The comment I heard the most was, “I wish I could switch places with you?” (Or something along those lines.) I have to admit as far as work assignments go covering the Winter Olympics is at the top of the list. And I’ve covered some pretty cool stuff.

But in terms of fun, well that’s a different subject. Covering the games is much different than attending the games as a fan. What’s it like? I tell people to imagine the biggest party in the world. Then imagine walking right into the middle of the party, sitting down and opening up your laptop so you can work.

So, now that the Games are over and The News Tribune has shut down our Vancouver operations, I thought I’d share some of the details on what it’s like to cover an Olympics from start to finish.

By the numbers:

18 – The number of nights spent on the road.

15 – The number of nights I crashed in a sleeping bag on a couch. I’ve been married 13 years so this isn’t even close to a record for me.

30,000 – Milligrams of vitamin C I consumed to protect myself from the international media who apparently didn’t learn to cover their mouths when they cough when the world was freaking out about the H1N1 outbreak.

56 – The number of bus trips I took to get to the various venues.

$5 – The amount I paid for a worker to smuggle me a banana and orange for breakfast at the Richmond Oval. The only other options were chili dogs or roast beef sandwiches.

101 – The number of miles I walked around Whistler and Vancouver getting to and from events.

5 – The number of hours I was able to spend skiing during my 16-day stay in the ski resort village of Whistler.

74 – The number of granola bars I consumed to fight off hunger pains while I was writing.

14 – Average hours of work per day.

8 – Hours of work on the slowest day.

17 – Hours of work on my longest day.

1,500 – Column inches of copy written for The News Tribune in February.

10 – Minutes, on average, it took to defrost my fingers to the point where I could type after covering Alpine skiing or evening bobsled.

But, in the end, of course, the good always outweighs the hassles.

Thanks for following along.

AOL Fan House: Meet Brennan LaBrie, Youngest Reporter Covering Olympic Games
2/18/2010 12:00 PM ET By Ariel Helwani

Brennan LaBrie:
You are about to compete in your first Olympics. How does it feel?

RACHAEL FLATT:
It’s incredibly exciting. I’m having the time of my life. I’m certainly looking forward to the competitions.

LaBrie:
What has been the most exciting moment for you so far?

FLATT:
I would have to say it was the opening ceremonies. Everyone was ecstatic and chanting “U.S.A.!” I had a great time and I knew that everyone else was just as excited as I was.

LaBrie:
How do you deal with the stress of the Games?

FLATT:
I’m having a great time. I’m not worrying about all the stress and pressure or anything. I’m just trying to enjoy myself and skate a great performance.

LaBrie:
Do you have any rituals that you do before competing?

FLATT:
Not really. I don’t really have any superstitions. Before a competition, I just try to prepare myself both physically and mentally.

LaBrie:
What was it like to train with gold medal-winning figure skater Dorothy Hamill? What was the best advice she gave to you?

FLATT:
Dorothy is absolutely amazing. Earlier this year, she told me to work incredibly hard, so that I could feel comfortable and relaxed at the Olympics. She told me to save all the fun times for later.

LaBrie:
What part of the skating program do you most look forward to?

FLATT:
Probably the end! When I’m in my ending pose, I want to feel that I’ve done my best.

LaBrie:
What do you think is the coolest thing about figure skating?

FLATT:
I think the best thing about skating is that it’s a combination of art and athleticism. It’s so much fun – the jumping, the spinning, all the choreography and the incredible step sequences. It’s a combination of all those elements together that make the performance.

LaBrie:
Are you interested in other sports, besides skating?

FLATT:
I grew up skiing at Whistler-Blackcomb Resort here in Canada. I love to ski, but I haven’t in a few years. I don’t want to tear up my knees or anything! I also love to go surfing when I’m in California, and I love to play tennis, too.

LaBrie:
What do you do for fun?

FLATT:
I love to hang out with my two little sheep dogs. Each one weighs about 100 pounds, so they’re actually really big. I also like to spend time with my parents or go see a movie with my friends. I’m just a normal kid!

LaBrie:
Did you play sports as a child?

FLATT:
My parents said I had tons of energy as a child. They signed me up to play many different sports to burn me out by the end of the day!

LaBrie:
What are your plans for the future?

FLATT:
I certainly want to go to college. I just got accepted into Stanford University! It was a great accomplishment. I want to get an engineering degree, or study biomechanics. That’s incredibly interesting to me. We have to wait and see what happens!

