paralympic experience

Reflections 3_18_2010

2010-03-18T12:48:00.003-04:00

I had 12 hours on a plane and in airports yesterday to reflect on the Paralympic experience. WOW...it made me want to be a part of the whole scene even more than I did before. It is such an amazing celebration of ability, not only for the athletes, but for everyone involved in any way. The spirit was incredible despite the nasty weather. When I can finally put up some video of the events you'll see the sideways rain. Our hotel room smelled like wet clothes the entire time. You couldn't really get anything dried out before you had to put it on and go out again.

Tuesday was the VI and sitting GS. There was a huge cloud/fog bank settled over the hill. It kind of moved up and down the venue, creating a really hard time for the athletes...well, the VIs were probably OK but their guides sure weren't. For the GS there were three pitches to the course. The fog was usually covering one part of the course, but at one point the entire course was fogged in. The commentators didn't even know if one of the racers was still on the hill or if she'd blown out because they couldn't see anything. Very tough racing conditions but the scenario was pretty much the same for everyone so it was an even playing field.

Oh, and Tuesday night for the medals ceremony...when I said it looked like it had stopped raining? NOT. Despite the rain, watching Alana and Stephanie get their medals, watching the flags be raised, and singing the National Anthem along with all the other Americans there made me so proud. OK, and I cried. I just watched my video and see that I caught a total flag malfunction too. The second place American flag got caught on something on the way up and the RC Mountie that was cranking it had to bring it down, fix it, and then catch up to the other two flags. Drama behind the scenes!

My Paralympic Mission...

2010-03-16T20:59:00.001-04:00

...we are going to invade the Russian house tonight in an attempt to get a Sochi jacket or sweatshirt. The Sochi organizing committe is here and they're all over the place. They have really cool jackets that say, "Meet us in Sochi" which I intend to do with Staci and John E....so I WILL get one before I leave. Russia or bust!

Monday and Tuesday 3_15/16_2010

2010-03-16T20:45:00.003-04:00

Rainy days and Mondays....I'm not sure I have ever been as wet as I have on this trip. Yesterday was excellent - mostly sunny and nice and warm. A great day for watching some skiing. Today we woke up to torrential rain. I heard it was snowing up on top of the mountain but the upper lifts were all closed due to wind. The USA hasn't been faring well thus far but the women ruled the sitting GS today. We suffered through six hours of downpour to see Stephanie Victor and Alana Nichols go silver and gold in the GS. Tonight we will get to hear the National Anthem played at Medal Plaza...I am so stoked. We went to the medal ceremony last night and it moved me so much even though there weren't any Americans on the podium. (We are learning the words to O Canada though - they are kicking butt along with the Russians). The US visually impaired skiers and the male sitting skiers didn't place anyone in the medals. Caitie Sarubbi put together two runs today and is looking stronger with each race.

I just returned from a mixer with the German youth delegation. Our kids are upstairs having a great time trading pins and getting to know the athletes they will be competing against for the next four years. Munich is applying to host the 2018 games so they may even meet up on the German's home turf someday.

We're heading out to dinner and then to the medal ceremony. I CAN'T WAIT...this is the best part of the entire trip!

PS...I think it may have stopped raining too. A bonus.

Sunday 3_14_2010

2010-03-14T20:33:00.003-04:00

Now the real fun begins! We loaded up a bus and came up to Whistler this morning. We watched the men's sitting Nordic 15 km race. It was an interesting experience - those guys are incredible athletes. Immediately after that finished we reboarded the bus and came up to the hotel (we're right in the middle of the village), dropped off bags and headed over to Creekside for the VI and sitting slalom. ASF athlete Caitie Sarubbi had a nice first run but had some trouble with her second run and blew out of a combination. The standing skiers will race tomorrow and then we'll see GS on Tuesday. We're headed out for dinner tonight - there isn't alot of time alotted for eating on this trip! We go from one thing to the next and there isn't much to eat at the venues. Weather update: it was gorgeous this morning at the X-C site. Then it started snowing at Creekside and didn't quit. More later.

