Olympians Can't Get Tickets

I was talking to some of my Olympic comrades this weekend and as a group, they are feeling a little left out. Here are the Olympics happening on Canadian soil, and the majority of Olympic athletes, never mind the majority of Canadians, can't even get tickets. I am getting emails everyday from Olympians asking me if I have any special connection to tickets. There were no special ways for Olympians to get tickets and not alot of offers for anybody but a select few to get involved in the games. The COC released a few hundred tickets just before the games began, but most of the events were sold out, and hundreds of Olympic athletes didn't even get the email. For athletes who have competed in the Olympic Games, the Vancouver Olympics is more than a big sporting event, in some ways it is each Olympians sacred trust. They are and will always be connected to the games. Many of Canada's Olympians have been part of making Olympic history and have contributed to building Olympic pride and excellence in this country. It does seem ironic that they can't get tickets to see the Games in their own backyard. My one girlfriend, Colleen Miller a three time World Champion and Olympic rower was not even asked to carry the flame through her hometown in Manitoba. A little bit of an oversight I'd say, particularly in that the town sports a statue in her honour. Hundreds of Olympic athletes , including Olympic medallists, didn't have a chance to carry the Olympic flame while other athletes carried the flame in multiple locations.

I expect their are a myriad of sensible reasons and inevitable oversights that occur when putting on an event of this magnitude, but it embarrasses me that on the one hand we are cheering our current winter Olympians and honouring them for the heroes they are, and on the other we are treating our former Olympians as if they don't matter. I think they do matter, and I think VANOC could have done more to include these valuable athletes in these wonderful games. In Canada's vibrant Olympic tapestry each athlete is an important and colourful thread. --Silken