# My First Pinball Olympics! It was AWESOME!

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2023-10-26  
**Duration:** 20m 27s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-_g4tCPH8

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy attends the Pinball Olympics, a casual, fun-focused event held during Pinball Expo weekend at a private residence featuring modified machines with humorous obstacles and challenges. The event costs $100 for tickets (limited to 200), includes food and drinks, and features a treadmill-running-while-playing competition where Hardy participates and wins gold on Congo despite physical exhaustion and dehydration.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Pinball Olympics tickets are sold by Pinball Life about a month before Expo, limited to 200 at $100 each on first-come, first-serve basis — _Cary Hardy describing ticket sales process based on her direct experience this year_
- [HIGH] The event is held at an individual's house approximately 20 miles from the Renaissance Hotel (Expo venue) — _Hardy stating the location distance from Expo_
- [HIGH] Event runs from noon to 4 p.m., with food and drinks included in ticket price — _Hardy describing the event timeline and amenities_
- [HIGH] The treadmill running competition runs at full sprint speed (incline 6, speed 10) and involves multiple heats/brackets of competitors — _Hardy's detailed firsthand experience in the treadmill event_
- [HIGH] Ryan McQuaid from American Pinball participated in the treadmill event and nearly fell on his first run — _Hardy witnessing Ryan McQuaid's heat and his near-faceplant_
- [HIGH] One female competitor named Amy, age 50 and approximately 4'8"-4'9", attempted the treadmill event and fell twice — _Hardy's detailed description of Amy's participation and injuries (skin burns, bruises)_
- [HIGH] Hardy won gold medal on Congo by more than doubling the second-place score (812,968,160 points) — _Hardy's direct statement about winning gold and showing video proof of the score_
- [HIGH] Multiple machines at the event are modified with obstacles including tilted angles, one-eye covers, and adult-themed modifications (devices attached to Tickle Me Elmo and other objects for flipper buttons on Xenon and Paragon) — _Hardy describing various machine modifications throughout the event_

### Notable Quotes

> "Every year on Pinball Expo weekend, that Saturday, is the Pinball Olympics. It is held at an individual's house about 20 some odd miles away from the actual Renaissance Hotel."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~2:15
> _Establishes the event's basic logistics and connection to Pinball Expo_

> "They're limited to only 200 tickets, guys. So it's first come, first serve. The tickets are $100 each available on their website."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~3:00
> _Key detail about event accessibility and pricing_

> "I was like, okay, what's that all about? So, here's the deal, guys. Every year on Pinball Expo weekend, that Saturday, is the Pinball Olympics."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~1:45
> _Introduces the concept and teases the treadmill competition_

> "If you're used to tournament settings and you'd like to be able to focus on your game and do not like distractions whatsoever this is not going to be for you guys"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~6:30
> _Defines the event's casual, entertainment-focused nature versus competitive tournament play_

> "I thought I was good at pinball, but it turns out You change one little thing and I'm not good anymore"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~15:30
> _Captures the humbling nature of the modified machines at the event_

> "My calves literally guys like stabbing pain. Like they're not having it."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~12:00
> _Describes the physical toll of running on the treadmill while dehydrated and with alcohol in her system_

