Things You Don't See (or smell) on TV

I have definitely looked at the 2012 London Olympics in a new way, not only because it is the first Olympics I have ever been to in person, but also because it's the first one that I really haven't seen American NBC television coverage for.  I really find myself missing hearing familiar commentators and seeing the awesome feature stories.  I have discovered that there are so many facets to the Olympics that you just don't see in tv coverage, so I decided to share my observations with you.

Bolt!

My producer JoEllen and I have been lucky enough to cover track and field for the first two days of competition, and that was definitely on my list of must see events.  I love track and have a special place in my heart for the throwers, so I was ecstatic to see Reese Hoffa get a bronze medal on the men's shotput, especially after hearing his hard luck story.  There are so many athletes that are household names because of their big dollar contracts and seeing their faces in Nike campaigns, but Hoffa probably wasn't one of those guys.  Seeing this mountain of a man wrapped in the American flag smiling ear to ear after having scratched all his throws in Beijing was really awesome.  I'm not sure if he was featured on the tv coverage or not, because as Americans we tend to focus on gold medals and winners, and not so much on the other places.  He is one of the athletes who struggles to make ends meet without a giant sponsorship, just to make his dreams come true.  Another athlete you probably didn't see on tv was discus thrower Aretha Thurman.  She didn't make the final but was so happy and proud to be an American Olympian and be able to perform in front of her 5 year old child. After all athletes finish their competition, they walk off the track and must pass through the mixed zone where the media awaits.  They don't have to give any interviews but they must zig zag through the media stations.  When Aretha finished her throws, she zig zagged and no one gave her a second look except us, and she was shocked to see that we wanted to interview her.  Her face lit up with the brightest most genuine smile and she talked to us for at least 5 minutes and remembered that we had interviewed her two days before at practice.  Her attitude was that she had done her best and was just proud to be a member of Team USA and compete in a sport she loves.  Those people don't often make it on tv, but they have the true Olympic spirit.

Remote Control Mini Coopers

Another thing that fascinated me and that you probably didn't see in tv coverage, we're the remote controlled mini cooper cars that were used in discus, hammer throw, and javelin.  The cars were used to return the implements from the field back to the cage and to the athletes. Olympic volunteers sat near the cage, and drive the cars out in the field and once competitors threw the implements,
volunteers retrieved them and put them in the remote controlled car, and the cars were guided back to the cage.  I thought that was so random, but also effective and a good sponsorship opportunity for Mini Cooper.  Back in my days of high school track meets, somebody's younger sibling or another member of the track team would jog out and retrieve the implement.  Times have definitely changed! It seemed like the remote control cars were definitely a hot topic of conversation at Olympic Stadium.

Can you find the flame?

I loved covering track and one thing I was so excited to see was the Olympic flame.  I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but in person, I thought the flame was thoroughly underwhelming!  You can't see it from outside the stadium, it is pretty short and the flame burns very low.  From what it looked like on tv and from past Olympics, I thought it would be a roaring flame set high above the stadium, not so much.  I took a picture of it and showed it to people back in the office, and many said it was like Where's Waldo to find the flame.  

Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius

Track and field was one of the sports that were on my list of must see Olympic sports.  I was lucky enough to see history when Oscar Pistorius took the track as the first double amputee to run in the Olympic Games.  I saw him take 2nd in his first heat and I'm sure you all saw it on the highlights too.  What you probably didn't know was that he stopped at every single tv and radio spot in the mixed zone, at least 50 interviews.  The Olympic spirit was all over his face in the most awesome smile you've ever seen, and he was truly happy to do each and every interview.  I was so proud to see his accomplishment and shoot that interview, what an amazing person.  It really makes you think about the challenges we face everyday, compared to what he faces.

The Mix Zone

Sometimes the mixed zones at the different venues are a little smaller and you end up in really close quarters with crews from all over the world.  With the hot tv lights and everyone pressed together, I've definitely noticed that personal hygiene and changing clothes everyday is not a priority for everyone around the world in the media!  It is also very noticeable on the busses we take to get from all the venues to the International Broadcast Centre and to the hotel.  It s agood things the stuff we shoot isn't on smellavison!

The Olympics have been an unbelievable experience and I can't wait to see what the last week of the games has in store for me!