Tribute to Olympic peace turns flirtatious as Markos on the make

WHISTLER, B.C. - A tribute to the Olympic Peace Resolution was feeling the love on Valentine's Day.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean held an informal "discussion" with athletes from six different countries Sunday at the Whistler athletes' village, where they riffed on the power of the Games to bring nations and people together under the collective banner of sport.
Alpine skier Marko Rudic of Bosnia and Herzegovina enthusiastically took the message to heart.
Seated on a wooden bench with Moroccan skier Samir Azzimani on one side and Australian women's bobsledder Astrid Loch-Wilkinson on the other, Rudic got into the spirit with a good-natured elbow to his male competitor and a flirtatious pitch to the raven-haired Aussie.
"I meet so much people, so much good friends," Rudic told a crowd that included the Governor General, her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond and their 11-year-old daughter, Marie-Eden.
"I never know a guy from Morocco. He's nice guy. Maybe he looks a little bit strange, but he's OK," Rudic said of the rather more handsome Azzimani to his right.
"Also Australia. I never know someone from Australia," he continued, leering to his left. "I'm already in love with her. I hope she don't have a boyfriend somewhere. Make him jealous, yeah. Love and peace, yeah."
The routine brought roars of laughter from the rain-drenched crowd. The skies, which had been clear leading up to the outdoor assembly, opened in a downpour the very moment that Jean began speaking to the group.
"I don't mind the rain," she said as officials scurried to find umbrellas.
Minutes earlier, Jean had signed a peace monument with an Orca motif built in the village square, writing in black marker in both official languages that "Building peace is about breaking down the solitudes."
Gregory Saint-Genies of France, who is competing in skeleton, had perhaps the most touching message of the morning. He told the crowd that he hopes kids watching the Olympics will learn they can "live our dreams" and then gave a shout out to his four-year-old daughter and six-month-old son back home.
He said his daughter inadvertently has given him a keen understanding of what the Olympics is all about.
"When I hear from her she is always telling me just make new friends and have fun," said Saint-Genies. "It's not really about competing."