> "I took home gold for the lime and sheets Congo... I even recorded, like, video showing that it was legit. I legitimately got the score on this game because I was like, man, I doubled the highest score."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~17:45
> _Highlights her Congo win and the need to provide proof due to the exceptional score_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pinball Olympics | event | Annual event held on Pinball Expo weekend Saturday at a private residence, featuring modified pinball machines with obstacles and challenges, plus a treadmill running competition |
| Pinball Expo | event | Annual pinball industry convention; Pinball Olympics occurs on the Saturday of this event weekend |
| Pinball Life | organization | Entity responsible for selling Pinball Olympics tickets via Facebook announcements and their website; sells $100 tickets limited to 200 per year |
| Cary Hardy | person | Content creator attending Pinball Olympics for the first time; competed in treadmill event and won gold medal on Congo |
| Ryan McQuaid | person | American Pinball representative who competed in the treadmill event and nearly fell during his run |
| American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; Ryan McQuaid is associated with this company |
| Amy | person | 50-year-old female competitor at Pinball Olympics, approximately 4'8"-4'9" tall; attempted treadmill event twice and fell both times with significant injuries (skin burns, bruises) |
| Congo | game | Pinball machine on which Cary Hardy won gold medal with score of 812,968,160 points; features modified display as a challenge game |
| Xenon | game | Pinball machine at Pinball Olympics modified with adult-themed obstacle for flipper button operation |
| Paragon | game | Pinball machine at Pinball Olympics modified with adult-themed obstacle for flipper button operation; Hardy reports achieving grand champion on this machine |
| Indianapolis 500 | game | Pinball machine used in Pinball Olympics; Hardy featured running while playing this machine in opening footage |
| Renaissance Hotel | organization | Location of Pinball Expo; Pinball Olympics venue is approximately 20 miles away |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball Olympics event logistics and accessibility, Treadmill running competition format and experience, Modified/challenged machines as entertainment format
- **Secondary:** Casual vs. competitive pinball culture, Community participation in non-standard pinball events
- **Mentioned:** Physical fitness and alcohol's impact on pinball performance

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Hardy expresses enthusiasm and enjoyment throughout, emphasizing the fun and entertainment value of the event. Despite physical challenges (calf cramps, near-vomiting), she maintains upbeat tone and recommends the experience. Sympathetic to other participants' struggles while keeping humorous tone. Positive about winning gold and the overall community vibe.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** Pinball Olympics is an established annual casual event during Pinball Expo weekend featuring modified machines and entertainment-focused challenges rather than competitive tournament play (confidence: high) — Hardy's detailed description of event format, ticket sales process, machine modifications, and participation of players like Ryan McQuaid from American Pinball
- **[sentiment_shift]** Pinball community values fun, entertainment, and social aspects alongside competitive play; Pinball Olympics represents this alternative value system (confidence: high) — Hardy: 'this is what i believe a lot of us enthusiasts enjoy about this hobby the ability to just have fun with pinball and not take it seriously'
- **[competitive_signal]** Casual, entertainment-focused play formats are distinct from and contrasted with traditional competitive tournament settings in the pinball community (confidence: medium) — Hardy's explicit statement: 'If you're used to tournament settings and you'd like to be able to focus on your game and do not like distractions whatsoever this is not going to be for you guys'
- **[event_signal]** Pinball Olympics has become a notable community gathering with significant participation (200 ticket limit, treadmill heats with multiple brackets) and vendor involvement (confidence: high) — Cary Hardy's first-time attendance and detailed explanation of event structure suggesting it's an established tradition

