Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Long Day Ahead
Morning of our final day in Ramsau. Not as planned unfortunately. We still have 5 skiers competing today, but the GOC powers that be decided the team has to depart for Graz. The 5 athletes and 2 coaches will stay behind to compete and join the rest of the team in Graz for closing ceremonies. To say we, as a team, we're disappointed, is an understatement. We have been a team, a family here, and cheer each other on both during competition and awards. It feels bad to know those five will be here without our support. Supposedly the rest of the team will travel two hours to healthy athletes and spend the day waiting for closing. Every last one of us wish we were at the ski stadium instead.
The bad news came last night at dinner, capping a tough day on snow. We had two DQs during the 500 meter races. DQS based on the "honest effort" rule, meaning if the finals time is 15% or more faster from the prelims, the athlete is disqualified. Tough to explain to athletes who are giving everything and have no idea what sandbagging means. It does happen with some countries, but our athletes just go out and do their best. Anyway, we as coaches try to explain why if they had the fastest time of the day, they don't get a gold. Really hard.
So we load the equipment truck soon, then bus, then off to Graz. I could write an entire story about getting everyone packed last night and the tornados in the rooms, but I'd need more time. Soon I have to delete a few pounds from my luggage and start hauling gear to the truck. For now, it's off to our final day of being with this great team.....
The bad news came last night at dinner, capping a tough day on snow. We had two DQs during the 500 meter races. DQS based on the "honest effort" rule, meaning if the finals time is 15% or more faster from the prelims, the athlete is disqualified. Tough to explain to athletes who are giving everything and have no idea what sandbagging means. It does happen with some countries, but our athletes just go out and do their best. Anyway, we as coaches try to explain why if they had the fastest time of the day, they don't get a gold. Really hard.
So we load the equipment truck soon, then bus, then off to Graz. I could write an entire story about getting everyone packed last night and the tornados in the rooms, but I'd need more time. Soon I have to delete a few pounds from my luggage and start hauling gear to the truck. For now, it's off to our final day of being with this great team.....
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Relay Day
The best day is relay day at the world games, usually the final day, but here, it's being run mid week. Every one of our skiers is on a relay except the 3 50/100 m skiers, so it's a crazy day! USA has four teams, so all hands are on deck to help. Our start was at 10:00am with USA1 and USA 2 on board first starting with 26 other teams from through out the world. Crazy start to be sure! We had practice relay tags the day before and again the morning of the race, so our skiers were dialed in well. Some of the other countries (surprisingly Norway) had near disasters in the exchange zone, not so our crew. It's a 4x1km course and one our skiers knew well. The second start was with USA 3 and 4 who started with 12 teams. In the end, our least experienced skiers in team 4 took the gold medal in their division, surprising all of us. The others captured 5ths k a 6th place.
Later in the day, the 100 meter skiers took to the snow and skied well. The race might be short and sweet, but the fans, and all of our others skiers cheered them on. Those 3 brought home 2 golds and a silver and couldn't have been happier. The awards ceremony is like a big party and hearing U,S,A yelled out and then Bruce Springsteen music playing them off the stage was great!
Today (Thursday) we start 2.5 km and 500 meters. Medals to the 1/2km folks later. Finals for the 2.5 are Friday, the last day of competition. No rain today, but temps again in the 50s. We're all getting used to this tropical skiing!
Later in the day, the 100 meter skiers took to the snow and skied well. The race might be short and sweet, but the fans, and all of our others skiers cheered them on. Those 3 brought home 2 golds and a silver and couldn't have been happier. The awards ceremony is like a big party and hearing U,S,A yelled out and then Bruce Springsteen music playing them off the stage was great!
Today (Thursday) we start 2.5 km and 500 meters. Medals to the 1/2km folks later. Finals for the 2.5 are Friday, the last day of competition. No rain today, but temps again in the 50s. We're all getting used to this tropical skiing!
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Medal Round
First day of finals! Sunny and really warm today so even if the snow isn't good, we could enjoy the weather. Course conditions were like ground up snow cones with slush mixed it, not very good, but we were on snow! We had the 5km and 1km and 50 meter races with the long one awarding athletes at the end of the day.
