The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2002, Blaðsíða 48

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 57 #3
The much traveled mural and 1920
Olympic Gold Medal Winners
More context. First, the scale and the
ambition of an Olympic Games is astound-
ing. Amplify anything you've seen on tele-
vision and in the media by several fold and
you'll begin to relate to the scope of the
undertaking. The logistics, on a myriad of
levels including arts, theatre, community
events and of course, the athletic competi-
tions themselves, combine in an intensely
integrated fashion. Add to this the realities
of the world post 9/11—including a
tripling of the security budget to nearly
$300 million. In the weeks preceding the
games, one became accustomed to the
drone of helicopters overhead and legions
of armed militia and security personnel
everywhere.
The New Yorker magazine aptly char-
acterized this pre-games paranoia with a
front cover depiction of an Olympic ski
jumper flanked on either side by security
personnel in midair. Humorous, but it cap-
tured the sense of foreboding and anxiety
that preceded the Olympics. Even the
weather played a factor. Right up to the
opening games, the weather in Salt Lake
City was bleak and the city was regretfully
enduring one of its least attractive features,
an inversion, which several times each win-
ter coats this city in a thick blanket of fog
and smog.
The sense of relief that came with the
opening ceremonies was palpable. The
weather changed as if someone had hit a
switch—as the opening games got under-
way a few gentle snowflakes completed the
magical atmospherics, subsiding to a crys-
tal clear and cold starry evening. A few
blocks away at Iceland house, we watched
the opening ceremonies and the arrival of
the Icelandic athletes, enveloped with the
sense of being involved in a once-in-a-life-
time event.
The Icelandic athletes were six in all
and almost exclusively focused on the more
technical alpine skiing disciplines including
giant slalom, super G, and slalom.
Consider this—there is no skiing this year
in Iceland at all. There is no snow on the ski
slopes in Iceland! All the athletes train in
other parts of Europe. Imagine explaining
this to visitors at Iceland House. Under the
circumstances, the Icelandic athletes distin-
guished themselves with honour, if not
medals.
TEAM CANADA
We now come to the final chapter in
this Olympic Saga. How the Falcons and
Team Canada made history together.
Team Canada's good humour and
optimism at the press conference was well
justified. The day prior, one of the biggest
upsets in Olympic ice hockey had
occurred. Sweden was defeated by Belarus,
4-3. It was amazing. In addition, Canada
had squeaked by Finland, 2-1. Something
big was happening and the preliminary
round was nearly forgotten.
As all Canadians know, Canada blew
by Belarus on Friday. A trip to the gold
medal game was assured. Marno received a
call from Team Canada’s Ian Rentz on
Saturday morning saying, "Team Canada
wants to celebrate with the Falcons and
Tomax." Jaye took over and by midnight
we had converted the second floor of
Tomax (Iceland House) into a facility that
could accommodate 400 people.
The next day, after one of the most
spectacular hockey games in history, over
600 guests showed up. All the athletes,
their wives, children, and everyone associ-
ated with Team Canada were on hand.
Private jets were landing 90 miles outside
of the no-fly zone (due to closing cere-
monies) prior to and during the game, and
limos were showing up at the party. When
the media finally realized where the secret
celebration was taking place, the front of
our building, featuring the 33 foot
Icelandic flag, became a congregation of
news-people looking for a glimpse or a
chance to sneak in. But, without a pass or
the explicit say-so of Team Canada, no
media was permitted except for one
reporter from CBC who snuck in.
These people were beyond happy - it
was a feeling of relief and celebration that