A Bitter/Sweet Opening Day Recap

Day 1 of the 2010 games was full of emotion both good and bad. The sun came out a few times in the morning and there was a real energy in the air. The Athletes were off to train early in order to leave for Vancouver by 2 pm for the Opening Ceremony. I was staged with 20 other vehicles at the Athletes Village and at about 11am there was a lot of sirens and several police cars escorting 2 ambulances. We new right away that it was very serious. Within minutes there were reports via Twitter that there was a horrific accident on the Luge and within 15 minutes of the accident there were videos and pictures posted on line. From first hand reports it was very clear that the young Georgian died instantly. Everyone was in shock.
We were in the front lobby of the Athletes entrance watching the ski jumping when buses of athletes started returning. As word spread of the accident, the mood changed dramatically. We saw many of the sliders returning with their sleds and many had a very "empty" look on their faces.
As the afternoon proceeded our fleet did a lot of short trips moving athletes and officials. We met two German bobsledders and they were built like football linebackers. They asked us for directions to the front security area and we told them that it would take 5 minutes to walk there. They walked about 100 metres and then broke into a jog ...they were like 'high strung' horses that would rather run than walk.
It is amazing to watch all the jackets from the various countries and I am trying to catch pics of as many as possible.
We finished our shift and returned to the fleet base. My original plan was to stay in the Village and watch the ceremonies in the Square, but after the accident I wasn't sure where to go. Soon a few other Smurfs returned and we all decided to stay vs watching on the ship. One of the Ladies had purchased Luge and Bobsled tickets for next week, so when we got to the Village I picked up a ticket for 2-man luge next Wednesday (after waiting an hour in the line). We then grabbed a cup of soup and headed for the Village Square. We found a great place to stand and could see the stage and screens perfectly.
On the way to the Square we passed the Olympic Rings outside the Medal Stage. People had placed flowers and candles to start a memorial to the young Luger. It was a very emotional scene as everyone stopped to take pictures (see attached).
The ceremony was electric standing with over 20,000 people. However on several occasions we lost the Bell TV feed from Vancouver and then when it came back it was the French feed for 30 minutes as the Athletes entered the Village. The highlight of our event was 75 Cdn athletes being marched on stage by a RCMP colour guard, followed by a great rendition of OH Canada.
I loved how they lit the torch with the 5 great Canadians ...too bad that the columns didn't all work.
I thought that the IOC and VANOC handled the death very well and were able to turn a tragedy into an inspirational moment by celebrating and honouring the young Georgian's life. At the end of the night the crowd in Whistler was inspired and ready to take on the games. On another note Canada's Governed General looked regal and amazing, while Harper's wife looked like she bought her dress from Zellers ...what's up with that?
Also, what did everyone think about Canada's Bob and Doug inspired uniforms?
We got back to the ship at 11:15 and was asleep by midnight.
Now it's 5;30 and was up at 4:15 ...I think there will be a few cat naps today. Oliver and Patrick can you give me a few tips?

Have a great day and enjoy the games.
sent from my BlackBerry device
Best regards,

Greg
M 416-347-1545