Kilts at the Olympics

**Bob C** · 20th February 06, 07:34 PM

There's a Scottish skier on the GB team. NBC did a short segment on him. He was wearing the kilt and playing the pipes.

I guess his dad waits wears the kilt and plays the pipes as his son skis.

**Bob C** · 20th February 06, 07:40 PM

Addendum: His name is Finlay Mickel. Here's his website. http://www.finlaymickel.com/content.php?folder=3

I haven't found any kilted pictures, yet.

**Bob C** · 20th February 06, 07:43 PM

More:

Bagpipes make skier feel at home
Reuters

SESTRIERE, Italy, Feb 18 - Above the clanging cowbells and blaring air horns, the skirling sound of Scottish bagpipes briefly filled the air at the men's Olympic Alpine skiing venue on Saturday.

"That's my dad playing the pipes. My brother plays as well and so do I. It's nice to have him out here," said Briton Finlay Mickel after racing down the Kandahar Banchetta super-G piste to finish equal 22nd.

"I've played them since school, I travel around with them, it's a nice icebreaker," added the Scot. "Meeting people and travelling the world, its nice to have something that's your own."

**Steeplechase** · 20th February 06, 07:47 PM

Yes, I saw the segment on the piper. They also stated that the orginal curling stones were hewn from a mountain in Scotland. Sorry I don't remember which mount.

**KiltedCodeWarrior** · 20th February 06, 07:57 PM

Yes, you guys beat me to it! I just saw that segment and it was great. Kilts, pipes, and Olympic athletes!

**UmAnOnion** · 20th February 06, 08:09 PM

was at dinner in a pub nearby and saw a tartan out of the corner of my eye on the TV - couldnt hear what was being said but looked good thats for sure!

**mexpiper** · 20th February 06, 08:24 PM

ok guys you beat me to it.. i have looked for pictures of him in his kilt, but no luck. He was also playing the pipes on the segment.
Bruce Mickel is his father.
"...Bruce Mickel led a cheering delegation from Edinburgh that included Finlay's wife, sister and brother. Bruce, decked out in a Buchanan tartan kilt and a Balmoral hat, played the bagpipes. It was all traditional, except for one detail.
"This is the first time in my life that I haven't traveled commando," Bruce Mickel said, referring to how real Scotsmen remain, shall we say, unencumbered beneath the kilt.
He said he learned his lesson from another skiing competition in Italy when the temperature was 14 degrees "and I couldn't speak for a week. That's probably a euphemism. My wife said, 'You better wear your short johns.'?"
Duly clad and protected from the elements" Washington Times (Feb. 13, 2006)

**Zardoz** · 20th February 06, 08:53 PM

I saw that too, The wife and I were at a local pub for dinner tonight when that came on the bar's TVs . It provoked a lot of customers to start asking me if I was a Scot,(no, Irish) and what clan is that tartan, ( Nightstalker, no clan, corporate tartan, blah blah..) etc. :rolleyes:

**michael steinrok** · 20th February 06, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by Bob C.

There's a Scottish skier on the GB team. NBC did a short segment on him. He was wearing the kilt and playing the pipes.

I guess his dad waits wears the kilt and plays the pipes as his son skis.

My first thought was if he wore a kilt and piped as he skied he would have to be an olympian!

**James Martin** · 21st February 06, 02:07 AM

No kilts, but an excelent show of bold and inventive skating (ice dancing) from the Scots couple, the Kerrs, on tv last night. Bagpipe music and pas de basque to boot, and just a very ittle tartan to decorate the quite sobre costume.

Don't know what the Russians had that the Scots could not do; they should have won!

Martin S.