THE CURSE OF THE SLIPPERY SLOPE: Winter Olympics 2006 Contest

Coaches and fans worldwide reward competitors who push beyond their limits, who achieve new highs, who give 110%. But not Laughton.org.
In our latest contest, we ask you to predict which countries will win medals in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. We tell you how many medals, you tell us which countries. When your countries win medals, your score goes up. But your medals are stacked on a slippery slope; if you win too many, they slide off and you lose them! Play carefully.

Overachievers beware!

February 27, 2006

1
148

2
147

3
142

4
131

5
115

6
113

7
112

8
108

9
98

10
90

11
88

12
85

13
76

14
54

15
3

The Contest Manager always enters his own contests, but he doesn't expect to win them. Who would have guessed that so many medals would tumble from so many slopes? He is ineligible to receive any prizes, so they will be awarded to the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers.

02:14:49

SLOPE 5: 3
POL:2 BLR:1 MAR SLO

SLOPE 10: 5
BUL:1 EST:3 JPN:1

SLOPE 25: 31 0
RUS:22 NED:9 ICE

SLOPE 50: 55 0
PRK KOR:11 NOR:19 SUI:14 CHN:11

SLOPE 100: 82
USA:25 GER:29 CAN:24 CZE:4

Why isn't Jamaica on the list? I wanted to include them in my 5 pile. Go Jamaican Bob Sledders!!

02:04:58

SLOPE 5: 2
BUL:1 BLR:1

SLOPE 10: 15 0
SWE:14 JPN:1

SLOPE 25: 36 0
RUS:22 SUI:14

SLOPE 50: 46
NOR:19 CAN:24 CRO:3

SLOPE 100: 67
GER:29 AUS:2 USA:25 ITA:11

Note: You need a space where we can complain bitterly about our selections and why we didn't do better. :)

02:14:52

SLOPE 5: 2
POL:2 ALB MAR SLO

SLOPE 10: 5
BUL:1 EST:3 JPN:1

SLOPE 25: 31 0
RUS:22 NED:9 ICE

SLOPE 50: 55 0
PRK ITA:11 FRA:9 FIN:9 GBR:1 SUI:14 CHN:11

SLOPE 100: 81
USA:25 GER:29 AUT:23 CZE:4

02:05:55

SLOPE 5: 2
POL:2

SLOPE 10: 7
JPN:1 EST:3 BLR:1 AUS:2

SLOPE 25: 27 0
GBR:1 BUL:1 SLO KOR:11 SUI:14

SLOPE 50: 45
NOR:19 FRA:9 CRO:3 SWE:14

SLOPE 100: ~~109~~ 0
RUS:22 ITA:11 AUT:23 CAN:24 GER:29

02:04:25

SLOPE 5: 9 0
NED:9

SLOPE 10: 15 0
KOR:11 CZE:4

SLOPE 25: 38 0
CAN:24 SWE:14

SLOPE 50: 56 0
AUT:23 RUS:22 ITA:11

SLOPE 100: 76
GER:29 USA:25 NOR:19 CRO:3 BIH

02:10:48

SLOPE 5: 3
POL:2 JPN:1

SLOPE 10: 11 0
CHN:11

SLOPE 25: 32 0
AUT:23 FIN:9

SLOPE 50: 52 0
NOR:19 RUS:22 ITA:11

SLOPE 100: ~~101~~ 0
USA:25 CAN:24 FRA:9 SUI:14 GER:29

Da ski run is so fun! :)

02:05:10.3

SLOPE 5: 3
GBR:1 AUS:2

SLOPE 10: 6
CZE:4 BUL:1 JPN:1 SLO

SLOPE 25: 32 0
AUT:23 FIN:9

SLOPE 50: 39
USA:25 SUI:14

SLOPE 100: 83
GER:29 NOR:19 CAN:24 ITA:11

Go with the green. The pickle knows.