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## Transcript

 He's got good technique running. I hear he knows how to play pinball. He's so good. I feel like I got an issue between him and me. Yep, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. The Pinball Olympics. What is it? How do you get invited to it? How much does it cost? Where is it at? All those questions will be answered in this video. If you do not know what the pinball Olympics are, you're about to be enlightened, so please stay tuned. I have footage regarding a lot of the machines that are available to play and much more throughout this video. And of course, you saw at the beginning of this video, me sprinting, essentially, while playing an Indianapolis 500. And it's like, okay, what's that all about? So, here's the deal, guys. Every year on Pinball Expo weekend, that Saturday, is the Pinball Olympics. It is held at an individual's house about 20 some odd miles away from the actual Renaissance Hotel. Now, it's not invite only or anything like that. So, let me tell you how you get tickets for Pinball Olympics. I want to say it's about a month before Expo. Pinball Life will basically, this is how it went down at least this year for me. They send out a message like a post on Facebook stating that, hey, everyone, the Pinball Olympics tickets are now on sale. And they're limited to only 200 tickets, guys. So it's first come, first serve. The tickets are $100 each available on their website. There's no tax or anything like that or shipping or whatever. They do mail you your tickets though. And those tickets you would need to bring with you to the Olympics. So for instance, this is my first time. So I'm going to give you my experience. I don't know what's happened in the previous years. I've only heard stories. so from my experience with the hundred dollars that you're spending on your ticket you're going to be getting alcohols paid for and your catered food is going to be paid for but obviously if people are making you drinks then tip them accordingly and stuff like that so this year we had tacos that were grilled i think i've got some footage of that they were very tasty as far as the drinks being made. I asked for, I think it was a gin and cranberry. I'm pretty sure that the cranberry was merely just for coloring because the rest of it was gin. I was like, wow. I brought my own vehicle, so I was able to just drive there. But if you do not have a vehicle, you have the option to pay an additional fee to use the shuttle bus like the 100 plus other people will be doing as well. I want to say this year it was like $35, but that is a drive to and back on the shuttle bus. And trust me, that's a lot cheaper than what Uber will charge you. So when you get there, you will form a line and go up to the individual that's taking the names, verifying that you have in fact purchased a ticket for the pinball Olympics. You will get a name badge and a pin, and there is when you're free to roam about the place to play all the games that are available. There's a very lovely collection there. If you saw the games that are in the video, then you already know. And you're going to be going up to either one of two games. You can play a game that's there that has no modifications and just have a good time with that, or you can join in with the Pinball Olympics fun and play these games with variations or extra challenges if you will that makes it a little unique or difficult to play. So everyone I'm going to be showing what some of these games are and there are a couple of games that do have some adult content so if you have children watching this I do not recommend you watch it with them going further. If you're used to tournament settings and you'd like to be able to focus on your game and do not like distractions whatsoever this is not going to be for you guys this is something that's much more entertaining and pretty fun honestly this is what i believe a lot of us enthusiasts enjoy about this hobby the ability to just have fun with pinball and not take it seriously or anything like that and just to have an inner competition among friends. And it's just all good, clean, clean for the most part, fun. So the event is typically from noon to 4 o'clock p.m. within those four hours. So you need to keep that in mind, guys. Also if you expected to be in seminars or doing something at Expo within that time frame always be prepared for you not being able to make it to expo during those times because of the distance from the event and the traveling to and fro anyways so that's the time frame noon to four that they have it because at four o'clock they start tallying all the scores that people have put on the pieces of paper next to the games that are in the event. And they do the top three scores when gold, silver, and bronze. And that's essentially Pinball Olympics in a nutshell. Now, there are a couple of other things to note. And one of those is, like I said, this was my first time. So I was unaware of the whole running on a treadmill and playing a pinball machine at the same time. Now, I remember walking past the machine during my live stream footage for you guys, and I saw that it was at a walking pace, a little bit faster than, you know, a walk, but it was there. And I was like, okay, that's interesting. That's different. And then later on, the individuals were walking around and taking names and writing them down. And they're like, hey, Carrie, are you going to run? And I'm like, run for fun. What kind of fun is that? But I mean, I just assumed that they were taking names for the treadmill event, which they were. But I also assumed it was just at that speed. And I didn't understand why they had to take my name for it. I just assumed that there was like a long waiting list to get to