Wednesday, March 7, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
OLYMPICS: Couple plans
for more Olympic
celebrations
Continued from page 1
so then we thought about
Wimbledon or the U.S. Open
and along the way we got
onto the Olympics,” she said.
“That was it.”
Tate operates Sisters
Athletic Club and Aimee
works as an administrator at
Central Oregon Community
College.
Tate is no stranger to the
Olympics. He traveled to
London in 2012 and Rio
de Janeiro in 2016 for the
Summer Games in order to
witness his former athlete at
Mountain View High School,
Ashton Eaton, earn gold med-
als in the decathlon.
The couple arrived after
the opening ceremony, spend-
ing two days in Seoul at the
outset of the trip. With open-
ing ceremony tickets going
for $2,400, Tate said that he
wasn’t that interested in the
pageantry and the pomp and
circumstance anyway. He
was there to see elite athletes
seeking Olympic glory.
“I went to the Olympics to
see athletes suffer,” he said.
“Our first ticket at
Olympics was for the men’s
snowboard half-pipe, which
happened to feature two guys
from Bend, one competing
for the U.S. and the other for
Australia,” said Tate. “We
are sitting there and hear the
announcer say ‘And from
Bend, Oregon, competing
at Mount Bachelor is Ben
Ferguson,’ which was just
super exciting.”
Ferguson had a great per-
formance, but fell just short
of a medal in fourth place.
Shaun White of the U.S. won
the event.
“It was such a great way
for us to start out we almost
felt like it couldn’t really get
any better,” said Tate.
Sitting in the bleachers
surrounded by fans from
all sorts of different coun-
tries gave the couple the true
Olympic experience.
“Everyone is dressed up,”
said Tate. “The Dutch were
decked out in all their orange
gear and the Canadians, you
could really see, they are all
about the Olympics.”
Another highlight came
mid-week in the Super G,
although they missed see-
ing Lindsay Vonn by just six
minutes, assuming that she
would not have been one of
the first ones to go on her one
and only run. But they did get
to witness firsthand the most
stunning upset of the Games
in the same event when
Ester Ledecka of the Czech
Republic won the event by
.01 seconds despite being
ranked 26th heading into the
final.
“We’re not sure how that
looked on television, but it
seemed like it took her min-
utes to be convinced she had
actually won the event,” said
Tate. “She just stood there for
the longest time.”
The Metcalfs are both
recreational Nordic skiers,
and say they can appreciate
the pain the athletes endure,
which is partly why the first
tickets they bought were for
cross-country races, which
actually took place on their
last day at the Olympics. It
is safe to say that they saved
the best for last as Kikkan
Randall and Jessie Diggins
won America’s first-ever
Olympic gold medal in cross-
country skiing, taking first
place in the women’s team
sprint freestyle relay.
The couple got lucky
as spectators, despite hav-
ing general admission tick-
ets, because nearly the
entire crowd left after South
Korea’s team did not advance
to the finals. This allowed
the Metcalfs room to move
all over the course to see the
event up close.
“To see them so up close
allowed us to really feel their
effort,” said Aimee. “I don’t
know if I have ever seen
someone as determined as
Diggins. She looked like she
was either going to win or die
trying.”
Tate added, “We don’t
know these athletes, although
some of them trained in
Central Oregon, but the emo-
tion that what they did can
pull out of you as a spectator
was amazing. We both cried.”
The trip was jam-packed
for the couple.
“We saw 13 events in
eight days,” said Aimee. “We
made a decision to be at the
Olympics for the core of the
competition, which worked
out very well. We made a
goal of at least seeing each of
the 15 different event venues,
even if we could not see com-
petitions at each of them, and
we were able to do that.”
An added bonus for the
Metcalfs was meeting up with
Steven Hunt, also of Sisters,
at some of the events. “It was
cool to share the experience
with someone from home,”
said Aimee.
