Almost done...

Well, here we are, only a few hours away from the Closing Ceremonies.  In some ways, the past three weeks have gone by very quickly, and yet at the same time, I am ready to come home. 

Today was the first day since before the games began that the entire Comms team was in the IBC at the same time, so we gathered this afternoon to take our traditional team photo.

(From left: Rickey, Patrick, Kevin, John, Bob, Sean, and Tony)

This is a great bunch of guys, and I am so proud to be a part of this team.  Thanks to John, and NBC, for continuing to invite me to participate at the Olympics, and to Bosch for allowing me to come.

(Great photo from John from inside the stadium!)

Canada's final medal of the games was won by Marc de Jonge, another bronze, in the men's K1 200m.  Our goal had been to place in the top 12 for medal count, with an estimated 22 medals.  We ended up in 13th spot, with 18 medals, and "only" one gold, but I hope that nobody is too disappointed.

Adam Van Koeverden talks about some of the Canadian Olympic veterans: Simon Whitfield, Clara Hughes, and Alexandre Despatie, and what they've meant to him and to Canada in this article.

In another article from CTV, we hear the story of Damian Warner and how he achieved 5 personal bests in 10 events, finishing 5th in the decathlon, after coming in ranked 24th in the world, and the story of Paula Findlay, who's heartfelt (and unnecessary) apology to Canada, after finishing last in the Triathlon (because of a nagging hip injury that has lasted more than a year), touched us all.

The same article talks about Grenadian sprinter Kirani James trading bibs with South African "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius after their 400m semi-final (an event in which James won the gold, while Oscar failed to qualify for the final).  Oscar has been selected to carry to flag in the closing ceremonies for South Africa.

Meanwhile, as I had hoped, Christine Sinclair has been chosen to carry the flag for Canada.  She led Canada to their first team sport medal since 1936, was the tournaments highest scorer, nearly single-handedly beat the US (gold medal winners) in the semi-final when she scored three times, is tied for second all-time with most career goals internationaly, and has been the face of Canadian women's soccer for as long as I can remember. I think she deserves it.

Our job here in Comms is pretty much done, we've just checked in the communications for the Olympic Stadium, the Blimp, and the two SNG trucks, now we just sit back and watch (and listen) for any problems.

I'll be posting live on Facebook during the closing ceremonies (spoiler alert if you are taping them to watch later), and will have another post with some photos from closing after it's done.