The Olympic Spirit

Originally posted on My Life Is Like A Song on February 27, 2010

The 2010 Winter Olympics are the most successful games for Canada. We have won 13 gold medals and 25 medals overall with one day to go.

This is quite an accomplishment. It is the most gold medals by a host country (winter or summer) and matches the most gold medals by a country at a Winter Olympic Games.

So why can't the media (and some Canadians) wait for the end of the Games before criticizing. Since the beginning of the Games, there has been criticism about our performance. There has been criticism about the Own The Podium program.

I remember in 2008 at the Beijing Games, the media did the same thing. I wrote a blog post about it here. The post was entitled "Is Winning Everything?". The part of it that I want to highlight for this post is :

We are only 5 days into the Games. We have never started out strongly. Every Olympics, this is how the discussion goes. How poorly we are doing. I'm not saying that we are definitely going to do better this time around. What I am saying is that at day 5 in the past, we haven't necessarily been doing much better.

Curtis Myden was the first male athlete to win a medal in 1996 (I remember because my husband and I were struggling to name our unborn son...so we joked that we would choose the name of the first gold medallist (which we changed to medallist when he won)). So not sure if there was a female medallist before him. He won a bronze on July 25th. The opening ceremonies were on the 19th. According to my calculations, that is on day 6. In 1996, we ended up winning 22 medals. Second only to our result at the boycotted 1984 games.

So I say, relax people!!! Wait until the games are over, then give your critical evaluations if we don't perform up to par.

So again, this year, there has been criticism in the first week about how badly we were performing. How some of our favourites weren't measuring up. If people weren't criticizing our lack of performance, they were criticizing "Own The Podium" as being un-Canadian. Even if our goal of winning the most medals wasn't realistic, one of my favourite quotes is..."aim for the moon, even if you don't reach it, you might end up among the stars".

And look where we ended up. We won more gold medals than any other country and for the record, the IOC determine the "winning' country as the one with the most gold medals.

I still agree with my previous post about whether winning is everything. The situation I was writing about then is the opposite of what is happening on Sunday. At the last Olympics, the media (and some Canadians) were arguing that we shouldn't spend money sending athletes to the Olympics who were not going to medal. I argued that point.

Now the media (and some Canadians) are arguing that the cross-country coach should let Brian McKeever race in the 50k race even if he is the 5th best in our country. They are saying that one of our top 4 should step aside even if they feel good enough to race, in order to let him race because he is disabled and it would send a "good" message.

I don't think that winning is everything, but I do believe that at an event like the Olympics, we should field the best that we have. If the best we have is a bronze medal, a 10th place, a 40th or 100th place, that's the best we can do.

I would have LOVED for that to include Brian McKeever. I was so excited when I heard that he would be competing at the Olympics and the Paralympics. But I thought he was in the top 4 for his event. I didn't understand that he had qualified as our 5th team member (and perhaps I am wrong about that, but I did read that he was our alternate).

Every sporting team have their alternates for a reason...in case of injury, illness or lack of performance. Should our hockey coach put Theoren Fleury in for the gold medal game because he hasn't played yet? No, he should put what he thinks is our best goalie. If Brian McKeever is a better skier than one of the other 4, he should race because he deserves it, not because he has a disability so we should show the world what "nice" people we are.

My kids asked why we only had three speed skaters on the top of the podium for the Men's Speed Skating Pursuit when the other teams had four. I explained that our fourth skater didn't participate in the races. I don't know the exact reason, but I would think that our fourth skater did not give us our best chance at advancing, and our top three felt strong enough to skate in every race.

Some people are comparing the Brian McKeever situation to the "Snow Leopard", the skier from Ghana who competed in the slalom race today. I loved this story. Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong was born in Scotland but grew up in Ghana. He learned to ski in the last decade in Britain (at an indoor artificial hill). I read about him before the Opening Ceremonies and took a photo of him entering the stadium as the flagbearer.

What I say is that Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong is the best skier from Ghana. Brian is not the best skier we have...it's a completely different situation.

The Olympics is not all about winning to me. There will only be one winner and three medalists. Every country should try to field their best team, and every athlete should try their best...it's the Olympics not a popularity contest. That is what the Olympic spirit means to me.