02:15:00

SLOPE 5: 3
CRO:3

SLOPE 10: 9
SPA FIN:9

SLOPE 25: 32 0
CHN:11 SWE:14 POL:2 JPN:1 CZE:4

SLOPE 50: 69 0
RUS:22 AUT:23 CAN:24

SLOPE 100: 73
USA:25 GER:29 NOR:19 SEN

02:10:00

SLOPE 5: 4
EST:3 GBR:1

SLOPE 10: 10
FRA:9 LAT:1

SLOPE 25: 38 0
SWE:14 CAN:24 ESP

SLOPE 50: 55 0
AUT:23 RUS:22 FIN:9 JPN:1

SLOPE 100: 84
NOR:19 USA:25 GER:29 KOR:11

02:08:05.2

SLOPE 5: 1
GBR:1

SLOPE 10: 4
SLO BLR:1 EST:3

SLOPE 25: 36 0
RUS:22 SWE:14

SLOPE 50: 45
AUT:23 NOR:19 CRO:3

SLOPE 100: 63
GER:29 USA:25 NED:9

02:07:04

SLOPE 5: 4
CZE:4

SLOPE 10: 9
FIN:9

SLOPE 25: 28 0
CAN:24 CRO:3 JPN:1

SLOPE 50: 47
USA:25 KOR:11 CHN:11

SLOPE 100: 82
GER:29 NED:9 SUI:14 NOR:19 ITA:11

02:08:08

SLOPE 5: 3
AUS:2 BLR:1

SLOPE 10: 9
NED:9

SLOPE 25: 23
FRA:9 SUI:14

SLOPE 50: 58 0
CAN:24 AUT:23 ITA:11

SLOPE 100: 73
USA:25 GER:29 NOR:19

02:09:05

SLOPE 5: 2
AUS:2 SLO

SLOPE 10: 10
FIN:9 BLR:1

SLOPE 25: 29 0
CAN:24 CZE:4 JPN:1

SLOPE 50: 45
NOR:19 AUT:23 EST:3

SLOPE 100: 90
GER:29 USA:25 RUS:22 SUI:14

02:01:00

SLOPE 5: 4
CZE:4

SLOPE 10: 14 0
SUI:14

SLOPE 25: 31 0
RUS:22 FIN:9

SLOPE 50: 36
USA:25 KOR:11

SLOPE 100: 72
GER:29 NOR:19 CAN:24

02:06:56

SLOPE 5: 3
GBR:1 AUS:2

SLOPE 10: 10
NED:9 JPN:1

SLOPE 25: 36 0
RUS:22 FIN:9 EST:3 POL:2

SLOPE 50: 36
USA:25 ITA:11

SLOPE 100: 99
GER:29 NOR:19 AUT:23 SUI:14 SWE:14

This entry comes from Laughton.org and is not eligible to win a prize.

gold silver bronze total

AUS 1 0 1 2

AUT 9 7 7 23

BLR 0 1 0 1

BUL 0 1 0 1

CAN 7 10 7 24

CHN 2 4 5 11

CRO 1 2 0 3

CZE 1 2 1 4

EST 3 0 0 3

gold silver bronze total

FIN 0 6 3 9

FRA 3 2 4 9

GBR 0 1 0 1

GER 11 12 6 29

ITA 5 0 6 11

JPN 1 0 0 1

KOR 6 3 2 11

LAT 0 0 1 1

NED 3 2 4 9

gold silver bronze total

NOR 2 8 9 19

POL 0 1 1 2

RUS 8 6 8 22

SUI 5 4 5 14

SVK 0 1 0 1

SWE 7 2 5 14

UKR 0 0 2 2

USA 9 9 7 25

Giorgio di Centa of Italy won the 50-kilometer cross-country ski race in 02:06:11.8.

Laughton.org is pleased to award three prizes in the Olympic-medal colors of gold, silver, and bronze (or as close to bronze as possible), and in keeping with the international spirit of the Games, the prizes come from three different countries:

receives a toy goldfish. This battery-operated "swimming fish" (as opposed to the kind that ski-jumps or rides the luge) comes from Hamley's Toy Store on London's famous Regent Street.

receives a decorative plastic garland that looks like a string of silver 1-ruble coins from Saint Petersburg, Russia.
receives a 200-gram plastic container of Raha Drinking Chocolate from Nairobi, Kenya.

The Slippery Slopes come in five sizes - 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 - which represent the maximum number of medals that each can hold. You will pick countries that you think will win medals in the 2006 Olympics and assign one or more to each slope. Your score is the number of medals won by all the countries you pick; all medals count the same regardless of whether they're gold, silver, or bronze. You can put as many countries on each slope as you like, but you can't pick the same country twice. Most importantly, if you accumulate more medals on any slope than it can hold, you lose all medals for that slope. If you lose the medals on a slope, that slope cannot accumulate any more medals.

For tiebreaking purposes, you'll also predict the winning time of the men's 50-kilometer cross-country ski competition that is scheduled to start on February 26 at 10:00am Torino time.

Send your entry by e-mail to contest@laughton.org. We'll do the scoring and post the results on this webpage, which will be updated regularly during the course of the Olympic games. The player with the most medals at the end of the competition will win a small prize.

Send your e-mail in the following format:

In the Subject field, type "contest entry". Any other text may cause your entry to be lost to the spam filter.
In the body of your message, put the following information:

First line: your player name. This is the name that will appear in the contest results. You may use your real name or a pseudonym, but try to use no more than 32 characters.
Second line: countries on your 5-medal slope. You may use abbreviations as long as they're easily recognizable. Recommended abbreviations appear at the bottom of this page.
Third line: countries on your 10-medal slope.
Fourth line: countries on your 25-medal slope.
Fifth line: countries on your 50-medal slope.
Sixth line: countries on your 100-medal slope.
Seventh line: your tiebreaker prediction in hh:mm:ss form.

