Justin Freeman '98 Olympic Emails from Turin, Italy

1/23/06

Hi All,

Okay, I have been at this computer terminal in at surprisingly nice library in Grand Rapids, MN, right next to a tiny brook the locals insist is the Mississippi river, for well over an hour and I am just getting around to thanking everyone for sending their congratulations and good wishes. And there is no way I can get back to even the fairly small number of fans I seem to have individually, so I just have to shout to all of you at once:

THANK YOU!!

On the perhaps egomaniacal assumption that you are interested hearing more than a quick thanks, here goes. I am in Itasca County, Minnesota for the Nor/Am races that took place this past Saturday and Sunday.

They went fairly well, I won the skate race and was fifth in the classic race--I think I missed the wax a bit, and I was still close to the lead.

Now I am staying around for a couple of days and enjoying the rather remarkable ski trails--there are over a dozen groomed areas in a small radius, and where I skied today they had over 30 km of perfectly groomed tracks.

Next I am off to Massachusetts for a couple of job interviews, and then on to Davos, Switzerland, where I will just miss the World Economic Forum but I will get to spend a good week of training before heading to the Olympic village.

I'll try to send another update from Davos!

Justin

2/7/06

Hi Everyone,

We had a long day yesterday! Up at 6:45 so we could catch a bus to Torino at 7:30. Once there we had lunch and then had to be "processed." This involved getting issued cell phones (with 18 Euros of pre-paid time, rather than unlimited calling as in past Olympics, but I'm trying not to complain), getting a shopping cart full of clothes--for Opening and Closing Ceremonies, podium, and just for hanging out in. There was a room full of seamstresses doing nothing but hemming our pants precisely! We had to get sized for rings and decide whether the gold plate was sufficient or if we wanted to shell out for 18k gold with diamonds and such, we had to review medical history, try on our other clothes, and of course wait in line while everyone else did the same things. Apparently we were the fastest team through, only about three hours to get processed, and so we had to kill an hour before the press conference.

Of course, this being Italy they couldn't actually drive us to the press conference, they simply drove us to an intersection near the building and then stopped in the middle of traffic so that a dozen and a half confused nordic skiers could run across the street dodging traffic!

We could still smell the paint drying in the building where they lined us up, loaned us matching jackets, and sent us into a room (first women, then men) to answer whatever questions the various media might have for us. I was asked relatively few questions, but my brother kind of held us up--it was now after nine and we still had a two hour bus ride to Sestriere, where the Village (one of three) we are staying is located.

Once there we had to show passports and be issued official credentials, and then catch a shuttle to our living quarters. They are a bit cramped, especially with all the extra stuff we have acquired, but adequate. A lot of today has been spent packing bags of schwag to send directly home (paid for by USOC and

DHL) and figuring out what we might actually need.

Despite all the hassles I am thrilled to be here.

Tomorrow I will even get to ski! And on Thursday we have a team time trial that will help decide who skis in which races. I won't be skiing the first race, the pursuit, but if Thursday goes well you can look for me in the classic race. I'll keep you posted!

Justin

2/10/06

Wednesday:

We took a shuttle from the Cross Country Stadium in Pragelato back up to the Olympic Village at Sestriere.

Before entering the drop off/pick up zone, the car had to be searched by security. While we were being searched, a few Russian athletes who had been walking around town tried to walk in. They were told that only people in shuttles could come through here, on foot they had to walk around to another entrance. So they knocked on the door, the driver let them in, and security seemed satisfied that no one had passed them on foot!

Thursday:

We had a team time trial to help determine who will race the 15 km classic. It turned out only three of us raced, and I won the time trial handily. So I will almost definitely race on the 17th, and if that goes well I will ski the relay as well. We did the time trial on the course for the 15 km--it is a tough course, a little of everything, and I think I can ski well on it.

In an hour I have to be dressed and ready to head for opening ceremonies, so I'd better sign off.

Justin

2/11/06

I just watched the Canadian coverage of Opening Ceremonies and saw myself--hopefully I was on TV in the U.S. as well (for whatever reason all I could watch here was Italian or Canadian coverage--go figure).

It was a long day yesterday. I got dressed for the ceremony at 3:30 and wasn't in bed until after midnight. But it was worth it.

The organization here still leaves something to be desired. We watched the start of the ceremonies and much of the athlete's parade on a big screen in the hockey arena, and then suddenly the organizers were yelling at us to assemble and start heading out. We actually had to run a couple hundred meters, and then got a chance to catch our breath while the countries ahead of us went in.

The noise (both fans and athletes screaming) was overwhelming as we marched into the stadium. There was a section of bleachers chanting USA! and waving flags.

And then those of us who wanted to get home a a (semi) reasonable hour had to step out of the parade and watch the other teams from the sidelines. We just got to see the Italians come in and then we were spirited away back to the buses.

On my way out there was someone, not sure if he was spectator or volunteer, begging everyone to sign a t-shirt. It made his day when I stopped; it would have been nice to sign others but I didn't really want to get marooned in Torino!

I am a bit tired today and taking it easy, but nine hours of sitting on buses and in bleachers was a small price to pay for the three minutes of marching!

Justin

I am definitely slated to race the 15 km classic on Friday. The race goes off at 10:00 AM CET, that's 4 am EST and 2 am MST. I won't have a start list till the night before, but I will probably go out around the middle, maybe bib 40 or 50 of 90 (which means I will race from say 10:25 till 11:00). The start list and other info will be posted on www.torino2006.org, and insomniacs can follow the race live on that website.

The course is a pretty good one. It is two laps of a

7.5 km loop. The first 4 km of the course are fairly mellow, a few small climbs but nothing super challenging. Then there is a big climb, a huge downhill, and an even bigger climb. I did intervals on this section of course yesterday, and I felt good and I think I know how to ski it. Then the loop goes down another big hill and has a deceptively long gradual climb into the stadium.

The weather has been perfect--cold at night but so sunny I had to buy sunscreen to keep my face from burning. But it looks like it will warm up even more, and there is a chance of rain or snow which could damage the course a bit. I'm not too worried about that though--our wax techs should be able to handle any weather that gets thrown at them.

I'll write more when I know more and have time.

Justin