February 21, 2002
Hello again,
I went to Utah Olympic Park today to watch the ski jumping part of the Nordic Combined event. All I can say is 'impressive'. The hill and jump looks so huge and steep when you are up close. A more appropriate term would be ski flying rather than ski jumping. They really do fly through the air. I had the good fortune to be seated next to a member of the 1999 World Cup Ski Team. He gave those of us around him a running commentary of what was going on. It was great to hear his comments. The Nordic Combined event has two parts. The first is the jumping. Where they place in the jumping event determines where they start in the cross country skiing event. Hopefully the U.S. skiers are good at cross country, because they didn't finish at the front of the pack in the jumping event.
Germany still leads in the total medal count, but the gap is closing. Germany has 32 medals, the U.S. has 30, Norway with 20, Austria has 15 and Russia with 14. The goal of the U.S. was to win at least 20 medals in this Olympics. They have surpassed that by far. Sarah Hughes is a very happy young lady tonight. She won the gold medal in women's figure skating, upsetting Michele Kwan. Many here hoped that Michele would take the gold, but it was not to be.
Only three days left. It seems like I just got here. I am going to hate to see it all end. Not because I don't miss my family and all my co-workers at CATA, but because I will have to leave all the new friends I have made here.
Til tomorrow, Len
The sign coming into the venue at Utah Olympic Park
U.S. skier coming off the jump
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