KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – Erin Hamlin spent more than half her life waiting to become an Olympic medalist.
Hey, what's one more day?
Hamlin finished third in the Olympic women's luge competition on Tuesday night — but went home with only a bunch of flowers. The bronze medal wasn't being awarded until Wednesday, in a separate ceremony down in Sochi, roughly an hour's drive from the Sanki Sliding Center where she competed.
"It's still pretty cool," said Hamlin, from Remsen, N.Y. "The excitement gets drawn out, so it's still awesome."
And given how impressed Hamlin is with the design of the medals, just getting one was enough to make her happy. Another 24 hours or so of waiting wasn't going to bother her whatsoever.
"They're awesome," Hamlin said. "I remember seeing them for the first time and I was like, 'Oh my gosh. If there's ever a time to win a medal, it's this time, because those are the coolest medals ever.'"
— By Tim Reynolds — Twitter http://twitter.com/ByTimReynolds
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Associated Press reporters are filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
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