Olympic FINAL!

The Bird's Nest and Warm-up Track - View from the CBC Broadcasting booth in the Olympic Tower.

For the last 3 Olympiad or 12 years, I had a goal of making the Canadian Olympic Team. On June 15th, when I made my standard to be selected for the team, I started to analyze my whole thought process.

The view from the Olympic Tower - I was interviewed in CBC's Broadcasting booth. I filled in for Scott Russell (the Ankorman)

I had a goal that was unatainable for so long and was number one in terms of life goals. What do you do when you achieve your greatest goal? The thought that went through my head was will I be satisfied with making the team? And the answer is NO!

When I made standard, it didn't seem real, when I was anounced a member of the team, it wasn't real and now that I am here it doesn't seem real. Not in a living dream kind of way, but a relaxed, fun and like I've been here before. This feeling is obviously becuae of my experience with other World Championship team, but something feels different this year.

This year I had a different attitude toward the sport, my event and the things that happen in life when you don't expect it (injuries, etc). I was given a cloth ("clan clooth" - scotish family cloth) this year from my fiancee's cousin. I didn't know this saying was attached to my family's origin in Scotland. The saying is,

CHE SARA SARA

What will be, will be.

I didnt' know that I was living this saying every day this year. I have had a different attitude this year. When I had surgery on my right knee in September, I didn't care, I knew it would heal. When I strained my hamstring in January, I didn't care, it would heal. When I strained my groin in March and again in April, it didn't matter. I would be ready! Then I chipped a piece of cartilage in my knee and I thought my chance for making the team was over. However, I treated it like every other mishap that occurred this year. IT'S NOT GOING TO STOP ME!

When I woke up on the morning of the qualifying round and saw rain, IT DIDN'T MATTER! It wouldn't stop me. When the event was delayed an hour and I had to warm up again. THAT WOULDN'T STOP ME.

NOTHING WILL STOP ME.

I can't tell you what my result will be tomorrow night here in CHINA, but I can tell you one thing, that there will be nothing that will stop me from leaving everything on the track and having no regrets!

Faith

5:00am wake up,

Open the blinds,

No sign of light,

Rain,

No worries,

Preperation!

Competition!

Redemption!

Blind Faith!



Thank you for all the support. I love you all!

Scott

The Startlist is UP! 9AM it is!

Javelin Throw - M

QualificationQual. rule: qualification standard 82.50m or at least best 12 qualified.

Group A
Thursday 21 August 2008 - 9:10
Order
Athlete
Country
SB 2008
PB

1
Magnus Arvidsson
SWE
83.28
85.75
2
Uladzimir Kazlou
BLR
80.52
80.52
3
Bobur Shokirjonov
UZB
77.92
77.92
4
Jarrod Bannister
AUS
89.02
89.02
5
Igor Janik
POL
83.21
83.38
6
Teemu Wirkkala
FIN
84.10
84.10
7
Jae-Myong Park
KOR
79.23
83.99
8
Breaux Greer
USA
67.20
91.29
9
John Robert Oosthuizen
RSA
86.80
86.80
10
Víctor Fatecha
PAR
76.55
78.01
11
Sergey Makarov
RUS
86.88
92.61
12
Ignacio Guerra
CHI
78.54
78.54
13
Ainars Kovals
LAT
80.24
85.95
14
Eriks Rags
LAT
85.05
86.47
15
Anier Boué
CUB
79.45
80.53
16
Stephan Steding
GER
83.50
83.50
17
Yukifumi Murakami
JPN
79.71
81.71
18
Csongor Olteán
HUN
72.82
78.15
19
Scott Russell
CAN
83.20
84.41

