It has been nearly 24 hours since the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008
Olympic Games. I can still sense my heart racing by the mere thought
of the night. It was unbelievable on many different levels.
The USA athletes boarded a bus around 5:30pm and headed to the fencing
hall for a private USA gathering. All the athletes had a 2 hour block
to meet and greet each other and also mingle with both President Bush’s
(past and present) as well as Mrs. Barbara Bush.
The atmosphere was filled with anticipation and excitement. We were
excited to meet and talk with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Candace Parker,
Lindsay Davenport, and many many others. It is not everyday that you get a chance to just hangout with these people as if you have known them since grade school. Everyone was especially anxious to meet the men’s basketball team. A teammate of mine knows Chris Paul from college, so he brought all the guys to our area. We had a few laughs, and of course many pictures. It was nice to see how humble and considerate they are in real life!
For those two hours, it didn’t seem to matter if you were male or female, rich or poor, old
or young, every athlete in the room knew that we were all about to step
foot on the international stage together.
The USA delegation left the gathering and headed to the gymnastics hall where we would meet the rest of the countries. All athletes were housed in this enormous, yet terribly hot, structure until our country was called to walk over to the National Stadium. We sat in our section and watched many countries depart until our number 140 was called to finally exit. I say “exit,” but we didn’t make it too far.
Like all good things, it usually comes with a wait. We stood in line, just like you might for the roller coaster at Six Flags, for approximately 45 minutes. That hour allowed the anticipation to build in my stomach.
We picked up the flag bearer and before I knew it, we had entered the tunnel and could see the lights beaming down on center stage. We had almost made it in! The tunnel began to shack as we all started chatting U-S-A over and over again. Then, we heard it called over the speakers “The United States of America.” We had made it!!
We finished the 400 meter march and I swear, I forgot to breathe. The feeling was so surreal and we all just wanted one more lap around the field. Probably the first time ever that we wished for “just one more lap”
We finished the evening on the infield with all the athletes. Just watching what many of you probably saw on television. The Olympic Anthem, the speeches, and finally the lighting of the torch. I am not sure what it looked like from the couch as the man was raised to the top of the stadium with the flame in his hand? But, the moment he began to “run” with the torch will forever live in my memory. That was one of the most incredible things I have seen to date!
The excitement of that night will always be a part of me, but for
right now our focus has changed to nothing but business. Today marks
our first game of the Olympics against Argentina. The team is excited
and ready to take the field!
Keli #13
Greeting to all, or as they say here in Beijing, “Ni How” It is exciting to write you again because the past 48 hours have been full of excitement. This feature might seem a little disheveled and the reason is, that’s the reality here. We have been running from training sessions, to meals, to the Great Wall of China, and eventually back to the village. So, bare with me!
The team has been training hard and maintain exceptional focus, in light of all the excitement and activity around the Games. To give us a break, the staff arranged a 24 hour get-away. After training on Wednesday, the group boarded the bus and headed straight for a non-touristy part of the Great Wall of China. I have seen pictures of this structure that some say is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. But, I still had my doubts about it’s enormity.
The bus weaved us up the mountain side before stopping to park. I soon realized that you had two options, take the cable car or climb. I thought for sure that the group would take the cable car, since it was supposed to be a “relaxing retreat.” I don’t know how I under estimated this trip so much, but we of course, started hiking up! It only took about 15 minutes because we are so competitive that we ended up running half the way. When we reached the top, there was not one person not sweating head to toe.
The “Wall” is amazing beyond words! I had a hard time grasping the fact that it was longer then the United States is wide. We stayed for some pictures and to walk to Gate 6 (we reached the top at Gate 8). Gate 6 has a significance too! It was the starting point for the luge course back down the mountain. Of course, every member of the group hopped into a sled and off we went, some faster then others.
The adventure continued as we headed for a town called Leisure City. The small village was full of hot springs, spas, indoor water park, and a few hotels. It looked nice, but the team was only concerned about how quickly we could climb into our beds. We needed to rest up for the water slides in the morning.
Before putting on our bathing suits, most people gathered on the street for the parade of the tour relay. It was not a planned part of the trip, but we got lucky enough to witness the flame passing next to us. It was a very surreal moment to be so close to the torch, the same one that we will see tonight at Opening Ceremonies.
The day wrapped up early and everyone was refreshed and ready to get back to work. Time to prepare for a scrimmage against Korea that evening.
The 50 minute friendly match ended in a 2-2 tie, but the result was not important. Rather, just another sharpening practice to prepare us for the start of our tournament on the 10th.
Until next time….and after the Opening Ceremonies, All the Best!
Keli #13
Hello to all,
Today has been a very exciting day thus far. We had breakfast in the village dinning hall and saw Misty May and Kerri Walsh. They are the gold medal favorites for the women’s beach volleyball competition. We then went to practice. Today we got to practice on pitch A. Which is the main competition field. It was amazing. It is most likely the largest field hockey specific stadium that I have or ever will play in. The city of Beijing has spent a lot of time and money preparing the venues and it shows. We are extremely excited to play in that stadium in front of a full crowd. Another plus about the field is that it is about 1mile from the Village. We get on the bus and in about 2 minutes we are at the field. It is extremely convenient.
After practice we came back, showered and then headed to lunch. Today I learned a very important lesson about life in an Olympic Village. Always have your camera with you! Because, at lunch we saw Roger Federer, Dirk Nowitzki, and Micheal Phelps. It was the most exciting meal by far. It was crazy. We were sitting there as a team and then we saw this big mob of people taking pictures. That was for Roger. Then we saw Micheal Phelps sitting two tables away, straight across from us. My teammate, Keli Smith, and I went over and got a picture with him. And then no sooner does he get up and leave does the German basketball team walk over and sit down at the same table. And we got to see Dirk. What an exciting lunch.
Tonight, the excitement continues as we have the USA flag raising ceremonies at the International Zone. All of the USA athletes are invited. It is a relatively short ceremony where the organizers of the Olympics welcomes our delegation and then raises the Old Glory in our honor with the national anthem being played. We have heard from past Olympians that it is a very touchy ceremony. I am very honored to be representing my country in this event!
Dana Sensenig #15
