English:

It's sad to believe that the Olympic Games are coming to an end... It seems like they just started! But nothing lasts forever and all good things must come to an end. Hopefully the legacy that these Games have left on our city will not be forgotten and will continue to draw many people to our beautiful city by the sea.

And let's not forget the Paralympic Games that will be coming up in March, after the Olympic Games are over. True, a lot less people will be going to those Games and the media coverage won't be anywhere near what took place during these Games, but that doesn't mean that the Paralympic Games are any less important. Yes, there will be less cultural events taking place during those Games, but that will put more focus on the actual performances. I'm always awed by what humans can do despite their difficulties. The Paralympic Games will give me a chance to meet some truly inspiring people.

But the Olympic Games aren't over yet! There are still three whole days left, which promise to be as exciting as all of the previous two weeks combined. I'd like to seem them beat that... But we'll see, we'll see...

Today, we got the opportunity to meet John Furlong, the chief executive officer of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. It was pretty cool, because this is the man behind the Games. He literally made them happen. We got to talk to him, take some pictures, that kind of thing. He was really friendly. One thing he told us, however, was that as soon as the Games are over, he's leaving for a long rest! Understandable, considering how much work goes into these Games. I've just been blogging about them and I'm still exhausted!

-John Furlong













Français:

C’est difficile à croire que les Jeux Olympiques vont bientôt finir. Ils ont juste commencé, n’est-ce pas? Mais rien ne dure pour toujours et tout doit terminer à un certain point… J’espère seulement les histoires qui ont été faites par ces Jeux ne seront pas oubliés et continueront à attirer des touristes a cette ville fantastique.

N’oublions pas les Jeux Paralympiques qui vont se passer en mars, après les Jeux Olympiques. C’est vrai que beaucoup moins de personnes viendront voir les Jeux Paralympiques et il n’y aura pas autant de media qu’aux Jeux Olympiques… Cependant, ceci ne veut pas dire que les J.P. sont moins importants que les J.O.! Oui, il y aura moins d’événements cultures pendant ces Jeux, mais comme ça notre attention sera attirée vers les événements sportifs. Ça m’étonne toujours de voir ce que les athlètes peuvent faire, malgré leurs handicaps. Les Jeux Paralympiques me donneront une chance de rencontrer des gens réellement incroyables!

Mais les Jeux Olympiques ne sont pas encore terminées! Il y reste encore trois jours et ils promettent que ces trois jours seront plus excitants que tout le reste des Jeux Olympiques. Ça, je le croirai quand je le verrai… Mais on va voir, on va voir.

Aujourd’hui, on a eu l’occasion de rencontrer John Furlong, l’officier exécutif des Jeux Olympiques de 2010. C’est assez cool, parce que John est la personne derrière les Jeux. Il a tout fait pour que les Jeux se soient bien passés. Nous avons parlé avec lui, pris des photos de lui, ce genre de choses. Il était assez amical. Une chose qu’il nous a dit, c’était qu’après la fin des Jeux, il ira quelques pars loin d’ici, prendre une longue période de vacances. Je peux le comprendre, considérant le montant de travail qui est nécessaire pour organiser les Jeux Olympiques. Tout ce que je faisais, c’est écrire des Blogs et je suis quand même crevée!

Five Olympic Stories You Probably Haven't Heard About

We all know the scores and we all know who's leading in the latest hockey game (we are!). But what about all those little stories that do not make the front page of the Vancouver Sun, but are just as (if not more) interesting. So here are some of those stories that make the Olympic Games be about so much than just sports.

5. Oprah Winfrey saw the infamous red mittens on TV and mentioned how much she liked them to a journalist. The Hudson's Bay Company then sent her three hundred pairs, which she distributed to her audience. The mittens are going global!















4. The Russian House had a major party yesterday, celebrating the fact that the next Olympic Games will be in Sochi, Russia. I had the opportunity to be there last night, because my family was invited. Prime Minister of BC Gordon Campbell and the current mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, were both there, talking about the Games on stage. A couple of Russian athletes that recently won gold medals (Nikita Krukov, for example) were also spotted, dancing to the music. It was quite a party!












3. As was expected, during the duration of the Games, a bunch of protesters were arrested by the Vancouver Police. Notably, a group of people wearing masks and hoodies had a little run-in with the police when they were caught smashing windows in the Bay and spray-painting cars. Now, I might not know anything there is to know about protests, but I believe that a protest has to show something. And what does breaking a window do to anyone? Nothing, really. But anyways, public protests weren't that big a problem during the Games. They expected worse.