Men's Moguls...Canada's First Gold At Home

First published on February 23, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

I arrived in Vancouver on the sea plane from Victoria and was very excited to see the lit cauldron. When I had landed the day of the Opening Ceremony, it was covered. I hadn't seen the outdoor one yet, so as we landed in the harbour, I took the time to take photos. You can see the three posts I wrote about Day 1 here (arriving in Vancouver), here (pre-opening ceremony) and here (Opening Ceremony).

I walked up to the cauldron where I met a Japanese tourist. She was also at the Opening Ceremonies on Friday and was very excited about seeing the cauldron. She asked me to take her photo and she then took mine.

The fence is a bit of an eyesore, but I was still able to get some great shots by putting my camera right up to it.

I especially love this one.

I then walked over to the seabus terminal and arrived on the north shore with plenty of time before my assigned bus time up to Cypress Mountain. I got myself a fruit bowl and went out to to the quay to take in the view, take photos and enjoy the sun that made its first appearance on my trip.

My bus was scheduled to leave at 11:25am. The bus was full at 11:20am so we left ahead of schedule. Incredible organization on getting us to the mountain.

For the second time at the Games, security is no problem. It's like going through at an airport. They take your bags through an x-ray machine, you empty your pockets and then walk through a metal detector. There were only a few people in line ahead of me and I am quickly through security.

I continue my walk to the mountain and pass by the portable toilets (seriously?) and a very very long line-up for food. I'm happy I had my fruit bowl and have a snack in my bag. As we passed, workers did warn us that this was a short line-up compared to what it would be. They weren't kidding!

I make my way to my seat, and take in the view... gorgeous ...

I arrived a couple of hours before the start of the event, but time went by quite quickly. There was a 45 minute practice session, there was commentary and I learned that I was in the same venue as my favourite mogul skier, Jean-Luc Brassard (1994 gold medallist) who was doing commentary for RDS (Réseau des Sports), the French Canadian version of TSN. As they announce that he is there, I take a photo of someone who is at the window of the RDS booth behind me. It looked like him, and I will continue to believe that it was him.

Interestingly, I just looked online to get a recent photo of him because I haven't seen his face in over a decade. The video clip that I stumble upon is from a program called "La flamme de la Francophonie" (The Francophone Flame) and he talks about finding your passion and pursuing it. I guess it's a common theme, or once something is in your head, it pops up everywhere.

At this point, I realize that I am only going to see every skier twice. I decided not to photograph or video during the final round which meant choosing whether to video or photograph on their first runs. During the qualification round, I took a video of Alexandre Bilodeau instead of photos. I knew he was our best chance at a medal. I took photos of the world's number 1, Dale Begg-Smith who is originally from Vancouver but competes for Australia.

I also took photos of Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau (nicknamed P.A. - pronounced in french P=pay A=soft a like in cat) whose brother was sitting behind me. This photo of P.A. ended up being my favourite:

P.A.'s brother (and friends) are very knowledgeable about moguls, so I thoroughly enjoyed their (French) commentary and I learned a lot about what to look for. I learned that even though a skier may be fast, their turns were not as good, so although they would get time points, they would lose style points. They could easily see when a skier was being bounced around and would lose points. They often predicted correctly where a skier would end up. It was also fun to have a more personal experience by hearing their excitement over P.A.'s performances (and his teammates and friends).

Every skier was introduced and they lined up at the bottom for a photo in the order that they qualified for the final.


The Canadian skiers were ushered through the media maze in order to be interviewed by RDS.


I like this photo of P.A. during his interview.


There was then a two hour break where people lined up for food, souvenirs or portable toilets. The food venues included two tents, each about the size of a McDonald's counter (or smaller). The ski chalet was in another area of the hill (and probably reserved for athletes and their entourage). During the break, there were thousands of people in line. The line was so long that I took a video walking from the back to the front of the line. It took me over two minutes to walk along the 2-4 people wide line to the point where the people would enter the roped zig zag line for one of the tents (and where that line-up ended when I first arrived and I thought it was long). The other tent's line went the other way. I was glad I had my snack. On the bright side, the line up for the (portable) toilets was only about 10 minutes.

