I have a new favourite Olympian this evening after watching Maelle Ricker with her snowboardcross event. She is a local Vancouver girl winning gold in her backyard at Cypress. After the race she was so smiley and giggly it was infectious. She was tongue-tied, when asked (a dumb question about) how she felt about winning the gold. She just said how much fun she was having and then looked in the camera and said that she hoped we were too...and then giggled again. The two gold medals we've won thus far were won on Cypress Mountain by athletes from opposite ends of the country but that, to me, could not be more quintessentially Canadian. Great stories both.
Montreal's biggest recent band sang, in this song: "Come on Alex, you can do it. Come on Alex, there's nothin' to it." They may have singing it to Montreal's new biggest star, Alexandre Bilodeau, who just won the fist gold medal by a Canadian on home soil.
It was a magical moment; the crowd erupted in cheers and Alex's face erupted in elation as the final skier's score was revealed leaving him in the Gold medal position. During his post-race interview he thanked his family, his teammates, the country and his government funding. He seemed like a great kid just like you'd hope he is. He is, unquestionably, now a national sporting hero with that first gold at home. Hopefully the first of many.
The photo shows the gear that my wonderful Godmother Nancy gave me for my journey to the Olympics. I was excited when I got them and I am now ecstatic that the games are finally here and I can get to wear them in support of Team Canada.
The opening ceremonies are tonight but as I write this a pall has been cast over the celebration with the tragic death of Georgian luge competitor during a training run. Some serious questions will need to be answers regarding safety and some adjustments will need to be made to the ceremonies to honour the young man but, bottom line, the show must go on.
Canada is set to welcome the world and I am frankly a little more excited about the prospect of showing the world what a friendly, hospitable, talented, diverse, not to mention stunningly beautiful country we have than I am about winning the overall medal count or even the hockey. Although either of those would be nice too.
I found this great tune (and video) on a friend's facebook profile this week:
This will now serve as my Olympic dream trip to Vancouver's theme song. It will also serve as the introduction to my plan for this site for the coming month. Classified has prompted me to celebrate Canadian content for the month as a nod to our athletes and their quest for the podium. It's also a nod to Canadian artists as it is looking more and more as though I won't be seeing too many athletes perform but do plan on seeing lots of artists perform.
It was with a bit of sadness that I watched the Olympics come to a close this morning in spectacular fashion. For two weeks every four years the world slows to pay attention to the best athletes on the planet. Some will go back to being mega-stars, while others will go back to toiling in obscurity, and some will decide how they might be able to juggle training with med school. Regardless of where they go now they will all remember their two weeks in Beijing.
I have always been a big fan of the Olympics; starting with our big medal haul in LA in '84, the roller coaster of Ben Johnson in Seoul, feeling immense redemption as we crowded around a 18" small screen on Graham Ave. to watch Donavan Bailey win gold in '96. I haven't been that excited about a single summer Olympic event until this year when cousin Jane raced. I was as proud to be her cousin as I was proud to be Canadian when Donovan won. What a wonderful feeling.
The Olympics are, of course, much more than games. They are big business; some of the events were scheduled to start at odd hours so it would match up with American prime-time because it is the biggest single television market in the world. It is also a political stage and much was, and will be, said about how this will help or hurt the people of China. It was certainly a wonderful showcase for the formerly reclusive country. But at its very core, the athletes and their competition, little could do more than to give you hope for humanity. These are the best and brightest and it's so nice to see them shake hands after games and mingle at the ceremonies. And It's either as sad testament to my mental state or a hats off to MacDonald's marketing department but, as I sat and thought about the contrast of wars starting in Georgia as the Olympics were on another channel this commercial made the most sense in the world to me:
I will now wait patiently for Vancouver in 2010 and hope that Jane considers giving it one more go in London or that some other cousin steps up.
I will also be wondering how we can broadcast more nursery rhymes for all the world to hear.
These lovely ladies are Canada's Women's 8 (with coxswain) rowers. This morning they finished 4th in the Olympic finals. They rowed an incredible race and were narrowly edged out by the Romanian and Dutch boats. Cousin Jane's facebook page has already been updated to read "Jane Rumball...knows that was a heartbreaker. Couldn't have done anything more. 4th by 0.82 seconds. Thanks everyone!!!!" I honestly couldn't be any more proud of her, medal or not.
