2 Year Anniversary of the 2010 Games

Today marks 2 year since the 2010 Olympics kicked off. It's hard to believe that much time has passed-in many ways it seems like it was just yesterday. This time last year, my teammate, Sharon and I, along with some of the other members of our athletes' marshalls team were trooping around downtown at the 1 year anniversary celebrations. It was a cold and rainy day a year ago. I am so glad that was not the case today!

This morning, the BC Sports Hall of Fame welcomed the Blue Jackets to their brand new 2010 Gallery. It's beautiful-as bright and colourful as the games themselves were and chock full of fantastic artifacts.

It was fun to see the souvenirs they had as well and to see how many of them I collected as keepsakes for myself. These were the Coke bottles and flags from the Olympic Torch Relay. The relay went right past the end of my street at one point and they were handing out the flags and bottles of Coke to everyone who came out to watch. I have 2 different bottles sitting on my dresser and the flag is here in my studio.

The little figures were from McD's, another sponsor of the Games. I think I have the blue bobsleigh on the top left stashed somewhere. I have the packets of Excel gum saved as well-I sewed them into my 2010 ROD journal. (Which you can see here and here.)

The BC Sports Hall of Fame arranged to have a special wall set up for VANOC CEO John Furlong and the Blue Jackets to sign. I think it will become part of the gallery after this weekend.

 (I signed in red on the lower left.)

Mr. Furlong was kind enough to pose for a photo with me, after he presented his own Blue Jacket to the BC Sports Hall of Fame. Soon it will join all the other uniforms that they have on display.

They did a fabulous job of gathering a wide variety of items-everything from torches, to Games time uniforms, to uniforms from some of the athletes from other countries, to a huge collections of pins, to medals and so on. I took a ton of photos, but I really want to encourage you to visit if and when you can. It's really worth seeing up close and personal.

Here's a little video footage of the celebration:




THANK YOU
BC Sports Hall of Fame for hosting us!

While I was there, I met Nadine who worked for VANOC. She very kindly helped me get some photos of myself at the Sports Hall. I usually shoot self portraits, but it's nice to let someone else take the photos sometimes! I had fun hanging out with her and swapping our 2010 stories.

While we were talking, I was reminded that there is another anniversary this weekend. Two years ago, Gorgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili lost his life in a terrible accident on the track up at Whistler. It seems only right to mention it here and to take a moment to think of his family and to remember their loss. He was gone far too soon.

And So It Goes...

So...like the rest of Canada, I watched the special on CTV last night and held my breath every time I thought my segment might come on...but it didn't. Alas, it ended up on the virtual cutting room floor.

In the big scheme of things, it really doesn't matter. It was great fun meeting Dave and Jeff and by way of email, Tracy. It's another amazing memory (and story) to add to an already incredible Games experience. I also have a signed photo and handwritten card from Brian Williams who instilled in me an abiding love for the Games and set me off on this wondrous journey in the first place. I've been exceptionally lucky in all of this. Like I said before, my Olympic dreams far exceeded anything I'd ever envisioned. It's one of the biggest things I've crossed off my life list.

EDIT: This just in: CTV's posted my "Shared Experience" on their website. You can view it here. There is always a silver lining.

The photo above was taken on Saturday. It's dark because it was pouring rain. My teammate and pal Sharon and I stopped by the CTV booth to have our photo taken together. They had a blue screen and we got to choose a background we wanted to appear on. Well apparently, you cannot take a blue screen photo in a Blue Jacket. What resulted was the worst photo ever-we're two floating heads. I didn't throw mine away though-I'm putting it in my journal so when I look at it, I will remember how silly it was and how hard we laughed when we saw them. (And the fact that we stood in a torrential downpour for 45 minutes waiting to get our picture taken.) In a way, it's so typical of our shared experiences of the Games-completely unpredictable and hilariously funny.

One thing I failed to mention in my previous post was that about 2 minutes prior to the torch actually being relit, the rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds. It was the oddest thing. Apparently John Furlong has pretty big connections!

This weekend (and the whole Olympic and Paralympic experience, really) can, in my estimation, be summed up this way:

"There is a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street, and being the noise." ~Rumi

Okay, so I guess that's it for Olympic coverage! If you missed it, I've posted an Olympic giveaway. It's your chance to have a small piece of the magic for your very own! Click here for details on how to enter!

