From Beijing: Day 5

Well, this is the last full day in Beijing, and we be began it by going to the women's triathlon. As an explanation, we went to that event because my dad really likes triathlon, and the men's triathlon isn't until after we leave. In any case, the three Americans came out of the water in the top eight, and Laura Bennett was the first athlete onto the bike portion. All three Americans stayed with the lead pack until the run. During the run, the Australians literally ran away with the gold medal (as well as the bronze). Portugal took the silver medal, and American Laura Bennett finished fourth. All three Americans managed to make it into the top 20.

In other Olympic news, the United States track and field team seems to be doing rather poorly: a bronze in the men's 100m, and absent from the women's 100m. In addition, none of the Americans (one of whom, Bernard Lagat, was a contender for the gold medal) made it to the finals of the men's 1500m. One of the marquee events for the Chinese, the men's 110m hurdles, turned out to be a major disappointment when Chinese superstar Liu Xiang didn't even race in the prelims due to an Achilles injury. Liu was the gold medalist in Athens, and is perhaps one of the biggest Chinese sports stars (along with Yao Ming of basketball and Guo Jingjing of diving). The Chinese have literally been waiting for four years to see Liu defend his Athens gold medal.

Some things to watch over the final week of the Olympics include the 400m dash, where the Americans hope to sweep the medals, as they did in Athens, the women's open water swim on Wednesday, where Natalie du Toit of South Africa will compete...without her left leg. The United States men's basketball team looks to complete its "Redeem Team" image, and Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States women's beach volleyball team look to defend their Athens gold medal.

Tonight's dinner will be Peking duck, the iconic dish of Beijing Chinese food. We'll see what that ends up tasting like. Anyway, my battery continues to die, so for today it's so long from Beijing. Tomorrow we may be going to the morning session of Athletics at National Stadium, and then tomorrow evening we head off for Seoul.

From Beijing: Day 4

Well, another day in Beijing has come and gone. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is my last full day in Beijing, since it's been quite an experience.

This morning started with a trip to the television to watch Michael Phelps win gold medal number eight and complete one of the most dominating performances in sports history. In addition, the women's 4x100m medley relay captured the silver medal, earning Elaine a silver medal by swimming in the prelims Friday.

After watching Phelps and Co, we headed out to the rowing venue (it has an official name--but I can't pronounce it...like just about every other place here in Beijing), about 30km northeast of the Olympic Green near the airport. We were able to watch seven different finals, from double skulls to the marquee rowing event, the women's and men's eight. That would be eight rowers and a coxswain, each with one scull (for those familiar with rowing, forgive my ignorance). By the way, if you wish to be kept in suspense in hopes that NBC will air rowing delayed this afternoon (the 17th), I'd suggest you pause reading this until a bit later.

The one thing we had been unable to see in either swimming or track and field was an American gold medal. We wanted to see the American flag go up to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner, and while we saw several semifinal events that the Americans would go on to win, we had only heard Russian, Ethiopian, Japanese, French, etc. national anthems. Going into the final two events, we could add Dutch, British, Danish, Chinese, and Polish national anthems. Then came the final two events: men's and women's eight. The American women managed to start strong and hold onto first the entire way and win the gold medal. While the American men weren't able to make a sweep, they still captured the bronze medal behind the medal-deprived (at least in comparison to China and the United States) Canadians.

Speaking of the number of medals, it may be interesting to note that while in the United States we tally up the total number of medals and rank that way, you will never see that ranking in China. The United States is perpetually in second place, even though we outrank China in terms of the total number of medals, as China has more gold medals than we do. In fact, China hardly cares for the silver and bronze medals: it's the gold medals they really care about.

Anyway, my battery has dipped still farther, which, given that I am absent a working power cord, makes sense, but as I need this computer to work for three more days sans power cable, I'm signing off from Beijing. More to come tomorrow!

From Beijing: Day 1

First off, my power cord decided to stop working, so I'm going to be living on my battery for the next few days. In fact, I won't be able to charge it until I get back the United States. So the posts will have to be short and sweet, I think...