Kevin Pearce was in a Colorado hospital during the Olympics. He’s fighting to recover from a brain injury he sustained during training in late December.

- Will Brandenburg, Alpine, Spokane: Finished second in the slalom portion of the super combined to finish 10^th in the event

- Holly Brooks, cross country, Seattle: Best finish was 38^th in the sprint classic.

- Roberto Carcelen, cross country, Seattle: Skiing for Peru, Carcelen finished 94^th in the 15-kilometer race.

- J.R. Celski, short track, Federal Way: Won a bronze medal at 1,500 meters and in the 5,000-meter relay.

- Patrick Deneen, moguls, Cle Elum: The reigning world champ fell on his final jump

- Nicole Joraanstad, curling, Kent: The U.S. curling team only won twice and finished last.

- Torin Koos, cross country, Leavenworth: The three-time Olympian finished 36^th in the individual sprint classic.

- Yina Moe-Lange, Alpine, Sammamish: Skiing for Denmark, Moe-Lang finished 47^th in the giant slalom and 52nd in the slalom

- Apolo Ohno, short track, Federal Way: Two bronze and a silver gave him a U.S. record eight Winter Olympic records.

- Christian Niccum, luge, Woodinville: With Dan Joye of California finished sixth in the two-man event.

- Karen Thatcher, hockey, Blaine: Scored three goals and three assists in helping the U.S. win silver.

- Bree Schaaf, bobsled, Bremerton: Piloted USA 3 to fifth place, beating USA 1 by 0.01 second.

- Jeremy Teela, biathlon, Tonasket: Ninth place in the 10-kilometer sprint, was the best by any U.S. biathlete.

He knew he’d pushed his hero and fellow Federal Way short-track speedskater Apolo Ohno from fourth to third on the final exchange of the 5,000-meter relay.

What he didn’t know was that he’d also shoved the United States to top of the Winter Olympics record book.

Fittingly for the first Olympics staged in the Northwest, the maneuver by two athletes from the region assured that the United States would at least tie Germany’s 2002 record for most medals won by a country at a Winter Olympics with 36.

A smile spread across Celski’s face when he heard the news.

“I had no idea,” Celski said. “When our team leader finds out, we’re going to be jumping up and down.”

The medal for the Federal Way skaters set the stage for the U.S. bobsled team to lock down the 37th medal Saturday when it won gold.

The only drama left is determining what color the U.S. men’s hockey team medal will be. The Americans, who locked up a medal with a win Friday, play Canada in the gold medal game this afternoon at 12:15.

“It’s a great time to be an American,” said short-track speedskater Katherine Reutter

But the Vancouver Games will be remembered for much more than America’s dominance.

Like every Olympics, the games were packed with stories – some sad, some happy and some that were just plain funny. Here are some destined to be a part of this games’ legacy.

THE DEADLY TRACK

When Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in training run the morning before the opening ceremonies, the safety and limited training time on the Whistler Sliding Centre became the biggest story of the games.

The International Luge Federation blamed Kumaritashvili’s death on a driver error even though they immediately erected a wall to keep sliders from flying off the track.

“Driver error caused the crash,” said Argentine luger Ruben Gonzalez, who trained with the Georgian slider, “but not having the wall there caused the death.”

ROCHETTE SKATES FOR MOM

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the games was the performance by Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette.

Two days after the her mom, Therese, died, Rochette skated one of the best performances of her life. She burst into tears when she finished as the crowd showered her with flowers and plush toys.

Two nights later she locked up the bronze medal.

“It’s been a lifetime project with my mom, and we achieved that,” Rochette said.

OHNO’S LEGEND GROWS

For three nights, Ohno added to his legendary career with dramatic passes and uncanny luck. But on what might have been the final night of his Olympic career, the 27-year-old from Federal Way appeared to run out of good fortune.

Ohno touched a Canadian skater while trying to defend his gold medal in the 500-meter final. The skater fell and Ohno thought he won silver. However, an official, who Ohno pointed out was Canadian, disqualified Ohno.

Still, Ohno, who has hinted that these are his final Olympics, ended the games in dramatic fashion. In the 45-lap team relay he got a push from Celski on the final exchange to pass the Chinese team and win bronze.

He now has eight career medals – two gold, two silver and four bronze – setting a record for U.S. Winter Olympians. Long-track speedskater Bonnie Blair held the old record with six medals.

“For me this has been my best Olympic games,” Ohno said.

MISERABLE WEATHER

Organizers who assured fans that the weather would be nothing to worry about were proved wrong.

