Winter Games Conclude in Sochi

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, come to an end today with the closing ceremony, set to begin  -- symbolically -- at 20:14 (8:14 p.m.) local time.  (See a preview of the proceedings, live, beginning at 8 a.m. PST, below.)

The host country has much to celebrate as the Games wrap. Russia ends as the overall champ, with 33 medals. The U.S. is second with 28.

What can we expect? Creative director Konstantin Ernst says the event will be less blockbuster, as was the goal with the opening ceremony, and more "art house." It will be orchestrated by Italian director Daniele Finzi Pasca.

The festivities include the official passing of the torch to 2018’s host, Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The ceremony will be broadcast on the West Coast at 8:30 p.m. Sunday. (Here's a version of our real-time coverage for mobile users.)

Via: LA Times

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WH: Don't tax Olympians on medals

The White House said Thursday that President Obama still believes American Olympians shouldn’t have to pay income taxes on the medals they win.

“The president believes we should support efforts to ensure that we’re doing everything we can to honor and support our Olympic athletes who have volunteered to represent our nation at the Olympic Games,” White House spokesman Bobby Whithorne told Yahoo News. “We still support this effort.” 

During the 2012 presidential campaign, the White House said those who medaled in the summer games should be exempt from taxes on their winnings.

“If it were to get to his desk, he would support it," White House press secretary Jay Carney said of proposed legislation.

But a bill by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) never moved in the Senate.

"Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness," Rubio said in 2012. "Athletes representing our nation overseas in the Olympics shouldn't have to worry about an extra tax bill waiting for them back home."

U.S. athletes are paid cash prizes when they place in Olympic events: $25,000 for a gold, $15,000 for a silver and $10,000 for a bronze.

How much athletes pay back to Uncle Sam will depends largely on what other income they report for the year. But according to an analysis by the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform, gold-medal winners in the top tax bracket could see nearly $10,000 of their $25,000 winnings taken by the government. 

Even athletes in the lowest tax bracket could fork over as much as $2,500 on a gold medal prize, $1,500 on a silver and $1,000 for a bronze.

Via: The Hill
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Winter Olympics 2014 medal count: Norway leading after Saturday events

Richard Heathcote

The Norwegians cleaned up in cross-country skiing and have an early lead in the medal count.

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While Canada, Germany and the United States dominated the medal table during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Norway has stormed out of the gates in the Sochi games to take an early lead in the medal count.

On Saturday, five different medal events took place with a total of 15 medals awarded. Norway walked away with four of those medals, including two golds in skiing. First, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won gold in the men's biathlon 10km sprint. Later on, Marit Bjoergen won gold in the women's skiathlon.

The latest medal count

Be sure to keep SB Nation's beautiful, constantly-updated medal tracker by your side all Olympics long.

The United States also won gold on Saturday when Sage Kotsenburg emerged as the victor in the men's slopestyle snowboarding competition. Still, the Netherlands sits above the United States on the medal table because of a clean sweep in the men's 5000 m speed skating.

Canada had a strong showing in the women's freestyle moguls, securing two more medals thanks to sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe. American Hannah Kearney finished third, failing to defend her Vancouver gold medal.

1. Norway (4) - Two gold, one silver, one bronze

T2. Canada (3) - One gold, one silver, one bronze

T2. Netherlands (3) - One gold, one silver, one bronze

4. United States (2) - One gold, one bronze

T5. Sweden (1) - One silver

T5. Austria (1) - One silver

T5. Czech Republic (1) - One bronze

Via: SBNation

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The Media's Most Outrageous Olympic Outbursts: Ridiculing Republicans

Sports fans checking in on coverage of Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia might want to brace themselves for unexpected outbursts of liberal preaching from reporters covering the games.

Over the years the MRC has documented lefty reporters and writers using the games to celebrate socialist policies, bash expressions of patriotism and even work in jabs against Republicans. In the spirit of the games, the most outrageous journalists are competing with each other in three events for the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Today's competition: The “We'll Find a Way to Ridicule Republicans Even in Our Olympic Coverage” Event. Click the Read More button to see who takes home the gold!

Day one results here.

Day two results here.

 The “We’ll Find a Way to Ridicule Republicans Even in Our Olympic Coverage” Event

 We Interrupt Your Sports Report to Remind You People Hate the Bush Administration (runner-up)

 “At the last minute Secretary of State Colin Powell canceled his trip to Athens. He had planned to attend tomorrow’s closing ceremony. Just hours before that happened Greek activists hung a huge banner on the Acropolis. It said, ‘Powell Killer Go Home.’”

— NBC’s Lester Holt on Today, August 8, 2004.

Via: Newsbusters

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Was Obama stoned during Bob Costas interview?

The emergence of Twitter as a social media goliath has unleashed gossip and speculation as a media force. The long term consequences are unknowable, but in the meantime, with a far left president with a dicey past, it is producing some highly amusing results.

Last night, President Obama explained to Bob Costas of NBC Sports why he wasn't attending the Sochi Olympics, but the substance of what he had to say was lost in the controversy that erupted on Twitter over whether or not he was stoned. Yahoo writer Mike Oz took the high road, as would nearly any journalist, and described the president as looking "sleepy." But in the Twitterverse, ,many popeple outright speculated that he was stoned on marijuana, a drug that he is well known to have indulged in to excess in his younger years (at least so far as we know). Twitchy has collected a bunch of comments and pictures taken from TV screens that are far more suspicious than what appears in more mainstream outlets.  Luke Manning wrote: "Obama is stoned" accompanied by this picture:

Via: American Thinker

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Achieve Olympic Glory - Now Pay the IRS

As 230 U.S. Olympic athletes gear up to compete in the 2014 Winter Games, the only thing colder than the slopes at Sochi is the fact that any prizes awarded by the U.S. Olympic Commission (USOC) will be taxed by the IRS. Many Americans don't realize that the U.S. taxes income earned abroad, and as such even the winnings of Olympic athletes are subject to the reach of the IRS.

The USOC awards prizes to U.S. Olympic medal winners: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze. Relative to each athlete's income tax bracket, some top earners such as Shaun White could end up paying over a third (39.6 percent) of their winnings to the IRS. 

Additionally, because the U.S. is one of only a handful of developed countries that tax income earned abroad, it is likely America's competitors will not be subject to such a tax. Taken together - the tax on Olympic athletes and the tax on income earned abroad - it can be said the U.S. has officially "earned the Gold" for having one of the most backwards and illogical tax codes in the world. 

U.S. Tax Rates per Bracket	Max. Tax Liability on Gold Medal Prize of $25,000	Max. Tax Liability on Silver Medal Prize of $15,000	Max. Tax Liability on Bronze Medal Prize of $10,000
39.6%	$9,900	$5,940	$3,960
35%	$8,750	$5,250	$3,500
33%	$8,250	$4,950	$3,300
28%	$7,000	$4,200	$2,800
25%	$6,250	$3,750	$2,500
15%	$3,750	$2,250	$1,500
10%	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000

Americans for Tax Reform has calculated the federal income tax medal winners could potentially face.  It will vary depending on which marginal income tax bracket the athlete finds himself in for 2014. The amounts below represent only the federal income tax liability, and do not account for income taxes owed in most states.

 For gold medal winners, ATR believes applying the top marginal income tax bracket of 39.6 percent to gold medal winners is reasonable for the following reasons:

• Gold medal winners (as opposed to silver and bronze medal winners) are likely to have marketing, endorsement, speaking, etc. deals in 2014, and should have higher-than-usual earnings
• 
  
• Because state income taxes are not being calculated, there is a margin of error built into the methodology

Via: Americans for Tax Reform
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