The Olympics, Love, and Coffee

Just around ten years removed from the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, we've got a love story for you. And as the title of the entry suggests, it's a love story brought about the Olympics (which we love) and coffee (which we love more than we should and probably to the detriment of our health).

Marc Seliger was the goalie for the German National Hockey Team. Maureen Heagany was a volunteer at the coffee house in the Athlete's Village at the University of Utah. One morning, early in the Games, Maureen served Marc his coffee. Marc didn't say a word. Two of his teammates did all the talking, a memory Maureen smiles at now because of the three hockey players, Marc was the one who could speak English.

By the second time they met, Marc spoke. He mentioned he liked the background music that was playing. Maureen responded by saying she'd burn him a disc (back in the day when people burned discs). When she gave him the CD a few days later, she wrote her email address on the disc. Over the course of the next week and a half they got to know each other a bit. One morning they sat on the porch of the coffeehouse, a converted Fort Douglas officer's house, and had their picture taken together.

Back in Germany, when Marc played his custom-made CD, he noticed Maureen's address and sent her an email. She emailed back with her phone number. Not long after that, her cellphone rang with an enormous string of numbers on the screen. Having no idea who that could be, she answered. "Hi," said Marc.

Pity that we'll have to wait another few years for another story like to come along, but it should be worth the wait. In the meantime, we've got plenty of coffee to keep us company.

Deseret News: Olympic dreams led to marriage for athlete Marc Seliger, volunteer Maureen Heagany