By general reckoning last night’s Opening Ceremony was a major success, so today it was a trip to Canada Square down on the waterfront to view the Olympic Flame. Well, that was a disappointment. The reason for the Ute yesterday was that the Square is a construction site and all good tradies drive a Ute. The flame sculpture with its four acute angled “icicles” reaching for the sky is impressive in it simplicity and inspiration. Shame then that what should be a majestic monument to the men and women staging and partaking in these Games is cut-off from the populace by a wire-fenced compound littered with scissor lifts. From a tradesman still working away I learnt that construction was only finished at 4.30pm yesterday and would remain fenced off due to security concerns linked to the adjacent International Broadcast Centre. Canada Square still looked a little unfinished and the security threat slight. Let’s Go Canada Go; open Canada Square.
Not too many Winter Olympic sports pitch competitor directly against competitor rather than against the clock or judge’s eye. Out at the Pacific Coliseum short-course speed skating is athlete against athlete, first across the line wins. If getting to the Coliseum was a relatively easy, if unguided, trip on the local bus network getting back almost dissolved into farce. For whatever reason the volunteer workforce seemed to be confined to the venue, no one was on hand to point us the way from bus stop to venue. Even worse, coming back, several hundred spectators were left to stand on the soggy roadside hoping for the no.10 or no.135 bus to take them back to downtown. With the postponement of a number of Alpine competitions, there will be a doubling-up of numbers heading to Whistler and the transport chiefs and volunteer organisers will need to get busy. The event itself was exciting despite an inaudible PA and only a token gesture at audience engagement. Let’s Go Canada Go - loosen-up; your organisation’s almost there.
On show this evening: heats for the women’s 500m and 3000m relay topped by the entire men’s 1500m competition. Short-course skating is as much about agility as speed, staying out of trouble and grabbing the smallest gap to sneak inside a rival. As the stadium big screen continually reminds us, a wipe out is only ever moments away and gave Australian Steven Bradbury the 1000m title 8-years ago. With the local boy relegated to the ‘B’ final legendary American skater Apolo Anton Ohno became the crown favourite. The final started slowly; perhaps memories of 2006 ensured a cautious approach. In a flash with 2-laps to go the Korean Lee Jung-Su accelerated through the smallest of inside gaps and was away to gold. In Lee’s wake two compatriots went a little too hard and came to grief gifting second to Apollo. Suddenly the crowd was all Americans from across the border and a bit jingoistic in its acknowledgement of the gold medallist. Let’s Go Canada, Go; it’s your Games.
After the first day of major competition the Games are on a knife edge: ski, skate, sledge, success or bust for athlete and visitor alike. There was no gold for Canada today, a major disappointment well covered by the locals. Canada has never won an Olympic Gold on home territory despite staging both the Winter and Summer Games previously (and not counting Ben Johnson). It may well take the breaking of this drought to put the ghost of Johnson to bed and the “Go” into “Let’s Go Canada Go”.
A correction from yesterday, “Strong and Free” is an organisation promoting a patriotic Canada.
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