Three vignettes show Olympics in person
give you so much more than television
By Holly Calmes
Special to GwinnettForum.com

(Second of two Olympic articles by Holly Calmes of the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Gwinnett.)

PARK CITY, Utah, Feb. 22, 2002 -- The Olympics are not about a city or sports records. They are about people transcending the ordinary, creating new levels of communication and understanding. That is an idealistic way to look at the Games. Another way is to experience it first-hand, which I have just done.

Last Thursday evening I witnessed three separate occurrences that put the Games in context for me. It was Valentine's Day, and I sat front row center at the Men's Gold Medal Figure Skating Competition.

I had come to cheer my favorite skater Alexei Yagudin, underdog to his fellow Russian, Pluschenko. But Pluschenko had fallen during his short program. From the moment Yagudin hit the ice, he knew the gold was his. This young man had endured injury, illness, and bad luck over the last year, but he's tenacious, and was set for victory.

When his long program finished, the music ended, the crowd roaring, Yagudin did not strike a pose and bow. Overcome with emotion, he threw himself on the ice, pounded it with his fists, kissed the surface. It was the most profound expression of joy I have ever seen. He set Olympic history with four 6.0 marks, the rest 5.9s.

What viewers didn't see on TV:

A total of 23 young men skated before Yagudin. One was a Chinese who began smoothly, but with every jump, he fell hard. On his fourth fall he lay still.

His music continued without him. That's when the crowd began clapping, chanting, The Chinese boy lifted his head, slowly came to his feet and finished his program, obviously injured but not a quitter. He received the second largest ovation of the night, proving that the Olympic spirit belongs to the spectators as well as the athletes.

The third occurrence was on a lighter note. Walking back from the skating, our group was surrounded by a gaggle of rowdy "twenty-somethings". A limo passed and one young man shouted, "That's Michelle Kwan! I love you! Michelle! Marry me!" He ran alongside shouting his proposal until the limo outdistanced him. Now, that's an Olympic Dream of major proportions!

* * * * *

The Olympic Village was in Park City, a "for-real" Western mining town lovingly restored. It was THE place to be, and everybody wanted to be a cowboy. Crowds were plentiful but not overwhelming, and you learned to look for credential badges to spot Olympians. Trinkets were tastefully tucked into shops. Park City was simply itself. This lily didn't need gilding.

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OLYMPIC TOUR . Today's columnist, Holly Calmes, is pictured here in Park City, Utah, at the Winter Olympics.

To read today's column by Elliott Brack, click here.

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