365 True Things: 116/Olympics

In February 2006, I went to Italy to meet up with my cousin Kris and her partner, Dianne, and attend the Olympics in Torino. We went to several of the men's speed skating events (Kris knew two of the competitors) and, for a laugh, a curling session. Now, there's a wacky sport!

I have been in love with speed skating ever since Bonnie Blair took the Olympics by storm in 1994. For years I had a photo of her hanging on the wall by my desk for inspiration. And in 2006, it was exciting being in the stands watching the men—including Apolo Ohno, who won gold in the 500-meter short track.

In 1984, David and I went to two events at the Los Angeles Olympics: men's soccer in the Rose Bowl and an afternoon of track and field at the Coliseum. The highlight there was watching Carl Lewis win a medal, though the entire experience was interesting simply because so much is going on at once in the Olympic stadium. Lewis, for example, was waaaaaay over there across the field, so seeing him and his opponents run their heat was a little anticlimactic. You don't really have a sense of scale—of speed or might—sitting way up high. Even with binoculars, the athletes just look like . . . people, running and jumping around and throwing things.

I'll probably never go to the Olympics again, but it's nice to be able to say I've been to two of them!