Waking up at 2:30AM is not a fun thing. However I dragged myself out of bed and was on the road a little after 3:00. Met up with my co-volunteer Jay in Coquitlam and was handed a hot Tim Horton`s coffee which made things bearable. Everyone was a little tired when we arrived on the hill and were on the course at 5:30. The chop was okay and we were ready to go well in advance of the women jumpers arriving on the hill at 9:00 for some practice runs. Got a quick briefing on the requirements for being involved in the live broadcast. The main message was stay out of the shot - they want to see the athletes, not a bunch of volunteers standing on the sidelines with shovels.
That said, I got assigned to be at the top of the course where the athletes would enter. This area is a few hundred feet above where the jumps are and was a great vantage point to see the jumpers and the thousands of spectators at the venue. Today was the first day that I got a real feeling of being at the Olympics with the broadcast crews everywhere and hearing the roar of the crowd from the top of the course. I also got to see the women, some of them are still
teenagers, getting themselves psyched up for their runs. Each women had two runs to qualify and only the top 12 would advance to the finals. The Canadian skier, Veronika Bauer had a strong first jump and stood in third place after the first round but unfortunately had a rough landing on her second jump and ended up outside the top 12. The crowd was behind her 100% and you knew when she was on the hill by the huge ovation she got. The weather was perfect and the course held up well and all in all it was a great day. Tomorrow is a day off and I got a surprise message that Emily is coming down for the day with her mom Sunday which is a day off for me. I`ll meet them downtown and will get the chance to share the Olympic experience with my daughter which is awesome. Sounds like a lot of photo ops will be in store!
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