The best days and worst days of Olympic lives

Steve Russell Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

Whenever I speak to a visiting high school class and talk about my job, I always joke: "if I ever show up to photograph them, it's probably the best day of your life or the worst."

Today that little quip about my job was true for a pair of Canadian athletes on the biggest stage in the world.

One won the coveted gold, the other was the last athlete to cross the finish line.

One was coming off an injury and was just able to suffer through the race.

The other trains along side one of the biggest names in her sport and already has medals in three straight Olympics on her resume.

Triathlete Paula Findlay had won three races last year before injuring her hip. In 2010 she won in London and even though she was coming off an injury she was still considered a hopeful to medal.

Rosannagh MacLennan had won the Olympic warm-up event in the past year too, but was still in the shadow of the highly decorated Karen Cockburn.

Findlay, a world champion gave someone else the chance to win when she stumbled in the race. MacLennan's chance move from fourth to Gold was secured when the final jumper stumbled. 

Paula Findlay's race started going downhill almost from the beginning. She fell behind on the swim and battled on the bike, never making up ground on a lead group that was almost four minutes ahead of her. She really suffered on the run. On her first of four running laps she entered the stadium distressed, stopped to talk to her coaching staff and then continued to grind out the remaining three laps.

The leaders lapped her and as she entered the stadium for her last lap she passed the jubilant medalists celebrating.

MacLennan who finished the qualifying in forth, increased the degree of victory in her final routine. The three jumpers who placed ahead of her had their shots at beating her score.

The first one couldn't, MacLennan was guaranteed a bronze, ditto for the second. MacLennan and Cockburn watched the final Chinese competitor, commenting to each other all the way through, MacLennan bracing herself for a silver until ... final jump ... she misses the landing. MacLennan was all but guaranteed Gold! 

Here is where their stories merge.

MacLennan celebrated in front of a loud crowd made up of Canadians who were hungry for Canada's first Olympic Gold, Findlay entered the final stretch of the stadium to a loud crowd celebrating her courage and fortitude.

Ducks, who usually have the Serpentine River to themselves, share the water with fifty-six triathletes.

Paula Findlay, almost four minutes behind, works with a small group of riders to try to make up time.

Paula Findlay already well back of the lead group battles on the bike.

Paula Findlay approaches the stadium on her first lap of a four lap course.

Paula Findlay, suffering, runs into the stadium to complete her first lap.

Paula Findlay, suffering, talks to coaches before deciding to carry on.

The lead runners cross the line in a photo finish as Paula Findlay continues her run. Swiss triathlete Nicola Spirig edges out Sweden's Lisa Norden.

They spelt her name wrong, she had a tumble on the bike, Agnieszka Jerzyk of Poland still had a better day than Findlay.

Paula Findlay suffering, finishes well after other competitors during the women's triathlon.

Paula Findlay suffering, finishes well after other competitors.

Paula Findlay's family and friends had to watch helplessly as she struggled in the triathlon. They cheered her when she came into the stadium and empathizing with her when she wa outside.

Rosannagh MacLennan's family celebrate her gold medal, Canada's first gold of the games with her performance in Trampoline.

Tongue out, Rosannagh MacLennan performs in qualifying.

Rosannagh MacLennan keeps her eyes on the trampoline.

Rosannagh MacLennan performs.

Rosannagh MacLennan ends her final routine, she would win Canada's first gold of the Games.

 

Coach Dave Ross, Rosannagh MacLennan and Karen Cockburn react to a fall by the final jumper, securing a gold medal for Rosannagh MacLennan.

Coach Dave Ross and Karen Cockburn congratulate Rosannagh MacLennan, right,  who wins Canada's first gold of the Games.

Rosannagh MacLennan takes in another look at the score board as she is congratulated by Karen Cockburn.

Gold Medalist in trampoline Rosannagh MacLennan.

The Canadian flag flanked by two Chinese flags. Had Wenna He missed one jump element earlier Karen Cockburn could have been on the podium as well, she finished 0.090 behind the bronze medal position.

Canadians enjoy "Oh Canada"

Ryan Cochrane's Silver,

Ryan Cochrane teammates shout him to him a silver medal in the 1500 freestyle.

Yang Sun asks for time after he false started, it didn't seem to affect him, he won the race in world record time.

Ryan Cochrane dives in.

Ryan Cochrane breaks the surface coming out of a turn on his way to a silver medal in the 1500 metre freestyle.

The Australian silver medal winning 4 x 100 medlay relay team painted  their intials on their nails.

From the track,

British long jumper   celebrates his surprise win by kissing the flag.

Canadian Cameron Levins keeps pace and finishes in 11th in a deep Olympic field in the men's 10,000 metres.

