Day 25: And that's a Wrap Folks

A sad day throughout the park today. The last day of the Olympics. It was sad but also really exciting for us Canadians who still had a gold medal hockey game to watch. Followed by the real end, closing ceremonies.

Mikaela was working at the MPC in the morning for the Canadian Olympic Committee's closing press conference. A time for everyone to reflect on how we did as a country and get a chance to ask the president and the chefs any questions they may have. It is also where the closing ceremonies flag bearer is announced. Mikaela was pretty fortunate to find out who it was going to be ahead of time when they came into the office to hide until asked to come out. For those who missed it the flag bearers were Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, repeat gold medalists in bobsled.

The rest of the day was take down which made everything sadder. But on a happy note Mikaela was given a ticket to closing ceremonies as a thank you for all the hard work this month.

Mikaela went to COH to watch the hockey game along with Doug, Stacey and Lisa and the rest of the volunteers and families. We weren't able to get tickets but to watch it there was the next best thing. It was a great game and made us come together once again as a nation. Women's and men's hockey but managed to defend their title of Olympic champion and make the entire country proud. There were many Canadians getting up early to watch the game and it was a great final event to end everything off with.

Next was off to closing ceremonies. It was a great show and really well done. The Russians have worked hard this month to bring everything together and the closing ceremonies were a true indication of that.  Being in the stadium was incredible and had a real feel of unity. We were all proud when the Canadians came out jumping around and having fun. Now able to relax with competition being over.  When the flame went out at the end of the night it was a sad feeling to know it was over and an even weirder feeling to know that it won't be lit again for the Olympics. Fireworks went off and it was the official end.

An amazing month full of memories, fun times and great new friends. An experience of a last time that none of us will ever forget.  Now it's a couple days to sleep and shop before our flight home. Some much needed down time.

Day 24: Thank-you Volunteers

Happy Birthday to Stacey!!!!

Second last day of the games and things are starting to wrap up.  All four of us went to Canada Olympic House for a volunteer thank you lunch.  It was a great event to see everyone together (since we usually all work different shifts and Mikaela isn't even based out of COH anymore) and of course eat some good food.  Marcel Aubut, the president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, made a speech to all the volunteers and thanked us for all of our hard work and long hours.  We were the ones who ran the house and without the volunteers it wouldn't have been possible to have a place for athletes and their families to relax and hang out.  We were also all given a scarf and a pair of mitts as a thank you.  And we got a picture from our first day orientation.  It was a picture of all the volunteers with took along with Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue.  The best part about the pictures we got is that they were all signed.  For Scott and Tessa to take the time to sign all of the pictures to thank the volunteers proved that our work didn't go unnoticed, and even though we had some long days it was all worth it in the end.

From the volunteer lunch we all headed over to the IBC/MPC for a tour.  Mikaela was able to get guest day passes for Doug, Lisa and Stacey so they all went over to take a look around.  We all thought it was impressive to walk through the MPC with all the yellow cubicle offices of all the major newspapers across the world.  We then went into the press workroom where all the journalists who do not have offices work.  These would be a lot of the ones reporting back to Canada (The Toronto Star, CTV, TSN, Waterloo Record).  After our walk through the MPC we went to tour the CBC studios.  None of us realized how much work it took behind the scenes to run what we see on TV.  There are so many employees and so much buzz with everyone running around getting things finished.  There are so many TVs and cables running every which way to get connections complete.  After we walked through the main work room and saw the radio stations and makeup room we headed to the main studios.  Everyone got to see where the "stars" are on the air every day.  Once again, pretty cool to see the behind the scenes to what everyone is watching back at home.  We hit CBC at an off time and there were no athletes walking around but it was pretty cool regardless.  After CBC it was down to the relaxation room for some time in the massage chairs.