The final round was amazing. I didn't take the camera or video camera out until it was all over. I wanted to completely enjoy the moment. Vincent Marquis, a Canadian was in first place when P.A. came down. P.A. had an amazing run and was cheering looking up at his brother and friends behind me. He was in 2nd place! The next skier was another Canadian, Maxime Gingras. The crowd was so enthusiastic and cheering, 1-2-3!! 1-2-3!! Unfortunately, his score wasn't high enough to have an all-Canadian temporary podium. After every skier, the crowd would go crazy with the Canadians still with potential podium finishes. The astmosphere was electric. Vincent and P.A. lasted in first and second until the 4th last skier came down.

When the Canadian-born Aussie Dale Begg-Smith came down and took first place, it burst our bubble a little, but we knew we still had a shot with Alexandre Bilodeau coming down second last.

After Alexandre's run, he was announced as the leader (ahead of his biggest rival Begg-Smith) and the crowd went crazy. I was so excited that we were guaranteed a silver medal. Everyone waited with baited breath as the last skier came down and we awaited the final standings.

GOLD for Bilodeau. GOLD for Canada. Our first gold medal won on Canadian soil.

In case you missed his run, you can view it here.

I have never heard cheering as loudly as I did that day...even louder than at the Opening Ceremonies. We are jumping up and down and celebrating this great feat by Alexandre Bilodeau.

Will this be remembered as a moment in Canadian sports history when people will wonder where we were when we won our first gold medal on Canadian soil? I will be very lucky to be able to say, I was there.

At this point, I moved more centrally as some people have left I'm sure with hopes of catching one of the first buses back to Vancouver. I take my camera out and take photos of the podium and flower ceremony.

I took a short video of the podium, but I am shaking so much that it's quite comical. I was so cold at this point, from not wearing my mitts to take photos and not being surrounded by people like I was when the stands were packed.

My friends had found me a hotel room in Vancouver, so I wasn't in a rush to leave to catch the ferry back to Victoria. I went down to the General Admission area and watched as the skiers left and accepted congratulations, including P.A. from Quebec Premier Jean Charest.


Finally, after all his interviews, Alexandre Bilodeau came by while on the telephone. I don't think he was able to hear anything though with the crowd still cheering.


Time to leave the mountain. As I start walking to the exit, I notice that the souvenir shop is still open and there is no line-up to get in so I enter and purchase a couple of Cypress Mountain freestyle t-shirts and a stuffed mascot for my daughter.

As I get to the bus line-up (which is basically every spectator that was there, since I was in the minority in taking my time to get to the line-up), I realize that I'm hungry. It's about 7:30pm. Since that bowl of fruit this morning, I have only eaten a few almonds. I am still feeling quite cold because I continued to keep my mitts off while I took photos of the departing skiers. My granola bar is frozen, and it's difficult to chew with me shivering, but I am still so happy.

What a day!!

Opening Ceremonies

Originally published on February 21, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

There was too much material for one post, so you can view my pre-ceremonies post by clicking here. This is the beginning of the ceremonies.

I decided to video the beginning of the Opening Ceremonies, so with one hand I had my video camera and with my other I lifted by tambourine during the countdown.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

It's such a fine line between being able to truly be present in a moment and wanting to have a photograph or video as a memento. A small disappointment for me was because we weren't told where to look, I am looking all over wondering how the ceremony would begin. I got distracted by seeing someone emerge from the floor in the centre. I couldn't tell at the time that it was a camera man. I should have figured it out with the ramp beside me, but hindsight is 20/20...so with the camera rolling, I catch the snowboarder after he has come through the rings and lands on the ramp beside me.

Whether to take photos or not also caught me in a very uncharacteristic moment. I rarely move during our national anthem. Often even if I'm alone at home, I will stand during the national anthem, but this time...I couldn't resist videotaping the national anthem...which isn't too bad, but then half way through, put it down to take photos. It was so beautiful, with the flag on the screen, the flag just raised, the Olympic rings and Nikki Yanofski in a red dress on the stage.

I love so many things about Canada, but one of the things I love the most about Canada is the seasons. Although I love summer the most...loving the heat and sunshine, I probably wouldn't appreciate it so much without the other seasons. I love the beauty of the fall colours. Almost every fall I am out taking photos of the leaves turning colours and it was one of the first paintings I did when I took a painting class last year. I love the pureness and beauty of the snow. I love the crunching sound on a very cold day after a snowstorm. I love the hope of buds growing on trees in the spring.