In the final straight Mohamed Farah of Great Britian looks over his shoulder to see that nobody will catch him in the men's 10,000 metres. 

Mohamed Farah bolts from the photo crew after seeing his daughter on the track.

Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser Price wins the women's 100 m final.

Ducks fight on the Serpentine River in Hyde Park.

 

 

 

Brent Hayden's bronze medal swim is a lesson in Jubo!

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

There is something special about the Olympics and photographers love it.

Photographers are fed a buffet of "Thrill of victory, agony of defeat"

Lets talk Victory, aka Jubilation or simply jubo to photographers and now that I think of it, I can't recall what we call dejection. It might be as simple as dejection.

There are different degrees of jubo, good jubo and bad jubo..

Earlier this year I covered the Olympic Swim Trials.

Brent Hayden won the 50 and 100 free there, it was bad jubo.

Hayden's swim Nationals jubo was bad because he was focused on the swim meet that has been going on for a week here in London.

He was expected to win in Montreal and he did, just like he has done every year for a long time. Swim Nationals were more a gauge of where he was heading into the Olympics for the one time World Champion.

He did what was expected of him, swam fast, won and would give the crowd in Montreal a little wave in appreciation. 

Fast forward to yesterday and across the Atlantic.

Hayden has been all business here in London, I haven't seen him crack a smile in all the training and warm-up sessions I've attended. Although I was told he was close to tears after finally qualifying for the 100 metre freestyle final. An accomplishment that had eluded him in two previous Olympics.

Last night the Canadian photographers in the photo pit had a feeling that something was up, we fretted a little more than usual about his lane assignment. He was in lane 7, one lane short of as far away as he could get from us.

He was extremely focused during introductions, maybe that lane assignment helped him. When he came out they was only one more swimmer to be introduced, Hayden had to get ready in a hurry.

I know his swim was special at around 40 metres in, traditionally the final is seeded with the fastest swimmers in the middle lanes of the pool, so when the race goes it should look like a V from above.

At the 40 metre mark, shooting across six lanes of swimmers, I could still see him, that was a good sign.

Well what I could actually see was a bow wave with arms and feet churning up some angry water. At the turn I took a quick look at the clock, he was in second.

In the 47.80 seconds of race we barely saw him, we fired frame after frame hoping to get a little glimpse of him.

All eights swimmer hit the wall within a second of each other, The cheering crowd paused, swimmers turned quickly to look at the clock. 

Hayden removed his goggles, squinted, and slowly the stoic swimmer from BC began to smile. As the smile grew he hit the water with his fist to begin a series of the most jubo I ever seen from him.

Another fist pump, swim to congratulate the winner, another fist pump, another squint at the clock as he left the pool.

He climbed out of the pool and sat on the side and buried his head in his hands.

From there he stood up and began to walk to the mixed zone for interviews, slowing, then stopping at the lane 7 starting block and leaning over it and kissing it.

This was good, no, great, jubo!

Brent Hayden reacts to his time after winning the 100 m freestyle at the Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Swimming Trials  at the 1976 Olympic Pool in Montreal.

Sprinter Brent Hayden qualifies for the 50 freestyle in London during  the final session at the Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Swimming Trials.

Brent Hayden is introduced and heads to lane 7, lane reserved for the sixth fastest qualifier.

At the sound of the beep Hayden takes off. He had been hiding some front end speed until the final.

Oddly enough, when he comes out of his dive is one of the few times we can see him in the race.

About as much as we can see of Hayden during the swim. A sprinter might only breath a few times through the 100.

Hayden removes his goggles and begins to squint at the clock. He did not know if the number beside his name was a 3 or an 8.

It was a 3!

It was a 3! But the jubo was a 10!

Hayden keeps the jubo going!

And going!

“My legs just felt too heavy to stand up right there. So I took a moment to think about what I just did and gather my strength," Hayden told the Star's Rosie DiManno.

Brent Hayden kisses the lane 7 starting block, “I kind of had the urge to kiss the starting block because I just never knew I could love Lane 7 so much.” he told the Star,

Brent Hayden's 47.80 seconds of fury earned him a bronze medal and a caress from Dick Pound.

Hayden and his medal.

And on the topic of Jubo,.....

The Men's Eight Silver Medalists in rowing.

Coxswain Brian Price celebrates as the Canadian men's Eight win a silver medal in rowing  at the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Eton Dorney  in London.

The Canadian men's Eight celebrates on the dock as they recover and await the medal ceremony.

Coxswain Brian Price cheers after Malcolm Howard was tossed in the lake.

Brian Price cheers after he recieves his silver medal.

Brent Hayden coming off the turn in the 100 freestyle.

 

 

Canadian Gymnasts make historic leap!

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

The problem with an Olympics is that there is too much to shoot.

