Both Todd and I had received requests for the red mittens. We took some time to get settled in and watch the men's mogul qualifications. Once we knew all four men from the USA made the finals we headed to town for some shopping. The first few buses that went by us were super packed so we finally gave in and took a taxi. Downtown Vancouver reminded us of NYC it was so crowded. When we first got to the Hudson Bay store we thought we were in trouble. The line went well down the block. Once again we grabbed Todd's watch and set the timer to see how long this was going to take. Surprisingly it was about 15 minutes later we found ourselves in the store. Days like this remind me why I do not like shopping. We had all our shopping done in less than an hour though. For anyone who thought the USA hats in the Opening Ceremony were cool, they cost about $110 and the store was already sold out. Actually, when we found the USA section upstairs there wasn't a whole lot left. What was there cost anywhere from $210 to $600. I think I'll wait and see what happens after the Olympics end.
After shopping we headed to dinner. The restaurant had a great view of the downtown skyline across the water. I admit to not seeing much of it due to the Olympic coverage on the TV's around us. We got there after the mogul finals began so we missed everyone except Bryon Wilson. I've admitted before that Bryon is one of my favorites because he was one of our first rookies three summers ago and he is from Butte, MT. Tonight Bryon threw down an amazing run and was sitting in second with two more guys to go. The next guy down was from Canada and obviously the favorite of everyone around us at the restaurant. He went into first place which bumped Bryon down to 3rd. I was practically holding my breath during the last run by the French athlete. I admit I do not know how they judge freestyle but I was definitely analyzing everything in hopes that it would not be enough to push Bryon off the podium. After the results were posted Bryon had 3rd place. The focus of the Canadian channel was obviously on their athlete winning the first gold medal for the home country. But I loved the glimpses of Bryon in the background celebrating and looking so happy. My Aunt asked me the other day if Bryon had a chance of winning a medal. I said that since I am always optimistic I believed he did, but on paper maybe others wouldn't give him a chance. I'm glad that it worked out. You should never believe what is predicted by the experts and just believe in the athletes. Anything can happen on any given day!
Congratulations also goes out to Johnny Spillane. He won a silver medal for the USA in Nordic Combined today. (Another athlete the experts failed to predict would win a medal.) We had noticed in the medal count that we had picked up another silver medal. I hoped that meant that one of our boys had medaled in NC. I was thrilled to see Johnny's name cross the scrawl on the coverage tonight. He was one of the first athletes I met when I interned for our foundation at the NYC Ski Ball in 2005. I also had the opportunity to talk to him and Todd Lodwick this Fall while they were in Park City Training. Hopefully Todd and Billy Demong will have an opportunity to medal in the team event and also the NC event on the 25th.
Tomorrow we are off to our first event, Men's Snowboardcross. Fingers crossed that Nick Baumgartner, Seth Wescott (Defending Olympic Champion), Graham Watanabe and Nate Holland can have a great day and win medals! Also on the schedule is men's downhill and cross country. GO USA!
Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane (2010 Silver medalist) and Me
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