Elaine came in 7th in the 200m butterfly. Two Chinese swimmers claimed the gold and the silver, and smashed the world record in the process. They were relative unknowns coming into the Olympics, though I'll have to check how unknown they are when I get back. My impression is that this is one of their first sanctioned events, which is at best suspicious.

She has one more race tomorrow: the prelims of the 4x100m medley relay, which the Americans should do very well in. The event starts at 6:30pm Beijing time on Friday (that's 6:30am stateside), and the finals will be held the following morning. I may be able to go to that event. Tomorrow (other than perhaps that Olympic event), our schedule includes the Ming Gardens and the Great Wall of China.

It's been a rainy afternoon so far, though hopefully that will take down the pollution a little bit (which is indeed pretty bad). The National Stadium and the National Aquatic Center are pretty incredible looking in person...far better than what you see on TV.

Anyway, pictures are taking too long to upload to blogger, so I'll try to devote a later post to just pictures, if and when I get the chance. Since I'm living on battery for the next week, I've used up my daily allotment. I'll have another post up tomorrow!

We made it!

We made it all the way across the Arctic Ocean to Seoul and then to Beijing, and we are safely in our Beijing hotel room. The weather is hot and very humid. We're jetlagged, and since we get up tomorrow for our first event (swimming: includes the women's 200m fly, men's 200m IM semis, and women's 4x200 free relay), we're headed to bed.

In other news, Elaine Breeden grabbed the last spot in the finals of the 200m butterfly, so we will indeed be seeing her swim tomorrow morning. That will be very exciting! The event will be televised live in the US starting at 10pm (EDT) on NBC.

And We're Off!

Dad and I leave tomorrow morning at 10:08 a.m. We'll arrive in Beijing at 8:05 p.m., Beijing time the following day. I'll try to post to this blog, complete with pictures and results, as often as I can while I'm in Beijing.

Elaine swims tomorrow morning in the heats of the 200m butterfly. The semifinals for that event is tomorrow evening, with coverage on NBC beginning at 10pm. The following night at the same time on NBC, the finals will be broadcast live. We have tickets for the finals of that event.

Another Exciting Day at the Olympics

Close to a billion people watched the basketball game between the United States in China, a game that the United States ended up winning easily, 101-70. That makes it one of the most widely-watched basketball games of all time. For comparison, just under 20 million people watched this year's NCAA national championship game in the United States.

The United States broke the world record in the men's 4x100 freestyle relay--in the prelims. However, even though they replaced their three slowest swimmers with three of the world's fastest 100m freestylers, including Michael Phelps, the French team, seeded second in the finals, was the overwhelming favorite to win. And indeed, despite a fast start by the Australians (and Phelps setting the American record in the 100m freestyle to lead things off), the French opened a wide lead over the Americans. Jason Lezak dove in about a body length behind the world record holder, Alain Bernard. With 25 meters to go, it looked as if the French would win it. And then came Lezak: he started inching closer to Bernard, came up right next to him right at the wall, and outtouched him by 8 hundredths of a second for the gold medal. Phelps now is a part of two out of the three American gold medals.

More tomorrow: my last full day in the States!

Olympics: 100m butterfly semis

Well, first a brief recap of other action. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh start off NBC's live prime time coverage as the defending gold medalists in the women's beach volleyball (I ought to reference my previous blog regarding my thoughts as to why NBC is airing beach volleyball on primetime). The Americans easily won in two sets.

Also, Michael Phelps kicked off the evening in the men's 400m IM against good friend Ryan Lochte. Phelps was dominant in what was said to possibly be his toughest individual event, winning the gold medal and breaking his own world record in the process. Lochte, though he was even with Phelps at the beginning of the breastroke, Phelps' weakest stroke, he fell to third and the bronze medal.

And finally, regarding Elaine Breeden. While being seeded sixth going into the semifinals, she was about a half second off her prelim time, and ended up tying for sixth in her heat. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be enough to make it to the finals. Fellow American Christine Magnuson managed to break the American record, and will have a solid shot at a medal tomorrow night in the finals.

Elaine's next race will be on Tuesday night, Beijing time in the prelims of the 200 fly.