When Doug, Stacey and Lisa left Mikaela went back to work at CBC.  The men's curling team were coming into interview and they were all just there to have fun.  I guess it's easy to relax after you win a gold medal and finally have some fun with competition being over and that's what they were doing.  With it being the last night before closing ceremonies and the last night to do major prime time interviews, there was a large lineup for the night to come.  Mikaela decided to take one for the team and stay as late as possible to help everyone out in the studio.  Radio Canada was doing a big wrap up show and bringing in many of the francophone athletes to interview.  Skiers, speed skaters, snowboarders and hockey players all came through the studios to take part in their interviews.  When all was said and done it was about 2 am when the time came to call it a day and pack up.  It was great to be there the whole time and experience first hand what it's like to work in broadcast, but it is something you would need to mentally prepare for ahead of time to be able to do it every day. 

Tomorrow is closing ceremonies and our last day in the park.  No one is quite sure what will happen after the games are done and if we will still be allowed into the park so for now we are soaking everything up as best we can. 

Day 23: Men's Turn Today

Well today it was the men's turn to win some medals (and of course there were still some ladies in the mix).  It started off with the ladies who won gold and silver in the Women's ski cross.  For anyone who has seen that sport or who watched it, you know in intense and nuts it is.  But also soo soo cool.  If becoming a skeletor doesn't work out, maybe the switch can be made to ski cross.  The evening was filled with success for the Canadian male athletes.  It started with the men's curling team who matched th women and won gold.  It was a pretty big blowout for the team but after the tournament they had, they are more than deserving of the gold medal.  Later in the evening, Charle Cournoyer won bronze in the men's 500m short track race.  After the last couple of days in the short track world, it was great to see the tables turn and see Canada on the podium once again.  And...(as if there even needs to be more) the men's hockey team won their semi-final game over the USA 1-0 to move into the gold medal game. 

For the four of us, our sucesses weren't as big but it was a good day regardless.  Mikaela worked the morning at the MPC and had an awesome day including a press conference with the women's hockey team.  There was a great buzz around the office and all of the MPC with the big win over the Americans and match up number two about to take place.  Our American friends from down the hall all dropped by to congratulate us and also tell us it was going to change in the men's game (guess their fortune tellers were wrong again).  The women were all sporting their gold medals and it was great to meet them all in person and get to spend a little bit of time with them.  From the MPC was work at CBC and now taking the women to their CBC interviews.  One of the interviews too place in the lobby and everyone kept stopping by to take pictures of the girls in their medals.  They did all the major interviews and were proud to show off their medals.  Some of the girls even wrote a good luck note to the men's team so that they beat the Americans.  There is never any down time at the CBC studios, so right after the hockey team left the ski cross medalists came by to do the interview circuit as well.  Marielle and Kelsey did radio, news and both French and English studio visits.  A lot to cram into an hour, but  that's how the business works.  Which is one of the neat parts about it. 

Doug, Lisa and Stacey were at Canada house and still hanging out with all the athletes and their families when they come in.  Now that competition is over, the curlers and figure skaters frequent the COH and are familiar faces near the bar.  When their shifts were over, the three of them tried to score some tickets to the semi final game but were unsuccessful.  So hanging out at Canada House to watch the game is the nest best thing.

There are only two more days left of the games and we are all starting to get a little sad while thinking about leaving the games.  Ready to go home and sleep in our real beds but nothing will compare to being at the games!

Day 21: Canada Strikes Gold...Again!

Never a dull moment for us here in Sochi.  Yesterday Mikaela was able to meet Scott and Tessa while holding their press conference in the MPC.  They were super friendly and down to earth and Mikaela even got a picture.  After work it was over to CBC where Mikaela brought around the women's silver medalist speed skating team for their interviews.  Such an intense dynamic that group has and Marianne St-Gelais is a huge riot, the life of the party.

Doug was also able to get his hands on a ticket to watch some skiing in the mountains.  It was a miserably rainy day, but Doug was a trooper and beat the rain.  Although when he did show up it did look as though he had seen better days (and since he is "accident prone Doug", he also hit his head on the stairs leading up to our apartment and had a goose egg).

