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Feb. 10, 2009 Summary: Pyeongchang, Korea, February 10.At World Cup competitions in Europe, the teams stay in small hotels of 50 rooms or less. Thus, it is rare when more than three or four teams share meals and accommodations. In Pyeongchang, all of the teams are staying in the same high-rise accommodations, the fourteen story GreenPia Towers. The building consists of two interconnected tower blocks overlooking the downhill ski and snowboard slopes of the Yong Pyong Resort. The rooms or suites consist of two bedrooms, a common living room and kitchen and bath. The bedrooms are traditional Korean style with beds (mattresses) on the floor and the very low profile furniture to match. Typical of athlete rooms everywhere, the suite shared by Jeremy Teela, Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, and Russell Currier has the “lived-in” look. Running shoes, warm-ups, race suits hang on chairs and assorted water bottles sit on the tables and counters. This is home for the US Team for the next couple of weeks. Teela thinks it is not quite as good as the one they shared last year for the World Cup. “That room had the view (of the downhill ski and snowboard hill).” The meals are served buffet style in a large ballroom, which offers plenty of opportunities for interaction with other athletes. The variety of foods is very good with the only complaint concerning the coffee. Holding two cups of light colored liquid, Tim Burke asked, “Which one is the coffee? I can see the bottom in both of them (maybe good for tea, but not coffee).” However, that is easily resolved by crossing the parking lot to ski rental/gondola station, which boasts a Starbucks, in addition to several other more traditional Korean food options. Most of the competitions at this year’s World Championships are scheduled for the early evening (morning television in central Europe), so training does not start until 3 PM. With such a late start for training, everyone has plenty of time on their hands. Internet surfing is popular as the strong connection is free for the teams. The US men look like an ad for the Apple computers with four of the distinctive white laptops all humming simultaneously. Of course, each suite also has a large flat-screen television, with Korean channels, including a 24-hour-a day golf channel as well as BBC World News and CNN. After a long breakfast today, Bailey looked at the time schedule for the week and commented, “This schedule is almost perfect, all evening starts, except for the Individual race—it is so early (2:15 PM). I am going to have to adjust my schedule for that.” The Sprint Competitions are on Saturday February 14, starting at 8:45 AM CET (2:45 AM EST.) |