2010 Olympic Anniversary Weekend

Yesterday was so much fun, I can hardly put it into words, really. The Olympic spirit is alive and well in Vancouver. Yesterday truly was a day for the Blue Jackets to celebrate everything we accomplished. All around the city, people were stopping us to thank us for our service to our city and our country. They were also stopping us to ask for help or information. Those jackets made a very strong impression with people and I feel very honoured to be a part of that legacy.

It felt really good to get together with several members of my team and create new memories while reliving our Olympic experience. We had breakfast together with John Furlong and had another chance to have our copies of Patriot Hearts signed. Since I already had a signed copy of my own from participating in the Flash Mob on Thursday, I got the additional copy personalized for my in-laws. John graciously (and patiently) signed books before breakfast and then spoke after our meal. I have some video of that that I will post tomorrow. (I haven't had a chance to upload it yet.)

My friend and teammate Sharon and I went over to Granville Street midday to join in the fun there and then later made our way back to Jack Poole Plaza for 4 p.m. to see the torch lit. We stayed until dusk so we could get photos after dark as well. It was a long day, but a good one. Here are a small fraction of the 235+ photos I took yesterday. As always, mouse over the images to read the captions.

Today I was up and out early with my husband as we had tickets to visit the Canadian Mint pavilion. During the Olympics, I tried 5 TIMES to see the medals, but was unable to gain access-that's how popular the pavilion was. When I heard we'd be given one last chance this weekend, I made sure I got tickets (which were free!) right away. Persistence pays off! It was the one thing on my Games to-do list that had been unwillingly left undone, so I was very happy to finally cross it off the list today.

The medals were gorgeous! The last time I saw them was in Ring Road on the night of the Closing Ceremonies. They were hanging around the necks of the athletes to whom they had been awarded. (Which was kind of a surreal experience.)

We had to put white cotton gloves on before we were allowed to touch them. The medals are surprisingly heavy, weighing in at 2.2 lbs. each. They had a considerable heft to them. It was well worth the wait to see them. The people working at the Mint were incredibly nice, which in my opinion made the experience that much more special. Even the police officer stationed there was super nice. Everyone is in such a wonderful, festive mood this weekend.

While I was talking with Susan, one of the Mint employees, my sweet husband snuck over to the counter and purchased two sets of the commemorative coins for me. I've been saving a good number of them as they show up in my change, but I haven't yet managed to collect the entire set. So Happy Valentine's Day to me!

Here's some of the photos  I took at the Canadian Mint Pavilion today.(Which admittedly need to be cropped, but I am too tired. Forgive me!)

Captions are there if you mouse over.

Now we are getting ready for a celebration dinner at home, followed by watching CTV's 1 Year Olympic Anniversary special. I am *SO* excited!! Before I sign off, I just wanted to remind you that I posted a GIVEAWAY earlier today (it's the previous post) so be sure to go to that post to get the details about how to enter to win!

Flash Mob, Blue Jacket Style!

Today was the Blue Jacket Flash Mob, to promote VANOC President John Furlong's new book Patriot Hearts* which is about the 2010 Olympic Games. There were 50 of us riding the sky trains this afternoon, much to the surprise of local commuters. Imagine their surprise when suddenly the doors opened and the cars were awash with a sea of blue! It was fun watching their reactions.

Here's a slide show of some of the photos I took. You can mouse over the images to view the captions.

When we got to Main Street Station, John Furlong himself was there to meet us and sign our copies of his book. He then joined us on the train, which was bearing his name and we rode to Waterfront. En route, as has become an Olympic tradition, we broke out into the singing of our national anthem. (Thought it was slightly off key, it was completely heartfelt.) John even joined in.

Once we reached Waterfront Station, he signed the remaining copies of his book and we were done. I popped upstairs to get a Starbuck's and then hopped back on the train and headed home.

I am so pleased to have a free, personally signed copy of the book  When I got home, they showed footage of our hijinks on the evening news and I saw myself on TV! It was great fun and I have some more wonderful memories to show for it. Thanks Ali for the invite and thank you Mr. Furlong for the book! (And for getting my name right!)

*If you are thinking about getting a copy, please do. The proceeds go to support the Own the Podium Program, which helps Canadian athletes succeed. If you'd like a signed copy of your own, John is having a book signing at Chapters at Broadway & Granville on Saturday, February 12th at 3 p.m.

(All images & video are Copyright Lelainia Lloyd/Tattered Edge 2011. Please keep your karma good by respecting this. Thanks!)