Sunday, February 21, 2010

Vanouver 2010 Winter Olympics: Day 9 - Speed skating and the "freed cauldron"

I had just gotten off the bus on my way to the Mens' 1000 meter-short-track-speed-skating when I heard, "Are you selling tickets?". As I continued to walk, more people asked and others had homemade signs asking for a specific amount. Although I had seen scalpers trying to buy and sell tickets at other events, I had not seen regular folks like myself wanting to buy tickets at the entrance of the event. I was really looking forward to this event and from the ticket demand, I think others were too. The main reasons I was really looking forward to watching the Mens' 1000 short track speed skating at Pacific Coliseum were the Hamelin brothers and Apolo Ohno.

Before I entered the Pacific Coliseum, I had to walk a long distance, go through a security check, then another line to get in.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Building - Pacific Coliseum

Once inside, I made my way to my seat where I could get a good view of the races and the finish line. There were a few heats and the crowd went wild every time any Canadian competed. I almost went deaf. The women's 1500-metre-short-track final was on its way and there was a Canadian, Tania Vincent, who performed well at the start of the race however by the end of the race she finished last. Zhou Yang from China set an Olympic record and won gold in the women's 1,500-metre short-track final. She won her final race with ease at the finish line.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics Speed Skating- finish line

Then the main event of the night was among us - the Mens' 1000 meter-short-track-speed-skating. As the race started, the Hamelin brothers, Charles and Francois, took the lead and kept it for half the race. Then the other racers, passed them. It was very disappointing to see the Canadian skaters come out strong and then have them loose their leads. I was also surprised by Apolo Ohno's performance. Although he won bronze and now becomes the most decorated American Olympic Athlete, I was expecting him to win gold. Congratulations to the Koreans who came in 1st and 2nd place.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics Speed Skating-5 racers curve

After the finals, I decided to go see the cauldron at night. I wanted to see the "freed cauldron" but that is now what I saw. It was nice to see it was "semi-freed". The fence is closer than the first time I saw it and has plexiglass. The area where you could see it on top was closed. I think it will become more popular as we continue the Olympics.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Cauldron at Night

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