity program.

Recently, the 2000 Chinese Olympic team lost their bronze medal after Dong Fangxiao was discovered to be underage. The age discrepancy was discovered when Dong filed paperwork to be an official at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The US Olympic team will receive medals next month. Questions were also asked of the 2008 team; more than one of the athletes were suspected to be underage, although the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has cleared them (my opinion is that they might mess up and be discovered to be underage in the future).

The Chinese government will make the athletes produce six different forms of ID to prove the athletes’ ages.

This would be good if the Chinese are actually sincere about their hopes to clear age-falsification; however, if this announcement is just for show, and the Chinese government is behind the age deception, then we might not see any changes soon. With the Youth Olympics, perhaps the Chinese won’t be in such a hurry to push their athletes into the wider stage at an earlier age than they are allowed.

She’s 15 years old, and one of the top athletes in the world at the Junior Level. The Singapore Games will give her the chance to enjoy competition at the highest levels.

I wish her good luck (though I want the US to beat her, personally). Making the UK team in 2012 may be more difficult than making the Youth Olympic Team, but she’ll have the opportunity. You can find out more about McKinna on BBC Sport.

One person on a message board I visited questioned why there were only 28 states represented, and not 50. With only 82 athletes represented, it is only likely that less populous states like Alaska and Wyoming would have less of a chance to be represented. Furthermore, the Olympics are not a democracy. While the Youth Olympic Games are not intended to be as competitive as the main Olympics, we should be sending the most talented. It is likely that many of these athletes will compete in London in 2012; it’s better to send people that could use the experience in international competition.

There are two people from Arizona, although none of them are in gymnastics. We are only sending four gymnastics delegates; they represent both the artistic and rhythmic sides of the sport.

Shannon Bahrke, who you might remember won a silver medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, is retiring from mogul skiing. Although she will be leaving athletic competition, she has plenty of things that will keep her busy. Her brother, Scotty Bahrke, is still competing.

She is currently engaged to Matt Happe, and plans to marry him in Hawaii on September 10, 2010. The two run Silver Bean Coffee together.

She would like to have kids in the future, and is interested in being an Olympic commentator.

Jeremy Wotherspoon, one of Canada’s greatest speedskaters, has announced his retirement at age 33. Although he received a silver medal in Nagano and holds the world record in the 500 meter event, the gold medal eluded him.

Even though I primarily root for the United States, in a way, I was hoping that Wotherspoon would win the gold this year. He’s such a great skater, and he’s been around for so long. I suppose that some things are not meant to be.

He plans on going to Germany next, and will coach sprinting at a speedskating academy in Germany. I wish him well.

Yahoo has more information about Wotherspoon’s retirement.

Most people like to see other people overcome tragedy. Perhaps this is why we root for the underdog at times. Perhaps its because we all face difficult situations, and if someone else can overcome difficulties, then maybe we can too.

One of the most powerful stories of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is the story of Joannie Rochette, a figure skater from Canada. Her mother died on Sunday, only two days before she was to skate in her short program. While nobody could blame her if she dropped out, Joannie decided to continue.

On Tuesday night, Joannie skated beautifully; in fact, she skated her way to third place. With tears in her eyes as she left the ice, you couldn’t help but to imagine how she must have felt.

She completed the figure skating competition on Thursday with the free skate, and again, skated wonderfully. She ended up winning the bronze medal.

You can’t help but to admire her. It’s the stuff of what Olympic Visa Commercials are made of.

One of the most exciting athletes to watch during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is Lindsey Vonn. With plans to compete in all five alpine skiing events, Vonn was one of the favorites to win gold as the weeks coming up to the Olympics approached.

Unfortunately, while training for the Olympics, Vonn got into an accident and badly bruised her shin. There was a question of whether she would even be able to compete. Fortunately, weather conditions postponed the first date that she would have to race, giving her more time to compete. Still, she was in a lot of pain when she made her downhill race, which she won gold in. Her reaction to winning the gold was exciting to see; unfortunately, I can’t find a good link to it for you.

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics are Vonn’s third Olympics. In 2002 and 2006, she skied as Lindsey Kildow. She married her husband, Thomas Vonn, in 2007. She never received a medal until this Olympics. She is one of the most physically fit competitors around, using men’s skis in most of the events. These are longer, but can be more difficult to control.

Vonn is scheduled to race in the Giant Slalom today, and the Slalom on Friday.

Canada’s Brian McKeever is one such person. Born with Stargardt’s disease, McKeever has only 10% of his vision, and what he does sees is primarily out of his peripheral vision. Previously, he has competed in the Paralympic Games, where his brother is able to ski with him as a guide.

For 2010, McKeever will be joining the small group of athletes, like swimmer Natalie Du Toit, who have participated in both the Paralympics and able-bodied Olympics. He will be the first athlete to participate in both the Winter Olympics and a Winter Paralympics.

Many of the races that he will be participating in are mass-start events, where he will be able to see other people with his limited peripheral vision. The trick for this Canadian will be trying to stay with the fastest group, and then breaking out for the win at the end.

Kumaritashvili was sliding down the fastest part of the track, when he slid out of control, flew over a wall, and hit a steel beam. He was knocked unconscious, then died after he arrived at the hospital.

Georgia is considering dropping out of the Vancouver Olympics entirely, and are unsure of whether they will be participating in tonight’s opening ceremonies.

Some are calling for the cancellation of all sliding events after this tragedy. The Whistler track is dangerous; the athletes are achieving speeds that are faster than previous tracks. However, the Olympics only come once every four years. Not everybody will have the opportunity to compete in Sochi in 2014. Rather than cancelling the event, my take on it is that if anything is to be done, it would be better for everyone to either slow down the ice, move the starting gate further down the track, install safety measures, or move the event. If they can helicopter in mountains of snow, like they have been with Cypress Mountain, they can find a way to make the show go on.

Since the Winter Olympics began in 1924, Kumaritashvili has been the fourth Olympian to die in the winter games. The first two deaths occurred in 1964, after Australian skier Ross Milne struck a tree during a training run. During the same year, British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki also died in a training run. Oddly enough, in 1964, the Olympics was also facing a lack of snow; the Austrian army trucked in ice from elsewhere. In 1992, Swiss skier Nicholas Bochatay died after crashing into a snow grooming machine.

While this event is a tragedy, the other athletes do have a choice over whether to compete or not. Engineers should do whatever they can to make the event as safe as possible, but it would be unfair to everyone else to cancel the event.