Athletics (8/16)

Women's Javelin
Women's 800m Semi-final
Women's Shotput Final
Men's 100m Semi-final
Women's 100m Round 2
Men's 400m Hurdles Semi-final
Men's Longjump Qualifier
Women's Heptathlon 800m
Men's 100m Final

Athletics presented us with our first opportunity to enter the Bird's Nest. Luckily, it was a beautiful day and we made it to the venue in plenty of time to take in all the action. The Bird's Nest truly is an amazing piece of architecture and it was incredible to have to opportunity to visit it a number of times.

We were close to the Long Jump and Shotput area of the Stadium, where the third leg of a 4x100m relay would start. We had seats on the first tier, which was incredible, because we could see all of the athletes walking by to go to their various events. Athletics definitely brought out a feeling of Olympic spirit - moreso than any other event, especially with athletes all around stretching, warming up and competing.



One exciting event was the women's Shotput final. None of the women will be winning a beauty contest any time soon, but they sure are strong. There were four Chinese participants and two Americans, amongst others. New Zealand's Valerie Vili ended up winning the gold - which was New Zealand's first gold in Track and Field since 1976. She was understandably excited.

We watched the final event of the Women's Heptathlon - the 800m race. A Brazilian won the Heptathlon, but Hyleas Fountain, an American got Silver. It was great to see her celebrating with the American flag around the field.

One, if not the most, exciting part of the night came at the very end with the Men's 100m final. We had the chance to see the 22-year-old Jamaican, Usain Bolt, break the world record. He let up at the end, but still killed the other runners. It took awhile for the fact that we had just witnessed the fastest man on earth - ever.

Trampoline (8/16)

Saturday morning we were up bright and early with our friends Chris and Heather. Chris had extra tickets to Trampoline, so he invited us to come along. Trampoline has been an Olympic sport for less than a decade. I loved it, but it can get a little boring. To alleviate our boredom we began an elaborate game to guess the scores prior to the announcement from the judges. This definitely made things more interesting. I just admit, I won. As the only person who had read anything about the sport prior to attending, there was a slight advantage. We left earlier in order to make it to brunch, but it was a good time and we were thankful for the chance to go.

We had a little fun doing jumps in front of the Nini trampoline sign before we left.

Table Tennis (8/15)

Incorporating an Olympic event almost every day into a full time work schedule is taxing. Priorities (such as eating and working out) tend to fall by the wayside. The night of Table Tennis, Justin couldn't take it any longer and decided to get a workout in before the match. We were scheduled to watch the women's China vs. Hong Kong match from 7:30 - 10:30pm. So we decided to go after the workout - an hour late, at 8:30. The venue was on the far northwest side of the city, so after a 45 minute cab ride we finally showed up. We went through security, bought popcorn, a beer, and a Coke and prepared to enter the venue. At the gate, a very nice police officer said "We welcome you to come inside and look at the gymnasium," (sort of a strange thing to say, but "Chinglish" can be confusing sometimes), "but the match is over." It had ended in 45 minutes. We made our way in to eat our popcorn and take a few pictures as happy Chinese fans poured out. China had swept Hong Kong 3-0. Justin is looking good because of his dedication to his workouts, but at more than $100 lost in tickets, it was definitely one of the most expensive exercise experiences he's ever had. ;-)

Tennis (8/13)

Women's - Kanepi (Estonia) vs. Li (China) - Li won

Men's - Federer (Switzerland) vs. Berdych (Czech Republic) - Federer won

Women's - Williams, Serena (USA) vs. Cornet (France) - Williams won

Going into the event we were excited about the chance to see such big names play. Watching an sport that has such specific spectator protocol was interesting in China. The official spent as much time trying to quiet the audience as they did trying to do their job. It was a really hot day and even at 5pm, we were sweating like crazy. So we drank beer, then we were hot and tired. It was exciting to watch Li win, since the crowd was so excited about it. Federer, of course, was a highlight, however he did not play that well. I think he went on to lose in the next round.

Watching Serena Williams was quite an experience. Justin and I were both struck by her size. Justin couldn't get over trying to speculate about what football position her children would someday play. She is a very strong girl, and very serious about her sport. I don't think she smiled once. Cornet gave her quite a run for her money. At one point Serena got so frustrated she slammed her racket on the ground and broke it. The official didnt' like that. Cornet (18 years old) wasn't without her frustration. I got a kick out of her yelling in French at the ball boy, not because she was upset at him or because he understood a word she was saying, but because he was the only one who would listen.

