Who needs sleep when there’s Olympics to watch all night?
TORONTO Becky Marsh figures she’s slept an average of two hours a night since the Pyeongchang Olympics started.
The diehard Olympics enthusiast from Spruce Grove, Alta., watches the Games daily from the time they start airing live in late afternoon until the wee hours of the morning, when she pulls the couch right in front of the TV and turns the volume down so she doesn’t wake up her husband or three kids.
“I nap on the couch for about 10minute periods and literally watch the Olympics all night long,” says Marsh, who works from home.
“I have not missed an event, I have not missed a medal, I have seen them all. I know the channels and I flip back and forth, back and forth, back and forth so that I do not miss one live.”
With Korean Standard Time over a dozen hours ahead of this country’s times zones (in Alberta, it’s a 16-hour time difference), Olympics junkies in Canada have to stay up late or get up at the crack of dawn to catch events live.
Citing data from ratings tracker Numeris, the CBC said Monday that almost two-thirds of all Canadians (65 per cent) have tuned in to CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of PyeongChang 2018, with a total of 23.4 million in Canada watching at least part of broadcasts across all English and French television network partners and digital streaming simulcasts on the CBC’s Olympics websites and its apps. The data was from Feb. 7-11.
For some, like Marsh, it’s a labour of love.
The 33-year-old says she’s watched every Games since she was a toddler and buys official Olympic clothing for her family to wear during the competition.
“It’s not the same getting it secondhand. It’s fantastic to watch them live and achieve their goals that they’ve worked so hard for,” she says, noting she played the Paralympic sport goalball for Team Canada for three years and knows the work and dedication that goes into such training.
“I think they’re amazing and I cheer like a fool, even if it’s three in the morning and I wake up my whole house, knowing that even if they’re half a world away and they can’t hear me, that I’m probably the loudest person cheering in the whole world.”
Lauren Simpson of Toronto is also a lifelong Olympics fan who has been juggling the odd Games hours with her day job and motherhood.
“It doesn’t matter the time, I watch every single event,” says the 51-yearold activities co-ordinator at a long-term care home.
“When it’s something that I love, I am more than happy and willing to wake up at whatever ridiculous time to see it live, because I don’t want to hear, ‘Oh, did you hear how this person did’ or ‘Yay, we won another medal.’ I really do prefer the experience watching it, whenever possible, live.”
On Sunday night and early Monday morning, Simpson had an added reason to tune in live: Her niece, Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., won the gold medal in the team figure skating competition.
“I’m a little bit tired but it’s an elated tired,” says Simpson, noting she functions well on four or five hours of sleep.
“It’s such a short price to pay for being proud of Canada in everything that they do and their accomplishments.”
“I nap on the couch for about 10-minute periods and literally watch the Olympics all night long.”
– Becky Marsh