- So, I'm obviously pumped about the Winter Olympics.
Are you guys pumped?
- Yeah, man. - Hell yeah.
- Curling is dope as hell. - Curling's dope as hell.
I love ice skating. - Classic.
- The bobsled, is the Jamaican Bobsled Team
competing this year? - Yeah.
I know there's a female Nigerian
Bobsledding Team coming out.
- Well, win or luge, we still luge.
Get it? - Yeah, I get it...
- 'Cuz you put alcohol down a luge.
(crickets chirping)
- Alright-- - School me,
I don't know shit about the Winter Olympics.
- I'm gonna give you the craziest things
that have ever happened at the Winter Olympics.
(upbeat music)
Setting: It's 1964, Winter Olympics in Austria.
- They have mountains in Australia?
- Wait, Winter Olympics in Australia?
- No, no, Austria. - Okay.
- Setting: It's the 1964 Winter Olympics in Austria, okay?
So there's this Finnish cross-country skier,
Eero Mantyranta and he's just killing it.
- It looks like a cross
between Robert De Niro and Mr. Rogers.
(laughter) - First of all,
his number is 69. - 69!
- Have fun with that, Internet.
- So, he wins the 15 kilometer cross-country
skiing competition by 40 seconds.
It's a margin of victory that still has not been equaled.
- We're dumb Americans, how far is 15 kilometers?
- Oh yeah, good question. - Yeah.
- I'll have that come up on the screen.
- Yeah.
- Also, that same year, he won the 30 kilometer race
and he won it by a full minute.
- Blew the competition out of the water!
- He blew the competition out of the water.
From 1960 to 1972, he won seven medals.
How is he so good, right?
- Doping. - You think doping?
They had some testing done.
His red blood count was 20% higher
than the average male athlete,
which led to suspicions that he was doping.
- So, was he like on a like a Limitless pill?
- Is that that Keanu Reeves movie?
- Yeah. (laughter)
- Fast forward three decades
and these scientists tested 200 relatives
and a quarter of these relatives, including Mantyranta,
possess an uncommon genetic mutation that triggers
a rise in red blood cells.
- Like, super Austrians? - Yeah.
- That makes sense. - They're Finns.
- They're Finns. - Super Finns.
- Super Finns. - Super Finns.
- This genetic mutation made Mantyranta highly sensitive
to EPO which is a hormone.
During exertion, you know when you're working out,
EPO increases red blood cell production,
which, in turn, increases muscle endurance
by contributing more oxygen.
You just got more endurance.
- So, it wasn't even doping, it was just like...
- It was natural doping.
- That's like in video games when you
like activate God Mode.
If it increases your blood while you're doing cross country,
what else does it increase?
- Imagine what else it could do!
- Yeah, high five, high five.
- Very nice! (whoots)
- Let me set the scene.
It's the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz.
So, we're post-World War II.
Lotta, lotta pressure.
- We can play games and not kill each other.
- Yeah! - And then out steps
the US Olympic Hockey Team.
Then, out steps the other US Men's Hockey Team.
- There were two men's hockey teams?
- There were two men's hockey teams.
They both thought that they were the actual US Olympic Team.
So, basically, one team was sent
by the American Olympics Committee and the other one
was sent by the American Hockey Association.
- Like, how did they get to the Olympics?
- The International Olympics Committee is like, nah.
If you both want to compete, neither of you can compete.
So the Ice Hockey Federation steps up and they're like,
we're going to declare the American Hockey Association Team
the rightful US Olympic Team so they get to compete.
- They had to have uniforms!
- And they didn't get to play in 'em.
I feel bad for them, too.
- [Woman] That's framed in some grandpa's house right now.
(laughter)
- And the other team, after they get rejected, they just
start going to the real US Olympic Hockey Team's games
and they just start heckling the heck out of them.
And, I don't know if it
got into their heads or anything, but...
- [Announcer] And the pressure takes on the American goal!
- They ended up only getting fourth.
They missed the podium.
But then, all of it didn't matter because a year later
they just like disqualified them completely.
- I feel like the hockey story would have been
like a good Will Ferrell movie.
- It gives me a Dodgeball--
- Yeah, Dodgeball meets Blades of Glory.
- Alright, so let me set the scene.
It's February 2002
in the little snow town of Salt Lake City.
So everyone's pretty hype this year
about the speed skater, Apolo Ohno.
He had like long hair, goatee, bandana.
- Oh yeah. (laughter)
Definitely remember this dude.
- Stylin' in 2002!
- Homeboy just went to Michael's and got this bandana.
- It's the 1,000 meter short track speed skating final.
- [Announcer] We'll know in 90 seconds
who gets the coveted gold medal.
- It begins, he's lookin' good.
He's neck and neck with skaters
from South Korea, China, and Canada.
So they're all fighting for a spot on that podium.
They're all rounding the final bend,
and the Chinese skater collides with Apolo
and they just hit the ice.
Then they take everyone down with them.
- Oh, man! - So no one wins the race.
- They all, all of them, it's a huge wipe out.
- Damn! - Homeboy is all the way
over here. - Damn!
- There's four freakin' people.
- What do you guys think happened?
- Apolo Ohno flies?
- The guy who's in fifth... - China?
- No, we haven't mentioned him yet, he's an Australian.
- Australia does get to be in the Winter Games?
- And, duh, Australians don't even ice skate, you geniuses!
- Australia has never won an Olympic Gold Medal
at the Winter Olympics.
But, all of a sudden, all these people
ran into each other, this guy gets the gold.
(laughter) - No!
- [Woman] The look on his face!
That guy's name was Steven Bradbury.
This was actually a strategy for him.
Bradbury had sustained serious injuries
earlier in his career, including an incident
in Montreal where a competitor's skate
went through his thigh!
He needed 111 stitches.
- Everybody has a weapon on their feet,
like what the fuck? - It's scary.
People were like, you're never going to skate again.
A year and a half of rehab, got back out.
He goes to the Olympics, but he's like, you know what,
it's possible there could be another accident.
I'm gonna hold back a little. - From the rush.
And we'll wait and see.
And guess what?
He wait and saw.
- Man! - Wait and saw that gold.
- Woo! - Yeah, man!
Look at how disappointed Apolo Ohno is.
- But, don't feel bad for Apolo Ohno, though,
because he got up after falling and he skated
in for second so he got the silver medal.
Plus, he won gold for the 1500 meter,
so don't feel bad for Apolo.
- People are gonna screw up. - Maybe that's a new strategy.
- You just take advantage.
- I like that, so wait, let's go over the lessons.
First lesson, some people are genetically better,
sorry, we have to deal with that.
- That man is based on a true story.
- Yeah.
- And America's greedy
so sometimes we send two teams to the Olympics.
- Yeah! - Yeah.
- And then our third lesson is sometimes you don't have
to be the best, you can just almost be the best.
- Yeah, everybody in the top falls.
- Yeah, that's it!
Everyone in the top falls, baby!
Does this make you more pumped for the Winter Olympics?
You never know what's gonna happen.
- [Male] Yeah, I mean, there's some twins that are
skating this year that are supposed to be cool.