For Serena's match we moved down to the lower section and a few minutes later looked over and realized the entire Williams family was sitting next to us. It was a much more interesting match due to the chance to listen to their cheers and it was fun to watch their encouragement help her win.

Field Hockey (8/12)

Getting to the field hockey venue (on the north side of the Olympic Green, in the Olympic Forest Park area) was quite a daunting experience. We tried to take Line 8, the new Olympic line, but the transfer signs pointed us outside and down the block. We never did find Line 8, but we got on a bus which made WAY too many stops. After an hour we reached the venue, and before going in sat outside and ate the Indian food we had brought along. Snacks at the Games were very reasonably priced, however, withstanding MacDonalds, there was no "real" food to eat.

Having never watched field hockey before, the women's field hockey event was an educational experience for us. Thankfully, Beijing provided a description of the rules which were very helpful. We got to see the USA play Japan and the Netherlands play Korea. These girls are amazing athletes. We were (are still) a little perplexed by the groundskeepers wetting down the fields with firehoses before each game. The world of women's field hockey must not be very large, because sitting on the side of the field with a big group of Americans decked out in red, white and blue and cheering for each of the girls on the field by first name made the event feel a lot like my little brother's soccer games. These families had traveled a long way to support their daughters, sisters, wives and their team spirit definitely showed. It was a fun thing to be a part of.

This was our first experience with Dutch fans, but after attending all of the events I have a whole new appreciation for the Dutch. They are diehard fans and came decked out in Orange to every event they attend. They are very nice (gave us water) and are a ton of fun to cheer with.

Rhythmic Gymnastics (8/10)

After Volleyball we headed to the National Indoor Stadium (also called the Chinese Fan) on the Olympic Green for the women's qualifying round of Rhythmic Gymnastics. It was raining outside, but we got there with little trouble. The event itself was a very stressful experience as all four events (floor, beam, vault and uneven bars) take place at the same time. I didn't know where to look and felt like I was missing something all the time.

Stacey and Derek were also at this event and we enjoyed playing in the rain on our way out to the subway. However, before boarding we had to stop for a little late night snack at MacDonalds, the only restaurant on the Olympic Green.

Volleyball (8/10)

Our first Olympic event was Men's Indoor Volleyball, where we had the opportunity to watch the US play Venezuela. (USA eventually went on to win Gold). Volleyball remained one of our favorite events. The venue was very impressive - clean, cool and with cheap concession stands, and this impression of the venues remained strong throughout the entire Beijing Olympics. What they lacked in organization, they made up for (almost) in beautiful venues.

The second strong impression was of the cheering sections. Beijing organized older people as "volunteer" cheerers for Olympic events. They didn't really cheer for any team in particular, except China, but would join in to other's cheers and just generally make noise throughout the events. The most popular - and perhaps only - cheer in Chinese is "Jia You" which literally means "add oil/gas". One person yells out "Zhong Guo" (China), "Mei Guo" (America), "Ba Xi" (Brazil) and the entire crowd replies "Jia You". The volunteers were quick to join in whenever they had the opportunity to add a "jia you" to someone's chant.

Stacey and Derek also had tickets to the event, so we got to cheer the USA on to victory - yiqis.

Opening Ceremony (8/08)

The Opening Ceremony was a pretty interesting night to be in Beijing and we spent the majority of it atop The Emperor Club, a rooftop bar overlooking the Forbidden City. From there we took in the fireworks at Tiananmen and watched the Ceremony on TV. When we got tired of paying way to much for drinks, we took over a tiny local Xinjiang restaurant and got down and dirty with $1 beers and chuanr (kebabs). We were a little overdressed, but no one seemed to mind. It was fun walking down the alleyways and seeing people huddled together around little TV's to take in the action. I think they reported that around 84 million Chinese watched the program on TV. Taking that number into consideration, I have heard that it was the most watched event of all time.

After the Ceremony ended we watched the finishing fireworks and then began the 2 hour process of trying to find a cab. We were finally rescued by the NBC van, thanks to a friend, and dropped off closer to home.

Olympic Prep - Today Show!

A few weeks ago my friend Stephanie, a producer for NBC, sent out an email inviting us to be a part of a private audience for the Today Show. We, of course, dropped everything to participate. It was a great experience. All of the staff and anchors were very nice, everyone was ecstatic about the upcoming Olympics and we got a chance to get a sneak peak of the Olympic Green. We felt a bit like camera hogs, especially when Justin, Derek, Stacey and I were the only people left in the audience at 11:30pm, but we got plenty of "face time" and people from home were emailing us about our appearance.