Edmonton

Sunday | 12 August 2001 | Edmonton, The World's | Day 10: The newspapers were nearly dull today. No new defections, no new drug scandals. All the talk was of the Szabo-Yegorova "feud". Not much of a feud with Szabo finishing 8th. The typical fat World's section was reduced to a little 16-page flyer - smaller than the Wal-Mart ad. It is another beautiful, hot day here in Edmonton, with little wind. We were at the track by 2:00 for the final day of competition. The stands were fairly full too - don't forget after those boring old races the Closing Ceremonies begin!

As we arrived to our seats, the medal ceremony for last night's catfight began. The Bronze medalist, Worku of Ethiopia, didn't even show up! The crowd booed Yegorova loudly - she held her lips firm, not smiling. We did stand for the Russian national anthem, because our Mother's raised us right, but as soon as the song was over - the boo's began anew! I do not want to tell you about the women's 4x400 relay! A disaster for the U.S. when the anchor dropped the baton just after the exchange! They showed the replay on the big screen several times and she tried, she really tried, but it was like juggling a slippery stick at 30 miles per hour. She felt awful and her teammates were not very friendly to her and she quickly hit the press gauntlet on her way out. She had to pass the winning U.S. men's 4x400 relay team during their interviews. Men's anchor Angelo Taylor tried to give her a hug, but she slipped right under his raised arms and ran out! Other than that 'little flub' the Americans were great, winning every other relay. Maria Mutola won the women's 800m final again - barely beating Stephanie Graf of Austria.

US Team wins Gold in the 4x100 relay

The race of the day was the men's 1500m final. It was a fabulous and fast race (even though it was "hotter than Ghana" according to Lisa) with Hicham El Guerrouj (pronounced GAH-roosh) of Morocco taking no prisoners - in a blistering 3:30.68. Bernard Legat, Kenya and Medhi Baala of France were second and third.

1500m start


1500m finish: Legat (standing) congratulates El Guerrouj

It was a tough meet for the Canadians. No Bronze. No Silver. No Gold. They put on a heck of a meet though, very well organized and vow to kick some serious World Butt in the Winter Olympics. They know snow. Sadly, we had to say good-bye to our seat mates, Brian, Bill and Pam - but we exchanged email addresses, so may meet up again at another World's.

We are now having a rest at the motor home while the rest of Edmonton is enjoying the closing ceremonies! It is going to be a Hoe-Down. As we were leaving the stadium on our nearly empty shuttle bus, we could see hundreds of cowboys and cowgirls in matching shirts, along with hundreds of square dancers - heading into the stadium for the End of The World's.

We are going to a party tonight at the Hospitality Center and then must get up around 5:00 a.m. to get Lisa to the airport for her flight. Then we must get back here so the mobile RV repair guy can get our slide room in - forget about the part Holiday Rambler sent us a week ago. We don't need a new part, we need a new motor. Well, that is a long story and we will probably just keep the slide room in the rest of the trip - we will be very "close" the next few weeks... and only one of us can see the television... but we will survive.

EXTRA BONUS COVERAGE: My report from last night: We had a very good time at the party. The event was held at the Granite Curling Club. There was food and drink, a DJ and dance floor and tons of incredibly fit young people dancing and enjoying themselves. El Guerrouj was there (I never saw him!) and also Meb and Abdi. Lisa had fun chatting with her old pals from Sacramento and was offered another internship! The women's 4x100 team were there - beautiful young women, hours of grooming behind them, appeared with perfect nails, make-up and hundreds of dollars of hair extensions. We met a professor from GW (okay, that was a weird coincidence), the throwing coach from Georgia who knew all about Omer (okay, that was also strange) and several of the Canadian shot and discus throwers. Lisa was chatted up by a man from the Montreal office - he thought she was an athlete! Wow, did she love that and, as her mother, I must say she did look divine in her new little dress.

RV Park: Glowing Embers RV Park in Spruce Grove, Alberta