Leaving the village

I have been asked my the NZOC to hand my accreditation back in and leave now. I found out yesterday that I wasn't even allowed to be eating in the village! I had been as I didn't realise it, but it had not been paid for me to eat there. I don't really know where else I was supposed to eat!
I've also been asked to hand back all my NZ uniform. I ended up leaving it in Lou's room and asking her to take it back because I was a bit upset about the whole deal.
Because I had nowhere in Sestriere to stay on the night of the men's skeleton race, I had to leave early and miss their final run which was gutting as I'd have loved to watch Ben come in 10th!
Overall, it was an awesome experience being at the Olympic Games. It was just a shame that some things had to dampen the experience.

Race day!

We had to wait, what seemed like eternity, for the race. The first run started at 5.30pm so the day was filled with preparation. Most of Lou's equipment prep had been done so it was time to focus on relaxing herself for the big race.
We left for the track at about 3.30pm as we had to have Lou's sled at the track by 4.30pm.
Standing on the start line, I don't know who was more nervous, Lou or me! It was so awesome to be there.
Lou had a fantastic race for her first Olympics coming in 12th. I know she would have liked to have placed a little higher but she did so well just to get there with all the drama of this season.
Well done Olympian Lou!

pics from Torino

Lou doing a track walk

Me at the track, being mobbed by the Olympic mascots Neve (snow) and Glitz (ice).

Finally in the village

After my few days of messing around, I was finally allowed my accreditation and into the athletes village up in Sestriere. I had the Team Captains Meeting to go to at the track to make sure Lou was entered and we had everything completed ready for Lou to start training tomorrow. Then I moved into the tiny athletes quarters with Lou. It wasn't that bad actually, each room had it's own little bathroom and we are so used to living like that during the World Cup that it was pretty normal really.

Just spoke to Lou

I have just spoken to Lou. She is up in the Olympic Village in Sestriere. She has no access to internet there so if she hasn't replied to you, it's not because she doesn't want to :)

There seems to be some confusion on where, when and how things are supposed to operate for things such as the opening ceremony, team captains meetings, training times.

There is only one New Zealand car for all the athletes up in the Sestriere Village which means Lou has to catch the local transport.

She said it's crazy up there. The security is so tight it takes at least 30mins just to get out of the village.

She said that upon her arrival to the New Zealand House, all the support crew did a Haka for her. She said it was just awesome!

She is looking forward to my arrival on the 12th so we can work together to clinch one of those medals!

A few days to fill in now

I put Lou on the plane this morning to fly to Milan where someone will be there to pick her up and take her to Torino. I couldn't go with her and I've had to cancel my ticket because I'm not allowed to stay in the village with her. It's also costing me alot more to stay and coach than I thought it was going to, because I've had to hire a car to get to Torino, and pay for all my accommodation until the NZOC will accredit me which is on the 12th. It's going to be a bit tight for time on the 12th too, because I have a team captains meeting at the track at 1:30pm on the 12th so I hope it doesn't take long for the accreditation stuff and I can get up to Sestriere on time.

I'm also pretty gutted I'm going to miss out on the opening ceremony and all too. All the other coaches and officials get to stay the whole time so I'm not really sure why I'm only allowed in on the 12th :(

On Top of the World

This is where I spent most of my afternoon, looking at the gorgeous Swiss Alps.

After Lou's morning training session, we decided to go and do something a bit touristy which we never normally get to do so we hoped on a cable car that took us half way up a huge ski field. We could have gone right to the top but that cost too much for us :)

I can totally see why St. Moritz is the european ski capital! There were groomed trials as far as the eye could see and sooooo much powder it was stupid! It made me wish I was a better skier than I am so I could make the most of the day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kylee, it's her 21st birthday today!! I hope you have a fantastic day and dinner in Christchurch.