Last Shots: Paralympics

In photos: Reverse order.

The closing fireworks -- live reality.



Hey, se her ! (Look here!) to the Norwegians.


The traders ... Swedish hat, Russian hat, Belarus' jacket and perhaps pants ... "It was awkward there for awhile."


See ya later, RCMP.


See ya later, overlay.


See ya later, Japan!


See ya later, gold medal.


See you later and I look forward to those hats you are sending me! Another man with a passion for hats -- Eric Lundin -- wearing Ole Einar Bjørndalen's cap now that I have his.

Goodbye, Andy Soule!


See ya soon, Nicole! Dharma Bums and Zen are soon to be yours. Andreas, coolest Superplaz'r ever.


Pretty lights at 5:50 am ...

Last Words: Paralympics

“The IPC is a symbol that is in motion, with three Agitos (from Latin: I move) encircling a center point; emphasizing the role that the IPC has of bringing athletes from all corners of the world together and enabling them to compete.

Paralympic athletes are constantly inspiring and exciting the world with their performances - always moving forward and never giving up.”

_____________________________________________________________

The concluding symbol for me was in the Coca-Cola bottle sitting on a table where hours earlier a vibrant workforce check-in table had been, staffed with volunteers I would later go out to enjoy the closing ceremonies with.

It was a free-for-all for some, grabbing posters and anything else likely headed for the end.

I took some useful things, tape, an official VANOC pre-Games writer’s style guide, lunchmeat and some fruit to last me a few more days.

Some other odds and ends, given away upon arrival in Whistler, was piled in a box.

And then that Coca Cola bottle, warm, sitting on the table. Drinking it on the bus, I thought of this. The Ricoh printer guys next to me on the bus were flying out the next day, happy to go home but left with the impressions of the beauty of the mountains in their minds.

The mass globalization of the world, could it be, in one little bottle, one little blog post, obscured right here in this text?

The giant corporatism of Coca Cola and so much product given away as part of the sponsorship but so much interaction with people from different cultures. Memories both in mind and in little black books.

Priceless handwriting from Australians, Brits, Canadians, Frenchmen, Russians, and Swedes mixed with my own. Names, addresses, “fuzzy feelings of friendship” and all derived from what?

The athletes? The corporations? The IOC or IPC? The human relationships formed at random from rides, glances, dinners and everything just mixes into live reality?

The same journalists who walked past me in the mix zone are here in the Whistler Live! area … the same journalist who gave me his Craft Swedish ski cap is probably out there someplace too, but I can’t miss the green and red of the Belarus broadcasters, I write, but cannot explain, that “all the jackets are on a touch level now.”

“See you in Sochi!” the jackets say.

We lift our glasses “To Smurfs!” and I think about the incident while I was on duty of the president of the Croation IPC delegation falling and spilling coffee on himself, cheerfully wiping off the coffee from his jacket.

As the closing ceremony crowds stream back, the final toast, “To The Stroll!” and Charlie puts it best:

“Olympic colours, exhilarating and moving, profound moments of reflection of the human spirit, indominatable perseverance, achievement, success. Athletes first, handicapped second. What a source of inspiration.”

The last ride home, our final stop in the Paralympic Village at 21:50.

Our driver ends the experience for all of us. “Hoping everyone made new friends, new experiences – it’s what the Olympics are all about – helping each other.”

“Ok, I’ll let you go to sleep now. We’ll meet again, so long, goodnight.”

Lifestyle: Paralympics Day 2 & 3

A morning of fresh new snow on the first day of Pacific Summer Time. Day two: (March 14) assignment to Entry Team -- I was given the dangerous power of the bullhorn to greet and direct spectators to the proper entry booth and facilitate egress later in the day.

With a less-than-anticipated turnout, it ended up being that only 400 or so spectators showed up to catch the 10 am event – the men’s cross country sitting (15 km) and the following women’s 10k medal event at noon.

So it was easy to come up with personalized things to say to welcome the guests to Whistler Paralympic Park: “That’s right, you made it, your clocks are correct, welcome to the competition.”

“Beach volleyball has been closed (as I was sitting in an elevated beach chair) but fortunately VANOC has agreed to substitute cross-country skiing instead.”

