Jamie Moriarty '03 Blogs About His Olympic Experience

2/10/2010 12:45:21 PM

* Photo Gallery (Updated Feb. 27, 2010)

Former All-Ivy League safety Jamie Moriarty '03 is in Vancouver after making the U.S. bobsled team. He will periodically be checking in with Cornell's official web site, www.CornellBigRed.com, to share his thoughts on his first Olympic experience.

Monday, February 8, 2010
It's 6:00 a.m. and I am sitting at gate B5 in Salt Lake International Airport. I woke up this morning at 4:55 a.m., a time that on any other day would almost make me sick to my stomach. But today is different. I am heading to Vancouver today to compete as an athlete in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games! How could I be anything but completely excited? At about 4 p.m. West Coast time, we will be going through team processing which is going to be just like Christmas. Loads of gear will be piled up in our many oversized duffels…an amazing start to an incredible two weeks.

11:13 p.m. – I have finally finished a long amazing first day in Vancouver. Team processing is half over and so far -- it is more fun than I could have imagined. Everything has been fun, from the customs check-in for athletes only and credential check-in (where athletes get their All-Access passes with their name, picture, sport, etc. detailed on the pass) to clothing distribution.

After arriving at the hotel where the main part of processing took place, we began our journey through the many banquet rooms picking our watches, getting sized for our Olympic rings, and of course…getting our Nike and Ralph Lauren clothing and shoes/boots. Along this entire process there are people personally guiding you from one station to the next. When I arrived at the “gear room”, I was given an aluminum framed roller with a cloth basket…similar to the ones housekeeping would use for towels from a pool. In this huge “hamper” I began the process of being fit and given all the clothing, shoes, etc. Going through this heaven, you are met at multiple stations by amazing volunteers ready to help make sure you get exactly what you need. They look at your clipboard of information on clothing and sizing and fetch articles try on. Once you have decided on your size, you are given a brand new packaged version of the pieces of clothing you had just tried on. This process was a blur, from station to station we moved trying on clothes, shoes, boots, hats and all with the most generous caring people. Every single person was looking out for your best interest…making sure the items you were trying on and given were exactly the right size for you. This process took about four hours…a pretty long time when the entire time you are basically moving around a room with a personal shopper. After we received all our gear, we proceeded to a fitting room where we were dressed in our opening and closing ceremonies outfits…and I really do mean dressed. There were RL personnel ready to fix your socks, cuffs, tie your tie…anything you needed. This experience made me once again feel like a 6-year-old on Christmas with 50 parents…it was awesome! After the fitting, where anything that needed tailoring got fit…Christmas came to an end…just as fast as it began.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Our first day in the Vancouver Olympic Village is coming to a close and what a day it was! My teammates and I have decided that it is too hard to describe this experience as there is nothing else to even compare it to. This is far better than a Super Bowl, a World Series, a music or film awards because of its size, meaning, and of course the fact that you spend a minimum of four years trying to make it to this one event. I will however try my best.

Today started with an athlete ambassador meeting in which Dan O'Brien (one of my all-time favorite Olympians from my childhood), introduced us to some of the procedures for the upcoming weeks as well as gave us a motivating speech for our upcoming competitions.

From our meeting, we were bussed from the hotel to the Olympic Village in Vancouver. The Village is a compound about as secure as a military base and is made up of apartment buildings that are priced anywhere from 3-8 million dollars from what I have heard. Upon entry through the security tent, which is set up like airport security, we were sent to our rooms where we met our bags, which were once again brought to us by an amazing group of volunteers. The first stop after our rooms was of course…the dining hall. The dining hall is once again a “heaven” for anyone who likes food. It offers everything from sushi, to steak, to a McDonalds….all free, in unlimited quantities, and 24/7. It's a pretty cool feeling to walk up to a McDonalds, order your food…watch the items pop up on the screen with prices and walk away with your food without paying a cent.

After working off the fast food with probably the best workout our team has had together…multiple personal records in squats ... we got dressed for the night. ..and I have to say, we are the best looking country in Vancouver. Dressed in all our RL gear, we went to dinner (where everyone was checking us out) and then headed to “the Barn”, an athlete lounge with shuffle board, pool tables, Wiis, Play Stations, DJs and live music to name a few bits of entertainment. The Barn was an awesome night club where Vitamin Water was the drink served from the bar. After playing a few rounds of Wii golf and listening to some Men's Bobsled/Women's Ice Hockey Rock Band songs, I am now back in my apartment and getting ready to call it a night.

Saturday, February 13, 2010
Last night was yet another astonishing day in Vancouver, and one of the most popular in the world…the Opening Ceremonies. Looking back on that experience, I can't help but recognize how lucky we are as athletes to have the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Usually when you are an athlete and have the opportunity to walk out into a stadium packed with screaming fans, you are walking out to perform. In the Super Bowl for example, you run out onto the field and within minutes, are kicking the ball off and “in the zone,” not able to soak in everything around you. For the Olympic athlete, the walk into the stadium is quite a different experience. We walk into a stadium and our performance is the walk around the stadium floor, allowing us the opportunity to admire the incredible event where we are at the center. Because I was able to walk and breathe in every moment, once again, I can only describe it as a moment you can't describe. It is incredible.

It even started before the USA was called onto the floor. We were in a long precession in the catacombs of the stadium slowly moving closer to the entrance. With every step that we got closer to the door, the energy that we felt in that tunnel increased. It was really amazing, you could actually feel it as we got closer and the music got louder. Turning the corner to the ramp that took us to the stadium floor, was when it really started to hit me. I had chills down my spine and as soon as I heard U.S.A. announced over the speakers, the flood gates opened. It was like we were let out of the gates. Not a single person on the team was able to hold in all that energy that had been building…all we could do was scream.

Sunday, February 21, 2010
A lot has happened since my last entry. I am now in the Whistler Olympic Village where we have been living since the 13th. We moved up here the morning after Opening Ceremonies in order to be closer to the bobsled track on Blackcomb Mountain. It's a totally different environment here…a smaller village, more intimate, and with a rustic feel to it. I'm really thankful that we were able to experience both the Vancouver Village and now the Whistler Village. Usually an athlete only gets the opportunity to stay at the Village closest to the venue they compete at, so we are really lucky on so many levels.

Since making it to Whistler, my Olympic experience has shifted gears from the less bobsled specific tasks such as press conferences, interviews and appearances, to a more focused frame of mind – getting back on the ice and down to business. Our days are spent at the track with just enough time to eat and train back at the Village. Although it was great staying in Vancouver and not sliding, only worrying about lifting and running, I feel more comfortable back on the ice and taking trips down in our 2-man. There was something missing the first week we were here, and I didn't notice it until I got back on the ice and went down the Whistler track. Olympic competition is what I have spent the last four years pursuing, and I am back in position to compete and represent the Stars and Stripes.

After a week in Whistler, I was able to be a part of my first Olympic Bobsled race. Although I was not competing in the 2-man race, it was great to be a member of the team representing the U.S. on the mountain…and in the Olympics! I still am not used to that. It still is crazy for me to think that I am competing in the Olympics and that tonight Olympic medals were won in the bobsleigh event.

With the 2-man race down, I am really looking forward to getting in that 4-man and feeling the speed. To say simply that I cannot wait is the understatement of the century.

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