Östersund
This past weekend was one of those times that everything just seemed to work out perfectly - far better than you could have ever imagined, in fact.
Last week, I knew that Canada had sent a team to the biathlon World Cup in Östersund, Sweden, but I didn't have any details. All my efforts to get in touch with anyone on that team failed (as it turns out, it seems that they were having some e-mail problems). I hadn't spoken to any of the athletes since last March, and I hadn't seen the coach, Geret Coyne, since basically my days as an athlete. I also had no idea about the security arrangements. I mean, we are talking about a World Cup here: not the kind of event that you can just pop in to go see somebody. You need accreditation to get further than the spectator's area. I managed to convince Håkan, one of my friends here, to go down with me and all I really expected was that we would pay the entry fee, be one of the 10 000 anonymous spectators in the stands and see the race like everyone else. At best I thought I might be able to catch the eye of one of the Canadian wax technicians a couple of hours before the start when there were fewer people around.
Our plan was to drive down Friday afternoon, stay at some friends of Håkan's Friday night, go see the races Saturday and leave Saturday afternoon. A nice weekend experience with a bit of a roadtrip thrown in. It didn't quite turn out that way.
We arrived at Hans and Helena's house at around 9 pm, and we stayed up chatting until about 10:30. I brought them a can of maple syrup, which they had heard of but never tasted. They are quite health conscious and were very interested in a totally organic sweetener. They were also very interested in the fact that maple syrup producers can only sell their product to the Quebec maple products marketing board. Hans listened to this and commented disapprovingly "it sounds like a Soviet-style planned economy", which coming from a political science professor at Östersund university, was rather interesting. I didn't mention anything about the wheat marketing board, which probably would have put him into shock. Anyhow, this is fodder for another post sometime.
Hans, Helena and their three kids
Now, back to biathlon. Saturday was the men's sprint race and it only got started at noon. So Håkan and I left around 10 in the hopes of seeing the Canadians when there weren't too many people around. when we arrived, I was first of all surprised that there was no entry fee. You can go to see World Cup races in Östersund for free. Wow, that was a nice surprise right off the bat. As we go up to the stadium, there is a security control to our left which gives access to the team rooms, wax rooms, and athlete's area. This requires the abovementioned accreditation to get in.
However, if there are two things I have learned in the Army, one is that you never know what you can get away with until you try and two is that a confident attitude and looking like you know what you are doing will get you a long way. So I told Håkan to just follow me and walked up to the security control. I pointed to my hat (An Canadian Olympic toque from Turin that I bought at the Bay) brusquely said "Canadians" and just kept walking. The guard clearly didn't quite know what to do, and so did nothing. Håkan and I were in. For the next 5 minutes we just walked around trying not to look like total tourists as we got our bearings and figured out where the Canadians were. We were surrounded by the best biathletes in the world, and some of the best cross country skiers too. Ole Einar Bjornedalen, Sven Fischer, Michael Greis, Anna Carin Olaffson, Ricco Gross, Kati Wilhelm, all just going about their business, because in this area they are not under the intense media spotlight, they are just doing what they do. I don't think it is too much to say that Håkan was star-struck. At one point he pulled on my sleeve and whispered "That is Vladimir Smirnof!" and indeed it was. One of the best cross country skiers of the 1990's is now on the IBU board and he was visiting the Kazakhstani athletes. I briefly (very briefly) considered walking up to him and saying Jag shemash, which is Borat's fake-Kazakhstani greeting, but though better of it. Vladimir is a pretty big dude, and having been doped to the ears while he was an athlete, I didn't want to risk triggering any 'roid rage flashbacks.
So eventually we found the Canadian wax room, and I just marched right in. I wish I had taken my camera out beforehand, because the expression on everyone's faces was worth a picture. Robin Clegg, Zina Kocher, Sandra Keith, Marie Pierre Parent, JP LeGuellec, David Leoni - with the exception of JP, these are folks I have known for coming up on 10 years. Plus the wax technicians were former athletes Tom Zidek and Ivan Phillion. So it was like a big reunion for me, it was great.