On subsequent lines you may add some comments if you like. You may discuss your contest strategy, relate an amusing anecdote from your personal Olympic experience, or write anything else that may interest your fellow players. Long-winded or boring comments may be shortened or otherwise improved by Laughton.org.

An example of a properly-formatted entry appears at right. There's no need to include the numbers of the slopes, but feel free to do so if it helps you organize your countries.

Sample Entry

   Date:  February 3, 2006
     To:  contest@laughton.org
   From:  you@youraddress.com
Subject:  contest entry
P. Tchaikov-Ski
5   GBR
10  SPA, FIN
25  CHI, SWE, POL, JPN, CZE
50  RUS, AUT, CAN
100 USA, GER, NOR, KOR
02:15:30
If I win, I'd better
get something nice!

Scores will be posted on this webpage frequently during the course of the Olympics, but only the final tally determines the prize winner. At the conclusion of the Olympics, the player with the most medals on his slopes wins. Any slope for which a player has collected too many medals - that is, more medals than the size of the slope - counts as zero. In the event that two players are tied for the highest medal count, the one whose tiebreaker prediction comes closest to the actual winning time of the men's 50km cross-country ski event will be declared the winner. It make no difference if the prediction is higher or lower than the actual time.

Your entry must be received no later than midnight, February 10, 2006, U.S. eastern time.

You may send only one entry from an e-mail address. If you have more than one address, you may send one entry from each.

Illegible, irrational, or improperly formatted entries will be discarded.

Entries containing libelous, scurrilous, or scandalous text will be discarded.

ALB Albania

ALG Algeria

AND Andorra

ARG Argentina

ARM Armenia

AUS Australia

AUT Austria

AZE Azerbaijan

BLR Belarus

BEL Belgium

BER Bermuda

BIH Bosnia-Herzegovina

BRA Brazil

BUL Bulgaria

CAN Canada

CHI Chile

CHN China

CRO Croatia

CYP Cyprus

CZE Czech Republic

DEN Denmark

EST Estonia

ETH Ethiopia

FIN Finland

FRA France

GEO Georgia

GER Germany

GBR Great Britain

GRE Greece

HKG Hong Kong

HUN Hungary

ICE Iceland

IND India

IRI Iran

IRE Ireland

ISR Israel

ITA Italy

JPN Japan

KEN Kenya

KAZ Kazakhstan

PRK N Korea

KOR S Korea

KGZ Kyrgyzstan

LAT Latvia

LIE Liechtenstein

LTU Lithuania

LUX Luxembourg

MKD Macedonia

MAD Madagascar

MEX Mexico

MDA Moldova

MON Monaco

MGL Mongolia

MAR Morocco

NEP Nepal

NED Netherlands

NZL New Zealand

NOR Norway

PAK Pakistan

PER Peru

POL Poland

POR Portugal

ROM Romania

RUS Russia

SMR San Marino

SEN Senegal

SCG Serbia-Montenegro

SVK Slovakia

SLO Slovenia

RSA South Africa

ESP Spain

SWE Sweden

SUI Switzerland

TJK Tajikistan

THA Thailand

TUR Turkey

UKR Ukraine

USA United States

ISV US Virgin Islands

UZB Uzbekistan

VEN Venezuela

Medals Won

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total

GER Germany 12 16 8 36

USA United States 10 13 11 34

NOR Norway 13 5 7 25

CAN Canada 7 3 7 17

AUT Austria 3 4 10 17

RUS Russia 5 4 4 13

ITA Italy 4 4 5 13

FRA France 4 5 2 11

SUI Switzerland 3 2 6 11

CHN China 2 2 4 8

NED Netherlands 3 5 0 8

FIN Finland 4 2 1 7

SWE Sweden 0 2 5 7

CRO Croatia 3 1 0 4

KOR South Korea 2 2 0 4

EST Estonia 1 1 1 3

CZE Czech Republic 1 2 0 3

BUL Bulgaria 0 1 2 3

GBR Great Britain 1 0 1 2

AUS Australia 2 0 0 2

POL Poland 0 1 1 2

JPN Japan 0 1 1 2

SLO Slovenia 0 0 1 1

BLR Belarus 0 0 1 1

The winning time of 02:06:20.8
in the 50-kilometer men's cross-country ski event
was posted by Mikhail Ivanov of Russia.

Click here for a list of medals to be awarded in Torino by sport in PDF format.

The official website of the 2006 Winter Olympics:

	receives a toy goldfish. This battery-operated "swimming fish" (as opposed to the kind that ski-jumps or rides the luge) comes from Hamley's Toy Store on London's famous Regent Street.

	receives a decorative plastic garland that looks like a string of silver 1-ruble coins from Saint Petersburg, Russia.			receives a 200-gram plastic container of Raha Drinking Chocolate from Nairobi, Kenya.