it. So I didn't really at the time say, yeah, put me on the list or anything. It's like if I got to it, I got to it. So time goes by. And once I run into the guys again, they explain to me what's going on with the treadmill and everything. that there's only a certain amount of people that can be in it, and it's actually another sub-competition. I was like, oh, well then, yeah, I want to try that. So someone that runs it every year actually stepped aside for me to be involved in it, so special thank you to him. And I was, again, still pretty unaware of what was about to go down, because they start calling all the names for all the typical rounds, and I didn't realize that we were going to be running in teams of four. I say teams, but they're heats, or it's like a bracket system. And they call the names for the first bracket, and then the second bracket, and everything like that. And I get up there, and I'm just kind of just watching at this point. And the first person to run in the first heat was actually Ryan McQuaid with American Pinball. And I'm like, okay, let's see how things go. And then I noticed that they start turning the incline and the speed up on this treadmill. so we're no longer at a walking pace guys we're at a we're at a full-on run speed and that's when it kicked in that i was like that's why they asked me if i wanted to run now it makes sense so i'm already now nervous because i my main objective at this point is just to not fall on my face because I see it being very likely and let me continue it is very likely so I wish I would have been recording this guys and I know that there are a couple of people out there that do have the footage of a couple of people that almost or did face plant and I was gonna I planned on putting it in this video and making it a little comical but anyways Ryan McQuaid his first takeoff he almost face planted luckily he didn't but it was initial like his feet hit the treadmill the takeoff running and like he almost like face went right into the coin door kind of thing but he recovered real quickly and he was off to the races and did just find after that Now, within the same heat as Ryan was this little bitty cute lady named Amy. And she gets up there. She's obviously been drinking a little bit. I mean, so there's alcohol involved, obviously, with this. She's all the usual, you know, kind of thing, excited, getting everybody all pumped up because she's about to start running. Everything was looking good. and then she hopped on that treadmill i mean not a graceful fall guys not like oh she she almost had it we're talking like it was like feet face down flew off the treadmill but what made it worse is that she was holding on to the side of the treadmill, like the handlebar portion. And was like, the treadmill was like burning, like her skin on the side of her like hip and everything. And I was like yelling, let go. So she lets go and gets up and she's like all recovering and all happy. Everything seems to be good. She probably a little embarrassed and that rightfully so but she was not giving up She was a trooper guys she was like no i gonna do this and so she gets up there jumps on that treadmill face plants again and it's one of those where it's like okay stop don't don't hurt yourself anymore because i i know and i would like to know amy if you're watching this by all means um i'd like to know how badly bruised and burnt you ended up being you showed me the the the roughness that you had afterwards and everything but i'm pretty sure you got some bruising the next day so but needless to say guys um it's not an easy event especially when you're like four foot nine she's a little bitty so that treadmill is running pretty fast you've got alcohol involved it's you know not to mention she was like what she said she was 50 years old so it's i'm gonna she openly said it so yeah i'm gonna say it she was the only female in the event and she was 50 years old and she was like four foot eight she was she's very tiny little girl so mad props to you amy for making the attempt but um moving on to my bracket that i was in and so like i said my main objective was to not faceplant and it's a good thing that I didn't because evidently there was a good amount of you people out there recording me probably hoping that I would faceplant and I initially start taking off and during this time period it's like okay this is you know running and you know I do some cardio and everything but I don't run on incline six speed ten that's not fun running isn't fun in general but anyways i start running and i do a pretty good first ball and it's after my first ball where my calves oh that was a unexpected there carrie but uh just to let you know uh we would really appreciate it if you did not do any more of that because it wasn't fun you have been drinking quite a bit and you have not been rehydrating and us as your calves that give you the ability to walk and run highly recommend you do not do that again though anyways ball two comes up and i step on there and i once again start running and i go and go and like i do it the best i can before my calves basically start screaming at me again all right dude we gave you a warning last time and now we're telling you right now this is it we're not doing any more after this you do it again if you jump on this treadmill again you're gonna regret it so needless to say i jump on there for ball number three and i start taking off and running and this was my shortest sprint yet because that's when my calves said all right we warned you so now we're gonna just tie ourselves in knots and we hope you can figure out how to walk later so i get off of that machine and my score did not beat uh the next person above me score so i knew i did not win the heat and i'm glad that i didn't