Olympic Obsession

Liam watches the snow and a squirrel on the tree trunk right

I have been obsessed with the Olympic Games for decades. The first ones I remember clearly are the 1960 games in Squaw Valley CA. I was 9 and was fascinated by the downhill skiing and the figure skating. To this day, I can visualize the women skiers careening down the mountain, as well as the twirling, jumping women figure skaters.

Two women caught my attention that year long ago, Penny Pituo and Carol Heiss. Carol because she was a "Carol" from Queens, NY and Penny, because Sky King's niece was "Penny". They rewarded my interest by both winning medals. I have loved awards, medals, certificates, report cards-any good recognition since I was very little.

Why did this Olympics make such an impression? I thought after a half century of Olympic obsession I would do some research on the 1960 games. For most of history the Olympics were every 4 years, both summer and winter in the same year. So the prior one would have been 1956, I would have been 5 turning 6 in the summer. Maybe too young for a distinct passion and obsession with the Olympics. Maybe 1960 was the first time I was mentally old enough to have an Olympic memory.
What I found out was that the 1960 Olympic Games were in fact VERY significant for a number of reasons, all of which possibly contributed to the indelibly stamped images in my schoolgirl mind.

1-The 1960 Winter Olympics were held in Squaw Valley, CA. The first games EVER held in the western US. Imagine?
Where might this be exactly? About 96 miles north of San Francisco.

2-They were the first to be televised. So that explains why I remember the people so well.

3-Computers were used for the very first time to tabulate results. Computers? Like Hal, in "2001, A Space Odyssey"? I did not get a home computer until 1995. It seems the 1960 Olympic Games computer was a giant walled in IBM processor that was so huge it became as popular with the spectators as the events themselves.
4-USA figure skater, Carol Heiss, (photo from World Championships) won a gold medal in figure skating and took the Olympic oath for all the participants, first time a woman was asked to do so. I remember liking that we shared the same name and that it was like mine, without the "e" at the end. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Heiss
5-Then there was that famous hockey game, referenced constantly in the 1980 Olympics. You know, we beat the Russians. Was the height of the Cold War -read more if you want
http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2010/01/1960-olympics-squaw-valley-usa.html

6-and my biggest memory is Penny Pitou racing down that mountain and winning a silver medal in the woman's downhill, becoming the first American ever to win a medal (silver) in a downhill race. She was born in Bayside, Queens! Imagine! I did not know she was a native New Yorker until I researched her for this blog edition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Pitou

I have been Olympic Obsessed for 50 years.
On Friday night, February 12, 2010, the Opening Ceremonies begin in Vancouver, Canada.
I have always adored the photos of athletes in motion, at rest or just posing. I have imagined myself in their shoes, posing on the cover of Sports Illustrated
And Liam dreams of the luge the only Olympic sport he could perform in his favorite position.
We are sending some of our Wednesday February 10, 2010 snowfall to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics as we heard they need some We got about 15 inches, so we can afford to be generous. Since Liam does not stand much above that, he has asked us to skim some off the top for the athletes' use in the games.

BTW, Carol and Penny are doing fine, both still involved in the sports in which they won medals 50 years ago.

Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Chinese New Year, Year of the Tiger (my year), Happy Presidents Day-a woof for each
Woof woof woof