Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Day After - Submitted by Carrie

Our Olympic Curling competition ended yesterday with two more losses. The guys are down, but grateful for this incredible experience. With the competition over for them, we will now be able to spend some time with them. Time with family and friends has been very limited for the athletes. We’ve seen the guys twice in over a week.

Each of the families has been spending time exploring the city. Of course we’ve all visited the Olympic Torch. The other places we’ve visited include Stanley Park, Granville Island, and the Vancouver Aquarium. Of course we’ve shopped for official Olympic souvenirs at any given opportunity as well with the USA Store and Hudson Bay Company store receiving nice chunks of our tourist cash!

While we are no longer in competition, it is fun to watch all of the different athletes competing in various sports. We’ve met so many people from all over the world. Today at lunch we met the parents of two of the Swedish women curlers. We also ran into a contingent of athletes from Poland at the Aquarium. The Vancouver Aquarium, by the way, is a fabulous place to visit!

Of course we’ve met many notable U.S. athletes as well. It is neat to share in the excitement of their families as they prepare for their events. It really brings the personal side of competition to life when you meet the wives, husbands, sons, daughters, and parents of these athletes. Everyone is so filled with pride for the accomplishment of a family member being on the U.S. Olympic Team. No matter the results of the competition, all of these athletes are winners!

Go USA!

1 comment:

  1. It's an experience people can only dream about--being Olympians. You guys endured a tough week, but you have fostered the growth of the game in more ways than you may be aware of. My blog for instance: http://news14sports.blogspot.com/2010/02/hello-my-name-is-mike-and-i-am-curling.html

    Best of luck in your futures!
    Mike Solarte

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