Nikola Girke at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games

"After being at home for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, it's hard to decide what's more fun: being an Olympics fan or being an Olympic athlete!! What an awesome time to be at home - the Games were just phenomenal! From superb athletic performances to claim 14 Gold Medals, 7 Silvers and 5 Bronze to the incredible buzz of the city day and night, Vancouver was going off!
I wasn't an official volunteer for any organization but I did help out at a few places. One of which was the CAN Fund House. The Canadian Athletes Now Fund (a not-for-profit devoted solely to raising funds and awareness for Canada's athletes) had the 11th floor of the Shaw tower donated to them by Shaw which was right on the waters edge overlooking the Olympic cauldron and the Olympic Rings. The CanFund house was a place where athletes, family and friends could come any day all day throughout the Olympics to watch the Games, hang out and be merry. ...

It was a bit sad to leave all the hype behind but I definitely took some of that inspiration with me...for my training here in NZ. I'll be down here in Auckland for a month - the first two weeks are training camps while the last two weeks I will be learning how to sail an Open 60 (more on that to come later in the month). So far I've had three great days on the water already....I know I'm working hard when I can't stay up past 9pm :-)

Till soon, Nikola