Igniting Hearts

It was an experience of a lifetime. Thinking about it now still sends shivers down my spine.

Yesterday morning felt really long; everyone in the house was busy getting ready for the day's events. But me being me, I just wanted to relax and cruise through the morning stress free. I approached the day no differently than I did when I competed at Olympic trials - remain calm and don't panic.

Shortly after lunch I took off to the Family Leisure Centre where I met with a few members of the Medicine Hat Speed Skating Club. They are all knew faces, but very welcoming. I'm still a member of the club but it's hard for me to get down and see them while I train full time in Calgary.

I did a presentation in front of approximately 40 members of the community, talking about Speed Skating, my experiences in the sport and everything it's given me.

Afterwards, I strapped on my gear and headed onto the rink for a demonstration with a few members of the club. I got them to do some drills with me, and we had some fun mock races. Man, I love doing that stuff; the kids have so much energy and they really open up to me. I think they just see me as a big kid! We had about one hundred spectators watching the demo and a few even built up enough courage to come out and try.

Here is an article from the Globe and Mail on the event:

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/torch/news/newsid=26398.html#2014+olympic+hopeful+will+carry+torch

When that was done I went home to get a quick bite before heading over to get briefed for carrying the torch. When I got there I could feel the anxiety building. I shrugged it off as best I could and spent some time familiarizing myself with some of the other torch bearers.

We dropped the first four torch bearers off in Redcliff and then carried on to Medicine Hat.

As we inched closer and closer to the Medicine Hat Teepee I could see the lights coming from the evening's festivities. When we were about 800 m's from the stage, it was finally my turn to step off the bus - I was the last. As soon as I stepped off though, I could hear the crowd - it was loud. I spent some time getting pictures taken with people, some even handed me their babies! Ha Ha. There I was, baby in one hand, torch in the other.

Then came the flame.

I knew the torchbearer who would be handing the flame off to me, he is the father of a guy I went to school with. As soon as my torch was lit, emotions flowed through me; I'm sorry but they are beyond description.

The guy that was directing me asked if I'd like to get a picture with my family and friends before I took off with the flame; but I pointed out that they were not in the nearby crowd of people. I knew that they had been given front row spots to the lighting of the cauldron.

At this point we were running ahead of schedule; they were recommending me to walk the torch in. I almost laughed at him. First of all I am an athlete, and second I was very, very cold and needed to warm up. So, I started to fake jog. They were walking at the same pace I was "jogging". As I got nearer and nearer to the stage, people started to swarm and the crowd was getting very thick.

My entry with the flame was announced and the crowd went wild. Something popped into throat and I was fighting back tears. My jog was real now. I have honestly never felt a shudder like that before. I remember one similar when we were at Canada Winter Games back in 2003, but this was more intense.

It was for the Olympic flame and it was for me.

I was no longer cold, but a shiver went through my body.

Soon I arrived at the media area. I had to stand with the flame for a few moments before proceeding to the stage. I turned and found my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Baba and Gido standing there. They treated my family like celebrities. I didn't see my parents or my sister yet though.

The media moved aside and I ran a few more steps to where I saw my Mother, my Sister and my Dad all in tears. At this point, all I thought, "That's it, I'm going to cry". I grabbed my mom's hand as I went by and walked up the stage, carefully.

I made it this far without messing up!

When I got to the top of the steps I turned around and raised the flame. I could finally see how many people there were now. It was massive! Like, no joke, there were tens of thousands there. Medicine Hat had an amazing turn out!

So I turned and walked to the cauldron. I looked to the crowd and raised my arms initiating a huge cheer. Then I put both hands on the torch and lit the cauldron, which sent a ripple of cheering through the crowd.

On stage there were a couple presentation and a few interviews; including one with me.

Later, after all the interviews with the media were done, I stepped out from behind the yellow security tape. Immediately, I was swarmed by people wanting a picture taken with me and the torch. I made sure as many people got to hold it as possible. One volunteer even wanted a picture of me on his trike!

The night went later than expected due to all the people wanting pictures. I didn't mind though; it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, even to just touch the torch.

When I finally got into the car I collapsed. I was on such a high, it was time to come down.

All in all it's an experience I will always cherish, it's already propelling my thoughts forward to the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. I'm so unbelievably grateful to the Community of Medicine Hat for giving me this wonderful opportunity! I am truly honoured.

The flame unites communities, it unites countries, and it ignites hearts all around the world!

It sure ignites mine.

(I would like to thank my family for their amazing support, as well, my Sister, my Uncle Len, my Dad and my cousin Katrina for the pictures)

Here is the video of me bringing in the Olympic Flame courtesy of my former teacher Mr. John Laing!

Some Days...

Still in Montreal, I will be here until Friday. Training is going well, but my body is feeling very tired right now.

I had an interesting evening, on my return to the hotel tonight I noticed a couple of fire trucks lined outside. Being us, Michael and I joked about having left the pot on while we were at training. When we came into the lobby there was an abnormally large number of people in the waiting area, they didn't look very happy. We asked at the front desk what was wrong and they replied casually, "Oh, there is just some water in peoples rooms, no worries."

I shrugged it off, I was very tired from training and not putting two and two together very well. Training had gone late and I was looking to get some food in me. We got up to our room and found the entire place covered in water. Like I mean "two inch deep, pipe bursting, water fall from the ceiling" covered in water. Most of my stuff was soaked.

Still is.

"No worries" my butt.

Normally, I put my computer in my suitcase and just cover it up with clothes, but today I was running late so I just threw it on the middle of my bed. HA, guess what!? Fortunately, that was the one part of my room that wasn't super soaked with water... Oye.

