February 14, 2014 [21]
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Watching Celski’s first race at the Sochi Olympics
Sue and I feel indebted to Mayor Jim Ferrell and the City Council for recognizing J.R. as an Olympian at the Council meeting on Feb. 4. He feels the support from Federal Way all the way over in Sochi. Today is the day we have waited for since our last Olympic experience in 2010. Sue, our son Chris and I flew out of SeaTac Airport at Sunday, Feb. 9 7:30 a.m. on time, narrowly As I write this we are avoiding a snowstorm that in flight from Moscow to pummeled the Portland Sochi, the third and last leg area. We were nervous all in a trip halfway around the week that this storm would world. hit our area and interrupt Our flight from New York the start of our adventure. to Moscow departed about We were also concerned an hour late. We don’t about another major know why, there was snowstorm that was never an explanato hit the Northeast, SOCHI tion. It was a very but apparently we smooth flight for arrived and departnine hours. When ed from New York we landed in Mosahead of this storm. cow, clapping broke out Travel in the winter is all over the plane. I’ve never so unpredictable. One delay on multi-leg flights cascades seen that happen before. It was quite interesting. into an extended trip. So Right as we touched far, luck is on our side. As down in Moscow, our flight I write this we are soon to leave New York for Moscow. to Sochi began boarding. We were nervous about The coverage last night missing the connection to on the King 5 Olympic Sochi because if we missed Zone just prior to the that, there was a possibility Opening Ceremonies had that we would miss being a nice feature on J.R. Aside at his 1,500-meter races on from showing his story, we Monday afternoon. are amazed at how much As we were taxiing, one the media is tying him to of the flight attendants told Macklemore, the Grammy us to get up, grab our stuff winning artist from Seattle. and move to the front of It makes sense though, as the plane. So we complied, both have recovery stories knowing we were in jeopand through this common theme have formed a friend- ardy of missing that flight. She did this to get us quickly ship. off the packed plane. Prior to the U.S. Olympic The airline and on-theTeam walking out for the ground staff were kind and Opening Ceremonies, we most helpful. No less than were astonished that NBC eight representatives “ran” chose J.R. as one of two ath11 of us from our arrival letes to be interviewed. Cris Collinsworth, announcer for gate to our departure gate NBC Sunday Night Football, through the crowd. At least one-quarter of a mile. We asked J.R. several questions, were whisked on the plane ending with J.R. doing a and the doors closed as the shout out for the Seahawks. last of us boarded and we J.R. is a very proud member were off. We were amazed at of the 12th Man who got up the coordination and timing at 3 a.m. in Sochi to watch the Super Bowl. He was very of this transfer. The last leg of the trip was sleepy, yet made it through about two-and-a-half hours. the game and took a short On the final approach to nap during halftime. Sochi, we saw the Olympic Some may be surprised Park, the Olympic Torch that we wouldn’t know
OLYMPICS
J.R. Celski and his family pose for a photo at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. courtesy celski family and the athletes village. It was an awesome sight with the North Caucuses mountains in the background. As we touched down, all the Russian passengers began clapping again. Surprisingly enough, our bags made the flight to Sochi on our plane. This was amazing as we were only on the ground in Moscow for what seemed to be about 20 minutes. We spent Sunday evening securing our luggage, exchanging currency, traveling to the Adler train station to get our spectator passes, and taking a bus to the hotel with a ton of luggage. It took several hours to do this and we finally arrived at the hotel about 10:30 p.m. Sunday night. So we made it, despite all the uncertainty of travel, storms, missed flights, baggage transfer, finding our way via bus to the hotel on Sunday night in Sochi, etc. It was a huge relief when we entered our room.
Monday, Feb. 10
After an early breakfast, we caught a bus to the Olympic Park to pick up all the tickets we bought, and
get our park passes. Getting into the Olympic Park was not much different than going through security at the airport, except that rather than English speaking TSA agents, we were dealing with Russian speaking volunteers. As expected, most of the communication was done with motions and gestures, but we muddled through. Once in the park, we toured various sites and then queued up in the line for the Sochi Olympic store. We waited for about an hour before entering, but found some interesting souvenirs to bring home. It is a very photogenic place, and we took a lot of pictures. Monday was J.R.’s first race – the 1,500 starting at 1:45 p.m. Just before entering the venue, called the Iceberg Palace, we took pictures in front of the Olympic Torch. What a grand site that was. It is a huge torch. The Iceberg Palace is one of several Olympic venues in the park. It is a beautiful state-of-the-art facility. By the time events started, the place was filled to about 90 to 95 percent. It is no secret now how things fin-
ished in the races that day. J.R. breezed relatively easy through the quarterfinals and the semifinals to get into the medal round. He looked good through those races. J.R. finished fourth, just missing getting on the podium. While disappointed in his performance, great athletes have amnesia because they can’t harbor on past successes or failures, but rather, concentrate on the next event. After the event, our family (Sue, Chris, Andrea – J.R.’s girlfriend, J.R. and I) spent the evening with J.R. at the Procter & Gamble Family Home. This is P&G’s sponsored hospitality house where athletes and families can get away from the busyness of the games to rest, eat
and just hang out. I was able to spend some time with J.R. and he feels confident in his upcoming races.
Tuesday, Feb. 11
To get our accommodations, we went through the International Olympic Committee’s ticketing and accommodations contractor. We are staying in a resort on the Black Sea, a very nice place. We went through them to guarantee a place to stay with a reputable provider. Sue and I took a bus to the Olympic Park to meet one of the U.S. speedskating staff. Our purpose was to deliver to J.R. some special breakfast cereal, juice and supplements that J.R. asked us to bring from the states.
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Saturday, Feb. 8
about something like J.R. being selected for such an interview beforehand. As parents, we learned from our Vancouver experience to be “hands-off ” of J.R. During world-level events like this, he is constantly under the gun by the media, fans and sponsors, all while training and maintaining equipment, resting, etc. With such pressure, we don’t want to add to his burden and contribute to him losing focus. So we keep silent, and wait for him to reach out to us even when we are present at the event. As parents, this is a tough pill to swallow but critical to his success. We learned this firsthand during the Olympic Trials back in 2009.
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This blog, which can also be read at www.federalwaymirror.com, is written to keep the proud people of Federal Way informed about one of the city’s sons, short track speedskater J.R. Celski and the experience of his parents, Bob and Sue, during the Olympics.
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