Olympic Crush

{Image courtesy of Business Week}

As long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with the Olympics. When I was little, my neighbors and I would pretend that we were gymnasts and have "floor routine" contests across our front yards. Or we would strap on our roller blades and head over to the near-by water tower where we would pretend to be Kristi Yamaguchi or Michelle Kwan (the water tower had the best pavement, just so you know--it was practically pebble-free, therefore perfect).

Sometimes my brother and my across-the-street neighbor, Da-veed (we pronounced everything with silly French accents)  had to participate and we just couldn't ignore their begging. In those cases we would judge their BMXing and one-on-one basketball tournies.

At times we would participate in crazy relay races, or have flexibility contests. All in all, we were pretty competitive. And it was great.

In 2002, I was a freshman at BYU. The Salt Lake and Utah Valley's were chalk full of excitement and anticipation for the upcoming Winter Games. My friends and classmates who had cars volunteered at various events, and performances. The rest of us tried every way we could to get tickets to the events. And I'd have to say I scored. I got two tickets to women's luge! Awesome huh? 

I have to admit at that point in time, I didn't even know what the luge was. I knew what bobsleds were (who hasn't seen Cool Runnings?) and I knew that lugers used the same track. That was the extent of my knowledge.

I went. I climbed the Gold Medal Mile. I got a pin. I had a blast!

My friend Jordan and I stood next to the German bobsled team, and had our pictures taken with female Virgin Islands bobsled team. Nothing can compare to the magic that was in the air.

The Winter 2002 Games were also the debut of Appollo Anton Ohno, a fellow Seattle-ite. Perhaps I didn't get the appeal at the time for the short track star--I thought his soul patch was hideous. But I have to admit, over time, I've become a fan.

And I'm stoked that he and Celski won silver and gold in the 1500 m men's short track.

Here's to the Olympics and the unity and hope it brings to the world! And here's to Ohno!