Olympics: 100m butterfly prelims

Can I just say right now how much I hate NBC? They advertise that they're broadcasting thousands of hours of the Olympics online. Which is great, right? Except that doesn't include swimming, because they'll show the prelims delayed this afternoon. At least they'll show them live tonight. However, if you want to see badminton, cycling, or equestrian, you're all set.

Thus, I dutifully got up this morning to see Elaine's swim online at about 7am this morning. No live feed. The best I got was the results of the heats. She managed to place 6th in the field of 49 with a time of 56:06, easily getting her to the semifinals. Jessicah Schipper of Australia won the heat with a time that is almost a half second faster than Elaine's. She's definitely the favorite to win gold in Beijing in this event.

She'll swim again tonight (well, in Beijing it'll be tomorrow morning), at a little after 10pm Eastern time. The swimming event starts at 10, and Michael Phelps will start his quest for 8 gold medals first, with the finals of the 400m IM (which he set an Olympic record in this morning). Elaine will probably swim in the second race of the evening, in heat 1 of the semifinals in lane 3.

Edit: Elaine will indeed be in heat 1 in lane 3, right next to fellow American Christine Magnuson in lane 4. Expect it to be at about 10:10 EDT.

The Olympics are here!

Right now I'm sitting in front of my TV watching the Opening Ceremony on NBC. $100 million and 8 months of preparation later, we witnessed an incredible spectacle. The choreography was spectacular, flowing together in a moving sight. The performers themselves--all 2008 of them--had their movements down perfectly. Perhaps what impressed me the most was the colors they employed: whether it be in the fireworks (by the way: at the beginning, fireworks in the shape of footprints "walked" 29 paces from central Beijing out along the grid pattern to the Olympic Stadium), the projected images on the screen surrounding the stadium, or the LED lights constantly in play. It was a truly awesome sight to watch

Once the ceremony got over with, the parade of nations began. Without the beautiful and entrancing choreography of Zhang Yimou's artistic portion of the ceremony, it lacked the catch that the Chinese had previously displayed (George Bush, for one, looked a little bored--and hot--at the Games), but nonetheless, it is neat to see so many stories, so many histories, and so much national pride walking by. As Bob Costas and Matt Lauer (the oft-joking commentators of the ceremony) duly noted, the Opening Ceremony is, for many of these athletes, their one chance at Olympic glory. After all, we may never hear about the athletes from Kiribati, Tajikistan, or the Maldives, but they are there to represent their country. It is also interesting to see the people coming out of countries that are truly suffering: Zimbebwe, wracked by political distress; North Korea, whose athletes live in the most closed country in the world; or the Iranian female athletes, head coverings and all.

Yao Ming, star NBA basketball player, led the Chinese team into the Beijing National Stadium, followed by Chinese President Hu Jintao opening the XXIX Olympiad. Li Ning, the winner of six gold medals, was the final torch-bearer, who literally rose into the sky, ran around the top of the stadium on a wire, and lit the Olympic Torch, followed by a massive display of fireworks over National Stadium and Beijing. It was hard to imagine the torch lighting being able to top the artistic portion of the ceremony, but it did. The Olympic Opening Ceremony was a magnificent event, and got the 17-day Olympics off to a fantastic start.

As a final note, this ceremony is extra special for me for two reasons. First, having a friend among the US Olympic team makes me even more proud of my nation's Olympic Team. I'm sure it is a sense of pride for each of the nations watching their Olympic team walk into Beijing National Stadium--and not the least for the Chinese, who are watching their national dream come true. Second, I'm watching events unfold in a stadium that I will be sitting in just a little over a week from now. Given that, how can I not enjoy it!?

I'll be posting more posts as the week goes on, highlighting some of the big Olympic events, and my final preparations for Beijing.

Almost there!

In just three days, the world will watch as China executes its dance onto the world stage. The Opening Ceremony begins on August 8, 2008 (that's 08/08/08) at, fittingly, 8:08 pm. Here stateside, that will be 8:08 a.m. In order to further confuse us, the Opening Ceremony will be tape-delayed on NBC at 7:30 p.m., for its Friday night prime time slot. It will be at the National Stadium, which is pictured to the right.

