This is why you come to the Olympics, for those experiences you just cannot get sat at home watching on TV.
Queuing, even queuing for two hours, to handle a set of Olympic medals, wow, what an experience. Majestically sculptured in three dimensions, every medal is uniquely engraved with a portion of a larger First Nation motif. So heavy, so bright, so tactile, the wave form and polished surface so rich in-hand, it’s a special Olympic moment.
Olympic moment number two occurred in the surreal surroundings of the no.135 bus. Travelling on a typical city transit, bus Olympic commuters were treated to a Figure Skating Master Class from Elvis Stojko. Elvis who? Three time world figure skating champion, two times Olympic silver medallist, seven times Canadian national champion and the first skater to land quad-double and quad-triple jump combinations. Just taking the bus like the rest of us from Downtown to the Pacific Coliseum rink, Elvis signed autographs and took questions for the entire journey. What a great a guy, Elvis made a real difference to my appreciation of the Men’s figure skating competition that evening.
There are some sports you think: “I could do that.” Speed skating for example; skate around the rink a few times, dodge a few people – I used to do that on the local rink. Other sports leave you thinking: “How on earth do they do that?” Take figure skating, how on earth do you do a triple axel followed by a triple combination? Armed with Elvis’ shared wisdom and the excellent commentary from Axel Radio in one ear, calling the moves without the hyperbole, the Men’s Figure Skating short program came to life. The top five really stood out with their precisely executed jumps, spins and footwork. You didn’t need to be an expert to appreciate their skill, but I wouldn’t have missed that bus ride with Elvis Stojko for anything. Let’s Go Canada Go.
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