Alpine skiing events were delayed on four occasions, leaving many fans unable to use tickets that in some cases cost more than $200.

A lack of snow at Mount Cypress, the venue for freestyle and snowboard events, forced organizers to ship in snow from other locations, including Mount Baker.

The biggest beneficiary of the poor weather may have been the U.S. Nordic combined team.

When wind and snow picked up after the ski jump portion of their event, many of the top competitors had jumped in much worse conditions. In the end, American Bill Demong won gold, the first in any Nordic event for the U.S., and Johnny Spillane won his third silver.

Even Demong said the conditions were unfair.

VONN’S BODY

Perhaps no terrain got more coverage during the Olympics than skier Lindsey Vonn’s body.

First it was her ski racer glam shot on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Olympics preview edition, then it was her photo spread in the magazine’s famous swimsuit edition.

But once the games started, attention switched to her right shin, which she injured so seriously during training that she could barely walk.

Still, Vonn competed in all five races, winning gold and bronze medals. A fall less than 100 yards from the finish cost her a third medal in the super combined.

“My shin still hurts, but I’m happy to be a double medalist,” Vonn said. “Not many people can say that.”

ALPINE DOMINANCE

The U.S. ski team won eight medals at the Olympics, more than any other American team. The team also broke its medals record set at the 1984 Olympics.

“It was the Lindsey Vonn Show coming in,” U.S. skier Marco Sullivan said. “Now it’s the U.S. Ski Team Show.”

The dominance was led by Bode Miller, who failed to win any medal in ’06, but won one of every color on Whistler.

But it wasn’t just Vonn and Miller who shone. There were surprises too.

Andrew Weibrecht, who had never finished better than 10th in a World Cup race, won bronze in the super combined. And after three years of struggling to ski well, Julia Mancuso surprised the field by winning two silver medals to go along with her gold from 2006.

OTHER HISTORY MAKERS

At times it seemed as if Olympic history was made every day.

• Clara Hughes, a 38-year-old Canadian, became the first person to win multiple bronze medals in both the summer and winter games. She won two bronze in cycling in 1996 and now has gold, silver and two bronze in speed skating.

• The United States entered the games with only two Nordic skiing medals in its history. The team won four, all in Nordic combined, at these games. Demong won the first U.S. Nordic skiing gold.

• Steven Holcomb, who was saved from going blind less than three years ago by an experimental surgery, piloted the U.S. four-man bobsled to the country’s first men’s bobsled gold medal in 62 years.

ODDBALL STORIES

It wouldn’t be the Olympics without a few oddball stories.

• Hubertus Von Hohenlohe, a German prince with Mexican ancestry, competed in Alpine skiing for Mexico. At 51, he competed against athletes as young as 16. He finished fourth-to-last in the giant slalom.

• Argentina’s Ruben “Speedy” Gonzalez finished last in luge. But at 47 he didn’t mind. “I achieved my dream,” he said. “… I want (people) to think, if this guy can go to four Olympics then I can do anything.”

• Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong became the first Winter Olympian from the African nation of Ghana. The 35-year-old finished 47th in Saturday’s slalom.

THE EXCUSES

Some of the best excuses for losing:

• The Netherlands four-man bobsled pulled out of the Olympics when its pilot, Edwin van Calken, said he lost confidence in his ability to safely navigate the course. His coach, Tom de La Hunty, called him a chicken.

• When figure skater Evgeni Plushenko lost gold to American Evan Lysacek, the Russian was furious Lysacek didn’t try a quadruple jump. Plushenko told Russian television reporters, “You can’t be considered a true men’s champion without a quad.”

• The full quote from Norwegian cross-country skier Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset explaining his performance in a team relay will never be fully printed in this newspaper, but it’s legendary among journalists who covered the games. Here’s the heavily abridged, PG-13 version: “I think I have seen too much porn the last 14 days.”

CANADA’S RESURGENCE

The games couldn’t have started much worse for the Canadians.

Hours after the luge death, the Olympic cauldron malfunctioned during the opening ceremonies. Adding to the fiasco, Canadian athletes weren’t performing well in spite of a $110 million athlete training program called “Own the Podium.”

But the games seemed to change for Canada in the second week as the host country started racking up medals, including more gold ones, 13 so far, than any other country.

With 11 fewer medals than the United States they hardly owned the podium, but in a country so crazed about hockey that the sport is depicted on the back of their $5 bill, if they beat the Americans today all will be forgiven.