An Olympics Extra

      The quadrennial sports orgy, otherwise known as the winter Olympics, is finally over. It’s not that I dislike the sports; it’s just that 17 days of nothing but skiing, sledding, snowboarding and skating is a bit of overkill as for as I am concerned.
      As measured by total medals won, the United States had its best Olympics ever – 37 medals. The host country, Canada, won the most gold medals – 14.
      Except for the last kilometer or two, cross-country skiing is my least favorite sport. It looks like a hard way to get around. My favorite winter Olympic sport is downhill skiing.
      The athletes who participated are the world’s healthiest, most vigorous and probably the best looking young people that the world has to offer. Add to that the coaches, trainers, judges and other officials, and it is estimated that Vancouver hosted about 7,000 visitors who were directly connected to the games. So it is not surprising that a lot of fun and games went on that never made it to the TV screen.
      Of all the preparations the Olympic organizers made, perhaps one of the most interesting is that they brought in 100,000 condoms for free distribution; that’s about 14 per person. The organizers learned their lesson during the 2000 Sidney games; they had 70,000 on hand, and had to put in an emergency order for 20,000 more. In Beijing, they ordered 100,000 at the start.
      A few days before the end at Vancouver, officials again had to order in an emergency shipment. I wonder how many gold medals they would have needed if…oh, never mind.