My Olympic Adventures Begin

It feels like the Olympics have always been part of my life. I cannot even be sure of my first memory relating to the games. Although I do remember going to swim lessons during the 1984 Olympics and wanting to learn how to do the butterfly. That did not last long since I was never a strong swimmer. There might have also been a brief hope of being a gymnast after watching Mary Lou Retton. Unfortunately I have the right height, but no flexibility. Growing up I played soccer and dreamed of being in the Olympics someday. That dream was dashed when I was told that Women's Soccer was not an Olympic sport. Fortunately, in 1996 I found myself in Atlanta watching the USA win the first ever gold medal in Women's Soccer. What an amazing experience!

My dad took our family to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. We went to soccer, basketball, track, gymnastics, team handball and more. By the time we left Atlanta I knew that I wanted to go to Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympics in 2002. I cannot begin to fully explain the difference between the summer and the winter, but there is a difference. The best I can do is tell you that the winter is smaller and has a better spirit to it. Everyone wants their athlete to win, but they are still cheering for all the other athletes. After watching skiing, hockey and luge I was ready to start planning my trip to Torino for the 2006 Olympics. In Italy I expanded my reach and attended Curling, Ice dancing, Bobsled and of course some different alpine events. We were fortunate to be there when Ted Ligety won his Super Combined gold medal. Everyone there who did not follow skiing outside of the Olympics were disappointed when Bode was disqualified. I knew though that Ted had some great results that year and was sure he would end up on the podium. How great to see him win the gold. There was no question that I would be trying to find a way to Vancouver in 2010. The real question was whether I would find a job that would send me or would I be taking myself again.

The answer turned out to be that I would take myself, my friends and my mom. This February I will be in Vancouver to see Men's Snowboardcross, Women's Snowboardcross, Cross Country Sprints, Curling, Women's SuperG, Women's Hockey (play-off), Men's Skicross, Women's Bobsled, Women's Aerials (finals) and Men's Aerials (finals). I originally had Women's GS and Nordic Combined. Unfortunately VANOC did not organize the transportation so that we could attend an event in Whistler in the morning and an event in Cypress in the evening. So I had to choose, which was probably the hardest thing I've done in preparing for this trip. Regardless, I am excited to head up to Vancouver and cheer on all the American athletes!

The thing that makes this Olympics different from the past is the fact that I work with many of the athletes that I will be cheering for. So even on days that I might not be attending a ski or snowboarding event I will be anxiously waiting for the results for my athletes. I hope that you will follow my adventures in Vancouver and the excitement of watching the success of our American athletes!