After visiting Calgary, Canada, home of the 1988 Winter Olympic games with Mike Clark (Otis Elevator team), I headed out to the 2010 Winter Olympic games to watch Erin Pac, former Farmington student (FHS class of 1999, IAR Middle School, and Union Elementary) compete in the Olympic competition as the USA2 bobsled team. Erin is 29 years old and excelled in track, gymnastics and swimming at the high school. She went on to star in track at Springfield College graduating in 2003. Now a world class bobsled driver, she is in the Olympics. The competition begins at 5 pm on Tuesday, February 23. We arrived on Tuesday at 2:15 am. There isn’t much time to sleep, find out where to go, how to get there, best time to beat the crowds, and all the other things we need to know so we don’t miss out on what we came to see. By mid morning our plans are set. We even have time to get our picture taken in the official Olympic bobsled.
The security gate opens at 2 pm, so we get in line at 12:30 pm so we can be up front during the race. The entry is easy; the climb up the mountain to the bobsled start is a bit harder. It’s like trying to climb the hill from the lower playground at Noah Wallace School to the upper field for 45 straight minutes with NO REST! We had to follow every curve of the fastest, steepest sliding track in the world.
Now we have 2 hours and 15 minutes to wait before the start of the 5pm race and the excitement is building. Erin’s sled, USA2, is the sixth sled to start on the first run because they go by the current world rankings. In the second run they go in reverse order determined by the first run’s time, best time goes last. So Erin is next to the last since her team has the 2nd best time. At the conclusion of day one, Erin and her partner, Elana Meyers from Georgia, are in medal contention holding onto second place.
The next day we get up early and purchase tickets to the giant slalom event for the morning session. We want to be back in line by 12:30 pm to get through the security checkpoint at 2 pm to get back to the bobsled start and be up front to see Erin and Elana prepare for the start of the third run. In this run (#3) they will start second determined by the previous day’s results. After Erin and Elana prepared their sled, Erin come by our stands and we all wished her good luck.
Erin’s third run was again excellent and the second best time once again thus holding onto 2nd place overall. This means for the fourth and final run USA2 runs second to last remaining in medal contention.
We leave our spot at the start and go to the finish line to watch the results. The place is packed with spectators so we can’t get near the rail where the sleds stop after their run. So we watch the race on the huge television monitor—but no big deal—being here in just great.
With two sleds to go, one being USA2, Erin and Elana are in 3rd place and still in medal contention. With a good last run they are guaranteed a medal. Everyone is glued to the monitor watching USA2 on their last run. They come in with a time that earns them a spot on the podium! USA2, Erin Pac and Elana Meyers, earn the bronze medal.
What an outstanding ending to a childhood dream for Erin. What’s better than being in the Olympics? Winning a medal for your country…precious.
What a celebration we had after the flower ceremony with Erin’s family and fans routing her on for this fabulous achievement.
Next for us? Back to the room, sleep, pack, take a bus to Vancouver airport where we watch the medal ceremony on TV (Erin and Elana receive their bronze medals), and then fly all night arriving home in Connecticu
t on Friday morning.
What a fabulous time we had and to witness Erin’s victory first hand is something to talk about forever.
John M. Grocki, Noah Wallace School, ‘56
Retired Physical Education, Mathematics Teacher and Middle School Athletic Director
Farmington, CT
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