A snowstorm and a frigid -4° C temperature Friday morning made the Island feel like a more appropriate setting for the Winter Games than Sochi, Russia, where it was a relatively balmy 7° during the opening ceremony.
In Sidney, Olympic fans gathered inside Mary Winspear Centre to watch the opening ceremonies on TV. Several of them were Island volunteers at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
“I like the energy and the idea of bringing young athletes together like this,” said Carol Whitehouse, a visitor services manager on the Peninsula, who was wrapped in a Canada scarf.
“It’s kind of a nice connection that the torch for the 2010 Winter Games first landed in Canada at Victoria, and was here inside this very [Mary Winspear] centre just four years ago.
“And now the flame is being lit in Sochi.”
The crowd clapped and cheered loudly when the Canadian team, led by hockey player and flag-bearer Hayley Wickenheiser, entered the stadium, and clapped politely when the host Russian team entered. There was good-natured laughter when the tiny Bermuda team entered wearing, well, Bermuda shorts.
“I like the sense of community the Olympics brings,” said Deirdre Payette of Sidney, decked out in a Canada Olympic shirt.
As with every Olympics, the Sochi Games have faced controversy over issues such as terror threats, Russia’s anti-gay laws and what some consider to be an obscenely high budget — $51 billion.
“Certain issues will also be up there commanding attention, like costs and terrorism, but it always comes back to these moments [like the opening ceremony] and it sends chills up and down the body,” said Steve Duck of Sidney, a 2010 Winter Olympics volunteer, who organized the gathering.
There were snags at Sochi’s opening. A snowflake effect wouldn’t open, leaving four Olympic rings instead of five. And there was controversy, with the revelation that cauldron co-lighter and former figure-skating gold-medallist Irina Rodnina posted on Twitter a racist picture of U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, last fall.
On the Island, it has been a profitable winter for many sports-themed establishments, which are switching to the Olympics right after the Seattle Seahawks won their first Super Bowl championship last weekend.
Men’s hockey, which features Victoria’s Jamie Benn, captain of the Dallas Stars, will be the big draw. Mike Joss, owner-manager of the Podium Grill on Yates Street, plans to open at 9 a.m. to take advantage of the Canadian hockey action when the men’s games begin next week.
“The Seahawks were huge for us, and the Olympics, especially hockey, is going to be huge for us,” said Joss, who is offering up dishes named Vladimir Poutine, Gold Medal Prawns and Red and White Pasta.
“We may throw some Skittles on the Vladimir Poutine to create a rainbow,” quipped Joss.
The Strathcona Hotel has labelled itself as Victoria’s Canada Hockey House for the Games.
Friday’s weather notwithstanding, the Island’s mild climate means that its contribution to the Winter Games is muted in comparison to the Summer Olympics. There were 48 Island athletes at London 2012, including several medallists, but only two Island athletes for Sochi 2014.
Yet both Benn and snowboarder Spencer O’Brien of Courtenay are medal threats. O’Brien, a 2013 world champion, began her competition Thursday in the Caucasus Mountains that ring the Black Sea resort of Sochi and qualified for the final in women’s slopestyle snowboarding. The Mount Washington-trained boarder goes for gold at 1:15 a.m. PT Sunday.
