The atmosphere in Vancouver is unbelievable

By Jon Tattrie - The Weekly News
Two Nova Scotians competed at the Vancouver Olympics last week and a third cashed in the trip of a lifetime to watch the Games live.
While Cole Harbour's Sidney Crosby lead the Canadian men's hockey team and Dartmouth's Sarah Conrad competed in the snowboarding halfpipe, 11-year-old Collin Cluett of Dartmouth flew to Vancouver with his mother to watch the opening ceremonies, check out live events and go backstage with athletes.
"It was very exciting. I can't even put it into words, it was that good," the Grade 6 student at Colby Village Elementary School said after touching back down in Halifax.
Cluett's gym teacher entered the athletic and academic student's name in McDonald's Champion Kids contest and he got one of 11 trips to the Games. Five of the Canadians went to the opening of the Games and six to the closing.
A highlight for Cluett was sitting next to the athletes for the opening ceremonies and watching a snowboarder come flying through the Olympic rings. He also got to see the men's 5,000-metre speed skating. "That was very exciting," he said. "I had no idea they actually went that fast. It was really cool."
While he had to miss two other events due to media commitments, Cluett did get a tour of the athletes' village.
"From what I heard, nobody's really allowed inside the athletes village. There was a lot of security protecting it," he said.
Inside, he met athletes informally and heard about the Olympic experience.
Cluett says his favourite Olympic sport is bobsledding and he plays basketball, baseball and is quarterback for the Dartmouth Destroyers minor league football team.
It was his first flight and the biggest trip of his life. As soon as he got home, he turned on the TV. "I've been watching every game so far since I got home," he said. "That's all I've been doing: watching the Olympics."
His mother Michelle Cluett tagged along for the ride. She said the experience was "amazing."
"I find it really hard to put into words. The atmosphere in Vancouver is unbelievable," said the sales representative for Harding Medical. "They have done such a great job organizing for this event and the opening ceremonies were breath-taking. I just wanted to savour every moment of being there."
On top of the Games, McDonalds also organized day trips to the Vancouver Aquarium and to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, she said.
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On the same day that Crosby scored in a shootout to take Canada past Switzerland, Dartmouth snowboarder Sarah Conrad rode her Olympic dream to the semi-finals of the halfpipe, where two falls took her out of contention.
Friends and family gathered at Ski Martock, Dave Doolittle's Taproom & Grill on Tacoma Drive and the Portland Street McDonalds to cheer her on.
Australia's Torah Bright won gold in the event and Conrad, who finished 15th at the Turin Olympics in 2006, finished 18th this year.
"It just wasn't my night, sorry folks. I wasn't quite comfortable in practice and it showed in my runs. Luckily I squeeked through to semis, but fell both runs so no finals for me. I'm disappointed in my riding, but overall we had a great night. Mercedes picked up my slack and threw down an amazing run to put her into the finals. It didn't really matter to me who made it through, I was just relieved that the amazing crowd had a Canadian to cheer for in the finals," Conrad said on her website?Feb. 19.
jon@jontattrie.ca