Day 1 of Competition

The first picture is of me in front of the Speed Skating Inukshuk. This is the image of the medals that we put together for the parents. The second picture is of me in my uniform inside the boathouse in front of the Speed Skating Canada poster wall.

I decided I needed to have a shorter day today, so I went to buy the Vancouver Sun in the morning and then I had a leisurely time reading all about the Olympics. My nephew also had the Globe and Mail so there was no shortage of articles to read! The big news out here is the weather! I know now why they call it the "Wet Coast!"

We had our first event at the Richmond Oval so it was very exciting. We are on the way to the Oval so everyone walks by the Boathouse to get there. Although the most predominant colours of clothing were red and white, there was also a preponderance of bright orange--the colour of the Dutch team. We watched the race live at the Boathouse and low and behold the Dutch skater Sven Kramer won the gold! Our cohort Saskia from Holland was very happy. She said the whole country was counting on him to win the gold medal, so there was a lot of pressure on him, because apparently the rest of the team is not that good. Like hockey is for us, speed skating is so much a part of the Dutch heritage and they are embarassed if they don't do well.

It was exciting to watch Canada win its first medal courtesy of Jenn Heil. Once again she has led the way for all our other athletes.

Later on, I overheard Denny Morrison's mother say she got a chance to speak to him briefly after his race. He was pleased with his result because he was using this race to test the ice and his nerves for the races where he expects to do well--shorter distances.

Signing off early tonoght.