25 Feb

Due to my extraordinarily late night the other day, it wasn’t until 14:15 that I finally rose from my slumber and “started” my day. It was so late that I only ate a light meal and just waited to really eat until dinner. I did some reading for class and puttered around until Lainey called me for dinner around 6. The food was decent and I was sad that I might be missing the last of the Torino games. Turns out I didn’t miss much and I came back to the dorm well in time to watch the final bobsled runs and speed skating races.

I was happy to see Apolo Ohno finally get his gold and to see the US speed skaters claim the bronze in the relay. Speed skating is definitely one of my favorite events. The BBC did a good job of ending the games with their day-by-day recaps. They also showed a short segment of an interview with Katarina Witt, the amazing two-time gold winning figure skater. At one point during the interview, she just started dancing “to a music all her own” as the BBC newsperson said, much to the surprise of the people interviewing her. They weren’t sure what to do and sort of started sort of dancing along with her. I found that hilarious. Witt recently wrote an editorial in the times saying that while she felt the new judging and scoring system is more fair to the skaters, it really takes some of the magic out of the event. I’d definitely have to agree with her on that one.

With the Games finally over, I lost a great reason to slack. What a pity. I’m glad I got to see so many events this year; it was wonderful to watch so many races and such live and to see such a variety as well. I watched everything from curling (a greatly misunderstood sport in the US, except maybe in Minnesota where the US men’s team is from) to cross-country skiing, bobsled to biathlon, and Super-G to snowboard-cross. It’s certainly been a fun fortnight.

I read for a little while before going to bed after my “exhausting” day. Cheers!