As for our journey to Beijing, we leave on the 12th, so we'll be in town for some of the first few events, including Elaine's 100m butterfly (through the finals). The prelims for her event are the morning we leave for Beijing, and the semifinals will take place while we're over the Pacific Ocean.

Speaking of which, the US Olympic Team has arrived in Beijing. Several cyclists created controversy when they wore masks off the airplane (do, of course, to the notorious Beijing pollution). About month ago, Jessica Hardy was looking forward to her first Olympic Games in freestyle and breaststroke. However, she tested positive for banned substances, and will not be competing this year in Beijing. One cannot imagine how crushing that would be for the athlete, as well as the athletes who came in third at Olympic Trials, but are unable to compete, as the deadline has already past.

I'll be posting more often, now that the Games are so close. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this blog updated from Beijing with pictures and perhaps a few videos. It's almost here!

An Olympic History

So for lack of any important news, I thought I'd discuss a brief history of the Olympics. It's a tradition that dates back over 2500 years, though certainly not in its present form. Thus, without further ado, I present: "An Olympic History."

The Ancient Olympics
The birth of the Olympiad was in Olympia, Greece, in the year 776 B.C.E. (forgive the political correctness). Depending on which myth you subscribe to, the origin of the Olympics was when Heracles (or Hercules) won a race at Olympia. Because of his athletic prowess, he decreed that the games should be held every four years. And they were--for nearly 1200 years--until it was stamped out by overzealous Christian rulers in the late Roman Empire. In any case, some of the events featured were running (several different lengths and styles), boxing, wrestling, and pentathlon (wrestling, a short sprint, long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw). It is interesting to note that while all 5 of the events remain in the Olympics, none of them are included in the modern pentathlon (the running race is now 3 miles, as opposed to about 200 yards...the only clear resemblance.

Rebirth
In 1896, less then 250 athletes from around the world gathered in Athens, Greece for the Games of the I Olympiad. Winners were given a silver medal and an olive branch. The United States won 11 gold medals, the most of any country. Events featured included swimming (in the open sea), gymnastics, wrestling, and cycling.

Four years later, in Paris 1900, women were allowed to compete for the first time. Some odd events in that games included pigeon shooting (imagine how that would go over today!), equestrian long jump, and a swimming obstacle course. The Games of the III Olympiad were the first to be featured in the United States, as they were held in St. Louis, and they were also the first to feature gold, silver, and bronze medals for first, second, and third places. The United States won 79 gold medals (the second-place countries--Germany, Canada, and Cuba--had 4 gold medals each), partly due to the fact that less than half of the events featured non-Americans.

The 1908 games in London featured winter events, though it would be 1924 (in Chamonix, France) that there would officially be a Winter Olympics. The 1916 Games were to be held in Berlin, Germany. Unfortunately, the first of two World Wars put the Olympics on the back burner, and this Olympiad was canceled. It was for the 1928 Amsterdam games that the Olympic flame was first lit, though it was Hitler's 1936 Berlin games that first featured a torch relay. For that reason, some feel that the dubious origins of that Olympic tradition merits its removal.

The 1932 Games were held in the height of the Great Depression in Los Angeles. Two demonstration sports, lacrosse and American football, were played here, though obviously, they have not continued. An interesting story about these games is that the Brazilian national team had 69 members who tried to compete. However, Brazil was so devastated from the Depression that they sent their athletes on barges with 25 tons of coffee to sell to ports as they went. They made only $24, far less than the $1 head tax for someone entering the United States. The Brazilian consulate in San Francisco, in a last-ditch effort, sent a check to Los Angeles originally worth about $45, but because the Brazilian currency was so devalued, it was only worth $17 by the time it reached Los Angeles. In any case, the check bounced, and only 24 Brazilian athletes were able to compete.

The 1940 Games (to be held in Tokyo and later, Helsinki) and the 1944 Games (to be held in London) were both canceled as a result of World War II in Europe. The 1936 Games had been tainted with the Nazi ideology, as Hitler and his party were trying to prove his idea of a master race. That Olympiad was also the same one that the African-American Jesse Owens won four gold medals with Adolph Hitler in attendance.

