2016 Youth Olympics Blog #8 by Chloe Lewis

Today was a really fun day in Lillehammer!

It began when I woke up and remembered that the ski jumping in Lillehammer started at 10 am. I called Logan and we rushed out to catch the next available train. When we arrived at the ski jumps, there was another “Try the Sport” thing for ski jumping, so we had to try. The skis are more like cross country skis as you just clip in at the front and the boots are more like shoes rather than sturdy boots. Although the little hill was barely a courageous feat compared to the real thing, it was still pretty exhilarating!

When I have cross country skied in the past it has been totally fine that the boots aren’t as supportive and only clip on in the front, but when you take that same equipment to go down a steep and extremely icy slope, it’s very different. The first two times I didn’t lean forward enough on the way down and fell backwards before even jumping. The same happened to Logan, but finally I figured it out and caught some air (hardly)! After sliding on my butt for the great majority of the landing on bumpy ice, I think I’ll be a little sore tomorrow, but the pain is totally worth it.
After that we watched some actual ski jumpers including a girl named Logan who is from the US as well. It’s such a cool and daring sport, I can hardly imagine standing at the top of that jump!

Next, Logan, our Canadian friend Mathieu, and I all went over to the Learn and Share area to wait until the store opened up. We tried some slack lines and I actually improved from yesterday. When the shop opened, we got to see the hall that it’s in for the first time which is really cool with a couple Samsung and Visa activities. I bought some souvenirs for friends as well as a very Norwegian looking sweater for myself.

Mathieu had to go somewhere and Logan went back to Hamar, so while I was waiting to meet up with friends later, I fell asleep on the couch outside the shop! Next thing I know my roomie April is above me saying, “Hey, I think those are Chloe’s shoes!” Once I woke up I actually felt a lot more rested, so thank you to that convenient couch. I went to grab some food in the dining hall whilst I Face-timed a friend from home, and I ran into the Canadian figure skating team in there and Camden from the U.S. team. We all ate together and then did some learn and share before I went to get seats for the U.S.A. v Russia hockey game!

At the game, I stood right above the penalty box with Eli and some other biathletes, some curlers, and April, Aaron, and Camden. The new people I met were really nice and fun to cheer on our team with. I also stood with a ski jumper, and found out that it was Logan from earlier! We got some really good U.S.A chants going and even encouraged the team when they were in the penalty box! It’s so much fun to watch hockey when I actually know the players personally, and my good friend Tyler scored the first goal of the entire game. We won!!! Tomorrow they play Russia again at 8pm, and I can’t wait to watch.

After the game, I went to dinner with Logan’s and my parents, and then hung out in the rec area with all the skaters for hours. This entire day was so much fun, and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings! It’s bittersweet to feel the days flying by, but knowing that they couldn’t be any better. I wish I could just have the ability to turn back time and relive this trip as much as I want to. I will get some sleep now, so I hopefully don’t take another public nap tomorrow.

Goodnight, thank you for reading!

~ Chloe