From Croquet Bonanza to the Skate Park

 

From left to right: Kate and Greg Nigon on a break mid-match in Croquet IV, Luke Yarnall getting gnarly in Skateboarding I

Olympians, 

With the Tokyo Olympic Games starting this week, it's no wonder that Our Olympics is charging forward, full steam ahead. July began with mountain biking, shifted to croquet, and wrapped up with skateboarding.

Just Finished: SKATEBOARDING I: STREET

New to the Olympics this year is Skateboarding, both park and street. To match the Games, Our Games held a skateboarding competition in Williston, VT on the same day the Olympics started in Tokyo. Luke Yarnall flew in from San Diego just for the event and came prepared with a board to share. After about 20 minutes of warming up, the 45 second sessions were jump started by a thunder clap. Gustave Sexauer laid down the first run of five tricks, followed by Yarnall, Maddy Suender, and Katrina Sexauer. After incredible stunts including attempted kick flips, attempted ollies, attempted ground-to-hand board pops, full 180 degree turns, and speeding down ramps with all four wheels on the ground, the competitors crowned Yarnall the winner! More surprising was Suender's silver earned on just her first day ever skating. Back by popular demand, the winner interview:

INTERVIEW WITH LUKE YARNALL, GOLD MEDALIST:

What's your previous experience with skateboarding?

Yarnall: I moved to California in 2019 and learned everyone there skateboarded, so I bought a longboard for stumbling around drunk. Since COVID happened, I got a regular skateboard, and go every week or two.

If your skateboard had to be made 100% of a vegetable, what would it be?

Yarnall: A rutabaga since they are inedible. This would be a better use for them.

How many skateboards per capita are needed in this country?

Yarnall: Every person, man, woman, and child should have two. One for cruising, and one for feeling like they are doing a sport.

What's your third favorite ice cream?

Yarnall: Strawberry

Just finished: CROQUET IV: SIGNLES II

In between photo-shoots, sitting front row at concerts, mingling with a plethora of aunts and uncles, and also getting married, Greg and Kate Nigon were able to piece together one of the larger events ever held in Our Olympics: the second edition of the croquet singles tournament. With semifinals of five and six mallet-wielders, the competition pitted seasoned Nigon veterans against the new-to-the-sport Teng-Amnuay cohort.

Semi-final One demonstrated how the first hit of the day is the most important. Jennifer Sexauer sealed her fate at the back of the pack by missing the first wicket. Then it was Artski Sexauer who in typical blasé fashion took the lead and pulled away from the pack. Complacency got the best of him, though, and reigning gold medalist Scott Nigon and groom-to-be Greg Nigon pushed by in the final wickets to hit the stake and take the two berths allocated to each heat for the finals.

In Semi-final Two, there was a steep differential in levels of experience, with many new to the great game of croquet. After getting the rules ironed out and a rocky start in the opening wickets, all six players were off. Gustave Sexauer took an early lead, but it was the sometimes vengeful, sometimes benevolent packing going on in mid-field between Richy Lertpratchya, Pan Sitticharoenchai, and Tent Bordeenithikasem that drew the most attention. Uong and K. Nigon played from the back, but only Uong was successful in getting into, and past, the fray. Uong managed a second place finish and a berth in the final in his first ever croquet game alongside G. Sexauer.

The final is where the games stop, and the serious business of croquet begins. So many factors were at play: the bitter birthday rivalry of G. and S. Nigon, the former roommate frenemies of G. Nigon and Uong, the long established competitiveness of the G's (Nigon and Sexauer), accurate and percise commentary coming from Sitticharoenchai, the title carrying experience of S. Nigon, and the din of G. Nigon's continuing wedding party just up the hill... The four exploded out of the gates and showed exemplary mallet maneuvers with calculated distance shots through tufts of red clover, thick grass, and sparse patches. The G's pulled away mid-way through the match, but G. Nigon always stayed one move in front. After a few last ditch long shots, G. Sexauer had to settle for silver as G. Nigon knocked the end post. Uong battled for third, but it was the seasoned S. Nigon who held out for the bronze.

INTERVIEW WITH GREG NIGON, GOLD MEDALIST:

What's your experience with croquet?

Nigon: I have a long, deep history with croquet. It would take all night to tell you about it. I've played free-range croquet in a quarry off a cliff and through tall grass, but we had to stop due to a rattlesnake.

Was winning croquet your most proud moment today?

Nigon: Uh.... I'm not gonna answer that.

What are the ideal soil conditions for croquet?

Nigon: Low bug populations. No worms.

What's your favorite microbrewery?

Nigon: Pearl Street, PSB

What Thai word would you never say to your wife?

Nigon: -answer stricken for cleanliness-

What was the brand of gin you drank on the fateful night you quit drinking gin?

Nigon: Tanqueray? We walked through the four foot deep snow taking pulls, then I vomited in that guy's toilet, or tried to. He said it was all over the place.

What's your favorite croquet soundtrack

Nigon: Foggy Mountain Breakdown

Favorite smell?

Nigon: Freshly cut grass.

What's Next?: TBD

Have an idea for August? Let me know! We're looking for another in-person event in Vermont.

Ongoing: SURFING I: INDIVUDAL

Schemes of trips to the ocean and following boats with big wakes are being floated, but to date no one has sent in the 1 minute edit to enter our first ever surfing event. Will it be you?

The website: https://sites.google.com/site/gtsolympics/ 

-Gustave