2. Joannie Rochette, a figure skater from Montreal, performed her routine beautifully, going on to win third place. What's truly remarkable, though, is that she performed so beautifully less than forty-eight hours after her mother's, Thérèse Rochette's, death. I am amazed at her strength and perseverance and I admire her like I admire very few people in this world. Way to go, Joannie!











1. The Richmond Oval has also experienced some problems... The zambonis kept on breaking down. On numerous occasions the athletes were at the Oval, ready to compete, but the ice wasn't ready, because the zamboni experienced a breakdown and wasn't able to resurface the ice properly. Now that's a pickle no one counted on! Luckily, emergency zambonis were quickly driven in from Calgary and the athletes were able to compete without delay. Whew!

Athletes In the Spotlight

Petra Majdič:

Talk about sportsmanship... Petra Majdič, a thirty year old Slovenian cross country skier, really showed the true spirit of perseverance and what the Games are all about. While she was warming up for her event, the 1.4 kilometer classic sprint, Majdič skied off course and into a gulley. She then crashed on the rocks, breaking four ribs, both ski poles and one ski tip. Majdič was then taken to the hospital for x-rays. Nonetheless, she decided to return and compete. She went on to do the event despite the pain and even won bronze, becoming the first individual to win a medal for Slovenia in the last sixteen years. Afterwards, Majdič was taken to the hospital for treatment and rest. She still attended the victory ceremonies, however and at a press conference afterwards said that "Today, this is not a bronze. This is a gold with little diamonds on it". She couldn't have been more right.


Sidney Crosby:

But was that really that much of a surprise? His saving the Canada vs. Switzerland game was just a small taste of what he's capable of. Sid the Kid, for all of his twenty-two years, has talent that many professional hockey players only dream of acquiring later in life. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one that carried Canada to the gold medal hockey game. AND he's cute. We love you, Sid!

P.S. I know that this picture isn't exactly related to these Olympic Games, but I couldn't resist. Crosby vs. Ovechkin, anyone?

Brian McKeever:

Brian McKeever is truly extraordinary because he became the first Canadian athlete ever to compete in both the Paralympic and the Olympic Games. Brian was diagnosed with Stargaard's disease, a degenerative eye condition that makes someone lose most of their vision, to the point of becoming legally blind. Nonethless, Brian continued doing what he loves best, that is skiing and competing in many competitions for the disabled. And now he even qualified to compete against able-bodied athletes! That kind of talent and perseverance is an inspiration to us all. Brian will be competing on the last day of the Olympic Games and we will be watching!

The Games... The News...

My Personal Compilation of the 10 Best Olympic Moments... So Far:

10. The Canadian women's hockey team winning the game against Slovakia, 18-0. Scores like that exist in hockey?

9. Shane Koyczan presenting "We Are More" at the Opening Ceremony. We are more than a laundry list of things to see. Despite hearing this poem several times before the Olympic Games, it still made me shed a happy tear when I heard it last Friday.

8. The Nelly Furtado concert at the very first Victory Ceremony. I'm like a bird. We're all like birds, really.

7. Sidney Crosby's goal in the shoot-out last night. What turned out to be a pretty nerve-wrecking game was finally won by Canada's own star, Sid the Kid.

6. The Norwegian curling pants. Just look. No further comments.





















5. Seeing Betty Fox, the mother of Terry Fox, carry the flag. Terry Fox, despite dying young, did not die in vain. His legacy remains. And that's what truly important.

4. Both Maelle Ricker and Christine Nesbitt winning gold medals at the Games. I mean, they played the video of Nesbitt winning at our school. They didn't even do that when Obama was getting inaugurated.

3. The seven hour line to try out the zipline. That goes to show that the world is full of crazy people.

2. The Torch Relay. I went to the one in Richmond, but I'm sure they were just as good in all the other towns. Free Coca-Cola, after all, is hard to refuse.

1. Alexandre Bilodeau becoming the first Canadian athlete to win a gold medal on home soil. The win caused quite a reaction. But that isn't why I put his win at number one. If you watch him running to his older brother a few moments after winning, you will shed a tear.

Les nouvelles...

Qu’est-ce qu’il y a de nouveau qui se passe dans notre ville ? Plein de choses. Par exemple, une patineuse de vitesse canadienne a gagné une médaille d’or. Ça, c’est excitant. Hier soir, des milliers des personnes sont allés dans les rues (ceux, qui sont fermées pour les voitures) de Vancouver pour célébrer cette réussite. C’était fou. Il y avait des gens qui hurlaient, qui criaient, qui bousculaient. Cependant, l’atmosphère était assez bonne !!! Les gens étaient fiers de nos athlètes canadiens.
Quant aux médailles d’or, au moment le Canada est en quatrième place. Précède par les Etats-Unis, l’Allemagne et le Norvège, c’est un bon départ. Qu’est-ce qui va se passer lorsque les Jeux Olympiques progresseront ? On va voir…

Christine Nesbitt, la deuxième femme canadienne qui a gagné une médaille d’or dans ces Jeux Olympiques.



