Olympic Flame Burns Bright

Canadians shine, too, as host of games.

The Olympic flame draws a big crowd of admirers as it burns in its cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza west of the Vancouver Convention Center. The center serves as the International Broadcast Center during the 2010 Winter Games.

Perhaps it's biggest admirers are Canadians, proud of their country's role as host of these games. I talked to two young Canadian Olympic fans at the flames this week. Click on play to see their story.

—Daniel Wetter

Gold Medal Restaurant

Chef Tojo's world-famous sushi a favorite of athletes and fans.

If you're following the 2010 Winter Olympic Games on NBC, then you've heard about Tojo's. The Vancouver sushi restaurant sis world-famous for its fresh ingredients and good food, thanks to the creativity of owner/chef Hidekaza Tojo. The inventor of the inside-out roll, Tojo has been featured on the Today Show numerous times and is a favorite with athletes and fans.

You can check out recipes for his famous California Roll and a newly created Celebration 2010 Roll introduced on the menu just for the Winter Games. I took a trip behind the sushi bar this week to talk with Tojo about what makes his food so special.

—Daniel Wetter

Picabo Street at the 2010 Games

1998 gold medalist big fan of American skiers.

Olympians of all kinds are roaming the streets of Vancouver, Canada, these days. I ran into Picabo Street this week.

An Alpine ski racer, Street won gold at the Nagano Games in 1998 games. She had a lot to say about the 21st Olympic Winter games.

“At this winter games, the Americans are doing amazing,” she said. “ It has been so fun to be here, and to be American.”

Street said she is a big fan of American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, whom she met years ago when Vonn was a kid.

“I met Lindsey when she was 9 years old,” Street said. “She looked at me with an intensity and focus that was very apparent at that age. I think Lindsey is spectacular.”

I could not resist asking her how it feels to be on the Olympic podium, winning gold.

“Receiving a gold medal is something I struggle to put words to,” she said. “It is amazing, it was a dream come true.”

Street told me how long she had been dreaming about this miracle.

“It was something I dreamed of since I was 10 years old,” she said. “This is what I have wished for on the first star I see at night, on my birthday cakes, on 11:11 on the clock, on anything that you could come up with that’s wish-worthy. I was making a wish to win a gold medal in the Olympics.”

She described the actual moment on the podium.

“I kind of looked over at them [the other athletes] like, ‘This is really intense, isn’t it?’ And they agreed,” she said.

Street had some advice for kids who dream of being in the Olympic games.

“You have to work hard. First and foremost, you have to never give up,” she said. “Remember to smile. Remember you’re worth it.”

—Daniel Wetter

Photo: Kid Reporter Daniel Wetter and gold medalist Picabo Street at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, CAnada. (Photo Courtesy Daniel Wetter)

Olympic Great Carl Lewis in Vancouver

Summer meets Winter at 2010 Olympic Games.

I ran into Carl Lewis at an event for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, this week. Lewis won nine gold medals in four consecutive summer Olympic Games.

His sports need no snow and very little equipment: He excells in the long jump, 100-meter run, 200-meter run, and 400-meter relay.

Lewis was named one of the 20th century's greatest athletes at the Sports Illustrated 20th Century Sports Awards ceremony in 1999.

Check out my video interview with Lewis. Just click play!

—Daniel Wetter

ChampionKids Also Reporting at Olympics

U.S. Makes Olympic History!

While Kid Reporter prepares to cover Olympic Games from Vancouver.

The U.S. Winter Olympic Ski Team made history this weekend. Johnny Spillane won a silver medal in the Nordic combined—the first ever medal in the event for the U.S. THE FIRST EVER!

I have been following the excitement of the  2010 Olympic Winter Games on TV since the opening ceremonies on Friday night. But soon I’ll be there to cover the games in person!

I am heading to Vancouver on Saturday to report from the Games for the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. As you read my stories and watch my videos, you will be seeing the final product—the end result of months of preparation for the reporting assignment of a lifetime.

From the Sacramento, California, area to Vancouver, Canada, will be a big climate change. I have had to buy winter clothes to prepare for long stints in freezing snow.

I also wanted a better video camera, so I started saving my money to buy a shoulder held camera.

And then there’s the research. I needed to know as much as possible about the sports, the athletes, the venues, and even about the other journalists going—AND I had to come up with a plan for coverage.

As you can see in this picture, that huge pile of luggage was a lot of work. And believe it or not, most of that pile is devoted to video.

Also note the whiteboard where I have organized all of the subjects I will be reporting on into a schedule. This way, I can see the plan for the day. The whiteboard will help me stay on track.

Another thing coming with me to Vancouver is my laptop. This is the connection to my editor and to you. From the laptop you see in the picture, I will be sending in both written and video reports for the web site.

My job in Vancouver is to give you an inside look into what the Olympic experience is all about. I will cover everything from international athletes to security at the Olympics. I will also provide an inside look into the host city and country.

With the videos, you will be able to see firsthand what happens behind the scenes of the Olympics and the world-wide love of this great sporting event. I will also be getting as many interviews with athletes from around the world as possible.

I look forward to reporting all I can while at the games, so stay tuned to this web site for all of my reports! You can also watch the events on NBC. Check out the listings at the NBC Olympic web site.

—Daniel Wetter

PHOTO: Daniel's pile of equipment, winter clothes, and research all ready for coverage of the last week of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. (Photo By Daniel Wetter)

Bob sledder Shauna Rohbock

A dangerous mountain and a high speed sport meet at the Winter Olympics.

With speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, bobsled is one of the fastest sports in the world.

“Every run could maybe be your last,” said Shauna Rohbock, a U.S. bobsled athlete.

Rohbock will be competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, over the next two weeks, competing on one of the most dangerous mountains in the world. 

“Whistler is a fairly dangerous track,” she said. Crashing at one hundred miles per hour is a regular event for her. “I don’t know how many crashes I’ve been in, I lost track a long time ago.” She raced Whistler last year, winning a gold.

Rohbock began her athletic career in soccer. She was introduced to bobsledding while attending Brigham Young University in Utah. After that, she competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, where she won the only U.S. medal in the sport.

“Standing up there with one more run to go, I was like, “Alright, I just need to get this done,’” she said. When she finished the race, she was not sure what place she was in, but she soon found out. “It was the most amazing feeling!”

 In 2009, she competed in the World Championships for bobsledding. She won a silver with her best finishing time. Rohbock also raced in Europe last January where she won two out of six races.

Her work out includes heavy lifting twice a week, combined with various sprints throughout each day.

“It’s pretty much just eating, working out, sliding, eating, and thinking about bobsledding,” she said with a laugh. “That’s pretty much all we do in season.”

Rohback has set some specific goals for herself at this year’s games.

“I want four runs that I’m happy about,” she said. She said she does not care what the media and other people think, she just wants to be happy with what she does and not feel pressured.

So what drives Rohbock to continue risking her life? She attributes it to her previous trip in the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy.

“Just knowing that feeling and wanting to be there again, is enough to drive you to get up and workout everyday and to put 100 percent into it,” she said.

She has some advice for kids who aspire to compete in the Olympics someday.

“Continue to work on the skill of the sport, and try to be the best at it,” she said.

Rohbock summed up the key to living out your Olympic dream: “There’s no substitution for hard work,” she said. “That’s for sure.”

—Daniel Wetter

PHOTO: Shauna Rohbock, front, and Michelle Rzepka cross the finish line in third place at the FIBT Women Bobsleigh  World Cup competition in Altenberg, Germany, on December 19, 2009. (Photo Credit: Matthias Rietschel/AP Images)

Olympian Jenny Potter Talks Hockey

Gold medal winner heads for fourth Olympic Winter Games.

Handling a puck and skating at the same time is a difficult chore, but not for Olympic athlete Jenny Potter.

“There’s a lot of action, it’s a constant up and down,” Potter told me in a recent interview.

Potter is a top player on the U.S. Olympic women's hockey team. A forward, she is experienced when it comes to winning gold. She was part of the gold medal U.S. hockey team at the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. She helped lead the team to victory after scoring two goals and three assists in six games.

“I was pretty young, I was just there to enjoy the moment,” Potter said. “I don’t think it really set in to what we really accomplished until I got home.”

Potter described the golden moment when the entire team piled onto the goalie.

“It was a pretty special moment,” she said. “Something that you dream about growing up as a kid.”

Potter and team U.S.A. won silver at the Salt Lake games in 2002 and bronze in Torino, Italy, in 2006. She was the top scorer for the U.S. at the Torino games.

“It’s a great honor,” she said of her medals, while acknowledging that no one person can claim the victories. “It’s a team sport.”

As Potter prepared for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, she described an average day in her life. She starts with a morning skate, usually followed by a luncheon event. She then works out in the weight room at the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. After a recovery period, everyone gets together for a team meeting.

Her workout routine ranges from power to speed lifting. Power lifting combines a lot of weight and low repetitions. Speed lifting combines lower weight and quicker movements. Team practices focus on refining skill, power play, and small games.

“I love working out hard, and paying the price,” Potter said. “Not every day is easy, but that’s what makes it fun.”

Hockey requires intense skill and concentration, combined with strength and agility.

“There’s so many skills that hockey requires that other sports may not require,” Potter said. “Skating in itself is kind of an acquired skill.”

Potter played tackle football as a kid—until the boys got too big. She was also a competitive swimmer.

“I kind of knew that I wasn’t going to make it to the Olympics in swimming,” she said. So, at the age of 14 she took up hockey. “I just decided I was going to make hockey my goal and be in the Olympics.”

At that time, hockey was a male-dominated sport, even in her home state of Minnesota where hockey is king.

“People were thinking that girls probably can’t play hockey,” she said. “That’s probably part of the reason why I’m the player I am today, because some of the barriers I’ve had to fight to play hockey. It really made me want to be out there and show people that I can play hockey.”

This big-time hockey player wants to get her message across to young girls who might also be interested in playing the game.

“Any barrier makes you a stronger person, so stick to what you believe in and go for it,” she advised. “Basically, you can achieve anything you want.”

Team U.S. will be facing Finland in the coming days. Potter will go into that game with no expectations but to play her very best.

“If you have no expectations, you don’t worry about failing,” she said. Competing in the Olympic Games is the “pinnacle of your sport,” she concluded. For Potter, it is living out her dream.

—Daniel Wetter

PHOTO: Team USA's Jenny Potter (12) at the February 4 Quest Tour Pre Olympic Exhibition match between Finland and Team USA in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Team USA defeated Finland 5-1.
(Photo Credit: Larry Clouse/Cal Sport Media/ZUMApress.com)