Me with the Canadian ladies (of course). Marie-Pierre, me, Zina and Sandra
The wax techs were a bit under the gun to get the skis prepped for the race because it was weird, rainy-icy conditions. So I offered to give them a hand and they quickly put me to work brushing and polishing.
Extolling the virtues of waxing while I brush Robin's ski. Oh, the irony
When we got things done, the team's masseuse Tracey - the only person on the team whom I hadn't met - set me up with accreditation and after that Håkan and I basically did as we pleased. We watched the race both from the stands:
and from out on the trail:
where spectators aren't ever allowed to go. I mean, we were not beside the trail, we were on the trail. We could have easily reached out to touch the athletes as they ski by.
No big surprise, Ole Einar Bjornedalen won the race. Again. Robin had a very good race, placing 32nd. It was really exciting to watch.
With the race over, I had to make a decision. Håkan and I had agreed to leave following the race. He has a wife and two kids, so obviously he had to keep his end of the bargain. However, things were going so spectacularly better than I had ever expected, I wanted to stay for the next day as well. So we decided that Håkan would drive back as planned and I would take the bus the following day.
I went back to the hotel with the Canadians and Tracey -again - made things happen and got me set up in the team's massage room. Halvard Hannevold from Norway can confirm this. Of course, with my accreditation I could also go eat with the athletes in the dining room.
A bit of an aside about Tracey: this was her first experience with biathlon, although she had worked with the Canadian downhill, freestyle and cross country ski teams. I have rarely met anyone so extroverted. When I arrived, she had been with the team for only 4 days. I kind of wondered how she was going to get around after she gave me her accreditation, but it was simple: she already knew everybody. All the security people, the hotel management, and a lot of the international athletes. Being extroverted in a room full of famous people you don't know is not without its landmines: One story she is not likely to live down is sitting next to Sven Fischer and asking if he was a coach. Sven is not only one of the most accomplished biathletes in history - 4 Olympics, multiple Olympic and World Championship medals, innumerable World Cup medals - he is also one of the most striking. Tall, very solidly built, a jaw you could etch glass with, once you have seen Sven you do NOT forget him. She also complimented Kati Wilhelm (last years World Cup champion) on her hair colour and asked if she had got it done recently. Kati has dyed her hair red for many years, and it is in fact her trademark. However, I give Tracy a solid two thumbs up for effort, and managing to get to know so many people in such a close-knit community in such a short time is nothing short of astonishing.
That evening the Canadian team did their daily yoga session, which I joined in on - although I know nothing about yoga. However, I was in good company, since Michael Greis, who won three gold medals at the Turin Olympics also decided to drop by and give it a go. So I was doing yoga for the first time in my life beside a multiple Olympic champion who - it turns out - is about as flexible as a pine board. We had some good laughs. It was also surreal.
We went out that night to a local pub and mingled with locals and world famous alike. Sunday's race was a pursuit, and only the top 60 athletes get to race, so there were many who were out looking to drown their sorrows since they had no racing scheduled until the next World Cup.
The following day's race was both exciting and predictable. Ole Einar won, again. Despite having shot 16/20 when all his competitors shot 19/20 or 20/20. On top of that, he actually increased his lead. The man is basically unbeatable for the time being. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his form the whole season.
Ole Einar, in the lead. Again. About to win. Again. Yawn.The women's race was also great, but for other reasons. Anna Carin Olaffson, the Swede superstar, placed 2nd after starting 11th. So the home crowd went nuts. I was naturally in the start - finish area thanks to my accreditation, and managed to fight through the television cameras to get this pic:
downtown Östersund
posted by Jeff @ 1:13 AM
1 Comments:
Dude! What an epic adventure. That was awesome. I particularly enjoyed seeing you wax some skis.
I was expecting it to end something like "And then I got invited to ski in the relay and got totally destroyed by the competition and finished last but it rocked!"
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