Behind the scenes at the Winter Olympics
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When fans are enjoying watching the Olympics on television, they give it little thought. But if their viewing is interrupted by technical difficulties, they likely will start grumbling about people like Randy Adams.
Brother Adams, a member of the high priest group leadership in the Foxhill Ward, North Salt Lake Utah Stake, is on the team responsible for keeping the Olympics on TV, and they take their duties very seriously.
Specifically, he watches over the fiber optics, the miles and miles of cable filled with tiny glass tubes through which the images are transmitted at the speed of light from cameras at distant venues to the International Broadcast Center in Vancouver, and then broadcast worldwide.
This is the sixth Olympics for Brother Adams as he tests, troubleshoots and maintains the fiber optic network.
"It's really a blast to work with people from all over the world," he said during a Church News interview at his home before he left for Canada two weeks before the Winter Games began. He works with technicians from all over the world. All must speak English; there is no margin for miscommunication, Brother Adams stressed.
A native of Parowan, Utah, he got his training during a long career working for communications company Qwest, beginning when it was known as Mountain Bell. He began his Olympics experience when Qwest assigned him to work for four years on the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. During that time, he worked at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.
Though he is now retired, he continues to apply for, and so far has been selected, to work the Olympics.
He usually takes his wife, Kathy, with him to the Games. Though she has to spend much of the time alone in the hotel, they do get out some, including attending Church meetings on Sunday. Brother Adams said it is usually easy for him to trade a Sunday shift to get away for Church.
He said he has many friends among the crew he works with, from China, to Australia, to Greece and other countries. Several have been with him at multiple Games. They sometimes ask questions about the Church. "We've had discussions," he said, adding that they are always courteous, even sometimes asking if it's all right to have dinner at a pub or other restaurant that serves alcoholic beverages.
When he gets home from Vancouver, he will continue his long-term as a service missionary at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. He began that calling just before the building opened in 2000. He is a tour supervisor on Tuesday nights and also works events at the center.
He and his wife have six children and nine grandchildren.
