Lindsey wins Bronze!

Today was our one and only Alpine event for this Olympics. I am really glad that our head coach, Jim Tracy, gave me a hard time when I only had GS tickets. He wanted to know why I didn't have speed. So I went and added Super G to my list. (Later we had to sell off the GS, so I'm glad we had one of the women's alpine events. Watch the USA get some medals though in GS now that I'm not going.) It was another gorgeous day in Whistler. To get up to the event you had an option to hike up or take the chair lift. Since Jen was already sounding bad (she has asthma) we opted for the chair lift. This was her first time ever on one. I think the idea was a bit nerve wracking at first but she ended up loving it. (We had to take it down too since it was like a fun ride for her.) We got up there early and found the best place we could in the standing area. We were not early enough to be on the fence so we made due in the middle. I think every tall person at one point or another tried to stand in front of me. Somehow I lucked out though and ended up being able to see most of the area. I was a bit worried that the "Vonncouver" sign was going to be a problem. But that group kept it down during the runs. I ran into Ernie and Troy (coworkers) before the race started but they looked serious so we didn't talk long. Ernie was surprised to see me there since he didn't think I would be able to make it. Little did he know that telling me that work won't take me doesn't actually prevent me from coming as a fan!

Julia Mancuso was the first athlete down the course. So of course we got to celebrate having her in 1st place. The course looked rough watching her come down. But it turned out to be worse for the athletes after her. She held on to that first position for quite awhile.

I really hope that first picture is Julia!

We had to wait until racer 17 to see Lindsey ski. In the meantime her best friend Maria Reisch from the German team came down and took the 1st place position. Then Elizabeth Goergl took it from Maria. Then Lindsey came down and took over first position! It was awesome to see her run. There had been so many scary crashes and racers skiing out between Julia and Lindsey (or even Maria's run) that you started to wonder if anyone was going to make it down quickly and safely. Lindsey had a great run but it didn't hold for too long. Eventually Andrea Fishbacher from Austria would get first and Tina Maze from Slovenia took silver. Still, we got to see Lindsey win a bronze medal. (In 2002 I got to see Bode win a silver in GS and in 2006 I got to see Ted win a gold in Super Combined. Already this year I have seen Seth win gold in SBX and Lindsey win bronze in SG. Hope to see more next week!)

Hopefully this one is Lindsey.

We had two other racers coming down for the USA. Leanne Smith was coming down 23rd and then Chelsea Marshall was coming down 27th. Leanne was one of the first rookies I got to meet in 2007. I was really excited to be there cheering for her today. She had a great run and tied for 18th at the end of the day. Unfortunately, Chelsea was one of the racers that was unable to finish the run. She had a crazy fall to watch. It looked like she was going to be ok though. Hopefully she will be back up and kicking butt tomorrow!

Leanne Smith's run.

Lindsey at the flower ceremony.

After the race we stuck around to see the flower ceremony. I was surprised when they announced that my boss, Bill, was going to be the one presenting the flowers to the athletes. I managed to finally work my way up close enough to the fence to take a picture of Lindsey when they walked back out with their skis and flags. Then I saw the coaches headed for the exit to the corral and headed that direction so I could say hi. I was especially happy to see Jim, Sarah and Lesli. It is always great to see Lesli since she lives in Australia now. I think the last time I saw her was last spring. Before we left we saw Lindsey come over and sign some flags/helmets/jackets, etc for some of the kids. We had the opportunity to congratulate her which was great. It has been such a great week for Alpine. I hope the results keep pouring in.

Jim and Me

Sarah, Lesli & Me

Love the sign (when it isn't blocking my view).

We got back to Vancouver early enough that we could run home and drop off layers before catching the bus to the hockey game this evening. We had a play off game between Russia and Slovakia in women's hockey. The arena was inundated with Canadian fans who did not seem to care that their team was not playing. They were still wearing their jerseys and carrying their flags. But they seemed to have a great time cheering on the two teams that were playing. The Russian team ended up winning 4-2 but the Slovakia team made it interesting. When you thought it might be a blow out they would come back and score. Their goalie had some unreal saves. It was a lot of fun. Of course what the fans in the stands were talking about was the USA v Canada men's game tomorrow. Should be interesting.

Tomorrow is a day off since our SX tickets were canceled. We are going sight seeing with a native of the area. Hoping we get to see Stanley Park. And of course we will have to find time to catch the men's Super Combined and the hockey game. Go USA!