Group B
Thursday 21 August 2008 - 10:40
1
Melik Janoyan
ARM
78.03
78.03
2
Leigh Smith
USA
83.74
83.74
3
Stuart Farquhar
NZL
83.23
83.23
4
Aleksandr Ivanov
RUS
83.21
88.90
5
Kolyo Neshev
BUL
75.73
82.55
6
Mihkel Kukk
EST
81.77
81.77
7
Tero Pitkämäki
FIN
87.70
91.53
8
Matija Kranjc
SLO
76.15
78.08
9
Qi Chen
CHN
79.25
81.38
10
Pablo Pietrobelli
ARG
78.52
79.45
11
Roman Avramenko
UKR
80.08
80.08
12
Ilya Korotkov
RUS
84.04
84.04
13
Ioánnis-Yeóryios Smaliós
GRE
79.33
79.33
14
Vadims Vasilevskis
LAT
85.78
90.73
15
Alexander Vieweg
GER
83.27
83.27
16
Andreas Thorkildsen
NOR
87.73
91.59
17
Tero Järvenpää
FIN
86.68
86.68
18
Vítezslav Veselý
CZE
79.80
79.80
19
Mike Hazle
USA
82.21
82.21

Where the Dream Started

Everyone must wonder where the Olympic Dream begins. Is it an inner drive from competition over the years? Maybe. Is it the drive of the individual to be the best in there sport and this is the only place to test it? Quite possible.

My Olympic dream started back in 4th grade. The year was 1988! The Calagary Olympics in Canada! That year I was in Mrs. Flukes 4th grade class. During the Olympics that year, we did an Olympic unit during the games. My memory for the actual unit is not good, but I do remember being a member of the Brazilian Bobsled Team. Which now seems absolutly hilarious, but at the time it couldn't have been more perfect.

It just happens, that another Windsor (Ontario, Canada) native was competing in those olympics. His name is Chris Lori (Bobsled Driver) and at the time he was my hero. Chris Lori was going to compete in the Winter Olympics as a bobsledder (I think that is the correct term) and so was I (but our grade 4 Olympics).

Thanks to Helen Ule and Facebook, I was reminded of the day of my Brazilian glory. (I'm in the green pants and yes, our bobsled was my mom's red wagon, but it was the best bobsled and fastest one we had).

I remember the torch run that when it came through Windsor, the mascotts and I remember how amazed I was at my chance to be part of the Olympic. Since that winter, when Mrs. Fluke introduced me to the Olympic Games, I have been hooked. It started as a fan and now it is a little more than a day away.

The '88 Olympic Torch

Hidy and Howdy, the '88 official mascots

Tonight, I will goto the stadium to relax and watch a couple of events. Other than that it has been only on the TV that I have been able to be a part of the game. My time is coming...

Back to Beijing

It has been a few days since my last entry, so there has been a few things occurring since then. I am now comfortably In my room in the Olympic Village again. If you missed my previous posts, I was training in Singapore with the Canadian national track and field team (for about two days – Half of the team left for Beijing on the 11th). Camp was good and the 45 minute drive to the track turned out to prepare me for sitting on buses and in taxis in Beijing. There’s a little story to that one.

At large international events, whether that be an Olympic Games or a world championship, large companies like Nike, Adidas, Budweiser, etc, have hospitality suites. Yesterday (18th), Massimo Bertochi decided to take a cab down to the Nike hospitality. It is set up inside Dang Dan Sports Center. I have no idea what the center is for, but it is currently wrapped in Nike. This is where being a sponsored athlete is really nice. Nike had a package for Nike sponsored athletes. It consisted of 3-4 t-shirts, 2-3 shorts, sunglasses, a watch, 2-3 pairs of shoes and a bag to carry it home in. I personally witnessed our decathlete receive approximately 11 pairs of shoes! It almost made me jealous, but I realized that I only have to do one event in one day, and he has to do 5 a day! And one of those events is the 1500m, poor Massimo.

