Life in Whistler continues at a dizzying pace! So many great events, concerts, and medal ceremonies to see, not to mention the incredible skiing (blue skies, cold, fresh snow and NO one on the hill!!)
Life at the Polyclinic has been very busy. The crazy hours are between 2 and 8pm, when the athletes come in from their events or training for assessment and treatment, or during the times of the more dangerous events such as bobsleigh, luge, and alpine skiing. We also take care of the workforce (volunteers) and police so we are always doing something! If we get a quiet moment (usually before 9am), we make sure the clinic is prepared (medications stocked, crash carts all functioning, everything clean and organized) and then, if there is any time left over, we watch any events (often this happens if it’s quiet after 9 or 10pm.) Yesterday I treated a Brazilian Alpine skier (who lives and trains in Italy), and the Iranian woman skier also came in. The athletes from the smaller countries tend not to have doctors traveling with them so utilize our services more. Athletes from the larger teams (USA, Austria, etc) have team physicians and will often come in with their team doc for Xrays, MRI’s, CT scans or lab work.
I was off today and went to the very exciting ladies Super G! Such a technical course produced some upsets and surprises in the results, which kept it exciting! Normally the skiers race on the same courses every year, and this course has only had one other race on it (last year World Cup) so no one really knows it well and the athletes have to learn it and adapt very quickly. For this reason, it is often better (in Super G) not to be the first one down (as Julia Mancuso was today). The coaches watch the first few racers down and radio up to the other athlete any changes in plans, ie, the line they must take to be fastest (and today, to even stay on the course.) For the downhill, the athlete’s get 1-3 training runs in the days leading up to the race, so they have a better idea of the course. The super G has no training run and the athletes get about an hour to inspect the course, or go down it very slowly, with the aid of their coaches, to memorize it and plan their line. Canadian John Kucera, the World downhill champion from 2009, who is unfortunately not racing in these Games due to a leg fracture he sustained in the first race of the year in Lake Louise, compares inspecting and racing super G to cramming for a really big test – but you only have 60-90 mins to learn it all and then your life is at stake if you get it wrong!
After the ladies Super G, I skied all afternoon under blue skies on incredible snow. Now we are off to see the second run of men’s 2-man bob sleigh. Tonight in the village is a big medal ceremony: Canada will receive it’s first medal (a gold in men’s skeleton) in Whistler! The US continues to clean up….. but their are many Noregians here (all thrilled for Svindal, their men’s Super G Olympic champ) and Swiss celebrating recent wins. Next week I will make my first trip to whistler Olympic park to see some X-Country events, which should be very exciting! Tomorrow night the entire nation of Canada will be watching the US-Can hockey game, as will many Americans I’m sure!
Go Canada!
Go USA!