Hello from Vancouver

Published 1:32 pm Thursday, February 11, 2010

Herald photographer extraordinaire Jenny Buchanan and I arrived in Vancouver earlier today—after a shockingly wide-open border crossing, by the way—and we’re ready to provide you with as thorough of coverage as one writer and one photographer can at an event of this size.

The picture above is the view from inside the media centre here in downtown Vancouver. That was actually the second pitcure taken, but Jenny didn’t aprove of my first effort. This is my first Olympics, but word from the seasoned vets here is that this is about as good a media centre as they’ve seen. (And if it’s weird reading “center” spelled “centre,” just wait until I throw out a word like colour or flavour, or refer to a ski racer’s speed in kilometers-per-hour.

And speaking of ski racing, that sport is making some news the last couple of days. Lindsey Vonn, as you’ve probably heard by now, has a bruised shin and may not be able to ski. Vonn came into the games as one of the biggest names—some have jokingly called these the Vonncouver Olympics—and is a medal contender in multiple events.

She caught a bit of a break today, however, as downhill training was cancelled because of poor visibility. American teammate Stacey Cook was one of two women who did ski before the training run was cancelled, and she suffered a crash and was taken off the course in a helicopter.

If the weather doesn’t improve by Saturday, the men’s downhill, one of the early marquee events, could be delayed.