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After things were set up at my condo and my room at Athlete’s Village, the next big thing was to decide whether or not I was going to go to the opening ceremonies. Making that decision took a lot of time, and was probably one of the most drawn out decision I made during the Games.

The first time I actually thought about the opening ceremonies probably goes back at least a year. That’s when I really started to see myself as having a realistic shot at making the Olympics. So, realizing this possibility, I wanted to be as prepared as I could.

Lucky me - the 5k, “my” distance, was the day after the opening ceremonies haha.

Many thoughts went through my mind from then until even the day before the start of the Games: these opening ceremonies, here in Canada, will be like no other I will ever have a chance to go to as an athlete; if ‘participating’ is what I’m there for, great, but if I want to do my best, I won’t want to spend up to 5 hours standing, waiting, and sitting; the emotional boost, the pride, and the honour of walking into BC place will easily surmount any physical drawback from attending; will I have any regrets or doubts when I go to the line for my first Olympic race; and the list goes on.

I talked about this decision with Marcel (my coach) a couple of times as well because I knew he would know best. He’s been to a number of Olympics and he knew what to expect. If anyone could give me good advice it would be him, and all I wanted to do was make the decision that was best for me. I was leaning towards going. 

With everything looking good a few weeks before opening, we got word that there was the possibility of shortening the procession time (gathering at GM place, being bussed over to BC place, sitting and waiting underneath the stands in order, slowly moving along as each country got announced, etc, etc). I decided I was definitely going to go. I could only dream of walking into an Olympic Stadium with my Canadian teammates eager to do our country proud. So that was it, I was going to walk in!

...until two days before when we got word that it was an all-or-nothing event. The “shortened” procession schedule was kiboshed.

From then on in it was a pretty easy decision not to march, which I was completely ok with. I was ok with it because I knew it was the best decision for me. And although Kristina was another one who decided not to go, the two of us still decided we’d head down to the Village to watch it there with any of the other Canadians who opted out. That was going to be our way of participating.

In the end, we got to watch the ceremonies, we were still excited for everything to begin, and we were making the best of our situation. Looking back at how I felt after my 5k the next day, I easily made the best decision for myself.