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Canadian figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond leaves Sochi to train in Germany before her next event
Kaetlyn Osmond's going to be racking up the frequent-flyer miles this month. After helping Canada to silver in the team figure skating event, the 18-year-old figure skater from Marystown, Newfoundland is leaving Russia, but she'll be back. Osmond has elected to head to Mannheim, Germany to train with teammate Gabrielle Daleman before returning to Sochi for the ladies' singles competitions, which don't start until February 19. On a conference call Monday, she said she elected to leave Sochi partway through the Olympics to avoid distractions.
"It gives me a chance to focus on what I have ahead, and not be overwhelmed by the entire experience. I’ve been there for a few days already and I’ll have some more time after my event is over," Osmond said "Overall now I’m really excited to be going to Germany to get ready."
As per Rosie DiManno of The Toronto Star, Osmond added that part of the reason she's leaving is because of how busy the Olympic environment can be:
“It’s to get away from the competition because it’s so busy and exciting here. When I come back it’ll feel fresh again.”
That's a substantial journey. According to Air Miles Calculator, it's 2,483 kilometres from Sochi to Mannheim, which makes for a 3 and a half hour flight; it's also three time zones away. At first glance, it might seem a little odd to fly that far and back in a week just to train in a different location, and some have speculated that this might be to give the Canadians some secrecy while they work on their programs. However, there are plenty of other logical reasons to do this. For one thing, several athletes have encountered infuriating and even dangerous situations while staying in Sochi, from British bobsledder Rebekah Wilson almost falling down an open elevator shaft to American bobsledder Johnny Quinn getting trapped in bathrooms and elevators. We haven't seen too many complaints from Canadian athletes yet, but while Canada's accommodations in Sochi look okay, they're far from fancy. And that's with Canada getting the good hotels, according to chef de mission Steve Podborski:
There's a good distance from end-to-end, but Canada has a prime spot close to the venues. That didn't happen by accident, as winning the most gold medals in Vancouver helped out in what Podborski called the "chess match" to lobby for the best location.
"That helped us a lot dealing with the Russians in terms of where we got to live in the buildings," said Podborski, who won a bronze medal in downhill skiing at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. "People love winners, that's what we are. Everything matters.
"If you're not doing very well and haven't hosted the Games in a hundred years, it's not as easy, for sure. When I was ski-racing and when I started off we were in the bad hotels and we were winning by the end, we were in the good hotels. It's the way it works."
Being in a good place doesn't mean everything was perfect. Amid admissions from organizers that three per cent of hotel rooms in the area were not ready as people arrived before the Olympics, Canada's digs had some minor hiccups.
"There's always things that need to be kind of massaged at the end, and certainly although things haven't been perfect, we've had great co-operation and they're getting done," Podborski said. "I will say our staff in there, some of them don't sleep very much because of that, but it's quite functional."
Functional though perhaps not super-modern. Women's hockey coach Kevin Dineen played for Canada at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo and called Sochi's lodging "pretty similar."
So, it's maybe not all that surprising that Osmond and Daleman would opt to train in what are probably better conditions in Mannheim. Osmond's also already had at least one nap disrupted in Sochi, too, as drug testers showed up to test her shortly before her performance in the team event. Beyond that, too, it should be much easier for Osmond and Daleman to get the ice time they need to practice there, as they won't have to work around the competition schedule. The comments about focus make sense, too, as the Olympic village tends to be quite chaotic, especially as it gets later in the Games and more athletes finish their events. Osmond's lengthy flights may seem unusual at first glance, but there seem to be good reasons why she'd take this approach. We'll see if it pays off for her.
