Pg+08+Our+Olympic+Hotline

ROOM 5 were REALLY lucky to have our very own contact at the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver. Her name is [|Natalie] and she is a very good friend of Mrs P's daughter Kylie. Natalie's specialty job was as VENUE TRANSPORTATION MANAGER which was a HUGE responsibility!!

ROOM 5 made up a series of questions for Natalie and we are thrilled she was able to take time out of her busy schedule to answer these. Currently Natalie is in London, having just had a job interview with the London Olympic Committee responsible for organizing the 2012 Olympics. So GOOD LUCK Natalie and THANK YOU VERY MUCH for answering our questions:)

**As a job - how would you rate it out of 10?** ** I would rate it 10 out of 10! Why? Because it is such an inspiring project to work on to begin with and the cultural aspect of being able to speak 5 languages in one day is just incredible. **
 * Why did you choose to do this job? I come from a sporting events background and working on an Olympics is just the pinnacle of my career. **
 * How did you feel when you heard you were to work for the Olympic organization? EXCITED! I was just so excited and happy. I had a week from when I found out to head over to Vancouver to begin my first day. I must admit that I also felt nervous and a little sad at the same time as I had to leave my family and friends to take on this new experience and opportunity. Not only was it a new job but a new country and city for starters, new people, new home and new side of the road to drive on! **

Figure skates- have high ankle support and a jaggered tip so that the skaters can turn and jump off the ice. Short Track skates- are built in a way where the skates can only turn left and the blades are very small. Long Track skates- very similar to short track skates except much longer which allows the athletes to stride longer. Hockey skates- very much like roller blades but without wheels. Very heavy to wear. ** Sorry I can't elaborate on that one.**
 * What exactly was your role? That's a good question :) I was the Assistant Venue Transportation Manager. A role that is quite specialised to the Olympics. My role was not only to 'manage' our venues (Pacific Coliseum, Trout Lake, Killarney Centre) but manage our transportation systems for Athletes, Media, Broad casting, International Olympic Members and spectators. Basically how all of these different groups would arrive to our venue, get through security and how they would leave our venue. This would be via buses, cars, trains, limousines- you name it. Once this was a basis I then had to organise the frequency of these. For example. The athletes road on buses and these would come every 12 minutes to our venue from the Athletes Village. **
 * Did you have to have any special training? I certainly had a week worth of orientation and inductions however not so much 'job specific training.' From the interview process they expect coming from an event background that you will be ready to hit the ball running. **
 * What was the worst and best parts of the job? The worst part was knowing that the job had to come to an end and the best parts of the job was working on the Paralympics. The athletes that you meet are so inspiring that it really motivates you for life. **
 * What was it like to be working around people from all different countries? It was great, in the office (headquarters) you are working with the most talented people from all around the world. I sat next to a gentlemen from Boston and a lady from Quebec and opposite me was another Australian from Perth! You find that everyone around you has the same passion, everyone is working to achieve the same unique goal. **
 * Did different events need different ice conditions - if so, how was it done? Yes, for example figure skating and short track speed skating are both essentially ice rinks however require different thicknesses of ice and are different sizes. This was an interesting challenge and these two different sports were in the same venue so after every competition and training session the ice had to be either shaved or rebuilt and the outer 'pads' would be moved in or out to create a larger or smaller venue. Because of this spectator seating also had to be rearranged. It sounds like a lot of work but with our team we got the change over down to 43minutes and the change over occurred over 84 times throughout the Olympic Period and 2 weeks pre this with athlete training. **
 * Is there a big difference in the type of skates used for each of the events? Yes, both figure skating skates, short track skates, long track skates and hockey skates are all very different. This is because the type and design of the sport and also the thickness of ice in which the skates are used on.
 * How many truckloads of snow had to be carted in to Whistler?** **Unfortunately I'm not too sure of this answer however I can tell you that TRUCKS of snow were trucked and made for Cyprus Mountain which was the mountain that had trouble with snow.

Natalie has sent us some pictures of her time at the Olympics, which she is happy for us to share with you the viewer, on our Wiki. WHISTLER

VANCOUVER CITY-B.C. STADIUM and ATHLETES VILLAGE on the LEFT LAST DAY of TORCH RELAY WHISTLER

FIRST SKATE ON OLYMPIC ICE OLYMPIC CAULDRON

CHEERING CROWDS

MEDAL CEREMONY

MEN'S FIGURE SKATING WINNERS WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING GOLD MEDAL RELAY

OUR FRIEND NATALIE in a CTV INTERVIEW

OLYMPIC RINGS OFF STANLEY PARK

CLOSING CEREMONY