Hands on the broom

It was 10 p.m. when the cop car pulled up.

The sharp bite of Calgary’s winter nipped at Cathy Priestner Allinger’s face as she left the building, accompanied by police. Through the cloak of darkness the cruiser headed for Glenmore Park.

Having been told less than a week before, Priestner Allinger was still adjusting to the news. It was all very hush, hush. Not even her family knew. She could tell no one.

The cruiser came to a halt. There in the quiet park, surrounded by crusty snow stood Canadian Olympic alpine ski racer Ken Read. In his hand he held a broom.

“Certainly the night we met, we had no idea what we were running into,” Priestner Allinger said.

For an hour the two set out their plan. Priestner Allinger, an Olympic silver medalist in speed skating, and Read ran around the park. They matched each others pace, both with a hand on the broom.

The next day, side by side, they ran through a long tunnel and into McMahon Stadium with the Olympic torch in hand.

More than 50,000 spectators at the 1988 Winter Olympics cheered their entrance. Priestner Allinger’s brother, who was expecting to see his sister help carry out the flag, was among them.

Priestner Allinger’s mother was watching the ceremony on television, when she got the surprise of seeing her daughter running the length of the track.

“Carrying the torch was an incredible moment for me,” the West Vancouver resident said.

Priestner Allinger’s journey to that moment started when she was 11 years old, as she laced up her first pair of skates. Within a year, she had won the Canadian National competition and was on her way to competing in the world championships as a member of the Canadian National team.

“By the time I was 19 (years old) I was travelling the world,” she said.

Priestner Allinger competed in the 1972 Winter games in Sapporo, Japan. Four years later she won silver in the 500 metre race in Innsbruck, becoming the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in speed skating. It was a record she held until 1994.

Off ice Priestner Allinger’s life has continue to meld with the Olympics. As a coach she spotted rare talent in a 14-year-old girl who was ready to hang up her skates in favour of pompoms.

Five golds and one bronze medal later American speed skater Bonnie Blair attributes some of her success to the support of her coach Priestner Allinger.

Today Priestner Allinger is the 2010 Olympics’ executive vice president for sport and Games operations. She’s excited to have history written in her own backyard.

Cypress will be buzzing with energy, Priestner Allinger said, adding she predicts Canadian medals will be won on its slopes.

And hopefully somewhere in the crowd of spectators, future Olympians will be inspired, she said.

“I’ve experienced (the Olympics) as an athlete, coach, mentor, broadcaster and I’ve called races and every time the same emotion wells up in me, an emotion of pride.”

raldous@northshoreoutlook.com

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