As an aside, I remember Dad and Sarah telling me what it was like for them to watch me get my shot to play for Canada. I never really knew what it must have felt like but think I have a pretty good idea now. For Jane's race my heart was in my throat, my hands were sore afterwards from wringing them so hard during the race, and I may have gotten a little teary-eyed by the end of the race. It's amazing what a little blood can do...
I hope Jane now gets a chance to enjoy the Olympic atmosphere and take in as much as possible. She has earned it all. And she only has a few weeks off before she starts med school. She's pretty special...I guess.
Jane, thank you for making this Olympic experience unlike any other for me. Everyone back home is so proud of you.
See Jane at the Olympics: See Jane row at the Olympics:The next picture will hopefully be the one from the podium.
Cousin Jane and her teammates qualified for the final this morning by winning their repechage heat. They will be rowing in one of the center lanes in Sunday's Final. Racetime is 6:10am Atlantic time. Set your alarm clocks...it looks like there is a chance this still might be Canada's first medal.
So apparently I missed this on my vacation to PEI last week but Freddy Beach has been anything but beach like for the past 10 days or so. There is much doom and gloom around the old office which is just great for a guy coming off vacation. Rainy days and Mondays indeed...
Luckily we do have Olympic fever to brighten our spirits and cousin Jane is racing today so hopefully she'll spiritually lift the fog from the Beach. Failing that we have all kinds of funny pictures from the Olympics to keep us smiling. Here is a sample: Not sure how you explain this one to Laura, George.Dubya being DubyaAnd a classic nip slip Smiles all around!
The Canadian Olympic Committee announed the country's flag bearer at the opening ceremony today. Oakville's Adam Van Koeverden will carry the Maple Leaf into the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing leading some 330 Canadian athletes included cousing Jane. Adam was a gold medallist in Athens and it a favourite to medal again in Beijing. He does not believe in any kind of curse associated with carrying the flag and relishes the honour. Damn straight.
The big thing he noted is that his event isn't until 10 days after the opening ceremonies to there won't be any flag fatigue by the time race day comes around. He would do well to limit his interviews though. This guy is all over the news - here, here, here, and here.
My cousin Jane (2nd girl from left, first girl facing the camera) bought her ticket to her Olympic dream today with a win at an Olympic qualifier in Poland. She and her 8 teamates in the Canadian Women's 8 boat beat The Netherlands to the line and therefore qualified for Beijing along with them.
This is a huge step on the road to fulfilling her dream. Now that they've secured their spot they can focus on training for this even specifically in the hopes their performance can complete dream sequence. In the meantime I hope she keeps us posted on her diary at the Globe - www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/WbBeijing.
I'm not sure how you can measure how big of a CONGRATULATIONS I want to extend to her but here's hoping that there will be an even bigger on in store for August.
I watched with interest today as the news spread that the Olympic torch relays taking place in London and Paris were hijacked by protestors pushing their agenda. I really don't like to get into politics but I will do so in defense of sport. I believe the Free Tibet movement to be a completely valid cause that deserves the worlds attention. I do not, however, believe that these protests should disrupt a symbolic gesture of global cooperation or (God forbid!) lead to a boycott that would hold of the world's athletes hostage (including some very important people).
While I agree that any cause that Hollywood can endorse must be important I also think it a bit hypocritical that people in Britain, France and the U.S. protest human rights violations in China. The history of China in Tibet is tied closely to the adventures of the British in India and the French have a long history of treating their colonies wonderfully. And the U.S., well, they have their own current human rights questions to answer to.
Again, this isn't meant to belittle the movement for a free Tibet; it is just a friendly reminder that people sort out their own shit before they tell someone else how to sort theirs.
I have a new favourite Olympian this evening after watching Maelle Ricker with her snowboardcross event. She is a local Vancouver girl winning gold in her backyard at Cypress. After the race she was so smiley and giggly it was infectious. She was tongue-tied, when asked (a dumb question about) how she felt about winning the gold. She just said how much fun she was having and then looked in the camera and said that she hoped we were too...and then giggled again. The two gold medals we've won thus far were won on Cypress Mountain by athletes from opposite ends of the country but that, to me, could not be more quintessentially Canadian. Great stories both.
