Men's Final
Today was great. Another early start, we left the hotel at 6:15 to be exact. I am now an expert at sleeping on buses; I can be out in a matter of minutes. I was sitting next to one of the snowmobile camera guys who drives the fancy camera at the pace of the race. He recognized me from one of the media tests we did last week, and we had a chat about how one of his coworkers had crashed one last year at the World Cup. When I asked him, out of honest curiosity, whether his friend had been fired for driving such a pricy piece of equipment into a snow bank, he was quick to tell me, in a voice significantly less loud and me-like, that no, his friend still had a job, and was sitting right behind me. I blame my red face on the heat in the bus, but I was pretty embarrassed. Moral of the story, don’t ask questions about camera mess-ups in a bus full of media.
When we arrived at WOP around 8, there were already people filing into the stadium. Sprints are a big deal, and everything is so close, that it can really be anyone’s race, which added to the already excited and vibrant atmosphere that we have been in the middle of since the beginning of the week. Ski testing is a big deal for us. Obviously not as big a deal as it is for the racers, but we really can’t be slippy at all. One of our jobs, technically, as forerunners, is to ski in and improve the general state of the course. Granted, in rock hard, icy tracks like there were today, there wasn’t really much we could do to make it better, and so our job title was slightly different... whatever you do, don’t make it worse, or heads will roll. So basically, it was preferable to be on walking-up-a-vertical-wall-like-spiderman-but-with-skis-on-feet-instead-of-webs-on-hands sticky klister, than to herringbone and be dismembered by groomers who have been on dusk till dawn schedules trying to get the course just so. They did an amazing job, by the way.
And so once our skis were coated with a generous layer of klister (all the way past my hard wax zone and into my glide zone, actually), we were ready. We headed to the stadium, and were off. The course was a gong-show before the races even started. Half of it was in the shade, while the rest was sitting in the bright 60 sun, and everything in between was corners scraped down to ice. But we made it through, thankfully with no falls, and headed straight to our awesome spot in the stadium. No sooner than we had all picked a spot to perch on the fence, we were back on our feet, the qualifiers had begun. Our Canadians did alright, with 4 of the 8 of them qualifying for the heats (top 30). The crowds were super into it, which made it all even better, with little Norway and Canada competing for the most sound wave occupancy. I think Norway won, it helps when your athletes are all crazy fast.
After quals it we beelined it to the athlete’s lounge, and took in the sites over our bowls of broccoli soup. All the athletes we had just watched move like beasts on a mission were resting, talking on their cell phones, changing, eating and watching other events on the tv. Watching them go through their normal habits, it would be hard to know that there were Olympic medals on the line. But if you looked closer, there were for sure some stressed out vibes going around the room. Many athletes were on their own at tables or in corners, alone with their thoughts and strategies.
Once the heats started, everything kinda became a blur. One heat to the next, we saw some skiers get an inch closer to their Olympic dream, while others gave that inch and lost a mile. Of course, then there were the finals. They were incredible, so many people cheering for so few. I think that that’s the biggest revelation for today, if you will. An Olympic gold is not just an athlete’s dream, but the dream of their country, their coaches, their wax techs, their cheering squad. The accomplishment of one person means so much to so many more. Today I got to witness the power of sport, the reason people keep showing up, century after century, to run around in circles and hit things with sticks. It can all be wrapped up in the look on some Russian technician’s (coach’s? Dunno, doesn’t matter) face as he watched two of his people cross the line almost simultaneously to take first and second and shouted GOLD, at the top of his lungs. Bash the Russians if you want, but that was quite a moment.
After the races I got a bit of a training ski in, the sun was shining and freckles have exploded all over my face, except for my forehead of course, because obviously contrast is so in this season. We went on an awesome ski, getting onto some different trails than what we’ve been on recently, thanks to our tour guide, Thomsen, who lives around here and was able to provide us with some variety.
All in all, awesome day.
That’s all folks!!
Michelle :)
Women's final
The new female Olympic Sprint Champion
Great post!!
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