Olympic Experience

As I'm writing this blog, I'm sitting outside on the 12th floor bar of my hotel in London looking at the skyline and the Tower Bridge lit up beautifully on a clear cool night.  It is inspiring and a rare treat, as I had only a 16 hour day instead of 18 like yesterday.  Also the pubs here in the financial district here where we're staying close at 11pm and I'm usually nowhere near being done with work by then. Today we started so early and finished so late last night, it worked out that our last assignment was women's water polo and I left the office about 10:15pm.  I figured I should take advantage of the small victory in getting out slightly early and enjoy this beautiful sight.

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to see my first American medal won, and it was gold.  It was earned by 32 year old skeet shooter Kim Rhode.  She was one of the athletes we had interviewed at the Olympic Media Summit in Dallas back in May, so we were especially interested to see how she would fare.  Her performance was amazing, hitting 99 of 100 skeet and not only winning the gold medal, but breaking the Olympic record and tying the world record with that score.  Her sport of shooting, that she has dedicated her life to, certainly isn't a mainstream rock star sport in the States.  She doesn't get the kind of attention the swimmers do and you won't find her in a McDonalds commercial, but she's an Olympian none the less.  In fact, she's the only American Olympian to ever medal in 5 straight games, dating back to Atlanta in '96 when she was 17. She was so humble and nice and full of the Olympic spirit and ideal.  When the National Anthem payed after she was presented her third gold medal, I was shooting video on my iPhone and trying to hold back tears.  It was a powerful moment and made me more proud to be an American.

As soon as she came through the mixed zone, where the media interviews her, three little French girls were crowded next to me to get her autograph.  Not only did she stop and sign, but she also talked to each one and let each one wear her brand new gold medal and take a picture.  That's a memory those girls will never forget and I won't either.  Sometimes the people with the most Olympic spirit are the ones you've never heard of.

To go from one end of the spectrum to the other in one day, we started the day at shooting and ended the day at beach volleyball.  Talk about the quintessential sport of the summer Olympics, it was all the party it was cracked up to be. It was even complete with swim suit clad dancers on a cool London evening.  The raucous atmosphere for beach volleyball at the Horse Guards Parade was completely different that the feel at the Royal Artillery Barracks for shooting.  Volleyball had the fantastic scenery, with the London Eye lit up just over the top of the stadium.  The Horse Guards Parade is just outside Buckingham Palace and there were beautiful old building everywhere.  The feel inside the stadium was more of a rock concert, complete with crazy outfits, loud music, dancers, and between match contests.  My producer JoEllen and I were able to snag seats for the first 3/4ths of each match before we had to get down to interview the players.  I just sat there trying to soak in the feeling of fun in being at one of the most popular Olympic sports and knowing that I was there to work, even though that particular assignment didn't feel too much like work!  Now don't  get me wrong, this whole trip is a ton of work and long physically and mentally grueling hours, but there are some times where I just try to take it all in and try to remember that feeling forever.  Beach volleyball made me dance in my seat and sing along to fun songs, all while balancing my big camera in my lap. This sport is truly for the fans and the players seemed to appreciate the experience too.  We saw April Ross and Jenn Kessey win 2 games to none and also Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser took their match in a 2-0 shutout.  They were great to interview and really seemed to be having fun, while keeping their eye on the prize.

No matter whether it is shooting, boxing, water polo, etc., being here makes me proud to be an American and I wish I could dress up in goofy outfits and wear the flag as a cape too, but I'm pretty sure NBC would frown on that!