The couple saw a variety
of events including hockey,
speed skating, luge, bob
sleigh, and curling.
Tate described the 15 ven-
ues as being spread — think
as if some events were at
Mount Bachelor, others in
Bend, and some at Hoodoo.
Since everything was
located far from any major
cities and the schedule was
so tight getting from place to
place, the Metcalfs did not get
a deep dose of South Korea
as a country, but did come
away with some impressions
of the culture and the country.
With all the tensions in
the American news about the
threat of North Korea for the
past year, the Metcalfs had
friends express concern about
their trip in regard to safety.
When the Parkland, Florida
school shooting took place
during the trip, the couple
reflected and realized that,
as far as day-to-day living
goes, they felt safer in South
Korea, which does have strict
gun laws and a relatively low
violent crime rate.
“Having that in the news
while we were in a foreign
country experiencing the
Olympic spirit was quite
ironic,” said Aimee. “It did
make us wonder what people
WITHOUT YOUR
PLUMBER, YOU’D HAVE
NOWHERE TO GO.
Serving the local community of Sisters
and surrounding areas since 1995.
260 N. Pine St., Sisters
PHOTO PROVIDED
Tate and Aimee Metcalf celebrated Tate’s 50th birthday with a trip to the
Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
from other countries thought
of us as Americans.”
There was never a time
in South Korea that they felt
unsafe other than one taxi
ride with either a sleepy or
perhaps somewhat intoxi-
cated driver at the helm.
“That was scary,” said
Aimee.
The Lunar New Year took
place in the middle of the trip,
which created traffic issues as
people traveled to their fam-
ily homes, which actually
caused the couple to miss
some events.
The couple also visited the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
that separates South Korea
from North Korea.
“It was intense to be there
with such military presence
all along the route,” said
Tate. “It turned out that our
guide for the day was from
Dayville, Oregon, who was
super-excited that we were
from Oregon.”
The Olympics are cer-
tainly in the couple’s blood
now, and with Aimee’s 50th
birthday coming in 2020, the
Metcalfs are already mak-
ing plans for the summer
Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
“That’s the plan,” said
Aimee. “Tokyo 2020… we’ll
be there!”
Spring is time for renewal
Commit to your transformation today!
Audry
Van Houweling
PMHNP-BC
Holistic mental-health solutions for the whole Quick and
family for as low as $120 per month. Affordable Help
541-595-8337 • www.shesoarspsych.com
102 E. Main Ave., Downtown Sisters
Ecsta c Dance
Cla es!
Call Sweeney Plumbing
today for all your plumbing
emergencies and needs.
541-549-4349
21
Licensed
Bonded / Insured
CCB#87587
Your Care can
now do your
FAA Physical!
Class 2 & Class 3
Come join SPRD beginning March 9 for
Ecstatic Dance Classes; a journey of
self-discovery through a varied mix of
high-vibe music and movement for
exercise, stress release, emotional
expression, and celebration of life.
This class is open to anyone ages 13
and older as well as people of all shapes, ,
sizes, and experience. Please wear
comfortable clothing that allows for full
freedom of movement. And leave
shoes off the dance fl oor.
Held the 2nd Friday of every month, from
7 to 9 p.m. SPRD l $10-$20 sliding scale. .
View activities & classes, and register
i
online!
i
www.SistersRecreation.com
$10 OFF
1750 W. Mckinney Butte Rd. | 541-549-2091
with this ad, thru 3/31/18
541-548-2899
3818 SW 21st Pl., Ste. 100
Redmond • Open every day
yourcaremedical.com
WALK-IN • URGENT CARE • OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE • X-RAY
SNO CAP
MINI STORAGE
Sisters Industrial Park
157 Sisters Park Dr. • 541-549-3575
www.SistersStorage.com
• State-of-the-art
Security Technology
• Sizes from 5x5 to 12x40
• Individual Gate Codes
• Long-term Discounts
• On-site Manager
