Ice Dancing and Reading?

Yes, but not at the same time! Olympic Ice Dance Champs talk to Kid Reporter

To be honest, I didn’t particularly remember the details of the Ice Dancing competition from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when I got the assignment to interview Silver Medalist Ice Dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. My mom and I went onto YouTube to do some research!

We found many interesting interviews and videos of their ice dancing routines. I was really impressed by their “Indian-inspired” ice dance in the Olympic competition. The music and choreography were great! Both skaters were completely in sync with the music and each other.

I also liked the Phantom of the Opera ice dance. Toward the end of that routine, there was an interesting lift that involved Meryl flipping onto Charlie’s back and positioning her skate blade on his calf while gliding across the ice. How did they not fall doing that move? They made it look so smooth and easy.

Just before the interview I had butterflies in my stomach. I was nervous and excited at the same time. When I got to the ice arena for our scheduled meeting, Meryl warmly welcomed me and went to find Charlie. When I asked them the questions, they gave me great answers—just the answers I needed to write a great article. They were extremely nice and told me that I had done a terrific job for my first interview. No more butterflies!

One really interesting thing I learned about the ice dancing pair is that they love to read and are excited by Scholastic’s Campaign to “Read Every Day. Lead A Better Life.”

“Reading every day is something we take to heart,” Meryl said. “Our education is something we really take pride in.”

“Reading books you enjoy can help you advance your education,” Charlie said. “For me, it was key in being accepted into a great college like University of Michigan.”

Both have their respective lists of “influential books” noted on Scholastic’s You Are What You Read website. Some of their all time favorites are targeted for teens and older such as The Chronicles of Amber (Charlie’s favorite) and The Lord of the Rings (Meryl’s favorite).

I asked them about their favorite childhood books. Meryl said The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was her favorite book because of the adventures and mischief she could experience by reading.

And Charlie’s favorite childhood book? A story about a bunny rabbit that sucks all the juice from vegetables.

“Actually, just mentioning the book makes me want to find my copy of Bunnicula so I can read it again!” Charlie said with a loud laugh.

You can check out You Are What You Read and add your own favorite books. It’s cool! (Kind of like ice dancing.) Also, check my story about the interview!

—Molly Pribble

PHOTO: Kid Reporter Molly Pribble with Olympic Silver Medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton, Michigan, where they train for their ice dancing routines. (Photo Courtesy Molly Pribble)

Behind-the-Scenes with NBC

Inside the International Broadcasting Center at the Winter Games.

The International Broadcasting Center—called the IBC by those who worked there the last few weeks—is where members of the media did all their planning, writing, and editing during the 16 days of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. As the games wrapped up over the last weekend, the IBC began to wind down. I spoke to the people behind the scenes at NBC—and one very prominent front-of-the-camera person—as I prepared to leave the Winter Games behind.

—Daniel Wetter

Today Show's Olympic Memories

Kid Reporter talks to Today Show "family" about life at the Olympics.

I turned the cameras on NBC Today Show hosts Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Natalie Morales, and Al Roker at their Today show set on Grouse Mountain in Vancouver. The team spent several weeks at the Winter Games. They came to find Canada a home away from home whether they were interviewing athletes, climbing mountains, or eating on the run to the next assignment.

—Daniel Wetter

Olympic Spirit

Talk a walk through the streets of Vancouver!

As I was wondering around Vancouver during the last week of the Winter Games, I found the Olympic spirit everywhere. People from all over the world gathered together in fun and friendship and the Spirit of the Games! Click play to experience it yourself!

—Daniel Wetter

Olympic Sponsors and Fun at the Games

Live City pavilions attract thousands.

Did you know that the perfect temperature for a Coca-Cola is 39° F? I didn’t either until I visited the Live City Pavilion in downtown Vancouver.

Live City showcases the various sponsors of the Olympic Games, including Coca-Cola, Panasonic, and Samsung. It is a chance for these companies to showcase their products, but more importantly, they say, it is also a chance to get into the Olympic spirit.

“We call if the happiness house,” Leigha Cotton said of the Coca-Cola space in the pavilion. As part of the “happiness house” spectators see a quick video about Coca-Cola’s Olympic torch relay, and some of the 4,500 torch bearers.

Coca-Cola also featured various games for kids to learn more about “giving back” to the environment.

“I think one of the biggest messages we want to send here is about living positively,”
Cotton said.

Panasonic is the Official Worldwide Olympic Partner of audio and visual products.

“We are trying to provide a space for the spectators, citizens, and athletes to enjoy the Olympic experience as well as to experience our 3-D TV technologies,” said Yoko Nakamizu of Panasonic.

Spectators viewed a 3-D show on a 103-inch plasma screen theater.

“The immersive and beautiful pictures make them feel as if they are in the action,” Nakamizu said. The 3-D TV home theater is expected to be available to consumers this spring. “We really see the possibility of 3-D that could become that new stream of the new Olympic broadcast.”

Panasonic featured an environmentally friendly experience.

“We’re trying to achieve the most green Olympic Games,” she said. “One of the strong messages is to nurture the next generation.”