Today was also very exciting.  Mikaela and Stacey worked the morning and it was pretty quiet shifts for both of them.  There was a press conference in the MPC for Mike Riddle who was the halfpipe skier who won silver the night before.  After work Stacey and Mikaela headed up to the mountains one last time to watch the finals of the women's bobsled.  Bobsled takes place on the same track as the skeleton, so it is also difficult to watch.  We placed ourselves in front of a huge screen and saw the bobsledders whip on by.  We were obviously cheering like crazy with our Canadian capes and swag.  The final round was unreal  The Canadian team was in second place after the first three runs and went second last.  They were only .11 seconds behind the Americans going into that round and had a great final run.  The Americans were last to go and we all held our breaths for the first half of their run.  But then they started to lose time and fall behind the Canadians and it was cheers all around for the Canadians.  The Americans lost .21 seconds and ended .10 behind the Canadians.  It is a sport where equipment plays an enormous role and where every milisecond counts.  It was the second gold medal win for Canada that Stacey and Mikaela were together to witness live and it was just as exciting and memorable as the first.  We are always proud to be Canadian but in that moment it meant even more.  We were proud to wear our Canadian capes out of the track and stop to take pictures with all of the Russian fans.  And as happy as we are to win all the time, it does make it a little nicer when we beat our friends to the south (Sorry guys, but I know you feel the same way about your Northern friends).

Bobsled wasn't the only excitement of the night.  The men's hockey quarterfinal game against Latvia was also on and Lisa and Doug were in attendance.  Doug bought his ticket for the game before we left Canada and Lisa was the chosen one again and got a free ticket to the game (Doug likes to remind us all that he actually paid to go, unlike some people...).  They both had a great time at the game and it was a close one for sure.  Probably a little too close for comfort though.  Being in the Bolshoy arena felt like a home game for Canada.  There were so many Candians in the stands and the Russian fans also enjoy cheering to Canada.  After the bobsled, Mikaela and Stacey stopped by the mountain Canada house and watched the third period.  Thank goodness we pulled that win out!

It was a successful day all around and one that made us very proud to be Canadian! 

Day 19: Tessa and Scott... Need I say more?

Today was a quiet day during the day but it wasn't at night.  Mikaela was in the MPC during the day and since all of the press conferences for Jan and Dominique were the day before, it was a pretty relaxed day around the office.  This was also due to the fact that snowboard cross was cancelled and other events postponed during the day.  Stacey was at COH during the day and Doug was recovering after a fun time the night before. 

After work, Mikaela once again headed over to CBC to help input all of the athletes who could potentially medal and come through for interviews for the following day.  They all require guest passes to the IBC and someone has to put them all in, by 6pm.  Let the time crunch begin!  After being at CBC, Mikaela and one of the other volunteers at the MPC headed back over to figure skating for the free ice dance program.  Once again on media tickets and once again getting all the way through.  And with better seats than the night before.  We were right in the lower bowl on the rail and had a great view of all of the skaters.  It was out of this world.  The skaters were even better than the night before especially the Canadian pairs.  And when Scott and Tessa came out, the entire arena was in awe.  We didn't breathe for four minutes watching them skate.  And they did so well.  They without a doubt make Canada so proud.  All of the top three teams did very well, the Russia pair was outstanding and the crowd loved it.  At the end of the night it was great to see Tessa and Scott win the silver.  It wasn't gold but it made every Canadian in the arena and back home proud.

Lisa was also fortunate enough to go to an event.  She was working the evening shift at COH but it was pretty tired and one of the Americans from next door came over and dropped off 30 free tickets to the women's hockey quarter final.  So Lisa and a bunch of the other volunteers headed over to the arena to cheer Canada on.  And the women won as well.  They beat the Swiss 3-1 to move into the semi-finals.  It was a successful day for everyone and a great way to end it all off.  Only 6 more days until the Olympics are over, crazy how time flies.  But it's not over yet and the last few days are going to be the busiest and most exciting for us!

Day 18: Who said it was all work and no play?