The Nike hospitality suite - Dang Dan Sports Center

After sitting at Nike for about an hour, we needed to get back to the village for diner (Nike also has food services for us, but we were too late). For comparison, the cab ride to Nike took about 20-30minutes and cost about 35 yuan (Chinese dollar – about 15:1 for the USD). On the way back, I think that the driver wanted to let us see his beautiful city of Beijing. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see the city, but not from a cab window. The ride back to the village must have been 1 ½ hrs. The ride cost us 75 yuan and the driver knew that we knew he was lost. I really believe that none of the taxi drivers know this area of the city. I assume that this section of Beijing has been close to the public until the opening of the games. And a large section (the Olympic Village) is really unknown to the population.

The view from my hour cab ride

Needless to say, my knees didn’t need to be stuck in the back of the cab for that long. Luckily, our physical therapist, Mary Lou Lamy, was ready to treat me when we returned. The knees almost feel normal now.

PS - 2 days left

Bad Practice, Good Practice

As a few of you know, I had surgery this fall on my right knee. I had a piece of my lateral meniscus removed (Cartilage). It was an extremely long rehab and I only started training in January (usually start in October). Even with the lack of a good fall of training, I came out with a bang. I opened my season with 81.53m (267'). However, I reagrivated my right groin. This took me about two weeks to start feeling better from and BINGO! I had chipped a piece of cartilage off of my femur (right behind my knee cap). Needless to say, it hurt.

This is where I get to my bad practice. My first thrwoing session went well when I arrived in Singapore. I threw 74m (240') from a short approach. Which is a good practice throw for me. Then the BAD practice happened. I felt good through my easy throws, but the second I brought a little more speed down the runway, my knee really hurt. I finished the practice with a best of 70m (NOT SO GOOD). My next throwing session isn't until the 18th. So I will post about that later.

Now the good practice happend today! I think because I had all my streching ropes, rehab equipement and a clean pair of underwear on. It was my last heavy lift and I was worried that my knee wouldn't let me do it. I talked to my knee and it said "Go ahead, have a good day, I'll let ya this time." I truly believe my knee has a life of its own this year. Some day sgreat others terrible. Basically, I got through my lif twith little to no pain.

Hears what it looked like.

Hang Snatch Pulls
3 @ 60k
3 @ 80k
3@ 90k
3@ 100k
3 @ 110k
3 @ 120k

Squat
5 @ 70k
5@ 80k
5 @ 90k
5 @ 100k
3 @ 110k
3 @ 130k (Big jump becuase 110k felt too easy)

Pullover
4 x 5 @ 50k

Abs and Rehab

The Bag That Travelled the World

This man was performing in a classical chinese band for a hand puppet show in Singapore.

Let’s start with my luggage! Well, I left Kansas City on the 6th of August at 8:00am. And I arrived in Beijing at 3:00pm on August 7th. I waited around for what seemed like 2 hours. Oh ya, it was. The flight I was on was United 851 from Chicago O’hare. Every athlete on the team said they knew it was Chicago, but I have never had any problems in Chicago. However, this time, I did!

What happened first was I picked up my javelin (really fun to travel with! {Sarcasm!}). I gave the woman my claim tickets for my bags. She took the one for my javelin and gave my other claim ticket back. I then continued to wait. The baggage claim I was on unloaded my flight, a flight from Stockholm, Sweden and started to unload a flight from Osaka, Japan. At this point I made the realization, that my bag wasn’t showing up any time soon.

I decided that I would go to the United lost baggage desk. However, in Beijing there is just one desk that handles all lost baggage. Oh, and nobody is fluent in English! NICE! So you can imagine the struggle to tell them that their agent at the oversized luggage gave me the wrong claim ticket. When I looked at my claim ticket, it read, “Mcvey, Deborah.” [Are you following me?]

So I think that the woman that handled my javelins and claim tickets gave me the wrong one back. Well, it turns out that what really happened was the agent in Kansas City put the wrong tag on my bag. WOW! All I can think is how did that happen?

