Vancouver 2010 Olympics One Year Later

It’s now been a year since the Vancouver 2010 Olympics when the whole city was alive and buzzing with Olympic excitement. The city of Vancouver has been trying to keep the Olympic spirit alive by having some events to relive the two week celebration and party of hosting the world. Last year, I had the fantastic opportunity to volunteer as an Athlete Host with the City of Abbotsford when the Russian Olympic Figure Skating Team came to train and practice in Abbotsford before the Olympics. 

One of my assignments was to pick up the Russian figure skaters and their trainers at the Vancouver International Airport. I loved being able to interact with the athletes and share in their excitement of participating in the Olympics. I really enjoyed watching the figure skating competition and cheering on the Russian Figure Skating Team that I was able to interact with before the games. It made the Olympic competitions just a little more personal, as I was able to cheer on people that I actually got to know a little bit.

One of the athletes that I picked up from the airport was Ksenia Makarova. Ksenia was just 17 years old and was really excited to come to Canada and be in the Olympics. She flew in from New Jersey where she trained with Viktor Petrenko, but she was born in Russia. She spoke perfect English and was very nice and polite. On the bus to Abbotsford she asked lots of questions about Vancouver and was really excited to be here. Ksenia Makarova placed 10th in her first Olympic games and I think she will be a great competitor in the Russia, Sochi 2014 Winter Games.  She wasn’t expecting anything going into the games and was here for the experience and to perform on the world stage.  

I’m happy that I was able to volunteer and help host these great Russian athletes. It definitely was a unique experience and I’m glad I got to be involved in the Olympics in this small way.