Originally Published: 2010-03-07

Karen Waller

When elementary school teacher Karen Waller returned from a six-day volunteer stint at the Olympics sporting a Team Canada jersey, her younger students thought she was leading a double-life.
“The little ones said, ‘We know where you were. You were in Vancouver and you got the gold medal in hockey,’ and I said ‘OK, cool!’” she laughs.
She may not have won a gold medal, but Waller certainly had an experience to remember.
Waller volunteered as a specialist with Right to Play, an organization that uses sport to improve children’s lives in developing countries. She worked at the venue in the Olympic Village decked in the group’s yellow gear and red Hudson’s Bay Olympic mittens that sold out in Vancouver and allegedly drove one American to buy a used pair for $200 off the street. The group took donations for Roots clothing and hot chocolate, played games and spread the word.
But she had time to take in some events too. She saw Skeleton champ Jon Montgomery’s medal ceremony, women’s curling, which she admits to not entirely understanding, and the United States versus Sweden women’s hockey game where unlike most Canadians, she cheered for the U.S. because she wanted to see a good final against Canada.
Waller was there for Joannie Rochette’s emotional first skate, something many did not think she would be able to do after the sudden death of her mother.
“She was brilliant,” she says. “Everybody just held their breath.”
Waller also witnessed the ice dance final, when Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the gold.
“The whole crowd – you could feel it was just building, building because they were one of the last to skate,” she says. “You could hear their blades because everyone was so quiet.”
Waller explains how a woman asked her who Virtue and Moir were and if they were any good.
“Could they maybe win a medal?” she had asked her. “I said ‘Well, they’re highly favoured.’”
Waller erupts with laughter as she describes the moment. “Really?! She had no clue. I thought, ‘What are you doing here?’”

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