Hier, l’américain Evan Lysacek a gagné le championnat de patinage olympique d’hommes. Il a bien performé, gagnant la compétition avec juste un demi-point de moins que le médailliste d’argent, Evgeni Plushenko. Ce qui est intéressant c’est que c’est la première fois depuis 1992 (l’an de mon naissance!), que ce n’est pas un russe qui gagne cette compétition. Eh bien, les temps changent.

Evan Lysacek et son coach, Frank Carroll

Men's Hockey

Olympic News (Or the Stories Behind the Stories):

Canada beat Norway at men's hockey... though that's not surprise. You probably all know that we won 8-0, according to the news. It's when the score's this uneven that you know that it wasn't a fair match. Canada's team is obviously a lot better than Norway's, so this was almost like a warmup practice for them. I'm probably going to get bashed for saying this, but I think that our boys should have let the Norwegians score just once, for the sake of being nice. Stroke their egos or something. After all, it's not like there's any doubt about which team's better. Now when Canada and Russia play against each other, that will be a nail-biting game. Oh well, at least it wasn't as crazy as the women's game against Slovakia: 18-0. Granted, I'm no hockey expert, but I didn't even know scores like that existed in hockey.

Canada won gold for the second time during the games. Yay! Congratulations go out to Maëlle Ricker, a West Van native, who won her first Olympic gold medal for the snowboard cross.I'm sure we are all very proud of her and wish her all the best. One interesting fact you probably didn't know about Ricker is that Brother Jorli was member of the Canadian snowboard team in the early 1990s. So it runs in the family...

More updates to come!

The Games

I'm back! Sorry it took so long to make my first official post after the start of the Games, but I was out and about doing stuff for most (no, all of the weekend). On Saturday I hung around downtown and- OH MY GOD. Vancouver has NEVER looked like this before! It used to be this quiet city that tourists liked because of its peacefulness. Well now there are literally hordes of people moving about everywhere! "It," in the words of a person I talked to on Robson street, "looks just like New York." Is that good? Well, depends on what you like, of course. But I, for one, love New York. It's my second home.

So, if you were a tourist in Vancouver at this time, what would you do? Does flying over Robson Square on a zipline sound like fun? Well, you can do just that IF you're willing to wait SEVEN hours in line! Seven freaking hours! I was all excited about trying out the zipline until I found out about the wait. You'd have to be crazy to waste a day just to spend thirty seconds flying over the square! Then again, the fact that there even IS a seven hour wait speaks for itself. Has everybody gone crazy?

Another fun thing that you can do in the city is check out all of the free concerts. Just today, I was in Granville Island listening to a free Garou Concert. Garou is a Quebecois singer with this amazing bass voice. Sponsored by Air Canada, he gave a free concert. It was a great concert, regardless of the fact that it started to rain halfway through. And guess who was amid the crowd, singing along and waving his arms in the air just like everyone else? Jean Chretien, former Prime Minister of Canada. I managed to sneak a few pictures of him, while he was being interviewed. :) And then I got interviewed myself. What happened is this- when the concert was over everyone started dispersing rapidly, because of the rain. We, however, stayed behind to buy a hot dog. All of a sudden a woman is running up to me, asking "Parlez-vous francais?" So I said yes and she asked if it would be alright if she asked me a couple of questions for a CTV news special that she was working on. So she recorded me teling her tape recorded what I thought of the concert. Cool, cool. I've never really been interviewed before.

And then of course there are the non-free concerts, like the Victory Ceremonies. But the cost is relatively cheap($20-$50). I went to the Nelly Furtado one with my colleagues from Students Live. I would definitely recommend going- you get to watch the athletes get their medals AND listen to some great music. Only thing is, you'll be out of your seats many a time, because the national anthem of the country of the person that won a gold medal will be played each time the winners are announced. :)

OLYMPIC NEWS:

Protesters have been going at it, breaking windows and splashing paint all over the sidewalk on Granville Street near the Bay. In fact, a twenty-four hour glass repair company has been hired to be there at all times, fixing whatever the protesters decide to break.

Tickets to the Gold Medal Hockey Game currently cost $3,500. Prices are expected to rise. That's more than a ticket to the opening ceremonies. That's enough for a freaking car. A pretty crappy car, I'll give you that, but still. What kind of audience are they trying to sell those tickets to? Because from what I know, an average person does not have three thousand dollars to spare.

Canada won its first ever gold medal on native soil. Alexandre Bilodeau, the Montreal native, managed to get first place, beating out all of the other competitors.