because if i would have i would have, I would have like, you know, been like, I'm not doing it more. I would have like surrendered. I can't even think of the proper word for it, but I would have, um, forfeited. That's the word. Okay. Well, I would have forfeited been like, no, I can't do it. Cause my calves literally guys like stabbing pain. Like they're not having it. And they were, my muscles were just not having it. I sat down and they had to give me water. I could taste the gin and the tacos like right here in my esophagus i was like man i better not throw up this is not going to be fun at all and so luckily i didn't but people did and it's kind of like a common thing that people end up doing that when when this happens in this event so it's not unheard of and i wouldn't have been the first one to do it so if i do this again next year i will be well hydrated and i may not even drink or eat anything until after I run because that's not fun. That's not fun at all. But alongside that event, guys, there are so many other machines set on some kind of weird plane or obstacle to keep you from playing at your best. And this is something I think everyone at some point needs to experience just to be able to go, you know what, I thought I was good at pinball, but it turns out You change one little thing and I'm not good anymore kind of thing. Whether it be the angle at which you're playing at, one eyeball being covered up to alter your depth perception, or whether you're pulling on a couple of male appendages to make your pulling paragon game work. That's right. There is a room where there's a xenon and you have to put your fingers into some, let's just say it, some sex toys like a butt and another orifice and to push flipper buttons and so along with putting in something that feels kind of iffy already Try a tube shot. We're going to hear all the female sounds while you've got your hands in. Yeah, I've never heard these sounds before. Is that what women sound like when they're having fun? The game's making all those kind of sound effects that you already know, like, ooh, try a tube shot and stuff like that. So it really adds to the, this doesn't feel right while you're playing it kind of thing. But then you want to play pulling Paragon, where you're having to pull on, you know, these sex toys here. One's attached to a Tickle Me Elmo, and the other one's attached to a damn baby. I didn't tell anybody this, but I actually grand championed that game, but I did not put my score on the board because that's something I didn't want to be known as being really good at. I also, you know, didn't use my hands on one of them. I used my mouth. So I really didn't want anybody to know that. No, I definitely didn't do that. But I did break one at one point. You broke the whole mechanism off. So if next year you would like to be involved in the pinball Olympics, by all means you need to follow Pinball Live on Facebook. And just keep your ear to the ground. About a month or so in advance of Pinball Expo, for the announcement to come out, the tickets are available for sale. And if you can get in the top three scores on any machine, then you could possibly take home a medal. I took home gold for the lime and sheets Congo. The thing is I did very well on this game and the wife's going to say it again, but she, the only reason why I got that good of a score is because she was basically my narrator to explain to me what was going on on the DMD saying like, Oh, you're in video mode now, or you need to choose between your right flipper and left flipper, whatever. But when it comes to the actual playing of the game and the visual, what I had, That was all me. But I did so well from the other scores, I even recorded, like, video showing that it was legit. I legitimately got the score on this game because I was like, man, I doubled the highest score. People are going to think that I'm, like, forging scores and everything. I was like, I'm not having it, so I'm still going to show it to you now. I want video proof just in case, damn it, and my score beats the rest of everybody else. come on i need video proof no one will believe me there it is 812-968-160 all right so that's pretty much it for pinball olympics i'll tell you what what i'll do next year is that whenever the tickets go up live if you don't have facebook and want to follow that thing then i'll try to make a video or some sort of announcement for all of you out there to get the tickets while you can and see this would definitely not be a game for those that are easily distracted for those that know the inside story about when i was recording labyrinth gameplay the other day i bet that individual would not do very well here so what is the objective here just to listen to you guys while we play this game what's going on We pester and bother the player. No good gophers. No good gophers. Yeah. People walk up and we say, good thing you invested in a gyroscopic stabilizer to film a pinball tournament. The 17 YouTube subscribers are eating. Yes! All 17 of them. Not everybody can afford to go to the arcade and put in 25 cents. Sometimes you just got to watch it on YouTube. Exactly. Oh, I didn't show this off earlier, guys. Hold on. Let's see if I can get my camera in here. Oh, I'm going to run a... Oh my God, this is fucking trippy. Jesus, what the hell? Are we moving? We are. Shit. Seriously, dude, this is messing with me up. I'm about to, like, get sick. What the hell? It feels like we're moving, but we're not. Out of all the games that I've shown you in this video, Which one do you feel like would be the most difficult for you? Let me know in the comments section down below. And until next time, guys, peace out. you

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 30de1d38-bc74-42df-9b5a-bca45a6db8a2*