"I won’t predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible."
~Michael Phelps, swimmer, 18-time Gold Medalist
"No one likes a show-off, but if parallel parking was an Olympic sport,
I would get gold, no problem.
~Miranda Hart
I spend all night sitting on the couch, eating cheese,
watching the Olympics, saying "I could do that."
~Snark eCards
One of the main items on my Original Bucket List was to attend a Winter Olympic Games and a Summer Olympic Games. I missed the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles (a BIG mistake) but did attend the 2002 Winter Games in the Salt Lake City area. I won't be able to make up for missing the Summer Games during my YEAR 77, but I will do my best to complete that item when the Summer Games are held in the future.
SUMMER GAMES
1984 Summer Olympics: These summer games were held in Los Angeles. I was living in Monrovia at the time and since track and field events have always been my favorites I fully intended on going to various venues to watch the events. The newspapers were full of articles estimating how crowded the city was going to be, how bad the traffic would be, etc. etc. Unfortunately I became convinced that going to the various locations would be a nightmare and planned instead to take the family to Utah for vacation during that time. Art W, who like me enjoys track and field events, reports that the city, and the event venues, were not crowded at all. He attended all his favorite events without traffic, long lines, etc. - all the things that I left town to avoid. For years I was kicking myself for not staying in L.A. for those Olympics and promised myself I would never miss an opportunity like that again.
2020 Summer Olympics: The next Summer Games will be held in 2020 in Tokyo and I don't plan to attend those games. However, the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, where the delegation for the 2020 games will be selected, is scheduled to be held in June 2020 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California. I will definitely attend these trials.
2028 Summer Olympics
Los Angeles had a shot at the 2024 Summer Games but lost out to Paris. At the time of the Paris announcement the Committee awarded the 2028 Summer Games to Los Angeles. I will turn 88 that summer and I plan to be in good enough health to finally tick this item from my Bucket List.
WINTER GAMES
2002 Winter Olympics: I was thrilled when it was announced that Salt Lake had won as the host of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Bonnie and I owned a condo in Park City at the time, and although I was encouraged by people in Park City to rent our condo to travelers (for an outrageously high fee) there was no way I was going to miss another opportunity to attend the Olympics.
Bonnie and I spent pretty much the entire month of February 2002 at our Park City condo. We had family and friends there with us most of the time. Mike, Jenny, Bekah and Matthew were there for over a week. Heather and Jon C. spent time with us. One week we had Quent & Barbara, along with Lesly & Abby, and for a couple of days Ted & Dixie were there. I had purchased 4 event tickets for each day and we all took turns going to events. When a person was not at an event it was fun to walk around Park City Main Street where there were many things happening, including Big Screen TV's showing the events live. It really was a wonderful month!
The photos below are the first group at the condo-from the left:
1st row: First photo - Bekah, Matthew, Ron, Jenny, Heather, Bonnie, Mike and Jon C; next is Jenny & Mike; then Heather & Jon C; and Heather, Matthew and Ron.
2nd row: On the balcony watching fireworks (happened every night at 8:00 pm) Bekah, Jenny, Bonnie, Heather, Matthew, Mike and Jon C; at the tic-tac-toe board is Grandpa Ron and Matthew; then Bekah and Matthew at the Olympic Snow Park in a Bobsled; finally is Bonnie and Heather downtown in a snow storm.
Click Photo to Enlarge - Use Arrows for Next Photo
Some days we spent the day "out on the town." Photos below from the left:
1st row: Bekah, Matthew, Mike, Jenny and me on Main Street with one of the large TV's showing live events behind us; then Bonnie, Matthew, Bekah, Jenny and Mike posing with a Park City bear; the same group having lunch; and Jenny and Ron assisting Matthew in his maiden voyage on the ice.
2nd row: The first three photos are of the kids trying out a new type of skate board for use on snow; the last photo is Bekah and Matthew are showing their official Olympic Passes.
Click Photo to Enlarge - Use Arrows for Next Photo
The setup at the different event locations was interesting and impressive. Only a few of us went to the events each day. Photos from the left:
1st row: Each photo is of a location for the various events - i.e. ski jumping, free style, snow board, etc.
2nd row: Me at the freestyle hill with a treat in my coat pocket; then Bonnie, me, Barbara and Lesly at the ski jumps in a cold snow storm; next is Abby just before she and Bonnie left the ski jump area to find a dry, warm area; and Barbara demonstrating that she is a fan of Apolo Ohno.
3rd row: Bonnie, Quent and Barbara getting warm; lastly Ron and Ted returning from the freestyle competition at Deer Valley.
Click Photo to Enlarge - Use Arrows for Next Photo
2018 Winter Olympics: These games are scheduled to take place in February, with the opening ceremony on Friday the 9th and lasting to the closing ceremony on Sunday the 25th, in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. Figure skating, one of my favorites, actual begins on Thursday, February 8th, a day before the opening ceremony. NBC Universal announced that it will air more than 2,400 hours of coverage of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. The coverage is across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app.
NBC also has had extensive coverage of the USA Olympic Trials. Bonnie and I have watched as much of the trials coverage as we could for our favorite events. We really enjoyed the figure skating.
A Little History of My Interest in Specific Olympic Events:
Track and Field: When I was in Junior High School, a Utah newspaper company (The Deseret News) sponsored a track and field program throughout five western states ( Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada) for young people of junior high age. I participated in the Pentathlon for the first time in the spring of 1953 when I was in seventh grade. I enjoyed it so much that it became the most important of my athletic activities throughout the rest of junior high. The Pentathlon consisted of five events; high jump, sprint, broad jump (now "long jump"), basketball goal throw and ball put. Without going through all the details, I did quite well, placing high in local meets, winning 2nd place in the five-states Grand Champion Finals when in 8th grade, and setting a record that stood for many years in the goal throw when in 9th grade. I participated in track and field events (high jump, low hurdles, and running) in high school. While I didn't set any records after junior high, my interest has continued in the track and field events and I love watching the summer Olympics. I have served as an official for the Ladies High Jump at the Arcadia Invitational Track & Field meet since 2006. High Jump, all the running events, and the Decathlon are favorites at the summer Olympics, but I also enjoy watching the other events.
Ice Skating and Snow Skiing: I began ice skating during elementary school and didn't snow ski until college. I was never on teams or in competition in either of these events, but had average ability and enjoyed doing them very much. I have enjoyed watching almost all of the Winter Olympic events and loved seeing many of my favorites when we saw the 2002 Winter Olympics live in Utah. All the events within Figure Skating, the Alpine Downhill races, Ski Jumping, Free Style, Snow Boarding, and Short Track Speed Skating racing are favorites. Depending on the schedules and my time, I'll also watch some Luge, Skeleton and Cross Country. Curling and Hockey, not so much.