With the canceled day, our schedule begame a bit more intense for the rest of the week, but we will handle it and the athletes don't blink and eye. The team did a longer pre race warmup on the course and had a chance to inspect conditions. The snow melt continued and in a few spots thy actually had to shush thru slushy water. Skating would be harder because the tilled skate lane was pretty soft. I felt like I'd never been on skis during my ski. Classic technique would be easier as the tracks were firmer. Everyone had a good ski and then it was onto the 1km trials.
We have a big crew in the 1km and 500 meter races, so there is a lot of organizing to be done. Coaches each have a role, start tent, staging, warm up and shuttling athletes to and from the start finish. That system has been going really well. We had 14 in the 1km, so it was constant action for an hour or two. All smiles as they slid into the finish line, looking up at the clock to see times, then to the cheering fans. I had the honor of meeting them at the finish chute, carrying their skis and being the first to congratulate them. Best job in the world! Lots of families there and they are so proud.
The big guns on our team did the 5 km later on a really tough course (warm snow) and one I wouldn't want to ski! We had 2 skiers in the classic and two in the 5km freestyle, meaning they can ski either technique. Usually it's mostly skiers, but classic would be okay this day. The course was harder than in the prelim but they still skied well, some with faster times! In the end, we ended up with 2 golds (freestyle race) and a bronze and 6th in a big division.
The 50 meter was also held and a nice crowd cheered them on. It may e a short race, but it's long in enthusiasm. Awards are to be handed out today, so the athletes don't know exactly how they finished, we decided to not them them and let them enjoy finding out on the podium. (2 gold, one silver).
Today ( Tuesday) is the 1km final, 100m trials and relay practice. ESPN is covering our gold medal 5 km winner, doing a story on his training (he's a superb runner), Marty Smith from ESPN is running and interviewing him today. Every see wide world of sports pieces on athletes? Now we get that same coverage, and it's amazing!
All for now...hope to have as Greta a day as yesterday!
With the canceled day, our schedule begame a bit more intense for the rest of the week, but we will handle it and the athletes don't blink and eye. The team did a longer pre race warmup on the course and had a chance to inspect conditions. The snow melt continued and in a few spots thy actually had to shush thru slushy water. Skating would be harder because the tilled skate lane was pretty soft. I felt like I'd never been on skis during my ski. Classic technique would be easier as the tracks were firmer. Everyone had a good ski and then it was onto the 1km trials.
We have a big crew in the 1km and 500 meter races, so there is a lot of organizing to be done. Coaches each have a role, start tent, staging, warm up and shuttling athletes to and from the start finish. That system has been going really well. We had 14 in the 1km, so it was constant action for an hour or two. All smiles as they slid into the finish line, looking up at the clock to see times, then to the cheering fans. I had the honor of meeting them at the finish chute, carrying their skis and being the first to congratulate them. Best job in the world! Lots of families there and they are so proud.
The big guns on our team did the 5 km later on a really tough course (warm snow) and one I wouldn't want to ski! We had 2 skiers in the classic and two in the 5km freestyle, meaning they can ski either technique. Usually it's mostly skiers, but classic would be okay this day. The course was harder than in the prelim but they still skied well, some with faster times! In the end, we ended up with 2 golds (freestyle race) and a bronze and 6th in a big division.
The 50 meter was also held and a nice crowd cheered them on. It may e a short race, but it's long in enthusiasm. Awards are to be handed out today, so the athletes don't know exactly how they finished, we decided to not them them and let them enjoy finding out on the podium. (2 gold, one silver).
Today ( Tuesday) is the 1km final, 100m trials and relay practice. ESPN is covering our gold medal 5 km winner, doing a story on his training (he's a superb runner), Marty Smith from ESPN is running and interviewing him today. Every see wide world of sports pieces on athletes? Now we get that same coverage, and it's amazing!
All for now...hope to have as Greta a day as yesterday!
Monday, March 20, 2017
The Cast of the Crew.
The team of athletes on Cross Country team number 19. ESPN asked the staff a few days ago which ones had human interest stories...they all do! They all have a story unique to themselves which gradually come out as we get to know them. I wish I could introduce each one of them, but with the limited time I have, I can just mention a few.
Okay, I guess no one has been getting the email alerts, so I'll test it here. To be finished later...steve
Okay, I guess no one has been getting the email alerts, so I'll test it here. To be finished later...steve
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Rain rain stay away
We got back around 10:00 pm. Everyone was soaked, but mostly in tired good spirits. No extra meetings this night, just straight to bed for the athletes. Sunday would have the 2.5 and 100 meter races....hopefully.