As the spectators approached it was fun to gauge how excited they were for the competition – generally if they responded to my “Good morning” or “Bienvenue” – I would continue with an instigative comment, or perhaps a joke (not my own but from the Workforce Newsletter) “Two muffins are in the oven. One says to the other, “man it’s hot in here.” The other one replies: “Oh no, it’s a talking muffin!”

Or maybe Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing Trivia: The year of the first competition? 1976 … location: Örnsköldsvik, SWE. (Nobody knew that, nor could I pronounce it correctly).

Day three, upgraded to Team Leader for Cross Sport Area 10 – back to my location of Day 1 but this time I was given a series of Hosts to manage and be the first line in the chain of command to resolve issues. Nothing major, thankfully – only one volunteer’s unfamiliarity with radio communication and some issues beyond my level of control for the amount of workforce in each area, making breaks and lunch problematic for other Team Leaders but nothing of issue for me.

I introduced myself to Minnesota’s Kelly Underkofler and congratulated her on the race – she said she was pleased as the 15 km event really isn’t her strength but was happy nonetheless with an eighth-place finish.

In-house announcer Chad Salmela and opposite Christophe Sevessand (French) talked with me about their upcoming powder day and telemark skiing they’ll be doing up on Whistler today. About the time this goes up, they’ll be finishing their last run.

Day four is rejuvenation and writing.
Day five and six are most likely coming as another grouped set of writing.

Lifestyle :: 2010 Paralympics: Day 1

It was one of those mornings when the alarm is going off and you wonder what exactly you’re getting up at 05:15 for again … first day of Paralympic competition … right.

The only hitch was being the last person on the bus, again. It hadn’t started to roll away but the 05:50 bus was soon to take off.

A quiet bus ride to Whistler Paralympic Park, some furtive glances towards the end there but too early to really interact with people.

07:03 and I’m remembering all of these times from memory, I’m impressed, we have had our assignment for the day in Event Services, as Hosts.

I’ve been given a sport card. Tomorrow it will probably be different, but this was a good start – what I wanted, and close to the action.

The first role is acquiring a radio and inform Sport 10 (I being Sport 20) that a client with special requirements (young children, wheelchair, a blown knee from yesterdays moguls) has arrived on the shuttle … and someone is to come escort them to seating in the bleachers.

Lunch around 10:45 and monitoring exits upon returns. Athletes hop out past me through the mix zone where journalists (accredited), photographers, and broadcasters all vie for interviews or photographs as the athletes finish their qualification or medal event.

The middle of the day is spent access monitoring – either you have a very intense look (Russian) look and no amount of English will stop you from barging past me, a “4” (for zone control) or yellow E as part of the accreditation indicating a member of the press.

Some understand, some are belligerent – the Host is expected to do the best they can, asking for accreditation if the two requirements are not visible to them.

The afternoon, the best part - back on the radio, escorting people from the bleachers in reverse direction – to the shuttle to take them where they needed to go.

And an afternoon with a real and memorable story – albeit brief.

Anne-Mette Bredahl (didn’t know her name at the time) was making her way towards the wax rooms and needed some assistance – the person guiding her ended up hopping on the shuttle but ended up asking if I could escort her, Norwegian cameras rolling alongside me, documenting her experience. She gently took the crook of my arm like the best of dates I’ve been with – the other hand guiding a walking stick on the pavement.

We walked cautiously to the Danish Wax Trailer. I opened the door and she instinctively went to her bag. The zipper caught so I finished the job for her and carried her bag back – she requested a pit stop – so I watched her bag as she entered the Race Center bathroom.

Squawking on the radio was Sport 30 and Sport 10 – wondering if I could escort more clients to the shuttle.

“I’m escorting an athlete – it’ll be one minute.”

We left the restroom, making our way back to the cobblestones paving the path between the Paralympic Family Lounge ( requirement = #6), I passed her gingerly off to my supervisor.

“This is a Danish skier – she’s great.”

I took off to escort the next group.

More on this one story as a piece of more of what I saw today, tomorrow. You now know as much about Event Services (and being a Host) as I do.