Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Hooray! Today marked the return of the Olympic hot dog! YUM. Oh yeah, and the US won the gold at the men’s 1500 meter competition at the Oval today!
I can’t believe it’s almost over. Including today, there are only four more days of competition at the Oval. I’m already feeling blue. I have had so much fun doing this. I’ve been friendlier than I have ever been in my entire life. I have a good time every day.
Today my shift began at 9:30. MT was not feeling well, so he stayed home with T. Because of that, I ditched the carpool and drove to the staff shuttle lot. The van was there. It’s been better since we complained.
Today was supposed to be the day that we could shop at the venue store. They were going to be open from 9 to 12 and 4 to 7 with new stock so we could buy stuff. I went early so I could get good selection, but then I was told that I couldn’t shop until 4. When I went at 4, there wasn’t much to choose from. That was disappointing. I did buy a t-shirt.
I went back out to entry. As I’ve said before, I just really like the sector leader, Lee. He is very positive and upbeat, and he has a little song that we sing to pump ourselves up! It is to the tune of “Be Kind to Your Webfooted Friends” and all we do is sing “Here we go” over and over to that tune. We clap and jump and it’s just very entertaining! Plus it was a really nice day, mild temperatures and a little wind from the south. Very pleasant. My favorite post is Entry 10. That’s the very front of the security. My most favorite position out there is up in the lifeguard’s chair with the bullhorn. That is so much fun! I was up there for awhile today. It’s fun to greet people as they come in, especially if they are carrying flags and you can say, “Hello Holland!” They really love that. There was a group of Dutch people that I greeted that way was so happy they had to have their picture taken with me! That’s the best.
Another fun thing that happened, actually before the gates even opened, was that I spoke to Derek Parra’s family. I noticed a guy holding a “Go Derek” sign. I commented that he must be a Derek Parra fan, and he told me that he was his cousin. We talked about how exciting it was for Derek to win the silver the first Saturday, in the 5000 meters. I knew that Derek was going to race in one of the last pairs today, and we talked about how that was a good place to be because he would know how fast he had to go. A whole big bunch of the family came and took some pictures before they went in. Nice people.
After the chair, I went to the lines and chatted with people from everywhere: Norway, Germany, Ohio, Utah, Holland, etc.
When the event began at 1:00, I had a lunch break. Did I mention that the hot dogs are back?! I guess SLOC ordered 400,000 100% Certified Angus Beef hot dogs at the start of this thing, expecting they would last the whole two weeks. Because they were so dang tasty, they were gone in five days. I had an Olympic dream to have a hot dog every day, but my dream was dashed after only five days. They have other food, but it’s not really that good. But now a new shipment of hot dogs has arrived! There was a lot of happiness among the hot dog lovers. (hee hee)
After lunch I went back out to entry and spent some time talking to a couple from Long Island, New York. They came out here with no tickets to events; they were just going from venue to venue buying tickets from scalpers. They said they had had luck at every venue but the Oval. They had only been able to buy one ticket. I explained there were only 4600 seats in there, and very diehard fans. They were very nice, and I enjoyed talking to them, but I left them in a hurry when Lynnae, my team leader, told me I could go in and watch a couple of races!
I got in just in time to watch American Derek Parra break the world record set earlier that day in the men’s 1500 meters. Man, he was flying. It was great! The place just went wild. He broke the world record of the guy who beat his world record on the 9th. Let me break that down a little more. On Feb. 9, during the 5000 meters, Parra broke the world record. About 20 minutes later, a Dutch skater, I can’t even begin to get his name right from memory, broke Parra’s record and won the gold. Today, the Dutch guy went first and broke the world record. Parra went next and broke the Dutch guy’s record and won the gold. I’m not sure if the Dutch guy got the silver. I actually think a Norwegian guy took the silver. An American got the bronze, I think. That’s what people told me on the way out anyway.
I really enjoy the egress. We all line up, the volunteers and the National Guard, and thank people for coming. Most people seem to like it. They say they feel like they are in a parade. I was talking to a National Guard guy tonight who said he is having a really good time. I took lots of pictures of him with spectators. He was eating it up. I took a picture for him of a group of Norwegians. One guy had a Viking hat on, with horns and everything. He said he just had to have a picture with that group. We had a blast!
Tomorrow’s event is the women’s 1500 meters. I will go back outside to entry. It’s just the best!
Other Olympic news today:
Bummer for Eric Bergoust! The American was the defending Olympic gold medalist in the men’s freestyle aerials, but he didn’t land cleanly on his second jump and came in last in the event. A guy from Park City, Joe Pack, got the silver.
Here’s a karma story: Jean Racine of the US women’s bobsleigh team kicked her best friend and brakeman, Jen Davidson, off the team a week and a half before the Olympics. It seems that Jean was so crazy to get the gold that she forgot what got her in the USA1 sled in the first place. She got a new partner, then the new partner got hurt. She was scrambling around looking for another new partner, but the US bobsleigh authorities said no. Anyway, with the injured partner, USA1 came in fifth place. However, unhearalded USA2 won the gold medal and made history. The brakeman on that team was an African-American woman named Vonetta Flowers. She is now the first African-American to win a medal at the winter Olympic games. Hurrah!
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