Day 11 of Competition

Another wonderful day! One of the reasons I love the Olympics so much is the "people stories". Not the number of medals; not the IOC members who sit in their ivory towers and make rules; but the heartache and triumph and behind the scene stories of everyday people. I met the "host" family for the Morrisons today(Denny Morrison is a speed skater). This down to earth family lives in a substantial house in Richmond and they have three empty bedrooms now that children have moved away from home. When they were building the Oval, less than a kilometre from their home, they asked people in the area to consider being "host families" whenever there were races at the Oval--including World Championships and Olympics. So Dan and Ruth (I didn't catch their last names) said they would and ended up with the Morrison family at the first race and they have been staying there ever since and have become lifelong friends. Dan and Ruth knew virtually nothing about Speed Skating when they started, but are experts now!
Speaking of people stories, can you believe what Joannie did tonight? I watched the whole thing with tears streaming down my face. There were several big brawny men in the room who were pretty misty-eyed as well. As a coach I was trying to imagine what I would say or do with an athlete of mine who was going through something like that. The most touching moment for me was when the camera shot to Brian Orser who saluted her courage with a bow.
And Ashleigh McIvor(I keep wanting to say McIsaac!) was terrific.
Tonight we had a sponsor night at the Boathouse. Wrigley's Gum is a major sponsor for Speed Skating and Denny Morrison. His picture is on the package of Excel gum so there were many free samples being passed around. He had to endure almost an hour of interviews before he could join the party, but then came in and was available for pictures. He was so cute when he came in. Everyone applauded and he went beet red in the face! I took a picture of him with Dan and Ruth. His mother was there but his dad was at the hockey game!!! I can see where this sponsor thing could become very cumbersome.
Tomorrow I am off and that is the day I get to go to the Oval to watch the women's 3000m. It will be Clara Hughes' last race as an olympian so I hope she skates a satisfying race. Kristina Groves will also racing. If it is not raining I am going to go out early so I can go to the "O Zone" where lots of activities are going on. That is also where Heineken House is. I bet there wasn,t too much celebrating going on there today unless they were crying in their beers!