Sunday, February 28, 2010

Our 3rd and last day at the Winter Olympics!

Our Whistler Olympic experience culminated today with the men's 50 km cross country race.


50km_(1_of_11)
We were the naive Americans the followed the directions and got to the venue in pre-dawn light. The 2 ski jump hills were lit up.


50km_(2_of_11)
It was almost a mile from the bus drop off area to the stadium - but plenty of nice sights.

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Jennifer got a chance to pose with her favorite mascot, Quatchi

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53 racers start together



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Our lone American finisher, James Southam, ran with the leaders early on

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Petter Northug gets some extra nutrition from teammate Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset

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Canadian Devon Kershaw lead early on, was 3rd at this point, and finished 5th

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#4 Dario Cologna from Switzerland was in bronze medal position and had a dramatic wipeout with about 50 meters to go, finishing 10th

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In the closest 50 km finish in Olympic history, Petter Northug of Norway catches and passes German Axel Tiechmann to win the 2 hour race by 0.3 seconds.

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And the Norwegian fans celebrate during the flower ceremony

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Thanks for the Olympic memories Canada!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Our 2nd day at the Winter Olympics

Today was men's slalom. The day started off with heavy snow, turned to light rain, and ended up with pleasant conditions.


Slalom_(1_of_10)
Andre Myhrer from Sweden took Bronze - check out his form from a LONG distance away...


Slalom_(2_of_10)
And the Swedish fans celebrate!

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Ivica Kostelic from Croatia took Silver. His sister Janica, who has 4 gold Olympic medals of her own, was right next to us for his 2nd run

Slalom_(4_of_10)
Croatia was well represented

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Giuliano Razzoli from Italy won the gold

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And he had a big fan club (with a really, really big flag)

Slalom_(8_of_10)
And fans with custom jackets showing their love

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Flower ceremony

Young Canadian Fan
A young Canadian fan watches in awe


And on a somber note, a memorial for Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who died in a tragic training accident before the games was setup in Whistler village. We were passing by when several members of the Georgian delegation were visiting it.

Georgian Delegation at Memorial
Rest in peace Nodar

Friday, February 26, 2010

Our first day at the Winter Olympics!

We had a blast at the 4 man bobsled today. Can't wait for the next 2 days!

Bobsled_(7_of_8)
Shout out to the host country

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This USA Sled set a course record on this run

Bobsled_(3_of_8)
Team Croatia

Bobsled_(6_of_8)
Great Britain

Bobsled_(5_of_8)
Italy

Bobsled_(1_of_8)
Austrians

Bobsled_(2_of_8)
The Swiss showed up to demonstrate to us what a REAL cowbell looks (and sounds) like

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