Olympic Update

I thought I should send in a little update on what all is going on here in Canada. The Olympics are in full swing now, and things are, for the most part, going very well. The USA currently leads with 17 medals, much to the disappointment of the Canadians. There is a bit of a friendly rivalry between the two nations.

The events have been interesting. I have not made it to any in person yet, but it is all that is on the TV, so I have seen what has been going on. I will be attending the bobsleigh event on Sunday, which is am looking forward to. That should be fun. This is supposed to be the fastest bobsleigh and luge track in the world. Athletes have hit speeds as high as 175 km/h in practice runs. It is a very fast track.

Yesterday, I think it was yesterday, was the Ladies Downhill Skiing. That was rather intense, if anyone missed it. It was a very fast course, and actually very steep. You really cannot tell how steep it is on the TV. The women who were racing on that course were going as fast as 100 km/h down the hill. Some of the little bumps were enough at that speed for them to get air. There was one last mound at the very end of the course which people got a lot of air on. The trouble with it is that is was right after a turn, so they had to straighten out really quick and then hit the hill. A lot of skiers were not able to do it without crashing, but some did. They were travelling 40 to 60 metres in the air off that mound. There were some injuries, fortunately non serious. It was interesting though, because some of the skiers would have a great run, but that last hill in the course would really throw the run off in the end. You couldn't really tell how well they were doing until they hit the finish line.

In other news, there has been one serious incident with the luge and with pairs figure skating. On the opening day, the team from Georgia (the nation) was practicing, and one of their athletes got going a little too fast, and lost control of his sled. He flew from the track and struck a concrete post at 155 km/h. He died a couple hours later in the hospital in Vancouver. That was rather sad. In the pair figure skating, first of all, there was not a single performance without a fall. All the athletes stumbled or fell at some point. One girl was accidentally kicked in the face by her partner. She received 80 stitches in the right cheek, but was back on the ice later. Those have been the worst injuries of the Olympics so far. Fortunately, most events are going just fine, and there have not been more serious injuries.

Being here is a lot of fun. I am enjoying myself a lot. There is a lot of excitement here, because everyone knows the whole world is looking. It is really quite an experience, and I am glad I am part of this.