Deciding what to shoot each day is a lesson in second guessing yourself and editors.

But for the most part when the time comes you follow the best story.

Yesterday was one of those days, Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion were competing an the 10 metre sychronized platform competition. They were medal favourites, but, the Canadian women's gymnastics team was competing in the team all round final. The first for the nation! The paper wanted to go big on it, a double truck in sports. So I was dispatched to the gymnastics. 

There was an opportunity to attempt to do the diving that started at 3 pm and try to make it to gymnastics that started at 4:30. The trip would have involved two bus rides and a trip through security and I did not want to risk missing one or two of the events.

As it stands right now I don't know if I got that double truck, Canadian athletes had a great day with a couple surprise medals, but I had a lot of fun!

Victoria Moors is spotted by a coach during warm-ups for the floor routine. Canada earned a spot in the team final for the first time ever.

Elsabeth Black leaps during the Floor routine.

The press tribune at the event, this picture represents about a fifth of the tribune!

Victoria Moors spins through the air on the floor routine.

Victoria Moors competes on the floor routine.

Dominique Pegg  launches off the  vault.

Brittany Rogers competes on the vault.

Elsabeth Black is congratulated by coach after her vault. Canada sat fourth after one apparatus.

Brittany Rogers tapes her hands after vault in preparation for the uneven bars.

American Gabrielle Douglas soars high above the bar.

Victoria Moors catches the bar.

Victoria Moors comes down after catching air on the uneven bars.

Kristina Vaculik launches on the uneven bars.

Kristina Vaculik spots the bar as she competes on the uneven bars.

Brittany Rogers chalks up before competing on the uneven bars

Brittany Rogers soars over the uneven bars.

Elsabeth Black competes on the beam.

Brittany Rogers hugs Victoria Moors as they watch Elsabeth Black compete on the beam as Canada earns a fifth place finish, their best all time.

Elsabeth Black dismounts from the beam.

Kristina Vaculik is the final Canadian to compete on the balance beam.

Team Canada gymnasts react as they learn that they will finish fifth overall. 

The Americans win gold.

 

Best of July

 

        Richard Lautens              

 When it came to finding this month's collection of work, I couldn't resist offering up Richard Lauten's portrait taken on the last day of the month - today! At first, I thought it was an illustration (a picture designed, or conceived, or art directed, and a paid model) and pleasantly surprised to find a portrait (a picture which depicts something about the person). I'll let Lauten's caption speak for itself" Trish is one of more than 186,000 women in the US and Canada have logged on to find their own version of Christian Grey, the character from the book Fifty Shades of Grey. By mid-July 4,931 women from Toronto had altered their profiles on the site seakingarrangements.com indicating they were looking for a Mr. Grey, in other words, a dominant/submissive relationship with BDSM.

What follows is a more day-to-day representation of the types of assignments the staff find themselves up against. Steve Russell is only 4 days in the London 2012 Games, but already working around the clock getting to numerous events, so this is just a tease to the Best of August, when he will be featured prominently.

This day had balls!

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

When I decided to cover the four Canadians competing in tennis today I was a little worried.

We have all watched Wimbledon over the years, and when I got this chance to go I was a little worried.

You watch the grand slam tournament on television and you get the impression that it might be very photographer unfriendly.

Was I wrong, large pictures of past champions are on the walls of the main press building, even in the stairwells and throughout Court One. The photo area of the media centre allows for photographers to protect our gear like no other venue I have been too! 

And the photo positions and access to those photo positions, incredible!

The place drips history.

Canada had a great day on the courts, Raonic, Wozniak, Nestor and Pospisil were all winners and I couldn't help but think I won too!

Aleksandra Wozniak defeats New Zealand's Marina Erakovic 6-2 6-1 in first round action in the Olympic Tennis tournament at the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wimbledon. 

My Olympic sure things.

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

Olympics are somewhat comforting in the simpla fact that there are somethings you can bank on!

Some are pet peeves, some are madly annoying and some are comforting.

What are they?

A volunteer will give you the worst directions and make you extremely late/miss an event.

You cannot yell at that volunteer because, heck, they are a volunteer.

You will spend 2 hours a day, at least, on buses with sweaty stinky journalists, present company included.

You will break or lose something valuable like a lens or a wedding ring.

Emilie Heymans will win a medal when I'm at the pool.

I have the pleasure of witnessing Emilie Heymans winning three of her four diving medals. I was there in 2000, 2008 and yesterday!

SYDNEY, 2000

Canada's Emilie Heymans, right and Anne Montminy perform one of the five dives that scored them high enough to win silver at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The image is a little rough, shot on the Canon D2000, whooping 2 mega-pixel digital camera. There have been five new generations of pro digital cameras since!

 

The emotions of being a homer.

