Decked out in Canadian-themed swag and waving both the national and Newfoundland and Labrador flags, Kippens resident Joseph Eckert was prepared for some exciting speedskating.
He flew to British Columbia to be with his family as they cheered on his nephew, Denny Morrison, during the men's 1,000 and 1,500 m long track speedskating competitions at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Games.
Among his many other accomplishments, Mr. Morrison is a former world-record holder and world champion - and won silver at the 2006 Winter Olympics in the pursuit team event. This British Columbia resident was a favourite for many to win another medal at this year's Olympics.
Mr. Eckert said it was exciting just to be amongst the thousands of people at the speedskating venue cheering on the teams.
"The oval itself was absolutely beautiful, there were no bad seats in the place," he said. "And it was full of people."
While security at the venue was tight, he said everybody was in a festive mood. While he was seated with fellow energized Canadians donning red and white, he noticed there were other equally boisterous groups cheering on other teams.
"There's a large Dutch contingent that follows their skaters, it's like hockey to them. They follow their skaters around the world. In fact, they bring a brass band with them. They were all dressed in orange."
While Mr. Morrison missed the podium - finishing 13th in the 1,000 m and 9th in the 1,500 m competition - Mr. Eckert said he was very proud of his nephew.
"From first to 13th, I think, was like one and a quarter seconds, so it was like two steps," he said of the 1,000 m race. "And he ran a great [1,500 m] race, he just ran out of gas."
Mr. Eckert said he had the chance to speak with his nephew after one of the races.
"We went to his apartment that night, after the 1,000. His only rule was that we weren't talking about any speedskating," said Mr. Eckert, with a chuckle. "It was nice to see his place."
Besides attending the races, Mr. Eckert said he and family members had the chance to check out some of the other sights while in Vancouver.
"The whole city's atmosphere was festive," he said. "The downtown was an area the size of Stephenville and maybe half of Kippens. It was wall-to-wall people and they had street entertainers ... tap dancers, break dancers, guys doing acrobatics and musicians of all kinds."
Mr. Morrison was also slated to compete at Friday and Saturday competitions.
Born: Sept. 8, 1985 in Chetwynd, BC
Club: Fort St. John
Coach: Marcel Lacroix
Highlights: Silver in the 1,000 m and bronze in the 1,500 m at the 2009 World Single Distance Championships; World champion in the 1,500 m and third in the 1,000 m at the 2008 World Single Distance Championships; established a world record in the 1,500 in 2008; silver medalist in men's team pursuit at the 2006 Olympics.
Tidbits: Started speedskating at three-years-old; competed in both short and long track until the 2002-03 season, after which he focused solely on long track; his brother Jay is also a national speed skater.
Source: Speedskating Canada
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