Got to sleep in a little today before making my trek from Cloverdale out to the Richmond Oval. I'm not sure how long this commute will take so I leave a little early to make sure I can clear security in time for the event.
I'm pretty stoked as I have never been to a speed skating event before and watching them on TV looks like the crowd is really into it.
I bus from Cloverdale to King George Skytrain, take the train to Waterfront, switch to the Canada Line then ride the Canada Line out to Aberdeen station. From there it is about a 2km walk along the river to the beautiful Richmond Oval. Proud to say that members of the architectural team that helped build Armstrong's new arena helped to build this massive wood facility and is this building spectacular!
Once I pass through security I find my seat which couldnt be in a better place. Right on the corner by the finish line. The Dutch fans are all starting to pour in wearing their bright orange outfits - they absolutely LOVE speed skating. Many are still depressed about Kramer's unfortunate disqualification yesterday which would have won him his 3rd gold medal but unfortunately his coach told him to take the inside lane on the final corner when it was supposed to be the outer lane and he was DQ'd.
Inside the oval the track officials are setting up for the race and the Dutch fans are already singing, chanting and ringing their cowbells. They are located 1 bleacher over from me. Two young speed skaters take to the ice to test the timing system and as they pass on their 2 laps to test the Dutch are standing and cheering for these volunteers. Then the Zamboni/Olympia machines pass to flood the ice and the Dutch stand up and cheer for the ice machine drivers - I cant imagine what they'll do when a dutch skater actually passes.
Time for the race, Cindy Klassen is in the first of 8 pairings, she puts on a gutsy performance but you can see that she simply doesnt have what it takes to be a legitimate threat for a medal and ends up in 12th place after the racing is over. We see the next 3 pairings each one featuring a Dutch athlete and the crowd goes wild beside me everytime they pass by.
After the 4th pairing they flood the ice again so more cheering for the Zamboni drivers. They have a commentator wandering around the stands with a jumbotron cameraman interviewing people in the rink. So the interviewer picks a couple sitting a few seats down from me. She asks them some questions like 'Where are you from?' 'Are you enjoying the games?' 'What events have you seen' and they both answer all the questions. Then she asks the guy if he has any other messages to his friends and family at home and he says yeah and he reaches into his pocket gets down on one knee and proposes to his girlfriend. Well the Dutch fans see this and they start singing and chanting and cheering and of course the girl said 'yes' so that was kind of neat.
Back to the racing. Clara Hughes is in the first pairing of the final 4 pairings. She skates an absolutely unbeleivable race. On her final lap you can just see the anguish in her face as her legs are burning as she glides down the ice. It is absolutely unreal how fast these people skate. Watching it on TV doesnt give it any justice as it is hard to judge the length of the straightaways and how in about 6-8 strides they are down the entire length. Clara pushes right to the end and posts a 1st place time and she is yelling and fist pumping and screaming in the oval and the crowd of Canadians were yelling just as loud - it was electric.
There were 3 other pairings to go. The next group finished under Clara Hughes so she kept her 1st place position. The next group had Kristina Groves and Bechert from Germany. Groves tried hard but I dont think this event is her strongest and she finished in 6th while Bechert beat Clara Hughes time to bump Hughes to 2nd. The final pairing features the world champion Seblikova of the Czech Republic and a girl from the USA. Seblikova doesnt look anything like the other speed skater girls. The other girls have these massive thighs and big bums that are pure muscle. Seblikova is this slight long legged girl who skates like she is floating. She holds the world record and has the track record. She skates an unreal race beating everyone by a couple seconds and is way ahead of the American in her race. So now all there is to watch is to see if the American is fast enough to put Clara Hughes out of a medal spot - she finishes the race and Clara Hughes holds onto the bronze medal.
I can see the whole Canadian Team along with the coaches and everyone jumping and hugging as she captures her 6th Olympic medal and ties Cindy Klassen as Canada's most decorated Olympic athlete. She does her victory lap with the Canadian flag and the crowd was going nuts. The Dutch were still jumping and singing and chanting for her as they cheer on everyone but they really appreciate good performances and they were clearly cheering for the Canadian girl.
A very cool afternoon to say the least.
I headed home to catch the Canada/Russia hockey game and the day got even better as we were leaping off the couch everytime Canada pumped another goal in on the Russians - what a fun game to watch.
I'm heading to curling tomorrow, however, I had talked to my cousin Paulyne in Duncan and mentioned that my aunt and uncle who are there too might want to come over and watch the curling and that I would let them have my tickets. She called me during the game and said that Uncle Omer and Aunty Carrie decided to come over so I am going to meet them out at the SkyTrain station on King Edward early Friday morning and give them the tickets.
A great night.
Sorry for the bad photos, I was by myself and had to ask someone to take picture so my eyes were closed and I didnt want to bother them for another pic. Also, speed skating pic is a little blurry as you cant run flashes in the venue.
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