Saturday 3_13_2010 Curling and Sled Hockey

2010-03-14T01:23:00.003-05:00

Just another crazy day in the schedule for the Paralympic Experience delegation. We left the hotel at 9:30AM and came back around 9:30PM. We took in our first curling match, the US vs Korea. The arena was almost packed and most of the people were Canadians who just came to watch. I suppose it might be sort of like heading out to take in a college football game or something, there were that many people and they were CRAZY! There are four matches going at once so there's a lot of action going on...in a manner of speaking. Great Britain was playing Canada on the thingy next to us (I think it is called a sweep) and there was a Canadian couple and a British couple sitting behind us. In between them being incredibly obnoxious to each other we were able to listen and learn what was going on. WWe were right in front of the USA strip and I think they appreciated our loud, and quite possibly mis-timed albeit sincere support. We hopped on the bus and headed right over to Thunderbird Arena for the Sled Hockey game. That was nuts! USA was playing Korea (again, I don't think the Koreans like us much after today, we opened a can of whoop-ass in both games) and the place was wild. It was packed and we got to sit in the USA friends and family section.

Lest you think I'm leaving you out of some of these amazing experiences picture-wise, members of an offical delegation representing a country are not allowed to publish pictures taken inside a venue until 3 days after the games are over. So anything I put up here has to be from outside a venue. We're very official here - not such a good thing for some of the older kids who tried to head out last night after their curfew and were seen by about 20 different USOC officials on their escape attempt. Make that their thwarted escape attempt!

Anyway, we're headed up to Whistler tomorrow where they're finally going to get going with the Alpine events. We also have to spring ahead - it will be a long day so I will talk to you tomorrow night!

Friday 3_12_2010 Opening Ceremony

2010-03-14T00:54:00.003-05:00

Friday, March 12th

Busy, busy day today. We woke up to a downpour but headed out to see the torch relay anyway. The Paralympic Torch has been making its way across Canada for 10 days now. The final torch moved around Vancouver beginning at 8:00PM Thursday night. That torch was lit using the ashes from ten torches, each of which started in one of the provinces of Canada. We watched the torch come into the city for a ceremony before it was taken over to BC Center for the opening ceremonies this evening. I was talking with the woman who ran the torch in and she let me hold it. That's the picture I posted with this entry. Apparently if you run a leg of the torch relay you get to keep your torch! After the torch came (and went) we were able to try out a little curling and learn about the game so we will have some understanding of the US/Korea match we will watch on Saturday. In the afternoon we went to a cocktail party for the US delegation, Olympic Committee, and some folks from the Hartford.

The opening ceremony was a trip. The entire arena was sold out and it was rockin'. When we came in, there was a bag taped to our seat. If you had a chance to watch on TV and saw the colors and waves that match the Vancouver logo, the rocket science that created it used the modern day invention of a colored rain poncho. We each had either a blue, green, white, or pale blue poncho to wear. They taught a dance (and you all know how much I LOVE to dance - NOT) that we had to do part way through. We also had pom poms that lit up. That was really cool when the lights went out - although I couldn't get the song 10,000 Fireflies out of my head most of the evening. The ceremony was a true celebration of the human spirit and the Paralympic ideals. We had to stand through 47 countries before they finally came to the US team but it was worth it. Wish they would call us America for any parade of countries! Some of you know Heath Calhoun, a vet who lost both legs in Iraq. He has been to a couple ASF Wounded Warrior programs. I made it through most of the evening to that point without tears, but when the US came out, our flagbearer was Heath and he was able to walk the flag through the arena. It's really neat to know alot of the people in the delegation so that was very special. The program from there on in was amazing and the torch coming into the arena was the topper. They told the story of a Canadian boy who lost a leg to cancer. He refused to give in to it and started running across Canada a la Forest Gump to raise awareness...unfortunately his cancer came back halfway through his journey and he had to stop. He passed away shortly thereafter. I had just wondered aloud whether his parents are still living and if they were present to witness the tribute when they announced that his parents were the torchbearers. They passed the flame to a future Paralympian who lit the flame.

