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Community Corner

2011 Junior Olympics Concludes

World class teenage athletes from across the country and hundreds of local volunteers combine to make the 2011 Junior Olympics success.

The blur of colors circling throughout the last week came to an end on Saturday, as the 2011 Junior Olympic Nordic skiers, event managers and volunteers concluded a successful week of urban racing.

The event couldn't have gone better, according to co-race director Kate Ellis, for the athletes and the volunteers who worked hard to make the races a success.

"This is the first time the Junior Olympics Nordic races have been held in a large metropolitan area, where you have all the athletes staying in the same place," said Ellis. "This gives the young athletes more of an actual 'Olympic Village' feel than ever before."

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The teen athletes spent their days racing through Theo Wirth Park before climbing aboard shuttle busses for a quick ride to their hotel in downtown Minneapolis.

A major concern prior to the start of race week was the weather. Fortunately, said Ellis, the weather held. It wasn't terribly cold during the week, but the course was still able to hold the snow for the races.

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Due to the winding, circular course layout, spectators were given a unique advangate over other race venues. After watching competitors pass by, a quick walk to other locations gave those in attendance several other vantage points to see racers speed along.

"The spectating is fabulous," Ellis commented. "Rather than watching the athletes leave and come back to the finish, you can watch them as they move around the course."

The five-day Nordic ski festival featuring ten regional teams and nearly 400 competitors wouldn't have been possible without hundreds of volunteers like Minnetonka resident Martha Mitchell.

Mitchell held the most coveted stapler in the Twin Cities, running from the 2011 Junior Olympic headquarters inside the Theodore Wirth Park chalet to the starting line to post results on the plywood signs near the finish line, then back to the office to nail together stacks of paper listing results.

"I'm always amazed at what it takes to run and orchestrate something like this," Mitchell said.

Fellow volunteer Adam Siegfried spent much of Saturday morning using a broom handle to clear snow from the ski tracks near the finish line. The Golden Valley resident and high school Nordic competitor had another outlook on the 2011 Junior Olympics.

"This is an aweseome event," Siegfried said. "It's cool to see the best in the country compete against each other."

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