Samsung is the Official Wireless sponsor of the 2010 Winter Olympics. More than 50,000 people visited the Samsung pavilion, where spectators can see the official mobile phone of the Olympic Games, the Omnia II.

“Spectators are encouraged to see what kind of technology we’re providing,” said Vice President of Samsung Worldwide, Gyehyun Kwon.

Samsung will introduce an eco-phone in about four years, says Kwon. These phones will operate with solar power and will be made from 100 percent recycled products.

“The phone is becoming a fundamental tool, not just a phone,” he said. “It’s a part of the human body.” Marketing to young people who will grow into Samsung buyers is a big part of the company's strategy. “The kid is our future,” Kwon said.

—Daniel Wetter

PHOTO: Sports fans pose with an Olympic torch at the Coco-Cola exhibit in Live City Pavilion at the Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo Courtesy Daniel Wetter)

Canada's Man in Motion

Athlete keeps moving—and inspiring—despite paralyzing injuries.

Rick Hansen is a hero in Canada. The man who carried the Olympic Torch into the opening ceremonies at the start of the Winter Games, was severely injured in an accident at the age of 15.

At first, he thought his dreams of becoming an Olympic athlete were crushed along with his spinal cord. Hansen has since won 19 international wheelchair marathons and has six medals as a Paralympian.

His passion is to make the world accessible to everyone, which he works toward with his Rick Hansen Foundation.

In 1985 Hansen earned his Canadian nickname when he wheeled more than 40,000 km through 34 countries. He raised $26 million for spinal cord injury research and quality of life programs. He inspired me in just the brief time we got to talk while at the Olympic games this week. Check it out.

—Daniel Wetter

Olympic Reporters

Hometown Reporters on the slopes in Canada.

Two reporters from my hometown NBC affiliate took some time to talk to me about their jobs covering the games in Vancouver.

Dierdre Fitzpatrick and Brian Hickey of KCRA 3 in Sacramento, California, had already been on the job for three weeks when they stopped to review their whirlwind of coverage. Click on play!

—Daniel Wetter

Olympic Doctor

Who helps the athletes stay on top of their game?

Staying healthy is a huge concern for every athlete competing in the Olympic Games. To help them do that, the Olympic Committee keeps a staff of about 16 medical professionals on hand to help.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jack Taunton described a day in his life in Vancouver, which begins sometime around 5 a.m.

I also spoke to GE Canada Vice President Peter Robertson about some of the new portable devices used for a diagnosis on the go.

Click on play for the whole story.

—Daniel Wetter

Canada Premier is Maple Leaf Proud!

British Columbia's Premier talks to Scholastic Kids Press Corps about the wonder of the Winter Games.

The Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell has put aside his business suits for maple leaf gloves and shirts during the Winter Olympic Games. His province is home to Vancouver and Whistler, the two venues for this year's competition. (A premier is the equivalent to a governor in the U.S. and a province is the same as a state.)

When I ran into Campbell in Vancouver this week, I got more than a prized pair of maple leaf gloves. I got an interview! Check it out by clicking on play!

—Daniel Wetter

NBC Reporters Live the Games

Almost as many journalists as athletes at the Winter Games.

I ran into NBC’s Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman and NBC’s Weekend Nightly News anchor and Today Show host Lester Holt this week. They have been in Vancouver, British Columbia, for three weeks now.

“It’s crazy,” Snyderman said about their busy schedule.

The day I saw them began at 2 a.m. for each as they had to appear on the Today Show on East Coast Time. Vancouver is three hours behind the New York Today Show broadcast. They also both had to work all day on other reports for the Nightly News and other NBC shows.

This is the second Olympic games for Snyderman.

“This is like being invited to the big party,” Snyderman said. “And even if you don’t have a story on every single day, you know you’re part of an extraordinary experience.”

For Holt, who has been covering the Olympics since Salt Lake City, Utah, hosted the winter games in 2002, this is his fifth time around.

“I enjoy covering the Olympics. I love the fact that the stars of the show are people we don’t think about until every two or four years,” Holt said. “They’re not like Hollywood stars, they’re not authors, they are just young people who excel at a sport.”

Holt then said something that I had experienced already in talking to the athletes here.

“They’re real people,” he said.

Snyderman agreed.

“There’s a story behind every single athlete,” she said. “What’s fun for Lester and me, is that we’re hard news people, so we come and do sports—great stories—and look at athletes who represent everything that’s great about all these countries.”

Snyderman’s favorite moment here at the Olympics is when she took to the ice to learn first-hand about a particular sport.

“Well, I’ve become a Canadian curler,” she said, with a huge grin. From a health perspective, curling has not had any bad news. That’s why it’s “hip,” she says.

One of Holt’s favorite memories so far occurred at the opening ceremonies.

“I was actually touched by the Canadian patriotism,” Holt said.

Snyderman has been to Canada many times, and has never seen Canadians so pleased.

“I’ve never seen Canadians busting with pride like I have now,” she said.

Both Lester Holt and Nancy Snyderman say it is an extraordinary experience to be at the Olympic games. I agree with them on that one, too!

—Daniel Wetter 

PHOTO: Journalists (from left) Nancy Snyderman, Daniel Wetter, and Lester Holt at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo Courtesy Daniel Wetter)