Friday 3_12_2010

2010-03-12T11:15:00.005-05:00

Day 1 is in the books and boy it was a long one. Flights went off without a hitch Amazingly, everyone got in on time and we made it to the hotel early. We had just enough time to drop our luggage in the room before we headed to the athlete's village for a tour. Oh, the weather? Pouring of course. There was nothing false about the reports of monsoons during the Olympics. We toured the village and then got to eat in the athlete's dining hall...amazing food - they try to cater to the tastes of all the nations represented. As shown in my picture though, there's always a McDonalds, although it didn't appear there was much traffic on that side of the dining hall. We shopped a little in the store and went to bed. Off to the torch relay, a reception and the opening ceremonies tonight. Will report in later. Oh, we"re going curling today too! O Canada!

On the way

2010-03-11T05:29:00.003-05:00

Up at 3:45, out the door at 4:15 and getting ready to board my flight to Chicago where I will meet up with half the group for the flight to Vancouver. Half of us are flying from Chicago and half from San Francisco. Will check in once I get to Vancouver.
Let the games begin!

Yea! The Paralympics will be on TV. (NBC came to their senses.)

2010-03-09T18:05:00.000-05:00

This message was just sent out from US Paralympics...maybe all the push from the adaptive world worked!

NBC Sports and Universal Sports to Broadcast 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Highlights

GE To Be Presenting Sponsor of NBC Sports and Universal Sports’ Broadcast of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. and NEW YORK– NBC Sports and Universal Sports announced today the multiplatform broadcast coverage of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games presented by GE. Coverage on NBC Sports will include a one-hour program recapping the Opening Ceremony on Saturday, March 13 (1-2 p.m. ET) and a two-hour highlights program on Saturday, April 10 (3-5 p.m. ET).

In addition to the coverage on NBC Sports, Universal Sports will broadcast a nightly two-hour show for nine straight nights dedicated to the daily competition of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games starting on Monday, March 15 at 6 p.m. ET (re-air at 11 p.m. ET) and continuing nightly through Tuesday, March 23.

Additionally, UniversalSports.com will offer on-demand re-airs of the Universal Sports television coverage, plus full-length event “rewinds.”

The official site of the U.S. Paralympic Team, www.usparalympics.org, will also offer daily video and news highlights of the competition from Vancouver.

Three days to lift-off.

2010-03-08T18:23:00.000-05:00

We had our final conference call with the Paralympic folks Sunday night to go over last minute details of the trip. We all leave our homes early Thursday morning and meet up either in Chicago or San Francisco to head up to Vancouver together. We've been granted access to the Paralympic Village so we'll get to go in and check out how the athletes live, eat, and play for the duration of the games. We also had an overview of the schedule which sounds really exciting. It will go something like this:
Friday
- Reception with the people from the Hartford (a huge sponsor of the Paralympic movement and disabled skiing) and the International Paralympic Committee.
- View the Paralympic Torch Relay (we have special seating!)
- Opening Ceremony
Saturday
- USA vs Korea Wheelchair curling
- USA vs Sweden Sled Hockey
Sunday
- Load up at 5:30AM for the trip up to Whistler
- Men's X-C skiing
We have some free time up at Whistler the first day to explore a bit (and shop)
Monday
- Alpine skiing events
- Medal ceremonies on the plaza
Tuesday
- Alpine Super G/Combined
- Friendship meeting with the German youth delegation
- Medal ceremonies
Wednesday
- Up WICKED EARLY for the trip back down to Vancouver and our flights home.
Thursday
- Back at work bright eyed and bushy tailed (maybe).

Many thanks to the US Paralympic program for sponsoring our group of coaches and athletes. This is an amazing opportunity for all of us and one that I am certainly not taking for granted.

Snow, what snow?

2010-02-27T16:21:00.000-05:00

2010-02-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

Olympic excitement has reached fever pitch...um...that's Summer Olympic Fever of course. More specifically, 3 meter diving. Windham Mountain (home of the Adaptive Sports Foundation) has received over 6 feet of snow in the past five days. AND IT IS STILL SNOWING! While you might think that skiing or riding would be the obvious activity of choice at a ski area, once the lift lines got too long, balcony diving was way more fun. Check out the video!

Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Experience

2010-02-26T15:10:00.001-05:00

The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Experience begins in 12 days. Look to this space for a daily account of my experiences in Vancouver with the US Paralympic Experience, a group of coaches and young athletes attending the games through the generosity of the US Paralympic Committee.

Airline arrangements came today - let's get excited!