An Olympic-Sized Recap

 

As I sit here, back in the United States of America, I reflect on my time in London during the Olympics. I’ve been asked countless times the same question since my return: “What events did you see at the Olympics?” As I list off the six Olympic experiences, and the mood switches from interest to jealousy, I move my conversation to what the Olympics truly meant to me. With the world watching, I found more entertainment and interest in the aesthetics outside of the events. And as I ramble on to these individuals, their interest in my experience drops and questions return to the events and if I saw USA compete and subsequently, win in any event. This cliché experience brings me to the subject of this recap: The stark differences between the Olympics in the U.S. and the Olympics in the U.K. As I dissect my personal experiences, I stress these differences do not make one country better or worse than the other. In the context of my discussion, these differences are simply that: disparities across the pond.

I have lived in America all of my life, and in doing so have experienced countless sporting events. Being that my grandparents owned season tickets to the Phoenix Suns basketball team, I for countless years saw the enterprise that the NBA is, and what it meant to a city. During the Steve Nash era, I watched as every May, the city wore orange and cheered on their franchise. And every year, utterly disappointed with the fact we never reached the summit of a NBA title, looked forward to the next year with the same excitement. By June, the Suns were forgotten, and the city fell into a lull of sport appreciation. During my time in London whilst the Olympics shined on from the picturesque view from my 14^th floor apartment, I saw a different thrill of sport. What varied was the infusion of culture within sport that became the bottom line answer to how the citizens of the U.K. watched their sports. As the country of Britain prepared for this epic proportion of a sporting event, their citizens rallied behind the games to form a coalition of supporters for not only their athletes but also their country. With the world surveying London, LOCOG was in a spotlight to not only perform well, but above expectations. The magnifying glass hovered, but Britain did not just perform like expected; they completely blew the lid off of the medal count.

Yes, it may be unwise for me to compare the Phoenix Suns to the British Olympic Team, but beyond the size difference, both are sporting teams with fan bases that compete for an overall title. Both fan bases cheer on their teams, go to events, hold their breath during tense moments, and sing championship songs. But underneath it all, my experience showed me a higher level of simple appreciation of their athletes during the games. I was lucky enough to attend an Athletics event, where the British team won three gold medals in the heptathlon, the long jump, and the 10,000-meter run. The day was lauded as the best day in British sporting history. Yes, you read that right. The best day in British Sporting History. Out of all sporting events that Britain hosts (Wimbledon, The British Open, the English Premier league, winning the World Cup, cricket matches, rugby tournaments) this day was the best. Take a look at America. In a day’s time, our country will win three gold medals, and yes, it will be talked about, but compared to an event like the Superbowl, people eventually forget. There are regular citizens who can list off the last ten NBA champions, but can anyone in this country remember an individual day in the Olympics that we performed spectacularly well?

We as a country have been accustomed to our ability as a nation to perform athletically superior to the world. News headlines only become largely read when we underperform. If the USA Men’s basketball team loses even once in the Olympics, all havoc will unravel. Britain’s basketball team, on the other hand, won only one match in the tournament and Luol Deng (one of their players) came away saying, “"I believe basketball is going to grow in this country [because of their performance].” So as we cheer on the U.S.A., and become astonished at the world’s athletic prowess when we lose for a reason beyond dropping the baton or being tripped by another nation, Britain cheers on.

I was privileged enough to see this spectacular night in British sporting history, and as Mo Farrah won gold in the 10,000-meter run, I looked to my right and saw two British women crying tears of joy. I looked to the row ahead of me, only to see soldiers of the British army not trying to hide their emotions of pure ecstasy. I found myself cheering for both the American runner in the race, but I rallied behind Mo as well. And as the American finished second, I know my friends back in America were in disgust that we didn’t win gold. This comes down to my understanding of a different level of appreciation between the Americans and the British. The British are happy to simply compete, while the Americans stress for as many gold medals as possible. That if we as Americans lose to China in the final medal count, that the 2012 Olympics will be a loss for our national team.

I look forward to my future with the same appreciation as these fellow U.K. citizens analyze their national team with. I want to harness my future with the combination of sport and culture, and try to impose the same unbelievable emotions that the Olympics can bring about within humans to this nation. And additionally, my Olympic experience has shed light on where I want to work in the sporting career field. I have been inspired by the competition and the belief in Pierre de Coubertin’s infamous words that it is more important to compete, than to win. So, because of this experience I have begun my investigation into looking for jobs within the United States Olympic Committee.

I look back on my program and I see growth. I saw myself enter the program with a clear-cut view on what I wanted to be doing with my career in sports, and although I was sorely wrong, I took giant steps towards this crazy thing called happiness. I want to feel that same ecstasy that the nation of Britain felt every two years with the Olympics. And I know exactly how I plan on accomplishing that. 

 In terms of my education, I want to thank the teachers on our program for doing their best to educate me in various aspects of the sporting world. When you sit in a class and are focused not because you feel guilty going on Facebook because you're paying for the class, but focus because you want to absorb every ounce of material...now that's what I've been going to school all these years for. So, thank you for sparking a new interest in my educational conquest.