We just returned from Opening Ceremonies, usually an emotionally charged event. Rain all day had us really wondering how this outdoor event would actually go. Overall, It was different from others, and being televised, a bit shorter, which isn't bad. The highlight were the torch skiers coming down the mountain and Jason Marz, who I don't know if he made the televised broadcast. He came on and played last and was very good. A long fireworks followed and that was it. We made it back to the bus in the dark amazingly, so that was good. The president of Austria was there, so security was fairly visible. It is, however, unnerving to see ski masked machine gun toting solders (?) standing in dark corners.
Earlier in the day we had the 500 meter which involves a big chunk of the team. It was all hands on deck to shuttle athletes from the staging tent, to the start tent, then prep them inside, hand them off to volunteers and pick them up at the finish. It was fun for me, as it was constant action. I was just so proud of our athletes- I mean, it's pouring rain, they race in a thin race suit, come in soaking wet and cold and are extatic about their race. Not one complaint. I just Love that.
(Update, Sunday later)
So we are called off the rest of the day, still raining and the course is a swamp. Supposed to stop raining later, but all week is predicted in the 50s. I guess they are farming snow and will haul it in as they can tonight. It may be a totally different schedule now to get everything in. Off day now, so we're visiting an old 1800s church up the street for a tour. I'm kinda short of causal clothes, so I may have to buy a couple shirts (no laundry here). Hopefully, we will be back on snow tomorrow.....which I think is Monday. 😉
We just returned from Opening Ceremonies, usually an emotionally charged event. Rain all day had us really wondering how this outdoor event would actually go. Overall, It was different from others, and being televised, a bit shorter, which isn't bad. The highlight were the torch skiers coming down the mountain and Jason Marz, who I don't know if he made the televised broadcast. He came on and played last and was very good. A long fireworks followed and that was it. We made it back to the bus in the dark amazingly, so that was good. The president of Austria was there, so security was fairly visible. It is, however, unnerving to see ski masked machine gun toting solders (?) standing in dark corners.
Earlier in the day we had the 500 meter which involves a big chunk of the team. It was all hands on deck to shuttle athletes from the staging tent, to the start tent, then prep them inside, hand them off to volunteers and pick them up at the finish. It was fun for me, as it was constant action. I was just so proud of our athletes- I mean, it's pouring rain, they race in a thin race suit, come in soaking wet and cold and are extatic about their race. Not one complaint. I just Love that.
(Update, Sunday later)
So we are called off the rest of the day, still raining and the course is a swamp. Supposed to stop raining later, but all week is predicted in the 50s. I guess they are farming snow and will haul it in as they can tonight. It may be a totally different schedule now to get everything in. Off day now, so we're visiting an old 1800s church up the street for a tour. I'm kinda short of causal clothes, so I may have to buy a couple shirts (no laundry here). Hopefully, we will be back on snow tomorrow.....which I think is Monday. 😉
Friday, March 17, 2017
$150.00 in Wax. Worth it.
End of the day. Feet are up finally. Not for long. Being on a special olympics team is the epitome of having meetings. After 9:00 here and a meeting shortly, it's early in SO time, and we do need to know exactly the plan for the following day. Every coach has a job and it ebbs and flows through the day to be sure have have coverage where we need it. Attention to detail is key and our crew is pretty good at it.
Tomorrow is Opening Ceremonies about 1/2 hr away. That follows a nearly full day of racing. The schedule is tight and I think almost unrealistic we can meet it (as everything is out of our hands as a cross country team). Compete, dress for early dinner, load bus an hr later, then bus. Stand in line in the rain (forecasted for the next two days) then march into the outdoor stadium nearly last, with the host country a short bit behind us. Live on ABC at 1:00 (I think) and should last two hrs. Tired by the end, yep.
Today went well, with temps in the 50s, wax was crucial, and we had the 5km on deck. Out comes the really expensive stuff. You don't want to know-cocaine is cheaper. But for our top skiers, it's worth it when skiing is mush corn snow. Quickly, it became apparent I hadn't planned don these temps and the supply of waxes cover +1-10 c would be out by the following day. Luckily there are ski shops in Ramsau, and a "company" credit card to restock. A quick shopping trip after our busy day successfully procured the needed goods. We should be in good shape the next few days.
Okay, enough feet up time, off to meeting #3 today!
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