Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Gold, Bronze and SNOW!


Yesterday was a great day in Vancouver, the sun was shinning and it was my first trip to Whistler! I woke up at 5 AM to get ready and was in downtown at 7. Christina was going to drive me and my fellow Paralympic reporter Lorie up to watch Cross Country Skiing. The drive up to Whistler was fun, I loved seeing all the mountains covered with snow. Once we had arrived to the parking area we took a quick shuttle up to the venue. We had to walk a bit to where the race was taking place. While walking there was several demo area. You could try some of the paralympic sports and it was really fun. First I tried Alpine Skiing, it was pretty fun, it was cool to experience how the skiers to it. It was really awesome walking to the racing place because it was so beautiful. I got to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and the snow. I bet any visitor loved that because it was a great way to experience walking through a mountain.


Once we got to the venue Lorie and I decided that we want to try so more demos out. We both tried Sit Ski, an event that we were going to watch later in the day. It was really fun, I had not sense of direction and kinda crashed in to Lorie. It was fun, and I really like that they let us try. It was a great idea to give demos, this makes me learn more about the event. I really saw how hard of an event it is and it must take a lot of work to do it. Next was the hardest demo, biathlon shooting. It was soo hard, you had to shoot by sounds. I am amazed at how visually impaired shooter do it. Amaaaazing!! Then we got pictures with SUMI, the official mascot of the 2010 Paralympic Games! In about 2 mins the race was going to begin so we got ready to watch near the finish line. The first race was Men's 10 km, it was a great to see all those athletes. I was in awe when I saw them compete, they way they ski is incredible. A Japanese athlete won the race, he was not a favourite to win. It was a great surprise for the Japanese fans in the crowd. While the men were racing the women had started. The winner for that race was from Ukraine, next was the race that I was really excited to see. Men's ten kilometre visually impaired, Brian McKeever and his brother Robin. It was wonderful to see them race, I think the way they guide each other is mind blowing. Not just the McKeever brothers, but every competitor and guide. The guide is their eyes, they rely sometimes solely rely on them depending on how severe the disability. Brian won GOLD for Canada and I was glad I got to see him race. After that there was the flower ceremonies and then the Women's Sit Ski. Colette Bourgonje won bronze, she was really good. I am still mind boggled on how they ski and the power they have. It was such a magnificent day, I'm glad I got to go. We headed up to Whistler Village to check it out. It was my first time, and the place was really nice.

This was my last sporting event for the Paralympics and I have one cultural event tomorrow. I watch Cirque Eloize: Rain! I think its going to be loads of fun. It still hasn't really sunk in that this is all going to end soon. I am sad =( I'm going to write a couple more post in the next couple of days. Cirque Eloize is going to be one, I will write one about my pin collection that has grown and my overall experience of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympics Games!

1 comment:

  1. I'm looking forward to those posts, your blog is always amazing!

    ReplyDelete