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

It is tough.

When I'm at the Olympics I realize how much of a homer I am. As a journalist I'd love to be objective, but during the Olympics as a Canadian I want the home side to do well and get on the podium! I'm sure it is the same for all my collegues here too.

Tonight as a former swimmer and a Canadian it was hard to watch Scott Dickens swim. He came in with a good morning swim, setting new national record,  that fueled hopes for his semi-final.

I'm sure the other Canadian photographer that were covering that race feel it too.

At the Olympics, that happen once every four years, we see and begin to understand their commitment to their sport.

Canada's emotional state at the pool was already compromised when Ryan Cochrane was bumped to first alternate in the final after South Korean Park Tae-hwan, who had been disqualified won his appeal. This bumped Cochrane out of the final.

As crappy of a day it might seem to Dickens, he still has the 200 breast to look forward to. 

Good luck Scott!

Team Canada members cheer as Scott Dickens is introduced before the 100 metre breastroke semi-final. The top eight times in the two semi-finals advance.

Opening Ceremonies = a long day + Clicker Ticker abuse!

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

I tell my daughters, "you get what you get and you don't get upset."

Now if only I could follow my own advice. I had a less than ideal position for the Opening Ceremony. I took it out on my fellow photographers and a poor guy that works at the COC. 

I don't really feel bad though, part of the job is to try to get the best possible position for the paper.

But it truly was a really bad spot.

Here are some of my favourites from the opening!

Spectators wait for the show to start to kick off the 30th Olympiad!

I travelled 24 hours to cover a soccer game! And the unveiling of the Russell Clicker Ticker!

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

Well,..., I travelled a lot more than to cover a soccer game. 

After I got word that a game was scheduled in Coventry at 3pm the day I was to arrive in London, I wanted to cover it.

It was a challenge, I made my way from Downtown Toronto at 2:30 p.m. to the airport to catch a flight was to arrive at 7 a.m. London Time. After landing I had to make my way to Paddington Station, to my hotel and then to the Olympic Park.

At the Olympic park I had to finish my accreditation process getting the required photo vest, getting a locker and certifying my radio remotes.

Thankfully the time of the match was 5 pm, I needed those two hours.

I had to get to Coventry, a process that took me two rapid transit trips with a 15 minute walk and a train trip that was lengthened and required a transfer after a fatality occurred on the route. 

Arrival in Coventry meant another 25 minutes in a bus and a 20 minute walk to the media entrance at the pitch.

I made it, just after the original game time, sweaty, tired and with just one hour of sleep in the prior 36 hours.

Here are some pictures from my journey and pictures from the game I travelled 25 hours to cover!

And as a bonus, the unvwiling of my Olympic feature, the Steve Russell Clicker Ticker!

The trip got off to a great start, a double truck picture of Jennifer Abel in the Olympic peview issue of Maclean's Magazine.

Olympic prep, take a peek inside my camera bag

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

Most of the debate for photographers before an Olympics is not about a specific athletes medal chances. Photographers debate gear and what to pack.

We might be covering a sport for the first time or covering a sport with memories of covering it with a camera that is now two generations past. 

But what it breaks down to is how much gear do you want to haul around with you.

This year I'm cutting down on my kit, and hoping that the Canon camera pool at the Olympics can help me out with a few lenses during the games. I'm hoping that the new 200-400 is there!

A the guts of the gear I'm bringing, 2 Canon 1DXs, Canon 1D mkIV, 14mm, 16-35, 24-70, 70-200, 300 f/2.8, 500 f/4 (which is my favourite sports lens), some remote gear, cards, extra glasses. And, of course, pit stick, also known as "Shower in a tube"

The most important things, passport and media accreditation! What are the Green markers for? Find out here!

Pocket Wizards on a remote camera give us another angle on an event.

The iPhone is a must piece of kit, the battery case equaly important.

A piece of kit that I love to use next to one I hate to use. The Canon angle finder allows me to line up a picture without having to lay down on the ground, great for low angle photography. The rain covers are a must in England. While I hate taking pictures in the rain, I love pictures taken in the rain. I know its strange!

The pair of newly released Canon 1DX in my kit require me to read the manual. Very different from the previous generation.

Everytime I'm lucky enough to shoot an Olympics I get a T-shirt made up for it. This year I had a pair of T-shirt's made up, each pays tribute to a friend that will not be at the Olympics. The black EP shirt, is a take off on the Queen's ER logo. EP is the designation for Photographer's on Olympic credentials. The crown has the initials SB in it for Shaun Best, a Reuters photographer who passed away last year. The Red shirt is the Toronto Star team shirt that reads "Keep Calm and File Fast" honours our Olympic writer Randy Starkman who passed away suddenly a couple months ago with a RS in the crown.