Thanks for the questions. Here are some responses! Feel free to send in more. And if you missed the Mark Johnson show this morning, you can listen here.
1. You’ve been to Salt Lake in ‘02 and Torino in ‘06 as well as Vancouver. Which was your favorite and why?
That’s a tough question.
The Salt Lake Games were a thrill for me because it was a family affair. I wasn’t working – I just went to watch Chip, my husband, race. I was taken away by the spirit of the Olympics, and I feel very lucky to have seen his race and to have seen him do so well. I’ll remember that forever. It was also special because we were there as a big family and everyone was so excited.
In Torino, I was there mostly to work and I learned a ton from the experience. Being around so many seasoned journalists was kind of a thrill. The weather and food there were great, but the events for some reason lacked the snap of the Vancouver Games.
In Vancouver, nearly every race and competition had me intrigued. All the alpine events were high-drama, the snowboarders were unreal and the cross-country races left me gasping for air. There were real highs and lows, from the luge tragedy to the U.S. skiers and snowboarding winning a collective 20 medals. The weather could have been better though, and it would have been nice to get in a few more runs at Whistler, and I am sick of Molson beer.
2. Having spent time following the alpine skiers, what did you think about the whole Mancuso/Vonn drama that was being discussed in the media? And how did their coverage and the negative attention affected the women, their relationship and their experience at the games?
What I think is interesting about Vonn and Mancuso is that they have raced together for so long and have such different approaches to the sport and they’ve both achieved a lot of success. They are competitive, but I don’t think their relationship is as caddy as people are made to believe it is. They are simply really different people and not the best of friends. It was very bad luck that Vonn was the racer who fell and ruined Mancuso’s bid at defending the gold medal in gs. The blame for that should fall directly on the organizers who had shortened the interval between racers because of weather. It’s an Olympic race, not a J3 race, and the interval should have been longer for the first 30 racers. Then they could have held Mancuso in the gate while Vonn had a chance to pick herself up.
3. Was there something you experienced while there that wasn’t covered by the press that you would want to share?
I am not sure how much press Petra Majdic got – a cross-country sprinter. In the warm up she fell down a ravine and broke five ribs, then decided to race anyway. By the end one of the broken ribs had punctured her lung and she still won a bronze medal, which is hard to fathom.
Also, we should note that the Austrian men were entirely shut out from the medals in alpine skiing, which is a HUGE deal. Heads will roll in that ski-crazed country.
4. What was the general feel in Vancouver about the Canadian Women’s team celebrations? Were people upset? Did they think the IOC was making a big deal out of nothing?
The general feel was – oops! Probably shouldn’t have done that. I think it’s fine to do celebrate in that fashion after a regular championships, but the Olympics are different. I don’t know. It’s a tough call. Maybe that’s what hockey players do. It wasn’t very sportsman-like.
5. Are you suffering from a curling withdrawl?
I didn’t even get to watch any! I don’t mind curling, but it takes a lot of time to watch. For me, it’s kind of like golf. I can think of a hundred other things to do, but when I do get a chance to sit and watch, I like it. I am not suffering from an ice dancing withdrawal, I can tell you that. Save it for the Ice Capades.
What was the highlight of the Games?
Many highlights include three Vermonters coming home with medals, Bill Demong winning the first U.S. gold in Nordic combined, all of the alpine speed races, the men’s team xc sprint race, Shaun White in the halfpipe, I thought the playoff USA vs Canada game was great (when the US won!) and seeing K’Naan perform at a medals ceremony was also a big highlight.
