The ankle is getting better - after I took Monday off and returned to work on Tuesday, a Chinese doctor that my dad called to help me told me to stay in today. That was fine, because getting to work on crutches was worse than a 6x400m workout - by the halfway mark, an ocean of sweat had surrounded me and it took all of my willpower to not throw my crutches away and crawl to the Starbucks and drown my sorrows in a Mocha Frappucino. Well I also went to a hospital today to get x-rayed on my boss's orders and as I had expected, everything turned out dandy. After waiting 2 hours for the X-Rays, the doctor took one look at them and said "没事" and we were on our way.
Enough of my life. This Friday, at 8:08pm, 8/8/08, a very special event is occurring and a lot of people are getting excited. And it's not just that 8 is the luckiest number in Chinese. Of course, the IXXX Summer Olympiad officially begins then and you can definitely feel it. I've been teaching in English (when I am at the office) the meaning of "there's a buzz in the air." Clearly, the immense hype and over-preparation that one month ago seemed repetitive and tedious are now taking new meaning as an event 7 years in the making is finally extremely palpable. This week has seen the arrival of among others, all the big name world athletes, the presidents of Brazil, France and who knows what else, as well as probably the Dalai Lama, and the Olympic Torch. I know Bill Gates, George W and Putin are also coming, not sure if they're here yet. I don't think I've ever been in a such a star-studded city. So far the best athlete I've ever seen is either Barry Bonds or Bobby Orr, and I hope to add to that list here. Anyways, people dressed in the blue Olympic volunteer uniform have been active and ubiquitous for the last week, working in places far from Olympic venues. They're mostly Chinese and all speak some English, but I know there are a ton of Hong Kongers and I saw a French one at the hospital today. In Hou Hai on Saturday night, we saw 2 jacked guys in shirts that said "Russia" and if I had to guess, I'd say gymnasts. I have a feeling not enough athletes are going to explore and party, but if they do I hope to run into some of them.
Security is also at a frighteningly high level. I would not want to be a cop in Beijing right now, I wonder how much sleep they can get. I joked to Crystal today that I'd put the odds of an Olympics terrorist attack at 35%. So we went to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube today - have I talked about them before? I had never seen them up close... and I still haven't. The entire complex is so fenced off that the best shots I could get were from a half mile away, where a ton of Chinese tourists were swamping the fence. The Watercube seems really cool, the whole thing glows different shades of red and blue at night and really is a nice, geometric complement to the crazy, roundish and exuberant Bird's Nest just to the east. I took some pictures but I hope to get more when I come back...
Cause I got tickets! Through my own purchases and some incredible gifts, I now have tickets to track & field, ping pong, gymnastics, handball and am looking to get boxing, judo, wrestling and some sort of event that'll get me inside the water cube. Basically I've been refreshing craigslist every so often and seeing a new entry every 10 minutes. I am ultra excited about basically all these events and I have no idea what to expect: I could be hating myself that I am missing out on Phelps breaking 3 world records while watching a Decathlon event in track, or I could be experiencing the sport event of a lifetime. Hopefully the latter. I want to see a lot of "random" events, things like Handball that I've never seen even on TV, and see them live at the Olympic level. Doesn't get much better. This Friday's Ceremonies should also be pretty special if I can walk, and I'll definitely blog about that asap. I'm actually trying to get judo tickets that take place Saturday morning at like 1am, after the Ceremonies, which should be really cool if I'm not passed out drunk. On the Ceremonies, many details are a secret. It was just revealed today that Sarah Brightman and Liu Huan will sing the theme song, the language of which is even a secret. I haven't heard of either of these too - for the record, Brightman is British and Liu Huan male - but my coworkers were excited so I think they're popular in China. The Olympic Torch lighter is likewise a secret, and my guess is it won't be someone we know, like Yao Ming or Liu Xiang. The lighter can be a current athlete but is usually an older former athlete (ala Muhammed Ali) and my best guess is Li Ning, a Peking University grad who won 6 gymnastic medals including 3 gold at Los Angeles in 1984. My coworkers said he's not that popular though, so I really have no idea. Maybe they should get a relative of the last emperor, Pu Yi, and the most famous Chinese in history, Bruce Lee, to light the torch. But I haven't gotten that call yet.
I want to talk about a lot of sports and athletes that people don't know about. I feel like the Olympics are a rare event that people get really excited for without knowing what they're getting excited for. I mean for March Madness, most people I know read a lot about these random teams and know a lot about the big named teams. Every sport fan knows all the key matchups in the Super Bowl. But most people reading this probably can't tell me even the 5 most famous Chinese athletes in China, or the archery favorites or what kind of studs Brazil is bringing for their soccer team. Btw I just heard a blast that was not thunder nor fireworks and I'm legitimately worried. Anyways, I'm going to go over a few lesser known athletes (you can read about some of them online too) that I've discovered, and then tomorrow I'm going to blog about why badminton is awesome, and introduce you to the Chinese team.
