Olympics Blog

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Category: The scene

Beyond Beijing: Lightning Bolts And Laissez-Faire

With the XXth pick in the 2009 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions select ... Usain Bolt?

No, my money's on the Oakland Raiders to pull a stunt like that. And it's not going to happen, anyway. Bolt's got no intention of giving up the life he's got now, dancing and dashing and driving IOC president Jacques Rogge mad every four years.

But before I dive back into the real world -- specifically, NFL football -- here's a few thoughts on the last few weeks spent in Beijing:

1) What to expect of a post-Olympics China? In the short term, I don't think we should expect much, if any, change from a government that's likely feeling even more empowered after the Beijing Olympic successes. But I've always held the belief that a revolution comes from within, and I suppose that's where the hope lies for a more open society in China. The "Bird's Nest Generation" -- one-third of the 1.3 billion population here is age 10-29 -- will grow up with Western influences unlike anything the generations before have seen, and that's where the change will come from if it's coming at all.

But I'm no sociologist, so I'll stop there. Back to sports ...

2) As for Michael Phelps, it'll be interesting to see how he handles the fame this time around. Four years ago, a back injury and a DUI arrest made short work of the Olympic afterglow. This time, it'll be the tabloid frenzy and the overexposure that he'll have to deal with, even as he heads back home to Baltimore -- the new swimming Mecca -- and his new $1.7 million condo. He'll sign a bunch of big endorsement deals through 2012 and the London Games - worth tens of millions of dollars -- but the biggest deecision might be whether he'll leave Speedo for Nike in the next quadrennium.

2) Bolt's "a bad, bad man," as 200-meter silver medalist Shawn Crawford told me after the Jamaican had erased Michael Johnson's unbreakable record. If you ask me, he's a dream come true for the sport of track and field -- provided he's clean. And as naive as this sounds, I do think he's legit, based on his track record (a world junior champion at 15, and so on.) He'll be back on the track Friday at the biggest one-day Grand Prix meet of the year, running the 100. The message to would-be sponsors: Catch me if you can.

3) The Redeem Team did the job on the court. But what was even more important, perhaps, was the way they did their job off the court. In short, they acted like they cared. And I'll say this, too: Kobe Bryant might be a bigger international star than Michael Jordan ever was, as crazy as that sounds.

4) Best of the rest? The U.S. men's volleyball team winning gold was a heartwarming end to a tragic story; the Brits' golden bounty; the tearful press conference after Liu Xiang walked off the track will be hard to forget; Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru running arguably the greatest marathon in history; weightlifter Matthias Steiner's touching tribute; another heart-wrenching misfire for Matt Emmons; and, yes, Stephanie Rice.

Category: The scene

Entering 'death zone' but there's light ahead

For any of you Everest junkies out there, you'll know what I am talking about. There is a spot on the climb to the top of Mt. Everest called the "death zone." The air gets fatally thin, accidents can happen because you're worn out and either you make it to the top and success or you fall in a bad way.

I feel like I've entered the death zone here at the Beijing Olympics. There are five days of Olympic competition to go and we're all worn out from running around like maniacs for nearly two weeks. It's been a fascinating experience so far. But you can't get used to working 20 hours a day, eating once (twice, if you're lucky) per day and just walking miles and miles.

Some media are getting sick with colds or whatever, thanks to being run down and feeling icky from breathing in smog. I have faith we'll make it through the death zone to the top.

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Category: The scene

No squid for you!

I took a small break to wander around the neighborhoods outside of the hermetically sealed Olympic Green, and found a supermarket. It was big, nice, and stocked with tons of American products, such as Gerber, Huggies, Campbell's soup, etc. I was just curious to see what a Chinese supermarket was like.

The fresh fish section was very interesting, so I stopped to take a photo. A fishmonger was cleaning all these sea creatures I'd never seen before. So I take the photo and the fish monger is smiling at me. The next moment, a large, angry looking man in a security uniform is yelling at me in Chinese, trying to take my camera and grabbing at me. I refuse to give him my camera and high tail it out of the store. By the time I got to the exit, I had three guys chasing me. I got out onto the street and the security guys thankfully stayed in the store's doorway, glaring at me.

Apparently, taking photos of squid isn't allowed. No squid for me.

Category: The scene

Farewell To Beijing: Red(-White-And-Blue) Tape

8-15-2008 Well, today is Peter's last event -- the 1500 free. Hopefully, he is ready to go and race. HIs goal today will be to make the final heat which is not an easy task at this event. The great thing about the Olympic schedule is swimmers get a day of rest in between the prelims and the finals of the 1500. It's a hard race to recover from. We will be cheering for both Peter and Larsen Jensen to make it in the top 8. Yesterday, the USA missed getting their distance women in the 800 final, which was a disappointment.

Yesterday, we packed up and made our way to the Olympic VIllage to see Peter. Unfortunately, the USOC messed up on the gate list and we were not on it. We called Peter and he did his best to find out why the glitch, but they had already admitted the quota of USA family members allowed in the Village, so we visited with him in the security tent for a few minutes. This is just one of the "red tape" issues that you have to take in stride.

The security at the Village is huge. They have the SWAT team, Chinese army members and bomb-sniffing dogs. While we were waiting for Pete, we watched the whole process. Needless to say, we were disappointed so we made our way over to the Bank of America hospitality suite in the pouring rain and had lunch.

