February 9th

Fantastic Day at WOP....weather is just brilliant. Tracks are fast, hard and dependable. Teams are arriving and thrilled to be skiing here. Broadcasters are getting personal stories. Volunteers are finding their niche. Course teams are fine tuning. Whistler Cooks are providing delicious meals, with the soups being four **** and changing daily. Transportation is improving, still a bit of a puzzle needing to be solved. And the awards podium was 'tried-out' today.

I spent the morning in the race office photocopying course marshal schedules, and race maps - so we're ready for our full gang that arrives on Friday. Thursday(11th) and Saturday(13th) are Venue training and Job Specific training days.

Then out on course, where we really do have the BEST job. Welcoming athletes, coaches and service/techie types to Canada, Whistler and the Olympics ! Sometimes I just step back and smile...to take in the moment, that this is the Olympic Games in Canada. We can be so proud, as from my stand point, we're doing an amazing job.

Back to serious stuff. Russians held a serious time trial...looked like a team sprint, but the men tagged off the women in the stadium. They pushed as if it were a race today. Even had to clean up "excess" in the finish line. The Norwegians arrived ! Petter Northug of Norway was working on power. He had his own TV crew following every step. And I learned that top athletes have their own wax tech/coach. 1 on 1.
XC Analyst, Jack Sasseville was here with CTV, but more interested in Jason Myslicki our sole Nordic Combined athlete who came out of retirement with World Cup points gained in Seefeld, Austria earlier this month to compete at the Games. “Today, I managed a jump that at least put me in a fighting position for World Cup points. I played a very strategic race and was successful. Today wasn’t a day of non stop hammering, but really a lot of strategy in the pack skiing. I’m excited to get to Whistler to jump a hill on which I am more comfortable.”

My favourite moment of today was meeting Zina Kocher of Red Deer, AB....most accomplished bi-athlete since Myriam Bydard. She was training on the cross country trails...as were most bi-athletes. Not sure why...but here's some trivia. Vancouver2010 is the first time that all three Nordic events are held on the same Venue....WOP. Pretty cool.

enjoy the photos.