With my love of seasons, it was perfect when the seasons were so prominent in the opening ceremonies. When they first came walking out with the snow falling, I thought it was SO beautiful. Later when the emphasis was on the maple leaves during the fiddling segment and leaves were falling in the audience, I was in awe.

"We Are More", the poem by Shane Koycsan was also a highlight. Although there was too much for me to absorb in the moment, some lines definitely resonated with me. I especially loved when my daughter i.m.'d me saying "please and thank you lol".

The standing ovation that the Georgian team received as they entered the stadium was very emotional.

Being married to a Brit, I was excited when Great Britain entered the stadium led by the Skeleton athlete Shelly Rudman (and I didn't know it at the time, but my favourite Brit winter Olympian David Murdoch is in the photo).


When the United States of America entered led by luger Mark Grimmette, it was the largest cheer up to that point. There were a lot of American flags in the crowd.



The big highlight has to be when Canada entered the stadium. The crowd was thunderous. The flags were waving everywhere. I don't think I had ever heard cheering like that.


I thought the musical performances represented Canada well. Bryan Adams, Nelly Furtado, Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLachlan are very well known (and loved) outside of Canada so they were great choices. k.d. lang was incredible, but that Leonard Cohen song (that she covered on her 2004 album Hymns of the 49th Parallel) has been so overplayed on American and Canadian Idol (and X Factor) since that I'm almost tired of it. The fact that she does it so incredibly well and with such passion made it a musical highlight for most I think.

When the Olympic flag came out, I forgot that some of our great Canadians would be carrying it. So the announcement of these flag bearers was very exciting for me. I had really tried not to think about who would be bringing the Olympic torch into the stadium, so most of these great Canadians (except for Terry Fox's mother) hadn't come to my mind, until the announcement.

Carrying the Olympic flag, Betty Fox, Bobby Orr, Jacques Villeneuve, Anne Murray, Donald Sutherland, Roméo Dallaire, Barbara Ann Scott and Julie Payette.


It was SO exciting when Rick Hansen wheeled the Olympic flame in. A few days before, I was asked by a television reporter in Victoria who I thought would light the cauldron (or who I wanted to). I hadn't really wanted to think about it because I was hoping to be surprised. I answered Terry Fox's mother Betty as one choice. I said Simon Whitfield. I said it would have been great for Rick Hansen and Steve Nash but they had already carried the torch a few days before. My final answer was that I could name 20 people or 100 people that I would be happy to see light the cauldron. It was too difficult to choose just one.

I guess the organizers felt that way too choosing to have 4 people light the cauldron. Catriona Le May Doan, Steve Nash, Nancy Green and Wayne Gretzky.

When I heard the french announcer say MVP...I couldn't believe that Steve Nash was there. I thought I had read in the newspaper that after he carried the torch in the relay the day before he had left to go to the NBA All Star weekend. I was SO excited to see him carry the torch in the stadium.

With the problems with the hydraulics, there was a delay, so I took the opportunity to stop videotaping and took photos of the torchbearers waiting.

I didn't realize that there was a problem, so when I saw the multiple pillars, I was so excited to see that they were all going to light the cauldron. I can see now when I watch my video (after having seen it on tv) that there is a hole where the fourth pillar was to come up, but at the time I didn't notice it. I wondered why Catriona was just standing there, but still didn't think anything was wrong. I thought perhaps she had another role to play. I was to later learn of the problems. I wish she had gone over to one of the other three or taken over Wayne Gretzky's since he would light the one outdoors. I just read that she considered joining Nash but was instructed not to...bummer. They were also on a timeline because the torches would only stay alight for so long. I saw an interview with Catriona that said that they extinguished the minute they walked out. This is also the reason that they replaced Rick Hansen's torch when he arrived and gave Wayne Gretzky a new one when he left the venue.

Once the ceremony was over, we were told that we could stay to watch Wayne Gretzky light the cauldron on the big screen, but I was really concerned about how long it would take to get everyone out of the stadium. If I missed my bus to the ferry, my hosts would have to make some calls to their friends to find me a place to sleep in Vancouver. I really didn't want to inconvenience anyone, even if they did say that it was no problem.