After a few loud words, cough cough... we went downstairs and they said that we would be switching rooms. This meant us going back upstairs and packing everything up.

Wet, tired, and hungry, I packed my soaked luggage. Yes, I was wet, in order for me to pack I had to frequently go between different waterfalls in my room.

In the midst of packing I noticed a number of people frantically waving at me from the window across the courtyard. I was thrown aback for a second until I recognized one of them, it was the Korean team! They had been staying across from us for a couple of days and we didn't even know!

So I ran over to them to see if they were swimming in a pool of water as well. Turns out they weren't, but they came and splashed around in ours. They are super nice, they ended up cooking dinner for Michael and I! So we sat around eating Korean food and made best of what English they knew for the better part of an hour and a half.

Now I'm sitting on the 11th floor typing and with a much nicer view of the city! I've strategically placed my luggage behind me so I don't have to look at it.

I will see if I can get pictures up of us and the Koreans tomorrow. May be tough though!

The Olympic Torch

So here's the news, back in July I got an unusual call from the City of Medicine Hat. Unusual in the sense that I never get a call from the City of Medicine Hat. Turns out, they submitted my name to be a torch bearer in Medicine Hat this coming January 16th! But wait a minute that's not all, I will be the final torch bearer that evening and will be lighting the cauldron in Medicine Hat. The Olypmic flame will be staying there over night.

I was told back in July them to keep it a secret, which I did, I was completely focused on other things. Particularly, the upcoming Olympic trials! Needless to say, I am honoured to have been given this wonderful opportunity. I am proud to represent Medicine Hat and Canada.

So Medicine Hat... I will be seeing you all very soon!

Woops

OK, bare with me please. Apparently, it hasn't been officially announced yet, but it happens today. So I will post sometime after I get home from ice. Sorry, ha ha.

In Montreal

There's a blizzard battering Montreal right now. I spent half an hour after ice this morning shoveling Guillaume and Val's back drive way. There isn't a lot of space to cover, just a lot of snow!

It's nice to be back on ice, but I can feel the days I've missed...

I trained during the holidays, but I spent a lot of time off ice this year. That's abnormal for me! It may feel rough right now, but I think in the long run I'll be thankful I took a break.

It's been a long season. Very long actually, with only three months left. So a longer break now will keep my body fresh and my mind concentrated.

I almost didn't wake up this morning in time for ice, thankfully Guillaume knocked on my door. I set my alarm on my cell last night for 7 am, unfortunately though, my clock is still on Calgary time. Ha Ha. I was wondering why I felt so fresh at five in the morning!

Anyways, back to skating, apart from yesterday and today the rest of the week will be recovery for the other guys. This will (hopefully) help my body re-familiarize itself with various muscle movements!

Besides skating, I'm pleased to note that I've accomplished a reasonable amount of studying.

Remember, there will be an announcement on January 8th!

Birthday, Travel, New Year, Travel

So I spent my birthday a little different this year - planes, trains and automobiles.

I awoke 3:30 am on December 30th, with just enough time to eat, take out the garbage and throw my bags in the back of a cab.

No more than two minutes passed when I realized I had forgotten two things:

- My Passport

- My Skating Boots

Normally, I would say, "forget it, I've gone too far..." but I decided it would not be ideal to leave both of these essential things behind.

My flight was at 7 am. However, I heard that security at the airport was busy (due to an event on December 25th). So I got there early enough to keep myself out of trouble, I had a number of connections that day and I didn't want to miss any of them.

My plane idled on the tarmac for a good hour and a half, this made my connection in Toronto very, very tight. It didn't help either that I didn't know where the terminal to my next flight was...

I was last on the plane and it promptly took off. Finally, I thought, some luck, I won't be late for my train to Kingston. I'll have plenty of time to grab my bags and find my way to the train station.

Ha, I was wrong.

I arrived in Montreal at 3:30 but my bags didn't. Apparently, since my flight was late arriving in Toronto they just took off without my other bags.

I talked to baggage services and they said my bags could potentially arrive on one of the next flights.

It was kind of a funny conversation with the lady at baggage services when she pointed out to me that I was back tracking to Kingston. But it made sense to me...

So I waited.

One flight went by, then the next... Nothing. I gave up, I didn't want to miss my train to Kingston. I went to tell Baggage services and gave them information where they could send my bags in Montreal when they arrived.

No sooner had I finished with them another flights luggage from Toronto came out.

Luck.

Mine were the first two bags rolling out. I grabbed them, tossed the late bag form to Baggage Services and went out to find the shuttle to the Dorval train station, I had half an hour to make my train!

I arrived with 7 minutes to spare and hoped on the train.

Getting off the train in Kingston I was thankful to see my girlfriend Michele waiting for me...

Trip completely worth it!

We then drove back to her Grandmother's house in Gananoque.

The next day, New Years Eve, Michele and I went to go see Avatar in 3D. I tell you, if you haven't seen it... Please do.

It's a long movie (doesn't seem so though), coming out Michele found a message on her phone from her Father and Mother that involved us picking up some fireworks from the a hardware store on Princess and King.

Yes!

Later that night Michele and I put on a show, we lit them off for her Father, Mother and Grandmother, this involved a pretty spectacular grand finale! We even had some cheers coming from down the St. Lawrence River!

There was however a minor hiccup, there was a moment where one went off immediately after it had been lit and I was still very close. Went deaf for a minute.

Ha ha.

Oh well, it was a great time!

Today I came back in to Montreal and will be training here for a couple weeks!

So Happy New Year Everyone!