Yesterday was a big day for Canada at the Olympics. We won four medals and Clara Hughes became the most decorated multi-Olympic athlete of all time (having competed in both Summer and Winter Games).
I explored more paviions, liveblogged another press conference, hung out at the Can Fund Athlete’s House, and ended the night at a good ol’ fashioned Manitoba Homecoming Social at the Commodore.
Looking ahead to Day 14, we have a few press conferences with yesterday’s Canadian medalist (who were all women by the way) and then the city will watch as our women’s hockey team takes on Team USA in a gold medal match. Only a few short days to go but they’ll be good ones.
Medal Count for Canada on Day 13 – February 24, 2010
Gold: 7
Silver: 6
Bronze: 2
View full medal count by country
It was four years ago today that I walked down the aisle and joined John Bollwitt at the altar. Our hands trembled as they joined together while my little nephew Cameron fell off a pew with an echoing ‘thud!’. The cold, grey, miserable February day outside was damp and harsh. Wet snow pelted down soaking my veil as we posed for our only outdoor photo of the entire event. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Oakley has boosted its presence in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to promote its eyewear and the athletes that wear it (such as Shaun White, Jenn Heil, Alex Bilodeau, Maelle Ricker and Kristina Groves).
Rolling O-Lab
Located on Grouse Mountain the Rolling O-Lab is a mobile demonstration unit open from 9:00am until 8:00pm. It’s a free pavilion where you can learn about performance eye protection.
Oakley Pop-Up Store
The Oakley Pop-Up Store has appeared at 488 Robson Street featuring an Oakley Custom Bar where you can browse eyewear products.
As a special promotion they offered me a limited edition Vancouver 2010 Oakley prize pack to give away to my readers which includes:
Limited edition Global Crowbar Snow Goggles
Global Fuel Cell sunglasses
Global backpack
Women’s Oakley Global t-shirt
Oakley Global toque
Oakley Vancouver 2010 collector pin
Approximate value is $400
To enter to win please leave a comment below stating your favourite part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics sporting events so far. You may also re-tweet to enter by copying and pasting this text:
Enter to win an @Oakley prize pack from @Miss604 http://bit.ly/d5C9Dp
Update March 1, 2010 I just drew a winner randomly and it was Gunnerbunny in the comments. Congratulations and thanks to everyone for sharing their memories!
Fine print: You may comment and re-tweet for a total of 2 entries. The contest will be open until 12:00pm March 1st, 2010 and I will draw a winner at random from all the entries. The winner will have 48 hours to confirm otherwise I will draw another name. Best of luck and I hope everyone’s enjoying the Games so far.
Canada has celebrated 6 gold medals so far during the Vancouver 2010 Games and I’ve been fortunate enough to sit in on press conferences with two of the champions so far, Alex Bilodeau and Maelle Ricker.
This morning women’s ski cross medalist Ashleigh McIvor will speak about her golden experience on the slopes yesterday.
Heading into the press conference with her stunning gold medal around her neck she said that it was “awkward to walk with” but man, it looks good. The following is live coverage from the press conference…
The first person to ask a question asks her about her lucky charms. “I’m not usually superstitious but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep things going the way they are going at the beginning of the season.” She wore a necklace and carried a Buddha on her for luck throughout the season and so she carried those with her as well during her Olympic run.
“We’ve just had such amazing support – the government and OTP,” she said. “Standing at the top of the race course I had this crazy feeling – it was all coming together perfectly.”
With regards to the weather she said she knew the other girls were probably getting stressed out but being on her home turf at Cypress (and being a Whistler girl) she said, “you have to ski by feel.”
When asked if she thought it would bring in a lot of young skiers she said, “Definitely. That’s one thing about ski cross right now is that it doesn’t have much on a grassroots level but hopefully we’ll get some kids coming over from alpine.”
After the qualifying round she said she went down into the stands to locate her friends and family so that after her next run, she’d know where to find them.
A student reporter asked her about playing a role in bringing ski cross to the Olympics, since she wrote an essay about promoting and including the sport. Although her essay never made it to the IOC, she said that winning the first gold medal as a woman in the sport was the proudest moment of her life. “I said to my coaches, ‘I can’t believe I won’ and they said, ‘I can’.”
“It’s such an honor to represent my hometown, my home province and my country on the world’s stage,” she added. Ashleigh handled a few more questions about beyond the ski cross race. “I just definitely would like to finish my education, do a whole bunch of heli-skiing,” and she also has taken on some modeling gigs.
“I have people emailing me saying I’ve inspired them or kids doing school projects about me… …I would love to develop ski cross at a grassroots level and get some kids involved.”
Expecting about 60,000 visitors throughout the duration of the Games, the Royal Canadian Mint has been overwhelmed with the positive public response to their exhibits and Olympic medal displays. Having seen about 80,000 visitors to date already, they have lineups that cross several city blocks, some often waiting about 5-7 hours just to get in the mint.
Located in the beautiful SFU Segal Graduate School of Business building the Royal Canadian Mint features a boutique, coin displays, the “Gold Room”, and of course the most popular attraction – the Olympic and Paralympic medals which the public can touch.
You can learn about the process of making these medals, which are the first-ever non-flat medals in Olympic history. Once the Vancouver 2010 Games are over they’ll live at the Mint in Ottawa and also at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
There are dozens of exhibits and commemorative coins on display and the “touch & feel” opportunities make this one of the best pavilions around. You can even catch a glimpse of the Mint’s $1 million gold coin. I was told that when it was made (of the purest gold bullion in the world) they made 4 more for private parties who were interested in purchasing one for themselves. Since it was made, the coin has appreciated and is now worth about $4 million.
Contests
The Royal Canadian Mint is currently running several contests.
Face of the Games: Visit the boutique inside the pavilion and have a video or photo recorded at their interactive photobooth. You can print off your image or submit it to be the “face of the games”. The winner will be flown to Ottawa and have a medal printed featuring their image. You can also submit your image and story online.
Tweet for Gold: Follow @CanadianMint on Twitter and watch for daily updates on how you can win collector coin sets and more.
The Royal Canadian Mint pavilion will wrap things up February 28th but until that time they are open from 9:00am until 10:00pm daily (at 500 Granville Street).
Update: It should also be noted that there are two lines for the Mint. There is a shorter one for just Mint exhibit access and the much longer one is specifically to view the medals. Make sure you line up in the right one so you don’t miss out.
Update: The Royal Canadian Mint pavilion will be open during the Paralympics. It will move to 350 W Georgia at the Vancouver Public Library’s main branch. Hours of operation will follow the Library’s schedule of Monday to Thursday, 10:00am to 9:00pm, Friday and Saturday 10:00am to 6:00pm, and Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm.
