at the sliding centre for 4 man bobsleigh

The 4 man bobsleigh qualifying round took place this afternoon at the Whistler Sliding Centre, a beautiful facility on the side of Blackcomb Mountain. A number of competitors were eliminated as a result of crashes , scary to watch even though they aren't injured. Tomorrow is the final two rounds with the last round determining the winner. Hundreths of seconds become the margins of difference so a slightly bad start or a wrong line on a wall can make all the difference between gold and something else.

 

This look at the scoreboard early in the first round shows these differences.

Standing and waiting for the sleds to come down the track you can hear them approaching long before they arrive. In spite of this they pass very quickly and you have to take a lot of pictures to get the money shot. Hopefully I did get one.

 

There is usually a good crowd for these either in the stands or along the track - tickets can be had a t a reasonable price if you're willing to stand.

 

They also have large screens so you can view what's happening along the track including at the start and finish lines.

 

This picture is Canada 1 pilot Lyndon Rush and one of his teammates. We had two of the Canadians in for doping control,chosen at random, one was very pleasant and the other more subdued and unhappy with his result. 

I also took a picture of the section of track where the unfortunate death of the Georgian luger took place. You can see the higher wall installed and some flowers left as a memorial.

It was an easy testing day with only 4 randoms done. The finals tomorrow promise to be very busy with 16 athletes to be tested - 2 selected at random from the top 5 finishers and 2 each from 3 sleds selected at random. Our station will be a very crowded place and it will be a zoo at the finish area where the athletes get notified of their selection for doping control. As there will be medal presentations that evening some of the medallists may be transferred to our doping control station at the medals plaza so that both things can take place , and no we won't be doing the testing while the athlete is on stage for the medal presentation. It will also mark my last full day at the Olympics. A fantastic voyage that is coming to an end.

For those following my bet with my Norwegian ex-roomie Christain Canada has now taken the lead and I expect to leave Sunday with his $2 in my pocket and a lot of bragging rights. Way to pull it out Canada athletes! Deen meanwhile in Barbados went with some friends to watch the Canada Slovakia hockey game at Bert's Bar. This was a sacrifice for her above and beyond the call of duty for someone who normally goes to bed at 9pm. In this case the game started at 10:30pm Bajan time and she was back in the hotel by about 1am. She then called me thanks to the wonders of Skype to share in the victory. Meanwhile son Geof was texting me throughout the evening letting me know about the speed skating results.