Olympic Fever - Two of Zach Bell's Big Fans

The Clock was striking 6 AM. Grandma Lincoln was out of bed along with me to get a glimpse of the race. There on the Computer Screen was her grandson, Zach Bell, flying around the Velodrome in Beijing, China. It was the Men’s Cyclists Points Race going on in front of us – at a break neck speed.

This is perhaps one of those hidden stories that Big TV networks like CBC or NBC will never bother with. These athletes are not in the water nor in a boat, they do not have “human interest stories” fasten to them that thrill audiences. It is a small story with a gigantic background that may never be told. Let me tell it here.

Grandma Marion Nell Lincoln was born in a farm in southern Saskatchewan – in the small farm house a long way from anywhere. It was a cold January in 1921. She was the third child of Charlie and Emma Kirkpatrick – one of nine that they would have in that small farm house.

Though it was far from almost anywhere – it was the center of the world for our families. As Marion Nell would later marry Clifford, then go “home” often with her family to Truax, Saskatchewan – it became their center of the world as well. I was her first born and have known it as the center of the world for 64 years!

Growing up Marion Nell was an excellent baseball player. Many weekends she played with others in Soft Ball tournaments around the region. From her fellow players in the same league they chose some of the ladies to play in the famous women’s baseball league in the USA during World War 2 – from which “A League of Their Own” movie would be created.

Marion Nell Lincoln has always been active. So it stands to reason that her offspring and their offspring would be active too. But no one would every guess we would have an Olympian in our tribe. For me that is a BIG WOW! And as I stated on this Blog before – we are a little bit PROUD – DELIGHTED and THRILLED that one of us has worked so hard.

This morning was another WOW. There sitting in front of the Laptop Computer with Mouse in Hand was Marion Nell Lincoln – watching her Grandson Zach Bell – whiz around a track in Beijing China… at that very moment it was happening – on the other side of the world.

Do you know how far this scene is from 1921, a Cold January in a small farm house, 5 miles west of Truax, Saskatchewan? Do you know how far that is from Watson Lake, Yukon – where Zach Bell spent his years growing up? What are the possibilities of this Olympian coming from all of this? Hey – it may not turn your crank – but it has thrilled the Kirkpatrick Clan, the Lincoln Clan, the Bell Clan, the Lindsay Clan, the Rourke Clan, the Schindel Clan, and all the other clans that may be brought in by marriage. We are all thrilled to see “our boy” flying around that track.

The cool part is that Zach won the highest points on the 11th and 12th laps – as number one. They all kept going until three winners appeared with the highest number of points at the end of the ride.

Nope he wasn’t on the Podium at the end – but he is Number One in our Clans. Nope not on TV yet.– CBC is pretty much caught in promoting the American Athletes – just like the rest of the world. After all, the story is all about winning – right?

(NOTE ADDENDUM at 5:28 PM – CBC Web Site announced that ZACH BELL IS 7th in the WORLD – DOUBLE WOW!)

I bet you can guess who his Number One Fan is (other than his Dad, Greg and his Mom, Karen)… You betcha – Grandma Marion Nell Lincoln… and his second cousin Clifford – who is also very fast, a great Baseball Player, a super fast runner and the best wrestler in his cabin at Camp this summer!

We have caught Olympic Fever in Peterborough – a million miles from China! Go Zach GO!!!!

~ Uncle Murray Lincoln ~

Addendum

Llaneras win gold in men's cycling point race, Yukon's Bell 7th

Britain strikes gold in the men's individual pursuit, keirin finals
From CBC – Olympic Cycling Report http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/cycling/story/2008/08/16/olympics-cycling-day8.html

Joan Llaneras of Spain won cycling gold in the men's points race at the Beijing Games on Saturday, while Britain capped a dominating day on the track with five medals at the Laoshan Velodrome.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins claimed gold in the men's 4,000-metre individual pursuit final, while countryman Steven Burke earned the bronze.

Also on Saturday, Englishmen Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar finished 1-2 in the men's keirin event, while Chris Newton captured bronze in the points race.

Llaneras took control of the 160-lap race in the second half and finished with 60 points, thrusting winning his third Olympic medal in the event.

Canada's Zach Bell of Watson Lake, Yukon, had a strong showing — earning 27 points to finish seventh.

Germany's Roger Kluge took the silver with 58 points, while Newton was third with 56 points.
It's the second gold medal in the points race for Llaneras, who became the Olympic champion at the 2000 Sydney Games. The Spaniard also took silver in the event at the Athens Games in 2004.

In the individual pursuit final, Wiggins clinched his second straight gold medal in a time of 4:16.977.

New Zealand's Hayden Roulston finished about 2.5 seconds behind Wiggins to earn the silver.

In the bronze medal race, Burke defeated Russia's Alexei Markov to earn the final spot on the podium.

Wiggins, a three-time world champion in the event, sent notice to the rest of the field in qualifying on Friday, when he set an Olympic record time of 4:15.031.

In the men's keirin event, Hoy captured the gold medal by edging out Edgar for gold, while Japan's Kiyofumi Nagai finished third to claim bronze.

The medal haul on the track is guaranteed to continue for Great Britain on Sunday, as Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel posted the fastest times in the women's individual pursuit heats, guaranteeing gold and silver medals.

Romero advanced to Sunday's gold medal final with a time of 3:27.703, while Houvenaghel was second-fastest in 3:27.829.

Lesya Kalitovska of the Ukraine and New Zealand's Alison Shanks posted the next fastest times and will race for the bronze medal on Sunday.

5:28 PM From http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/cycling/story/2008/08/16/olympics-cycling-day8.html