It’s cold, it’s early but I’m happy
OK, so I do realise there’s been a fair amount of moaning on my part about the Winter Olympics. It’s like university. You groan when you’re in the middle of it, but once it’s over you realise that actually, it was pretty great. I haven’t even left Sochi yet and I’m already starting to feel nostalgic for the atmosphere, the people, the action, but maybe not the food.
So here’s a few parts of Sochi 2014 that have been really, really great.
1. Dancing with Jenny Jones in the Sky Lounge (the mountain’s infamous nightclub) on the night she won her bronze medal in the women’s slopestyle. That was a good day. There are photos, but some things are best kept off the internet.
2. Getting caught in the middle of Lizzie Yarnold’s family when she won gold. I received a text from my mum before it started saying, “Grandma and Auntie Brenda have been notified that you’re at the skeleton final. Position yourself accordingly.” And I unintentionally managed it.
3. Meeting so many interesting people, particularly photographers. From the Italian who’s on his 24th Olympics to the guys from Getty Images whose photos were popping up on The Guardian website as I sat next to them.
4. Flying over the Olympics venues in a helicopter. ‘Nuff said.
5. Using a professional camera properly for the first time and realising the settings are not as mind-bogglingly complicated as I first thought.
6. Seeing the athletes’ reactions when they win gold. It gets me every time.
7. The day I left my laptop on the bus, had a minor freak out inside the media centre canteen, only to go on Twitter and discover a nice Canadian broadcaster had a) found it, b) found me on Twitter (!?) and c) was dropping it off at the main media centre. Technology and Canadians are the best.
I’m sure there are plenty more, but I’ll have to get back to you… I’ve definitely got room for one more Sochi post before I head home on Tuesday. In the meantime, here’s some photos I enjoyed taking this week.
Men’s ski halfpipe
Women’s ski halfpipe
Women’s ski cross
Four-man bobsleigh (or bobsled, as one American insisted I call it)
Four man bob once more
Men’s snowboard parallel slalom
Women’s snowboard parallel slalom
The final event: men’s 50K cross-country sprint
Nina Zietman 
Shout out to my fellow Canadian who returned your laptop! (No idea who it was though) And yes, it is a bobsled. 🙂
I look forward to seeing more of your work, great job from the Centre of Canada – literally. My backyard in the centre if you look at a map.