As you've certainly noticed, the Olympics started several days ago (though you're just getting to see them now, due to NBC's tape delay and inspirational filler). With Vancouver just an hour away, we are heading up for four events, and the first was the short track.
By the way: The border was excellent. A lot more Canadians going to these games than Americans. Five minute wait in, five minute wait out. Plus, entertaining questions!
"How do you know each other?"
"We're married."
"Have either of you ever been arrested?"
"No."
"Never?"
"No."
Very persistent, that one.
We had to go into downtown to pick up our tickets, and unfortunately didn't have much time to check things out. Main observation: The quantity and variety of Canada gear is baffling. Canadian pride is in full effect.
The short track was at the Pacific Coliseum, where we have seen several hockey games, Dave Matthews Band, and J.K. Rowling. VANOC has the public transportation down pretty well, and it wasn't much trouble to get where we needed to go, via SkyTrain and bus. Plus, it was all free with our event ticket!
Our short track night consisted of several heats of different sorts, and the Men's 1500m final at the end. My favorite event in short track is the relays, because they give each other huge pushes when they "tag." We saw two semifinal heats of the Women's 3000m Relay.
The highlight, of course, the main event, was the Men's 1500m. We saw a whole bunch of qualifying heats, later the semifinals, and last the finals. There were a couple Canadian racers who came close, and it did indeed choke us up a little to hear so many Canadians cheering their countryman.
The US had two highly touted skaters, Apolo Ohno and J.R. Celski, both from the Seattle area. I was particularly rooting for Celski, because (a) Ohno wears headbands and (b) just five months ago Celski crashed and sliced his leg down to the bone. The skates are so sharp that the cut was so clean and a short recovery was possible. Quite the comeback.
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| He just sneaked into the final |
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| Getting the ice ready for the final |
The final was pretty exciting. Around the last bend three Koreans held the lead. But the third tried to sneak in for silver, and knocked his teammate and himself into the wall. Ohno and Celski cruised by for silver and bronze. Crazy that Korea could have swept if they weren't so competitive. Crazy, too, that it took a crash to give the US any medals. But that's short track; it's part of the deal.
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| Celski takes bronze |
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| Ohno takes silver |
It was great fun. This is Erin's third Olympics, and my second. For me, it's an opportunity for enjoyment of and participation in patriotic fervor, without any political undertones. Everyone there is just there to support their country and their athletes. No politics required.
When we were in Europe during the World Cup in 2006, we were watching in a restaurant and some English guys came by. They asked who we wanted to win in the England-Argentina match. We said it didn't matter. His response:
"Every hear of a little thing called the Falklands War?"
I guess politics can get in there sometimes.
Yesterday we spent all day watching the Olympics so we wouldn't miss Nordic Combined and the possibility of a first ever US medal. Erin found out the results early, but I kept my ears closed and found out as we watched. Pretty exciting!
Congrats, Johnny! It's fun to have met a medalist. Hopefully the team can work it on the 23rd and we can witness a gold!
We'll check back in after next weekend; Biathlon and Cross-country and the long bus journey to Whistler (twice).
Go USA! Go Canada! Go everyone!
3 comments:
Looks fun! That was a pretty crazy end to the 1500m final, though crazy seems to be standard for short track. See you on Friday, maybe Corbin will be able to say my name since it looks like he's getting that mimicking thing down pat!
Now that it's here, I kind of regret not getting any tickets. I was a little apathetic about the whole thing, as I'm more of a summer Olympics fan. But, I sort of regret not at least volunteering or working for the Olympics. A few of my friends and colleagues are doing that, and they all say it's amazing!
Dude: He will definitely be able to say your name. See you soon!
Helen: Some tickets still available here. Our friends just got some on eBay for not too much. It would have been interesting to volunteer. I was wondering what all the volunteers did for work, that allowed them to take so much time off. See you soon, too!
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