Basically, I sit and bang my head against the wall for about a half hour and they tell me they don’t know where my bag is. All I can do is laugh! If something with travel can go wrong, it will go wrong to Scott Russell (me). Not to sweat though, I’ve learned through the years of competing in Europe, that if you have your javelin boots, that’s all you need. I had been through much worse. I’ve slept on the floor of the Seatle Washington/ Tacoma Airport floor, because I didn’t have enough money for a hotel I’ve even showed up to the airport to fly to the World Cup in Athens, Greece and I had a ticket, but it was not purchased. It was going to be $3600. Nice try! Spent that trip at home and I’m still bitter.

Luckily, that when I arrived in Beijing, I was headed to our uniform fitting. Thank god! This gave me a good amount of clothing. The next day I went to the Nike Hospitality to pick up my package. This gave me a few more shirts, shorts and shoes.

At this point, I was happy to have any cloths. However, one pair of socks and one pair of underwear is not nearly enough. Hand washing your underwear every day and hanging it to dry isn’t fun. But I made it work.

So….. my bag shows up to Beijing on the 11th. However, I’m in Singapore. Ingrid our team manager (my savior) had my bag shipped UPS. I truly thank you Ingrid! Basically, my Bag has seen more of the world than I have on this trip.

In the end, I get my bag last night (Aug 14th) at 9:00pm. All I can say is it’s nice to have two pair of underwear!

What I look like when I get my luggage. HAPPY!

Singapore, Singapore

This is a Lamp shade at a Brazilian Steak House that we went to last night.

I apologize to those who have been following my blog. As most of you know, I am currently in Singapore. Which is both a country and a city. It is actually a small island south of Malaysia. This is where the Canadian track and field team is based for preparations for Beijing.

I am part of the last group of athletes that will leave Singapore. However, the first set of Canadian (track and field) athletes has just begun competing today. My friend Jim Steacy (he throws the Hammer Throw – Yes, the ball on a chain) threw this morning and qualified for the final that will be held on August 17th. I am totally excited to watch his final. Only, this time I will not be watching it from Singapore, because my group enters Beijing on that afternoon.

So, many of you may be wondering, “Why Singapore?” I ask myself the same question. I assume it is because of the extreme excitement of being in the Athlete’s Village and the surrounding competitions. I assume that if we are not in Beijing, then there is less chance of distraction. The second reason from my understanding is the potential effect of the pollution on performance. Personally, I though it looked my worse then it was. However, I was there for less than 48 hours. I’m sure it may be worse if I lived there permanently.

Now, what does an athlete do at a training camp? Well…. Train, Eat and Sleep. I know, I’m in Singapore! It must be exciting? Not really. And that is why it has taken me so long to post again. When there is nothing happening, it’s hard to write about. I would have a lot of post that would ready,

The sign outside of the train station next to the Bukit Gabok National Training Center in Singapore (the title makes it sound glamorous, it's nice.)

“I woke up at 5am this morning for breakfast, then I went to the track at 9:30am, then I ate lunch at 1:00pm, then I went to the physio for massage and treatment (that’s actually quite nice to not have to pay for!), then I had diner at 6:30pm and then I watched the Olympics on TV and went to bed at 10:00am and did it all again the next day.”

However, I felt with the start of track and field and a bad practice, a good practice and my luggage finally arriving, I had a little more to write about today.

If you live in Canada, here is when I will be televised.

CBCSPORTS.CA PRESENTS LIVE ONLINE STREAMING OF
THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES FROM BEIJING, CHINA

CBC is on the inside track in Beijing, China this week with live online streaming of the 2008 Olympic Games at cbcsports.ca. Coverage of Athletics begins on Thursday August 14 at 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).

CBC Schedule of Athletics (EST)

Thursday August 21
10:40pm
Javelin
Qualification
Scott Russell
Windsor, ON

Saturday August 23
7:10am
Javelin
FINAL
Scott Russell*
Windsor, ON

* To compete at that day and time the athlete must have qualified from an earlier event (Heats, Quarter-Final or Semi-Final)

Visit? http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/schedule/ for the complete online streaming schedule.

CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Live FEEDS!

From my understanding, the CBC has nine live feeds from the Games. I'm not going to say that omne will specifically cover the javelin, but there is a good chance that there will be at least one live feed for track and field. The web address is:

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/livevideo/

I hope they cover the event.

Letter from DAD

Just recieved an email from my lovely Father! When you recieve things like this and talk to a man that has been all about supporting his family through the thick and thin! I have never thought that a father could be more proud than my dad has been through my career. Nore Could a father have been more supportive. I love my Dad and he is one of my inspirations for competing! Love you DAD! SCOTT.

"Hi buddy

Love the Blog Scooter. It's like I always said to you guys and Like I found out. Sometimes you learn more in defeat than you do in victory . A defeat can fire up your personal drive. If you compete then part of your person says all the time I can do better or I'll prove to you guys somethnig about me. Having the heart to get up over and over again tells you something about your mental toughness. There are many competions within the competion.

So Hold On Tight To Your Dreams ELO.

Dad

First Throwing Day.

Usually when I travel, I'm ok on day one and three, but day 4 through 7 I feel pretty crappy. However, today is my third day over here and practice went well. All things being considered!

I left Lawrence on the 6th, traveled for way too many hours (Chicago to Beijing was 13 hours alone. That doesn't include the flight to Chicago from KC (1 1/2hrs) and the time to the airport (45min). I also had a three hour lay over in Chicago.

I did some light weights on the 8th. Then did the opening ceremonies that night. Left the village at 6:30pm and got back to the Village at 1:30am. One cool thing that happen on the way to the dining hall was I saw Chris Bausch (Toronto Raptor - American). Massimo (Canadian Decathlete) and I stopped into the bathroom. Who else was in there? Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Lebron James. I know it's not a real glorifying story of seeing these guys, but you know what, I talked to Chris Bausch and being in the presence of these guys was cool. I don't really get star struck, but this was one of those moments. The only other time was when I competed against Jan Zelezny (World Record Holder in the Javelin - 98.48m).

Then on the 9th, I traveled to Sigapore. Had 2 1/2 hrs of sleep and left at 6:00am and arrived at 2:30PM. I attempted to do a warmup on an elyptical that night, but I got to 1 mile and realized I wasn't sweating at all. That's Weird! I then had my specific gravity taken. If you don't know what that is, basically, I pee in a cup and the team doctor puts it on a machine and it measures the density of my urine. Which then spits out a number that tells me if I am dehydrated and suprise, I was!

As for my training today, I had an easy technical throwing session. I threw from short approach which mean I don't run very hard, but I still accelerate into the block (Javelin terminology for my leg leg). Of the 7 short approach throw that I took, I had 4 just over 70m and one between 74m and 75m. I know it doesn't sound that impressive when your PB/PR is 84.41m, but my best in practice is 78m. Needless to say, a fair start.

_____________________________________________________________________

Here's what the training looked like since I arrived

Aug 6th
Depart house at 5:00am

Aug 7th
Arrive in Beijing 3:20pm

Aug 8th
9am
10mike Stationary Bike
30min stretching
Squat
6@ 60k
6@ 60k
6@ 70k
6@ 80k
6@ 80k
Pullover
5 x 5 @ 40k

11:30am
30min massage

6pm-2am
Opening Ceremonies


Aug 9th
Travel to Singapore - 6:00am
Arrive in Singapore - 2:30PM

7pm
1.0 miles on Elyptical
approximately 7 minute

8pm
30min Massage

Aug 10th
5:30am
Wakeup

930am
On bus to track

10:30am
Arrive at track
Warm-up/Stretch/Sprint Drills
Picks up and down field 1x each (approx 10 throws)
easy 7 steps (approximately 5-8 in the grass)
easy 7 steps (4 off of track)
Short Approach (7 off of track)
BEST Average
74-75m 70m

