Setting up for Saturday’s finals

I spent the night in Whistler and worked most of the morning on less than fascinating things. The weather in Whistler was miserable; cool and pouring rain. Fortunately, I was inside the hospitality tent and did get too wet other than during the chairlift ride from the base to the finish line. They still ran the GS in the rain and fog and we got a Bronze medal from Viviane Forest. She actually caused quite a stir by asking for a ride to get a sore leg muscle treated. The quickest way down was to use the ambulance that had been there idling all morning. This led major news outlets to report that Viviane had been taken off the hill in an ambulance – a story that was proven to be false when she ran an excellent race and moved up from 4th place. Chris Williamson threatened the podium, moving from 5th to 4th

	I offered to drive back from Whistler as Jordan, our manager of Paralympic Teams, was sleep deprived and needed to gather his strength before that night’s hockey game. He was in fine form later, juggling three beers and a cell phone at once (see photos), attending our game against Norway whom we had beaten for Gold in Torino. They have a problem similar to that of Sweden – not enough young talent. We won 5-0 in a very physical game. Unfortunately, a Norwegian player took a shot at another player’s head 2 seconds after the end of the game. I’m curious to see what the referees will do and whether they will suspend him. For me it’s an easy decision, aim to injure and you’re out for a good long time. The NHL and junior leagues should operate in the same way. A colleague in the US told me that their regional elite league has eradicated fighting completely – drop the gloves and you’re out for the rest of the season. Our curling team, unexpectedly beaten by Sweden yesterday, beat Switzerland 15-1 and established a new scoring record for Paralympic Games. Saturday will be a day to watch for sure with Nordic, Alpine, Curling and Hockey all having medal events. CTV has readjusted their broadcast schedule and will now televise the closing ceremonies live, at least in BC. And after days of marginal to bad weather, the forecast is for several days of sunshine starting Thursday. If it all goes well, this could be the most fun I’ve had in one weekend.

I have received a couple of updates from my colleagues who are in Haiti helping in the aftermath of the earthquake. It really puts things in perspective for me. Sport is a great way to build personal confidence, health and a sense of community, but what we are doing here is improving on what is already one of the best places one could ever want to live in. In Haiti, I don’t think we are close to talking about sport development yet. However, with good government and some outside help, one can only hope that Haitian people with disabilities can one day march in the Paralympic parade of athletes.

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