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BEIJING — With a good number of townsfolk having already left for Beijing, including the mayor, the co-workers of Olympian Travis Cross have decided to do a little something, too.
So Wednesday night, more than 40 people will gather at the one and only fire hall in Port Alberni, B.C., for a potluck dinner before settling in to watch Cross wrestle for his country and community.
"We're going to have all the members of the fire department and their families and some friends get together," firefighter Bladon Zaplotinski said. "We're all pumped. … For us here to be such a small part of [the Olympics] and know it on a personal level, makes it that much more special."
Most athletes come to the Olympics with best wishes and emotional support from home. Cross has come with a Don King-like entourage of 64, including Ken McRae, the mayor of Port Alberni, the Vancouver Island town known in some circles as the salmon capital of the world.
Cross's wife is here. The president of the local wrestling club is here. His training partner is here. If you telephoned anyone in Port Alberni on Wednesday, you might not get an answer. Most everyone is either in China or getting ready to watch their favourite 27-year-old firefighter compete.
"It's all over the community, from the guys at work to family and friends," Cross said. "It's been really impressive and overwhelming."
What about stepping onto the mat to cheering fans inside the China Agricultural University Gymnasium? "That's going to be unreal," he said.
Cross's Chinese expedition has been equally dreamlike. To properly prepare for Beijing, the Nanaimo-born, Port Alberni-raised freestyle wrestler figured he wouldn't be able to train and work at the same time. His solution was to take three months off through accumulated vacation time, then add a three-month leave without pay. Suddenly, he had the time but no money to cover his expenses.
He was married and had a young son. How was he going to pay the bills?
That's when the town decided to get behind its sporting son and raise money for him. Businesses and restaurants chipped in, and service clubs helped out. People sold T-shirts and stickers adorned with an image of Cross wrestling a panda bear in front of the Great Wall of China.
And there was more.
The city agreed to assist Cross for one month, while his fellow firefighters paid his way for another. Everyone contributed, which allowed Cross to polish his skills at the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club with national team coaches and a special training partner from Moldova.
"I needed income during that time and my brothers at the fire hall reached into their pocket to pitch in enough money to cover me for a month," Cross said. "I can't say enough about what people have done for me."
Cross is a three-time Canadian senior champion who earned his country a spot in the Beijing Olympics before he earned his own. By finishing in the top eight at last year's world championships, Cross guaranteed a spot for Canada in the 84-kilogram weight class.
To make sure he was the one filling that spot, Cross had to win at the Canadian Olympic trials. When he did, it fulfilled the two ambitions he had set for himself.
"Coming to the Olympics and being a firefighter has been a dream of mine since I was a child," said Cross, who trained and volunteered as a firefighter before being hired and exposed to the stress of the job. "We respond to a lot of accidents on the highway. When two cars going 80 to 100 kilometres per hour hit head on, it can be pretty nasty. When we're working, I just focus on my job. If I worry about what I'm seeing, I won't do the job properly."
Cross is hardly the first firefighter to compete at an Olympics. At the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, Duff Gibson, a Calgary firefighter, won the gold medal in skeleton, while Dominique Maltais took time off work as a Montreal firefighter and won the bronze medal in snowboard cross.
But Cross's appearance has generated a buzz that has already stretched from British Columbia to Beijing to Las Vegas, of all places.
"We just had our firefighters' international convention in Las Vegas," Zaplotinski said. "And Travis's name was mentioned and people were talking about what he's doing. He's a great guy, well thought of in the community. He's just a down to earth, humble, hard-working guy and we're all excited for him."
So excited they're bringing the potato salad and veggies to the fire hall so they can dine together in front of the TV set and watch Cross. If that's not an Olympic moment, pray tell what is?