Abubaker Kaki - 800 meters.
Kaki is from Sudan and a strong contestant for the 800 meter gold. I'm not sure if his 1:42.69 time is the fastest seed, (he did win the world indoors this year) but it's well below the 1:45 qualifying time and really fucking fast. Just a note: Kevin Mannering ran a 1:58 to set the RL record. I've never actually seen this guy even in TV but he's very charismatic and, get this, 19 years old. Born June 1989. Male distance runners don't peak until the early-mid 20s, and Kaki is absolutely insane for his age. He owns the junior world record of course and this won't be his last Olympics. He'll probably double or triple in the London 2012 games.
Bernard Lagat - 1500 & 5000 meters
Lagat won Olympic Silver in the 1500 in Athens and Bronze in Sydney as a Kenyan, and at that rate he'll get gold here in Beijing. However he became American shortly after the 2004 Games, having attended Washington State, so now we cheer for him. Even though he's kinda old at 33, he seems to be getting better and won the US trails in both the 1500 and the 5000. My guess is that the double, coupled with the bad air and his age, will rule him out of any medal competition but he's an exciting runner whom I've seen in TV before.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - shooting
No I actually don't know anything about this guy, or how to pronounce his name. But he's Indian - from a large Asian country that does not do well in the Olympics - and won silver in Athens. He's 1 of 4 Indians to ever win Olympic silver and it seems the only ones to have won gold were on the same field hockey team.
Usain Bolt - 100 & 200 meters dash
The real true sprint is always exciting, if ridiculously short, and the winner takes the title of "fastest man in the world." This year seems to be the most exciting race ever, with 3 people who could make claims to that title being present in Beijing. Tyson Gay ran a heavilywind-aided 9.68 dash at the US trials, before cramping up in his best event, the 200 m, where he has run a faster time than anyone not named Michael Johnson. He'll be focusing on the 100m now and carrying the pride of the red white and blue. Btw that 9.68s would be a world record if the 4.1 m/s wind hadn't been blowing. Then there's Asafa Powell, the one time world record holder at 9.74s from Jamaica, who totally choked in Athens (5th) and seems best racing against the clock rather than against other sprinters. But Bolt is the exciting one, reallat least partially due to his incredibly apt last name. Guess what his nickname is? Bolt set a new, ratified world record in May when he beat Gay in 9.72s, and apparently he had been training for the 400 meter dash...that 100 was just his 5th in international competition. He's titanic for a sprinter at 6'5", and also going to run the 200 which could also be a terrific race as there are a ton of great Americans there. Either way, the 4x100 relay is going to be dirty.
Alicia Sacramone - Gymnastics
Shawn Johnson is the American stud in women's gymnastics. She's 16, really great, and you can read all about her in some newspaper. But I want to talk about Sacramone, the pride of Winchester, MA, whom I first read about in the Boston Globe. Her local claim to fame is that she goes to Brown University, and I'm pretty sure Frank Kanin has written about her for the Brown Daily Herald. Her freshman year was pretty packed, as she practiced with her team, then drove up to Massachusetts and practiced with another elite coach, and then went back to her dorm and tried not to fail all her classes. She dominated Ivy League gymnastics her freshman year (she's our year btw) winning all 5 events but then forfeited her remaining eligibility to turn pro. I don't know exactly her odds of medaling in Beijing but just keep an eye on her.
Jeremy Wariner - 400 meters dash
If you haven't heard of Wariner, well I guess you're not Brian Freitas. Basically, Wariner is the dominant defending gold medalist who has had 9 race winning streak including 2 world championships since then. Oh and he's white and the role model of every scrawny white American wannabe sprinter. His story is really cool, starting his career as a high sophomore on the JV team before running a 48.8 and getting bumped to the varsity. He went to Baylor, Michael Johnson's alma mater, is a stunningly thin 6' 155 pounds, and wears sunglasses no matter when. The 155 pounds really gets me, cause that's my weight...The 2004 race in Athens was an American sweep, and this one may be as yankee-centric but definitely more interesting. A stockier sprinter, LaShawn Merritt, has recently beaten Wariner twice, including at the US trials, and is definitely a legit competitor. I've got the finals, 9:20am on August 21, circled.
That's a lot for now, I'll keep em coming as I hear about them. Actually leave a comment if there's a specific little known athlete you know about and would like to share.
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