4:00pm
Art/Chiro with Gerry Ramogida

Perseverance

No, you can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

As I sit in Singapore reflecting on the events of 8-8-08, I recall the lyrics of Mick Jagger. You can want something so bad in life, whether that be material things, wealth, happiness or in my case a life long goal, but sometimes things get in the way and you don’t achieve these things. I have felt this way for so long. When I missed qualifying for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, I felt like I was still too young and immature in this sport to be extremely upset. I was nowhere near my peak in terms of age, so I was not heart broken. At the time I was still a Jayhawk at the University of Kansas and I had two more years of competition in the NCAA to look forward to.

The Canadian delegation prepares to depart for the opening ceremonies

On the other hand, the 2004 Olympics were a heart breaker. I was EXPECTING to qualify for these Games. How do you take not achieving a life time goal? At the time I felt like life was over! You train for four years with the expectation of making a team and in the end, you get nothing. I recall standing at the back of the runway in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada at the 2004 Olympic trials with one throw left to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Yao Ming - China's Flag Bearrer

Down the runway,

Carry your speed,

Hand High,
Quick to the block,

Finish the throw!

NOTHING but Tears.

Tim Barett (50Km Race Walk) and Nicole Forrester (High Jump) wait for the athletes parade to start.

Most of you know my 2005 season. I was determined to redeem myself. My funding from Sport Canada was dropped and Nike dropped me. I was determined to prove everyone wrong! It was extremely easy to train with a chip on my shoulder. Every session, I would think of the people who doubted my ability. If a run or a lift was difficult, I would think, “They don’t think you can do this!” Training went great all year. The only problem was I was not seeing the result in meets.

Tim Barett and myself sweating enough to fill the swimming pool in the water cube. I lost 4 lbs.

It’s extremely difficult to feel like you are as fast, as strong and as ready to throw far as you ever have been and get nothing in terms of results. I felt ready all year. I even warmed up that year at the KU Relays at 82m (really far for warming up). All I could manage all year was 73m to 75m. What I thought was going to be my last chance to qualify for the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland was the Canadian Championships in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I threw 77m which was a great throw in the monster of a head wind that we threw into, but not far enough to make the team. I WAS DONE!

Massimo Bertocchi (Decathalon) and myself on the infield at the opening ceremonies.

Most people say I quit or I’m done or I’m retiring and really don’t mean it (like Brett Favre). I really mean I was quitting! Luckily, I was talked into and sponsored by a very generous donor to do two more meets. I Travelled to Ottawa, Ontario and first competition, first throw, VOILA! 84.41m! NEW CANADIAN RECORD! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViZ4c1uU7uQ)

The Olympic Tower - The diamonds on the tower at broadcast booths for major broadcast companies.

There is obviously two more seasons that lead up to this point, but here I stand at the entrance to the “Bird’s Nest”. I am approximately 100m from entering the Olympic opening ceremonies. I am standing with approximately 150 other Canadian athletes about to experience the greatest experiences in the Olympic Games, the opening ceremonies.

You think about the opening ceremonies, what stands out to you as a moment that you will remember for the remainder of your life? Entering the stadium? The first sight of the crowd? The Parade of athletes? Seeing Roger Federer, Dirk Nowitzki, or the entire USA Men’s Basketball Team? The lighting of the torch? No.

The Canadian delegation moments away from expereincing one of the greatest opening ceremonies in Olympic history.

As I stand in the tunnel, 100m from entering the stadium, the entire Canadian delegation starts to sing the national anthem! I still get chills thinking about that moment. As the anthem ends, “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.” The Chills run up my spine. I begin to think of the work that was put into making this dream a reality. The countless number of hours running, jumping, throwing, the weights, my coaches, my family, 2005 when I almost quit, the doubters, and the believers. I think of the perseverance, that I now realize I had in the face of the hard times that athletes (not only myself, but thousands of others) go through to make it to the Olympic Games.