Today was an incredible day for Canada and the four of us.  Canada won its first medal in alpine skiing in twenty years with the bronze medal performance by Jan Hudec, an impressive accomplishment to say the least.  And a couple hours later we won silver in women's snowboard cross with an amazing final race by Dominique Maltais. 

Winning medals wasn't the only exciting part of our day.  Lisa, Doug and Stacey all worked the morning at the COH and were then lucky enough to go to the Men's hockey Canada vs. Finland game.  Doug and Stacey already had tickets and Lisa was able to get an extra on from the COH.  They represented Canada well while being all decked out in Canadian gear and sporting many Canadian flags.  The game was a close one, with Canada coming out on top in overtime.

Mikaela was working at the MPC in the morning followed by a couple hours at CBC in the evening.  While at the MPC, there was a press conference held for Denny Morrison and Gilmore Junio.  Denny won his second silver medal and was coming by to share in his excitement.  After attending the press conference and hanging out with both Denny and Gilmore after, it is clear how close the two of them are and how Gilmore's kind act was just a true indication of their friendship.  They even have a signature handshake they call the "Gilmorrison" which includes a high five followed by a fist pump.  They are also super funny and down to earth.  Mikaela was even able to hold the silver medal which is much heavier than anticipated.  Denny said, "Now you know how hard it is to be an athlete.  Do you know how sore my neck gets wearing that thing all day?!?!". 

After being at the MPC, Mikaela was fortunate enough to score a ticket to the short ice dance figure skating program.  The MPC always has extra tickets to events but the catch is you have to have the proper journalist accreditation to use them.  But a few of the other MPC volunteers were able to get into some other figure skating events with no issues so we gave it a go.  For a quick second, we didn't know if we would be able to get in but thanks to the language barrier (Sorry Russia) and a big smile, the security let us through.  And thank goodness they did.  It was an amazing event! And so surreal to see in real life.  Scott and Tessa skated very well as did the rest of the Canadian pairs.  Although there was some slight discrepancies in the judging of the skating, it was a well done event and only part one of two!

Day 17: To be a Skeletor...

Another exciting day in Sochi! Stacey worked in the morning at COH and Mikaela was at the MPC. With Patrick Chan winning another silver the night before, it meant a busy day of press conferences and interviews at the MPC. Patrick came in for a press conference in the afternoon and is a great guy. He is so down to earth and sincere and Mikaela even got a picture with him! Then men's hockey team coaches also had a press conference in the morning. Babcock is a pretty funny guy and was able to have a good time with the media.  There was also a frenzy around the office with media needing tickets for the USA vs Russia hockey game. And what a game it was, Russian fans weren't the happiest after that event.

After our shifts, we headed up to the mountains to watch some skeleton finals. Doug and Lisa were working in the evening so it was just Mikaela and Stacey who went. We got up to the mountains easily and had some time to walk around before the event. We ran into the wife of the Canadian ski jumping coach who we met at the men's moguls. We hung around with them for dinner and even visited the Canada house located in the mountains. Its a different vibe than the one in the main park and is much quieter and more serene.

We got up to the sliding center by the gondola, which is much more fun than taking the bus. However it was pretty dark and we were  unable to get any pictures of the view. The competition itself was interesting. Skeleton isn't the easiest sport to watch and a lot of it is watching the screens but the atmosphere was enough! We decided that if we had to be a winter Olympic athlete we would be a skeleton athletes because the sport seems the most intense. And who wouldn't want to slide head first down a winding track going about 130km/h???

The Russian athlete (or skeletor as we called them), won gold and the entire stadium exploded. Since it wasn't a Canadian who won we were glad it was Russia and it was awesome seeing the way they reacted and how proud they were. Its what we imagined Vancouver to be.

After the ride back to the costal cluster we met up with Lika as it was her last night before heading home. It was terrific meeting someone so kind and also a weird feeling knowing we could never see her again. Fingers crossed we met again soon (and in the world of sport).