So I gathered my mementos and my cameras and headed to the door (where we were sucked out because of the higher pressure inside that holds the roof up) and walked out in the pouring rain. Considering that it was supposed to rain the whole time I was there, this was one of the few times that I was caught in the rain during my entire trip. I was on such a high that really, I didn't mind the rain. I arrived at the bus terminal 45 minutes before it was scheduled to leave...enough time to recharge my iPhone a bit for the 4 hour commute back to Victoria.

There was very little traffic so we did arrive at the ferry early. We got off the bus once it was on the ferry and I went up to the 6th deck (or was it the 5th?) where I found a television showing the ski jumping and then the beginning of the Opening Ceremonies. I never thought that I would think this, but the ferry ride went way too quick. The nations were about to enter the stadium when we were instructed to go back to the bus :-(

It was wonderful to see the beginning of the Opening Ceremonies on television and see what it looked like to the rest of the world. I look forward to seeing the rest...maybe once the Olympics are over and I'm back to my regular television viewing hours, I'll make the time.

Stay tuned for my recount of Canada's first gold medal on Canadian soil...next post: Men's Moguls.

Pre-Opening Ceremonies

Originally published on February 19, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

There was too much to write about my day at the Opening Ceremony. You can read part 1 here and the post about the actual ceremony here.

It was a week ago, this moment, that I was sitting in BC Place watching the Opening Ceremonies. I never imagined that it would take me this long to blog about it but I was much busier on my holiday than I thought I would be and I guess in the end, it's better late than never.

I arrived at the venue at 3pm, three hours before the ceremony would start. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to walk around, take photos, and buy souvenirs before having to take my seat at 5pm. Knowing I would be rushed after the ceremony to catch the last bus and ferry back to Victoria, I wanted to ensure I took the time to take in the whole venue.

I was overwhelmed with emotion as I walked into my section. I stood at the entrance for a while taking it all in. The usher took my photo with my iPhone (he was busier taking photos of spectators than finding their seats).


At the other end of the arena is the stage and where the flags would be raised.

I then went down to my seat to admire the view I would have during the ceremony.

I was 7th row beside the ramp. The bottom of the ramp is visible on the right of the photo. The ramp would be deflated after the snowboarder came down and this would be the entrance for the athletes, the Olympic flag and the Olympic torch. The dignitaries' box is up on the right.

At our seats, there was a bag that contained an octoganol box which would double as a tambourine filled with props we would use during the ceremony. There was also a program that detailed what would be seen during the ceremony.

I went for a walk around the stadium to get different views. This was the view from the other side of the ramp (and further to the side):

View from the other side of the arena, looking back at the ramp and my section:

I bought an Opening Ceremony t-shirt as a souvenir, grabbed a bite to eat and really don't know where else the two hours went.

At 5pm, we were asked to be in our seats to rehearse what we would have to do during the ceremony. Time to open my box. There was a flashlight that we would use at various times during the ceremony including when the cauldron was lit. There was a candle-like flashlight that we would use when kd Lang would sing. There was a drumstick for banging the drum during Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado's and at other times. There were various "leaders" around the stadium that would let us know which prop we needed to take out and what to do with it (when to light it, when to turn it off, the rhythm of the drumming, etc.). Sometimes we would need to look at the screen to find out who would be lighting their flashlights. We all had a different number from 1 to 4. The screen would show the numbers and we would light our flashlight when our number was shown. We were also given ponchos to wear so that the lights would reflect better off the spectators. I can't say that the close-ups of the people in the audience shown on television look good with those ponchos, but I guess it helped for the venue shots...especially when the countries' flags were reflected on the crowd.

At first I was concerned that I would miss out on seeing some of the ceremony. I knew I would want to have photos and I would miss some moments because I would be busy taking photos and videos...but now realizing I would also be busy with these props I wondered how much I would enjoy the ceremony...but then I realized that I was part of the entertainment and part of the ceremony and it made it even more special. Just like all the other volunteers, I felt that I was a part of the Opening Ceremonies. Watching them on television when I got back home would be even more memorable.

We practiced the countdown a few times. The bottom of our boxes was either dark or white. We were to hold it up when our number was called. A light would shine on the spectators (and boxes) to spell out the numbers with the light boxes spelling out the numbers. My section would start the countdown at "10".

A countdown started on the screen and as it approached two minutes...I took a moment to photograph it, take in the moment and be thankful for being there.

And then, the real countdown was on....10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!!!

