Kitsap at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

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It’s one thing to watch the Olympians rush down the track or speed down the hill; it’s a completely different thing to watch them be rewarded for their years of effort and Olympic success in the sport that they love. It’s one thing to watch a Medal Ceremony through the videographer’s eyes, on the television; its a completely different thing to stand amongst the videographers and photographers, just twenty feet away from the Olympians themselves, as they posed for pictures, their medals high and their spirits even higher.

From where we were, right behind the photographers, we could see the athletes smiling; I felt like I could feel a fraction of their happiness, a fraction of their satisfaction, a fraction of their appreciation of their team mates, fans, and countries. We watched the medals for Men’s Cross Country Relay be awarded to Czech Republic (Bronze), Norway (Silver), and Sweden (Gold). It was a nice change from the huge crowds at the actual events, ranging from 5,000-10,000 people at each event; there were around 1,500 people at the Medal Ceremony.

After spending three days going to adrenaline packed events–Men’s Combined (Downhill and Slalom), Team Ski Jumping, Men’s Giant Slalom, and Women’s Bobsled–a day to rest and a relaxing evening spent at a Medal Ceremony was exactly what we needed…NOT.

Once the athletes had left the stage, the band for the evening, Jet, made their entrance, along with the extra 2000-3000 people outside the gates, waiting for the musical performance (tickets weren’t needed to see the band). Within a few minutes, the fence we were leaning on (yes, the fence in the VERY front!) became the fence we were pressed against by the thousands of people now behind us. I didn’t mind; I was 30 feet away from the lead guitarist of JET!

The biggest problem (for my parents, anyway) was probably how we were right outside the entrance to the mosh pit; those people pushing up against us were the impatient 20-something-year-olds that decided that they didn’t have to wait to be inside the mosh pit to start dancing like maniacs.

While my dad looked rather overwhelmed, trying (and succeeding =]) to take pictures of the band, I was absolutely loving it. The energy given off by the band onstage and the mosh pit right next to us gave me what was probably one of the biggest adrenaline rushes of my life. I have never been that close to a band before, and for my little brother, Trevor, this was his first ever concert! He came out saying, “That was the best hour of my life!”

When he said that, all I could think of were the Olympians, whose effort was finally rewarded; it was the best hour of their life too.

Jillian Neault

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Tags: JET, Victory Ceremony, whistler

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 12:06 pm by jilliann and is filed under From the Neault Family, photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.