Day 14:Difficult to keep track

There are so many things going on at the same time it is difficult to keep track. We had the men and women curling in a packed venue full of screaming fans, we had the snowboard halfpipe world staring at Shaun White to see one of the most famous athletes perform his unbelievable tricks, we had the speed skaters at the Richmond oval at the same time as the short track skaters were involved in heats and one final.

This was the women's 500 m race. We had 3 strong athletes getting set up for a possible 3 of 4 Canadians on the line in the final. Sadly, Kalyna Roberge did not get to advance as she came in third in her semi final heat. In the final, 2 of 4 skaters are Canadians. Jessica Gregg, who's brother is one of our competing long track skaters, and Marianne St-Gelais. As the gun goes off, the important move is to get to the head of the 4 skaters at the first turn . It is a fast race and doesn't last long. There are not many opportunities to pass someone in such a short time. The thunderous crowd was instantly silenced as our 2 Canadians fell together and took themselves out of the race !!!!!!! At the first turn !!!!!!. Luckily, if such a fall occurs, the referee can call the racers back and re-start. He did. Sigh of relief in the crowd then the volume picked up. It was an exciting event and Marianne came in for a silver medal. The chinese winner is a power house who dominates this event in short track.

By the way, everyone join in to sing Happy Birthday to Marianne who celebrates her 20th birthday today by winning a silver medal at the Winter Olympics.

The curlers were making some noise as well. Both our men and women teams are undefeated after a few days. They are looking good in the tournament but it's a hard event to predict.

The Americans showed their dominance of the events that are part of the Extreme Games. Snowboard halfpipe was a show to watch. When Shaun White came up he did tricks that are simply impressive. You should try and do them on your Wii game as I think there's a Shaun White Snowboard game.

I managed to get our briefly today and got to see Marianne's silver performance. I have watched many hours of television as it is always turned on in our medical clinic. Nothing compares to being there among an energetic crowd of cheering Canadians. Televisions may be HD and big screen but sitting there is is an unmatchable experience.

Tons more sports to happen. Canada is just warming up! Stay tuned.