Vancouver Day 1

Originally published on February 17, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

I got up early on Friday and was at the computer in my hosts' living room when their daughter told me to look at the beautiful sunrise out the window.

Photographing a beautiful sunrise (over water) was on my list of things I wanted to do in the next 1001 days for my Day Zero Project, so I immediately got dressed and went out in the hopes of capturing a beautiful photo.


I took over a dozen photos as the view kept getting more beautiful the further east I went.



Unfortunately, capturing the sunset didn't happen. It was cloudy on the days that I could have done it.

Later, I arrived at Harbour Air to take a sea plane to Vancouver. Having to arrive an hour before the flight because of extra security during the Games, this made the commute 90 minutes (35 minute flight). By taking a bus/ferry/bus, it would have been a four and a half hour to five hour commute.

Riding in a sea plane was another thing I wrote down on my list of things I wanted to do. I have never been on a sea plane but had seen them occasionally at my parents' cottage land on the lake. At the time, it didn't seem too realistic. We weren't sure whether they would be allowed to fly into Vancouver during the Games. I also thought it may not be worth the expense (and depending on the weather it can get cancelled) but as the day came closer, those 3 extra hours of sleep (or sightseeing or hanging out with friends) rather than travelling became quite precious.

I liked my friend's response when I wondered out loud whether it was "cheating" to have put those things on my list when I knew I was going to Victoria. His response was that it would have been easy for me to stay at the computer and admire the sunrise through the window, but I got dressed (I had woken up 5 or 10 minutes before) and went out walking 15 to 20 minutes down along the water to reach the eastern point. Also, flying on a sea plane would not be something I would have thought to put on my list, but once it was a possibility, I hoped to do it.

I was nervous about taking the sea plane, especially when my friend was telling me stories about how windy it can get and bumpy in the air. As I'm buckling myself in, the pilot tells us to buckle tight because it would be bumpy over the islands. Winds were 40-50 km/hour. At times, I felt like I was on a roller coaster as the plane would dip quickly...but it was never really scary. It was bumpy, but nothing major. I never came close to screaming like I would on a roller coaster. The other two times I took it, it was quite smooth.

As I left Victoria, I did take a moment to photograph the point where I photographed the sunrise and my friends' neighbourhood.


As we were about to land, I took photos from the sea plane. I didn't know it at the time, but the covered up cauldron is visible (bottom left) as well as the hotel I would end up staying in for one night just beside it on the right on this zoomed in photo.



When I arrived in Vancouver, it was perfect...the first words I heard were "Go Canada Go". There were a few people taking photos, so one of them cheered as someone was taking his photo and those three words were the first thing I heard.

It was so great to see everyone in national colours walking around...whether Canadian, American, Australian, Swedish, Russian, Swiss and all the other countries.

I walked up towards Robson Square and stopped by the Art Gallery where they had a countdown to the Opening Ceremony. It's really starting to hit me that in 6 hours...I will be watching the Opening Ceremony.


I walked around Robson Square watching people ice skate or going down a zip line over the square...very cool.

I then start walking towards BC Place and stopped in front of the Canada Post building where there was a trampoline show and where we could write post cards to the Canadian team (and receive a great t-shirt with autographs in a maple leaf design).

I was almost amazed to see the line-up waiting to enter The Bay's Olympic Superstore. Supposedly you could find gear from all the different countries and I guess that was worth lining up a full block in order to get in.

There were so many people walking around. I spotted a few torchbearers waiting for the torch to arrive, but was on a mission to find the bus station, so I didn't stick around. After the Opening Ceremony (which was scheduled to end at 9), I needed to catch a 10:30pm bus that would go on the last ferry at midnight. Not knowing how much time it would take to exit BC Place, I wanted to make sure I knew how to get to the bus/train station.

While there, I see the news about the Georgian luger dying in his training run...SO sad and shocking.

I then head back towards BC Place and go through the Ontario Pavillion, where I read on the whiteboard that Adam van Koeverden is about to arrive for autographs at the Right To Play display.



I wait around for a while, until the woman in charge confirms that he had to cancel because his interview with Global went longer than expected. Big bummer. I was very excited about having the chance to meet one of my favourite Olympians as you can see from my posts from the 2008 Olympics. You can read them here, here and here.