            I would also like to thank Eller and the faculty involved with this trip for making my future so clear and to place me in the world’s spotlight for the Olympics. I would like to thank every single person who financially and emotionally supported me chasing my dreams. To my family: the support you have surrounded me in has been my rock and truly inspires me to keep reaching for that next crazy goal of mine. And to all that have been reading this blog: thank you for anonymously supporting my program and my life's path (with over 1,000 page views, I have been blown away by the attention I received...so thank you!)

I have matured both as a man and as a student on this program, and cannot wait to see what the future holds for me.

Cheers :)

If you'd like to keep updated on my progress of this career and my ability to juggle life, school, and my dreams this upcoming year...check this blog in around two weeks. I will be posting the link to my new blog that will be showcased on the student government's website, and University of Arizona's Career Services Website! 

Part 5/5 of Olympic Events: Women's Soccer (footbol)

As my Olympic experience came to a close, I was able to attend one last event. The semi-final soccer match between Japan and France held in the historic Wembley Park. If you may remember from my past posts, I attended and was given a tour of Wembley about 5 weeks prior to this experience. So, naturally I compared the stadium pre-gameday to what I was seeing during the chaos of 80,000 fans filling the seats (or at least what I thought). I'll take you through some of my memories. 

At the Tube Station!

To get to Wembley Park, you must take the infamous Tube outside the city center. So, with only few people actually driving to the game, each tube that pulls up to the arena is wall-to-wall busy with fans. Luckily I decided to get to the game a little bit early and found the station just filling up. As I turned the corner out of the station and onto the gorgeous promenade walking up to the newly-refurbished Wembley Park I saw what could only be described as a literal sea of people.

Surprisingly, the lines moved fast. 

After fighting through the immense amount of humans lining the promenade, squeezing through security, and up five floors to my seats I discovered the breathtaking view of not only a gorgeous stadium, but a stadium filled with the world's spectators.

They may seem like crappy seats, but we were able to see everything extremely clear.

The flags of the participating nations in soccer at the Olympics.

 As I foreshadowed earlier, I expected the stadium to be completely full. However due to sponsors and corporations with tickets allotted to them by LOCOG (the organizing committee for the Olympics), no one showed up. Yes, 70,000 spectators is still astonishing, but to see sections of the stadium simply empty due to lack of interest through sponsors easily frustrated those in London and from the rest of the world. This issue actually became a very controversial subject that headlined many local London newspapers.

Start of the 2nd half.

After cheering for a good game, Japan went on to win 2-1. France completely outplayed the Japanese, but when the opportunity was in front of them, they failed to capitalize...exhibited brilliantly in a penalty kick missed because of poor aim, not due to a goalie stopping the ball. Japan went on to the finals to play the U.S. in the largest attended women's soccer game in the history of the world. I guess those sponsors all of a sudden became interested once the U.S. was involved.

On the way out we decided to take a train and head to The Hard Rock Cafe to watch the U.S. Semifinal game versus Canada. This game ended up being lauded as one of the best matches in the history of Women's Soccer with the U.S. team winning 4-3 in extra time.

The women's soccer experience was not my favorite event to attend, but I believe this is solely due to the reason of my other events being something completely new and interesting to me. As much as I love soccer (which honestly, I do) I had a hard time finding a team to root for and so I ended up cheering with some locals for Team GB (Great Britain)....but as they like to call it: Team Garlic Bread. In the next couple days I will be able to summarize my trip and my closing remarks for my next step in my future.

Part 4/5 of Olympic Events: Women's Volleyball

Towards the end of my program, I was able to attend Women's Volleyball...and I happen to be lucky enough to see the USA Women's team play Turkey. The event was held at Earl's Court, which lies relatively close to the city center but on the west side. Overall, the game was only competitive for the first game, but USA went on to blow out Turkey the last two games to get the sweep. It being my first event where I could see a USA Team sport, it was somewhat refreshing to hold up my American flag with the rest of the stadium chanting along with me. Below are pictures of the event, including some from the second match of the night which was Brazil. These games were only preliminary round games as in the end USA lost to Brazil in the finals this past weekend. 

Cheers!

Part 3/5 of Olympic Events: Track & Field

August 4th, 2012

10:30 a.m.

I wake up. First thing I do is check the tickets website for Athletics tickets. I'm surprised to find that some tickets had just been released. I select one. Enter the codes. No tickets available. I don't give up. Keep refreshing the page. 20 times. Time 21 comes along. Your reserved ticket. 

I was going to see Athletics tonight in Olympic Stadium. 

I looked outside my window to see where I was going to be in approximately 6 hours and saw this.

2:00 p.m.

I grab a burrito at the place nearby my student housing with a friend, pack up my stuff, and hop on the tube towards Olympic Park. 

3:30 p.m.

I arrive at Olympic Park and it's packed. Trying to move forward in a straight line is impossible. But with the help of the thousands of volunteers I make my way towards the entrance to the park. 

The swarms of people...

The entrance to the park!

