Since the whole world is here (it seems), it would logically stand to reason that you could be sitting next to someone interesting. Today, I took the train down to the airport to meet my friend Olivia who will be joining me for the duration of the Games. The train was busy as usual in the downtown area, but the crowd dwindled as we travelled further away and then turned toward the airport. An older East Indian lady sat next to me for the last few stops. She noticed the pins on my bag strap and thought that I was a volunteer. I had to explain that I was just a spectator. She had just arrived from San Diego yesterday, and was headed up to Whistler. She told me that she had been to the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary and she was happy to be back. I asked if she had been a spectator back then, and she replied that she was a former Olympian. In fact, she was the first female athlete to represent India in the Winter Olympics. That pretty much blew my mind, until I asked her what event she was in, and she said slalom. I couldn't believe I was sitting next to someone who had made history. I've since Googled her, and she must have been Shailaja Kumar. She came in 28th place, which was essentially last, but at least she had managed to finish, unlike a lot of other skiers, including Karen Percy and Kerrin-Lee Gartner of Canada.
Tonight we were up at Cypress watching the qualification runs for men's aerials. We had some pretty kick-ass seats, directly in front of the landing area. The group sitting next to us had some large homemade signs ready to go. As it turns out, they were the family of Steve Omischl, who along with the other two Canadians in the field were able to qualify for the finals on Thursday. Watch for us on Thursday night, we'll be standing in the general admission pit. Until then, we'll be up at Cypress again tomorrow to watch ladies' ski cross. Should be an exciting race!
"I was sitting, waiting, wishing you believed in superstitions, then maybe you'd see the signs"
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