Next we went to the Pearl Market and did a little shopping. We have all become very good at negotiating prices with the vendors. It is an overwhelming sight -- all the booths with pearls, beads, jade, silk scarves and an overzealous local that wants your business. They yell at you, "Lady, lady, beautiful lady, you want to buy from me ... you need this necklace." Funny.

Today, we are visiting the Great Wall. We have hired a driver to take us there and are looking forward to viewing this beautiful part of China's history. We are heading back to the United States tomorrow (Saturday) early and will be back in time to see the final heat of the 1500 on TV. When we booked our flights, we did not expect Pete to swim the 1500 here or at Olympic trials. Changing flights, adding hotels and extending our trip was going to be too difficult, so we will now be cheering for the USA and Pete from home.

Thanks to all for the cheering and support, it has been incredible. GO USA!

The VKs

Category: The scene

Rain delay in Beijing

Stands to reason that Mother Nature can only allow so much humidity before something gives away. Everything is in a rain delay right now, thanks to some ferocious thunderstorms all over the metro Beijing area. Tennis, softball, baseball, rowing and other outdoor events are either canceled for the day or in a looong rain delay. And this isn't a gentle rain. More along the lines of a car-wash downpour.

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Category: The scene

Mao and me at Tiananmen Square

I am headed to the Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square area today to work on a story that will be in the paper (and online) soon. It was a very impressive experience, both to see something that historic and unbelievably expansive.

I've seen that photo of Mao, looming over the square, in every history book I've read in school. There it was, looming over me, too.

Some impressions:

- The square is under very tight security control. Only the east gate is open and you must pass through an airport-style security check before entering. Police are everywhere.

- The Chinese are just fascinated by Westerners. I posed for 10 photos with Chinese who asked me to pose with their kids or whatever. It was really weird at first, but they were pleading with me with every English word they knew (McDonald's, happy, yes) and making gestures. A student, who spoke some English, explained that I "look very American" because of my fair skin and blonde hair. Well, I hope they're happy with a photo of little olde me.

Category: The scene

Fun with mush

For the most part, the English-Chinese language barrier hasn't been too bad. You can get a long way with pointing, smiling and saying "Xie Xie" (thank you).

But I hit the Great Wall of language barriers when I returned to my hotel room at 3 a.m. after a long night of work. I discovered a part of my small room was flooded, with the carpeting soaking wet and covered in white clumps of what looked like oatmeal. The AC unit in the ceiling was leaking, liquefying the ceiling into clumps of mush.

I called the operator for help. No English. I go to the front desk. No English again. Even picking out words in my Mandarin-English book wasn't getting the point across. So I drew a bad picture, showing water drops falling from the ceiling into a puddle on the floor. They still had no clue.

I went back to my room, exhausted, and went to bed. I woke up in the early morning to see more mush and more water. Went down again to the front desk, this time, there was an Olympic volunteer to translate my tale of woe. The front desk lady asked why I did not come tell them earlier about the issue. I tried, lady, I tried.

Category: The scene

Update on stabbed American woman

From the U.S. Olympic Committee a few minutes ago:

Mrs. Bachman suffered multiple lacerations and stab wounds in the attack yesterday.

After undergoing approximately eight hours of surgery yesterday afternoon and evening, she is in critical but stable condition at a Beijing hospital. Family members, including her daughter Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon and (USA Volleyball coach) son-in-law Hugh McCutcheon, are with her.

Hugh will not be on the bench today for the U.S. Men's Volleyball Team's opening game vs. Venezuela.

Category: The scene

Deaths a shocking backdrop as Games begin

Hard to imagine a worse start for the host nation here at the Beijing Olympics. Day 1 of the Games was overshadowed by the grisly, midday murder-suicide involving an American family at a tourist site in downtown Beijing.

Dead is the father-in-law of former Olympic volleyball player Elizabeth "Wiz" Bachman, whose husband is U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. Also dead is the man who stabbed McCutcheon. Tang Yongming, a 47-year-old man from Hangzhou, China, jumped to his death from the second story of the Drum Tower, an ancient city landmark.

McCutcheon's wife also is severely injured and reportedly was undergoing surgery Saturday night.

Americans living in Beijing -- and certainly the native locals -- have often bragged about the apparent lack of crime in this city of 17-plus million. But one always has to wonder how much of that is real, and how much is due to the fact that the state-controlled media outlets tend to sweep the bad news under the rug.

I haven't heard a journalist yet complain of feeling at all unsafe at these Olympics, but today's events no doubt will cause many here to worry. Maybe needlessly so, but perception is reality, more often than not, as the Chinese are beginning to understand.

Category: The scene

Tragedy at the Olympics

The news is just starting to break, but two family members of a U.S. Olympic volleyball coach have been assaulted in Beijing. One was killed, the other very seriously injured. Here is the statement from the U.S. Olympic committee: "The United States Olympic Committee has learned of an incident that occurred earlier today involving two family members of a coach for the United States Olympic Men's Indoor Volleyball Team.

While at the Drum Tower in central Beijing, the two family members were stabbed during an attack by what local law enforcement authorities have indicated was a lone assailant. One of the family members was killed and the other seriously injured.

Following the attack, the assailant took his own life.

Our priority in this hour is to attend to the needs of the family members, the U.S. Olympic Men's Indoor Volleyball Team and Staff, and the entire U.S. Olympic Delegation. In addition, the USOC is working closely with the United States Embassy, United States law enforcement authorities and local law enforcement authorities."