My Olympic experience has come to an end. I just finished watching the last event on TV while waiting for the Closing Ceremonies to begin. These two weeks were simply amazing. To be in the city that they were happening is an experience that I think will need some time to really sink in. To be able to attend as many events as I did was simply incredible. After experiencing these games on the front lines I know that I want to be back, to be present at the games again in the future. While watching on television may give a bit better view of the action, nothing matches the excitement of watching in person.
Week two brought more excitement and new events. Even though swimming had concluded by week two, I really feel like this past week offered more excitement and more enjoyment for me. The week started with a trip back out to Changping, the city and district where my school is located. I caught the women’s triathlon in the beautiful setting of the Ming Reservoir. While the nature of the sport meant that we were not able to see the entire race unfold before us, we were able to see most of the swim as well as the transitions. In addition, the athletes made their way through the stadium every lap offering us ample opportunities to cheer them on. Emma Snowsill, an Australian ran away from the competition, closing with a very fast run to pull away from the field. I was hoping for an American medal, but it was a near miss as the top American finished in 4th place.
That afternoon I got to watch Track and Field at the Bird’s Nest for the first time. The venue was amazing and the show that the athletes put on was even more incredible. This night offered just about everything we could want to see. We got to witness a World Record, an American victory, an American sweep (1,2,3 in the Men’s 400m Hurdles) and an appearance by the new World’s Fastest Man. The World Record closed out our night and was set by a complete princess, the Russian Pole Vaulter. She had only jumped two times when she had clinched the gold medal. She did not end there, continuing to jump to set first the Olympic Record and then, on her last attempt, the new World Record.
Tuesday was supposed to be an off day for me, but my friend Ed convinced me that we should try and see what prices scalpers were asking for the Football (soccer) Semi-final between Argentina and Brazil. The price was not too ridiculous so we found ourselves in the 8th row for this incredible match. We got there early to find that we did not have that much legroom in our seats. I put my feet on the seat infront of me but was quickly told that this was not allowed. A bit later I draped my legs over the seat and was again told that this was not allowed. Finally I sat on the back of my seat to await the beginning of the match. Soon the usher came up to me again but this time, instead of saying that this was not allowed, told us that she was sorry that the seats were so close together. To make up for this, she offered to move us to other seats. There were some seats reserved for VIP’s and offered not only more leg room, but also a much better view. It was a great example of the helpfulness of the volunteers at these games. Most of the time they were more than ready to help. The seats offered us a great view for the convincing 3-0 victory fro Argentina. The match featured some of the world’s best players and was one of the highlights of the games for me. Argentina went on to win the Gold and was very deserving of this. They were clearly the class of the field of the matches I saw.
Thursday morning brought me back to the Water Cube for the last time. I got to see the semi-finals of Women’s 10m platform diving. The skill of these divers was incredible and I was treated to a display of Chinese dominance in this sport. As someone that is afraid of heights, I cannot imagine why people would choose to throw themselves off of such a height as sport. I sat next to a couple that was friends with American diver, Laura Wilkinson, yet another perk of being at the Olympics.
On Friday I got to see another session of Track, this time featuring yet another World Record as well as an American victory in the Decathlon. The World Record came in the 4x100 relay by the Jamaican’s and was the third World Record for Usain Bolt. It was impressive display by the entire Jamaican team. I also got to see the latest in the line of the American Decathlon champions, Bryan Clay. It was a bit anti-climactic, but still cool to watch. He had such a large lead after the first 9 events that he really did not need to race the final event, the 1500m. He crossed the line last, but still was the gold-medalist based on his 470 point lead entering that event.
I ended my event schedule with a trip out to the west of Beijing to watch the Men’s Mountain Bike race. French rider, Julian Absalon, who from the third lap on rode away from the field, won this pretty easily. What made this event so much fun to watch was that we were allowed to line the course, without being restricted to a seat or seating area. This allowed the spectators to move around and see different aspects of the race, not only the start/ finish line.
All in all, I could not ask for a lot more out of the events that I got to see. I plan on offering my overall analysis of the city during this time in my next post a bit later in the week. The chance to see the games in person was amazing and an experience that I recommend to everyone. The chance to witness the spectacle, competition and nationalism that accompanied the Olympics was more than I could have imagined.
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