4:00 p.m.

Because I bought my ticket earlier that day, I still needed to pick it up from the box office. Now, originally the box office used to be a nightmare because people picking up tickets tried to buy new tickets as well, which caused lines to be over 3 hours long. Fortunately they disallowed the purchasing of tickets. So, the line only lasted around 30 minutes. I made some friends with those close to me and the time passed quickly.

The line to pick up tickets

4:30 p.m.

I exited the line for tickets and then joined the next line for security. Now as comforting as the intense security may be, I wanted to get into the park. But after around 20 minutes of airport-like security I was inside the park once again. I tied on my American flag to my back like a cape and started my trek to find some food, an Olympic program, and a drink to bide my time until I could enter the stadium around 6:00 p.m.

4:50 p.m.

I started wandering around Olympic Park to find myself around the nature trail by the stadium. Naturally, I started walking down it towards the World Center (the place with the food). As you can see, the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, or LOCOG, went to great lengths to make this park beautiful but also functional. 

The view of the nature trail from the main concorse.

The view of the stadium from the trail.

 Exiting the trail I walked towards the food area and grabbed an "Italian" pizza. You could feel the excitement in the air for tonight's events on the track!

The massive lines for the food

Pizza?

5:15 p.m.

After receiving my food, I walked towards the trail and found a secluded spot with a seating area and only a few people...which was a rare find. The spot was right by the moat and looked out at the Olympic Stadium and Orbit. 

The moat

The moat security patrol boat.
Everything in the Olympic Stadium is under tight wraps. 

I lounged around the area by the Stadium until the gates opened around an hour before the games started.

6:00 p.m.

Before entering the stadium I grabbed an official program and then passed through another level of security. Although I was inside the stadium before for the opening ceremonies rehearsal, this was completely different. Filled with fans of all races, religions, and regions of the worlds I was in for a treat. 

I made it! In the Stadium!

6:30 p.m.

I made friends with the British people around me as we all prepared for a full night of track and field events. Over the course of the night I saw some of the most emotional, inspring moments of my life that rivaled the Opening Ceremonies rehearsal experience. And if you read my post about the rehearsal, you understand that this night of sports and culture was absolutely incredible. Because there are so many things to talk about from this night I will just highlight my favorite experiences with some of the best of my 170 pictures from the 3 hour event. 

1. Jessica Ennis Winning Gold

It was known before the last race in the Heptathalon that Jess Ennis, a British women, would win gold. However, in the last race, the 800m, she ran her heart out and finished first with a come-from-behind last 100m push. The 80,000 person crowd was going absolutely nuts as she became the poster-child for British athletes in the 2012 Olympics. As she collapsed onto the ground after she won, the roar never stopped and at times was defying. 

2. The Long Jump Competition

My seats lay on the second level overlooking the Long Jump pit where in the end, a British man won gold, and an American won second. Every time an athlete came up to jump, a slow clap started from the 80,000 spectator arena, but when any British athlete came up, a cheer ran him down the lane to the sand pit. With the long jump falling behind some of the more popular events like the 100m, I was as intrigued as ever to find how interested the crowd became in the event once their athletes were performing well.

3. Women's Discus Final
Although this wasn't my favorite event to watch, as enormous women launched discs over 50m (150 feet), it was the victory lap that the 3 winners had after the competition was over. Although no british athletes competed, the three winners were given a standing ovation as they walked the 400 meters of the track holding their flags above their head, screaming with joy.

4. Mo Farrah winning Gold in the 10,000 meter
Once again, this was not an American athlete winning gold, but a British athlete. For 25 laps, the crowd roared along with Mo as he circled continuously around the track. This race took over 25 minutes and never once did the croad slow its cheers. I was so mesmerized by Mo and this race that I forgot to watch the American come from behind and finish in second. And later I found out that Mo and the American, Rupp, trained together in Oregon. When Mo won his race, the crowd went ballistic. Every British person around me was crying tears of joy. Never in the history of British athletics had they won three gold medals in one night of athletics. I was watching history.

5. The Women's 100 meter race
Although the American, Carmelita Jeter, won second, the immense speed of these women was simply incredible. With the crowd, for the first time of the night, silent right before the race....once the gun went off, the thunder of the crowd rose again.

Overall, the night was a spectacle in itself. The countries competing and the athletic prowess that I was treated to was something I will never forget in my life. Below are some of the pictures from the night, but nothing will be able to tell the story of that night quite like experiencing it in person.

The torch in the distance!

Hoffa winning the bronze in shotput!

The American flag being raised on the right

An Australian long jumper

400 meter heats

The victory laps for the discus ladies

The 10,000-meter run: 29 competitors

Our 2nd place Long Jumper

Rutherford, the British gold medal Long Jumper

Mo Farrah after he won gold

Rupp, the Silver medalist for the 10,000 meter

Final finish for the 10,000 meter run

Mo being embraced by the fans

Carmelita Jeter after placing 2nd in the 100m final

Jess Ennis  in her gold medal ceremony

The Olympic Torch

Another incredible night of the Olympics