February 26th - Last Official Day of Work

This was definitely the best day of the Olympics for me...not because it was my last shift, but because the races were so amazing...and I got to watch most of them.  Originally I was supposed to meet up with my team at 7:00 p.m. to work the women's 1000 metre final which meant that I was able to watch the quarter and semi finals of that race, as well as the quarters and semis of the men's 500 metres.  Just after the women's semi, I got a call because I had to shadow a skater who would be skating later in the A or B final...which meant that I had to follow her whereabouts including into the preparation area for the final.  The preparation area is where they put on their skates and then go on the ice...and it is literally rink side...the really cool part of all of this is that the men were skating the 500 metre final just prior to the women's race and the person who was monitoring the preparation area let all the volunteers that were in the area go right up to the boards on the ice and watch the race...we had two Canadians skating in that race and if you saw the race you'll know that it was crazy!!!!!  Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified and our Canadian boys won Gold and Bronze...so exciting and the building was crazy loud.  Once that race was over and the women stepped on the ice I was able to leave my athlete and head back to the waiting room for the race to finish...and in the end I didn't have to chaperone her, nor anyone else...so...back upstairs I headed to watch the Men's 5000 Relay final...again we won Gold and let me tell you, the men's relay is just about the most exciting race to watch ever....the place was going crazy as there were tons on Americans, Koreans and Canadians in the crowd and all three of those teams, along with the Chinese were skating.  As you know by now, we won Gold!! 

When the race was finished I had to go back down to where the skaters get off the ice and preparations were being made for the medal ceremonies...in most cases the medals are given out at BC Place either the evening of or the evening after the event...I believe that figure skating, hockey and today's short track are the exception (there may be others, but these are the ones that I know for sure).  Well I am walking through the preparation zone and what do I see, but a table full of Olympic Medals - so I took the opportunity to photgraph them.  From there I headed back upstairs to watch the medal presentation...always electric when Canada wins and tonight we heard the National Anthem twice...pretty special for sure...

Here are some of the great pics that I took of this exciting evening!!!

The Silver and Gold Medals 

Hamelin and Tremblay get their Gold and Bronze Medals

The Relay Team and their Gold Medals!!!

Can't believe that it's almost over - it seems like just yesterday I was meeting Courtney at the airport, and now in just over 48 hours, we'll be saying goodbye to Vancouver.  Tomorrow will be a day of packing, and spending time with a friend, then Sunday we'll be watching the big hockey game...I'll try and post something just before I leave - hopefully it'll be of the city celebrating our win over the USA!!