Closing Things Out

Our athletes kept us plenty busy with Managing Victory right up until the end! But I can honestly say, we had no complaints :). Here is our USOC Closing Press Conference, with 4 execs and 4 athletes – Angela Ruggiero, Apolo Ohno, Lindsey Vonn and Bill Demong.

Many of our biggest name athletes finished at the end – Apolo, Lindsey, Julia, men’s hockey – so NBC’s broadcasts were packed to the brim. The journalists and writers start to reach Olympics fatigue toward the end of the Games, so the media fervor dies down a bit for those athletes not known by their first names. But really, just a bit! It’s still a frenzy of medals and monologues, and we do our best to finish strong.

But to an athlete, a medal won on day 1 or day 17 has just the same value. They are all pumped! In the final stretch we had the gold medal winning men’s bobsled team and the silver medal winning team pursuit guys in long track speedskating. The speedskaters were complete underdogs, and they proved hard work and endurance can outlast even the most talented. Chad Hedrick was the dad (literally) of the group, surrounded by a trio of teenage teammates who will take this momentum into Sochi four years from now.

The bobsled team is just a dream. Four incredibly dedicated and kind-hearted guys, big and burly as football players (some of them were). They won the first U.S. bobsled gold in more than 60 years with a driver – the most important position – who is 5’10” and more than 230 pounds. You see him in spandex and think he doesn’t have a shot, but he is the most talented guy out there. Driver Steve Holcomb…

Steve says that his background in alpine skiing gives him an advantage, because he has this almost instinctual ability to find the quickest line and foresee moves up ahead that will keep him on that line. He also overcame a degenerative and frightening eye disease that left him with 20-500 vision, undergoing a brand new procedure just two years ago that has restored him to 20-20. All four guys on the team are absolutely upstanding – national symbols in an obscure sport. They’re the best in the world, but they don’t expect fame or riches in return.

All of our athletes contributed to the best finish in the Olympic Winter Games by any nation in history. They collectively added mettle and medals to the pinnacle of sport, to a legendary team effort.

They won 37 medals, one more than Germany in 2002. After the cesspool of negativity and executive turnover at the USOC over the last 12 months, it was such a reprieve to be a part of something so organic and celebrated. Our athletes were excellent ambassadors both on and off the field of play (minus one TMZ situation), and provided our nation with a captivating two weeks of competition. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were on full display. I was so grateful to be a part of it!

Canada provided one heck of a setting: The embrace of a nation. The electricity of global celebration. The beauty of the world coming together. It was a tremendous two weeks. We can’t wait for it all to begin again in London!