Middle Eastern athletes enjoying the opening ceremonies

I am grateful to have the family and friends that I have met from being in this crazy sport. Without the thousands of people that have made an impact on my life, I would not be here. The support that I have been given to this point is what has inspired my performance to date. I am here, because I love throwing the javelin, which at times was gone, but in this very moment has never been greater. I love this sport and the experiences that I have been given from it.

And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

There are more of my photos posted on my photo webpage at:

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/sr90

On my WAY!

And “IT” finally begins! I have waited for this trip to start for over 12 years. Imagine you have set a goal for yourself and your life and it is finally occurring. How would you feel? Excited, elated, and blown away? I’m can honestly say that I’m excited about the opportunity that lies ahead of me, but in a somewhat strange way I am quite calm and relaxed.

I may be relaxed because I have no choice because I have to sit on this Boeing 747 for 12 ½ hours. That makes a little more sense now. I had a really surreal moment today in Chicago O’Hare Airport today. As I walk to gate C 16 I realize that a majority if not all the people on my flight are traveling to Beijing for the Olympic Games. There seems to be an anxious feel in the air. You can tell that everyone is excited to go to Beijing. I wonder if they all feel the same as I do.

Chicago O'hare tunnel.

The short flight from Kansas City International was a breeze. One and a half hours, not a bump. When I arrived in Chicago, I had about a three hour lay over. I figured that I would have more than enough time to sit around and do nothing on the plane. So I went on a short walk to see a bit of the airport. The lights in the tunnel between terminal B and C are still cool (if you have ever been through Chicago O’Hare, you know what I mean. As I arrive at my gate, I figure I better try to get a better seat than 58G. That’s right, back of the bus! I attempted to upgrade my seat to business class or first class, even tried to get an exit row for the flight. But the gate attendant said, “I understand that you are a very tall gentleman (Side note - I’m 6’9” and easily the tallest person on the flight by 7”), but we have over sold business and first class and there are no open seats in Economy.” I thought to my self, “I wonder if this person has ever had their knees driving into the back of the seat in front of them for 12 hours? Not a chance! She is 5’2”.” I could usually do it for an hour or two, but 12 to 13 hours is just too long? If the seat in front of me wasn’t so close, I would take a pic. But you know what? I’m on my way to the Olympic Games!

Ready to board!

Now, I am stuck on a plane for 12 to 13 hours. What fun can you have on a plane for that may hours? Not a lot. However, there is a large group of family and friends of US Swimming on the flight. I received more than a few good lucks from them. I also met a man named Robert Andrews, who is a sports psychologist and works with one of the US gymnasts (I believe his first name is Raj). His athlete was one of the alternates in 2004 and was supposed to be the same this year. However, Paul Hamm, reigning All-around Olympic champion pulled out with an injury. Which gave Robert’s athlete has a huge opportunity that just a few weeks ago was not an option. As I look at this story, you realize that there are hundreds, if not, thousands of athletes at these games that have a story of struggle. And I look forward to hearing a few more of them.

Well, it’s 5:00am in China and I only have another 10 hours left, so I better try to get some sleep.

The main street of the Olympic Village

Room with a view. Off to the right of this photo is the "Bird's Nest". But you can't see it because of smog.

What a surprise! When I arrive at the Beijing Airport (2:30pm Aug 7th) my javelins show up, but not my cloths. Long and short of it is that I think the person working the United Airlines desk in Kansas City put the wrong tag on my bag. Upon filing a lost bag report, I notice that my name is not on my baggage claim ticket, but Deborah McVey’s name is on my claim receipt. I’m not really sure how this one happened, but if something weird and messed up can happen, it will happen to Scott Russell (forgive the third person narrative). The plus side of this story is that I went in for my Olympic apparel fitting tonight at 8pm. So I do have some cloths. I’m just lacking some underwear.

But you know what? I'm at the Olympic Games!