An Awful Olympic Experience

U.S. short track speed skater Kimberly Derrick stepped up to the startling with tears in her eyes and a hole in her heart.
Her grandfather, Darrel Edwards, 74, died from an apparent heart attack while in Torino to see his granddaughter skate in her first Olympics.
"This was the most emotional day of my life,'' she said in a statement after the race. "I'm proud to be at the Olympics and at the same time, my heart hurts so much. When I got onto the ice I was overcome by emotions, but I knew I had to race.''
"I knew I had to race because that's what my grandfather would want me to do,'' Derrick said. "He was my biggest fan, the one who held my hand while chasing my dream. He was and forever will be my pillar of strength.''
She actually sprinted to an early lead in the four-woman race, but quickly fell back to second, then third and finally last. She bumped Liesbeth Mau Asam of the Netherlands while trying to pass in a turn, but never came close to catching the top two skaters. Derrick was disqualified for impeding, but it didn't really matter. She crossed the line in last place, her hands on her knees.
Edwards' daughters, Patty Edwards and Holly Derrick (the skater's mother), were with him when he died at 6 p.m. Friday. Derrick, a 20-year-old college sophomore from Caledonia, Mich., quickly joined her mourning family.