Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Settling in and Welcoming Ceremony

On February 4, our missing pieces of luggage finally arrived.  Today, we were on the snow for the first time with our own skis.  The race course is absolutely stunning in terms of views and set up but bit daunting.  There are numerous very steep uphills and downhills (the equivalent of an intermediate downhill ski run).  On one of the downhills we recorded speed of 67km/h, just a bit scary.......

Il 4 febbraio sono finalmente arrivati i nostri bagagli mancanti ed oggi siamo riusciti ad allenarci sulla neve con i nostri sci.  Il percorso di gara e' bellissimo in quanto a panorama, ma da sciare intimidisce un po'.  Ci sono numerose salite e discese equivalenti ad una pista blu da discesa, tanto per darvi un'idea su una delle discese abbiamo raggiunto 67km/h!


In the afternoon we traveled from the Endurance Village, where we are staying with all cross country and biathlon athletes, to the Mountain Village where all the downhill, snowboard and speed events are taking place, in order to attend the welcoming ceremony for Dominica.  During the ceremony the President of the Dominica Olympic Committee exchanged gifts with the Village Mayor, the flag was raised, the national anthem played and the wall of truce signed.  The Wall of Truce represents the commitment by all participating countries and all the athletes to reject violence and compete in the true spirit of the Olympics.  It was a really special afternoon.  Here are some pictures.

Nel pomeriggio si e' tenuta la cerimonia di benvenuto al paese e le nostre assistenti sono venute a prenderci per portarci dal villaggio olimpico Endurance al villaggio olimpico Mountain dove risiedono tutti gli atleti di sci discesa, snowboard, combinata e salto.  Durante la cerimonia il presidente del comitato olimpico di Dominica ha accettato il benvenuto e scambiato regali con il sindaco del villaggio.  Hanno alzato la bandiera con l'inno nazionale di Dominica ed il Presidente ha firmato il Muro di Pace che rappresenta l'impegno da parte di tutte le nazioni partecipanti e tutti gli atleti alla non violenza ed a gareggiare secondo lo spirito olimpico.  E' stata una cerimonia molto bella, ecco alcune foto.



Flags at the Mountain Olympic Village


The team at the Mountain Village Olympic Rings


Flags Boulevard at the Mountain Olympic Village


The Dominica Flag proudly flying


Ice Sculptures 


Right before the Welcoming Ceremony


Underneath the flags


Gary pointing at the Dominica Flag


Felix Wilson, Dominica Olympic Committee President on stage


Signing the Wall of Truce


The team boys with the majorettes


The team with our Sochi 2014 Assistants

Back to the Endurance Olympic Village


Our neighbors: The Czech Republic


France

Italy occupies the two floors underneath us - they forgot to hang their flags.....

4 comments:

  1. belli!
    check this hashtag!! http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/05/sochiproblems-baffled-olympic-journalists-tweet-hilarious-gross-discoveries/

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  2. NY Times Article
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/sports/olympics/caribbean-newcomers-dip-their-toes-in-sochis-snow.html?hpw&rref=sports&_r=0

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    Replies
    1. Angelica and Gary, Fantastic to hear from you! I love seeing Olympic pictures! What we see in the US is never the same feeling or view like being right there! We are so excited to see you race! Please keep blogging! Love every word! Your friends, Thomas and Mary Grace

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