After spending a bit more time in the Ontario Pavillion including watching a bit of Jamie Kennedy's cooking demonstration...


it was time to enter BC Place for the Opening Ceremony.


Stay tuned for that report.

Victoria Highlights

(mostly written on Feb 11 but posted on Feb 17th, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song)

I arrived in Victoria last night. No, don't get confused, I know the Olympics are in Vancouver, but I have free accommodation in Victoria, so here I am. I'll be commuting to Vancouver for my Olympics events.

So today, I considered going into Vancouver to try to see Steve Nash run in the Torch Relay, but found out the time too late to get there (looks like his time ended up changing so I might not have found him anyway).

I decided to have a relaxing day going around Victoria instead.

My hosts/tourist guides recommended going to Mile 0 to see the Terry Fox Statue and to go to the Frontrunners store because it has a Simon Whitfield jersey on display (as well as a Steve Nash jersey that my host forgot to mention...hello???) Ok, perhaps not your typical tourist stops in Victoria, but perfect stops for me.

If you know me or have read my blog for a long time, you will remember me being very excited to have visited the Thunder Bay Terry Fox statue in the summer of 2008 (and in 1983). I also mentioned him as one of my favourite reasons to love Canada (interestingly, the photo I used for this post was of the Victoria statue that my friend took when my son's Flat Stanley visited him - you can see the Flat Stanley on the statue).

As I approach the Terry Fox statue in Victoria, I can see that there is an Olympic torch in his arms. I am thinking..."ooohhh, they put an Olympic Torch on the statue for the Olympics", not realizing that it's a much too valuable an item to leave out. I don't rush over (thinking it's there for a while) and make a phone call home.

As I'm on the phone, I see someone take the torch down..."oh gosh, I missed the opportunity...how cool of a photo would that have been?'

So I rush off the telephone and head over to the statue. A very friendly man wearing a Terry Fox t-shirt strikes up a conversation with me, wondering where I'm from. The conversation finally gets to him as I ask him why he's wearing a Terry Fox t-shirt (and there is a television camera man there interviewing him).


It turns out that he is Rob Reid, the owner of Frontrunners, the store I was planning on visiting. He was the driving force to have the Terry Fox statue erected in Victoria.



So here I am, at the Terry Fox statue, watching the man responsible for the statue being erected being interviewed by A Channel.

All I can say is...

Awesome!!

Then he tells me to get his friend (from Calgary) to take my photo holding his Olympic torch with the Terry Fox statue.

You may know that I had the privilege of holding an Olympic torch a few months ago (you can read about that here), but for now, to hold the Olympic Torch of someone who is one step removed from Terry Fox (and Simon Whitfield and Steve Nash), beside the Terry Fox statue was SUCH an honour...and really...SURREAL!!

After a few stops, (for afternoon tea, to see Emily Carr's house which was not opened and to Harbour Air to organize my flight to Vancouver) I end up at Frontrunners. I locate Simon Whitfield and Steve Nash's jerseys and ask permission to take photos.


I had so much fun in the store. I was like a kid in a candy store. Who needs a museum when you have Frontrunners?

The staff were amazing and completely indulged me in my enthusiasm. Rob had just left apparently, so I just missed him. One of the staff saw me and said "the girl with the black coat and black camera...Rob said you'd be by". Ooooohhh, I'm famous! LOL (I don't think in a good way though).

Rob it turns out had gone out for a run. I'm not sure if he forgot something, but he ended up running back into the store for a minute...enough time for me to take a photo, for him to say hello and give me a hug.

In another part of the store, they had Rob's torch relay outfit with a cutout of his face and the torch sitting on the wall above. The staff were great and brought the torch down and took a photo of me with it again (beside Rob's cutout...love it!!).


Many of the employees in the store are world class runners. One of them, Jim Finlayson holds the World Record for the Beer Mile and is a two-time Canadian National Marathon Champion.

Another employee, Erin van Wiltenburg, who fitted me for some running shoes (ok, walking shoes) ran 100 marathons (4200 km) in Africa in 120 days in 2008!

The store also displayed Simon Whitfield's autographed jacket from the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and his running shoes on display.


A perfect museum for me.

I also took the opportunity when I left to take a photo of the cherry blossoms in bloom outside of the store (yes, it is February!).

Really, a perfect day in Victoria...for me.