The Olympics During the Cold War
The first post World War II Olympiad was held in London in 1948. Four years later, a country from the USSR appeared in the Games, and Isarel also made its Olympic debut (they had been fighting a war of independence during the 1948 Games). The 1960 Games featured CBS broadcasting the events in the United States from Rome for a sum of $394,000. Four years later, when the Games were in Tokyo, the events broadcast were the first to be broadcast over the Pacific, as it used a geostationary satelite.

The 1972 Games in Munich was overshadowed by the tragedy that happened. 11 Israeli athetes were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists. An attempt to extract the hostages failed, and all 11 Israelis were killed. 5 of the 8 Palestianian terrorist were killed, and 2 others were later reportedly killed by the Mossad. The other remains alive and in hiding to this day. This also happened to be the year that Mark Spitz won his seven gold medals--a feat that will certainly be in jeopardy this year in Beijing.

The 1976, 1980, and 1984 Games were all marked by boycotts. Taiwan boycotted the 1976 Games in Montreal because Canada recognized mainland China as a country. The 1980 Games in Moscow were boycotted by the United States and its allies as result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets retaliated in 1984 by boycotting the Los Angeles games, though with much less success (Romania, part of the Soviet bloc, competed, and Communist People's Republic of China competed for the first time). 1984 was the first time that Dara Torres, a member of the 2008 United States Olympic Team, competed at the Olympics.

I suppose it's hard to believe that I was born during the Cold War, but since I was born before the Berlin Wall fell and before the breakup of the Soviet Union, the 1988 Games in Seoul (ending less than two weeks before I was born) still qualify as an Olympiad during the Cold War. It was the largest contingent of countries in Olympic history (160), and featured much less of the boycotts that had stained the previous three Olympiads.

Olympics in Recent Times
The 1992 Barcelona Games featured the United States "Dream Team" in basketball: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird. Obviously, they brought home the gold medal. The 1996 Games in Atlanta are the first that I remember, so for me, these events are less history and more experience (if indeed there is a difference). In any case, the past three Olympics, 2000 in Sydney, and 2004 in Athens, all have moments that are etched on our memories: Kerri Strug's one foot landing, Michael Johnson's sweep of the 200 and 400, Ian Thorpe of Australia and his impressive two golds in one night, Michael Phelps' eight medals, Paul Hamm's victory in the men's gymnastics all-around (a first for the Americans), etc.

One can hope--and even expect--that the Beijing Olympics this year will be no less spectacular than any of its predecessors. The modern Olympics have been played for over a century now, and yet it has lost none of its spectacle. In fact, it has vaulted from humbled beginnings in Paris to the grand world stage it now is.

First Post

In the summer of 2007, my dad and I began to talk about going to China in 2008 to see the Olympic Games in Beijing. Initially this was just throwing around ideas, but as we went into the fall, we began to talk seriously about going. Finally, in October of last year, after talking with a travel agency, we decided that we were going to go ahead and make plans to go to Beijing in 2008 for the Olympics.

Our initial interest began as a result of my friendship with a swimmer who has a good chance of making the Olympic team. However, because Olympic trials are not until June, we will not know whether she makes the team until well after our chance to go is gone. So we decided that it was worth the risk, and that that a trip to China for the Olympics, with or without my friend, would be a trip of a lifetime.

Thus, with our interests, as well as the potential events we may see in mind, we selected four different events to see while we're there (as well as the traditional tourist activities, such as the Great Wall and a tour of Beijing). First, we will see the aquatic events slated for Thursday morning, August 14 (including the women's 200 meter butterfly finals--her event). Second, we'll see the track and field events for Saturday night the 16th, including the men's 100 meter dash. Third, we'll see rowing Sunday afternoon the 17th, and the women's triathlon on Monday the 18th.

This blog probably will not have many more updates until we leave in mid-August, but if anything else comes up (for example, exciting news regarding Beijing's preparations for the Olympics, etc.), I will post it up here.