Olympic Village People!
2nd August 2008, NewsA few days in, and now we are bonafide residents of the village, small pieces in the most colourful jigsaw in the world. The energy here is incredible as everyone is in the same state, the same frame of mind and at the peak of their physical capacities (although i have seen some athletes puffing away on cigarettes...i wonder what sports they are involved in???).
The Chinese have gone all out to ensure that this will be the best ever games. The rowing venue is fantastic ans spotlessly clean.....there must be 200 volunteers constantly cleaning the place out there, we even saw them washing the stones beside the bank of the race lake!? The volunteers are so smiley and friendly, and for most this Olympic period could be the best time of their lives, and what they are doing is assisting us!! I have to stop myself from thinking about all that and just concentrate on why I am here in the first place.
Our venue is about 45 minutes by bus from the village, so we make the journey once per day and sleep out there in a special "day village" in between training sessions. Most nations have arrived and the course is a busy place right now. The only team still absent are the Chinese, and will arrive with perhaps their most successful rowing team in history, an incredible feat considering the team yielded no medals in Athens.
The heat and humidiy is posing another challenge for most teams. We came up with our cooling strategy while we were on training camp in Varese and it involves donning special ice vests which are kept in the freezer overnight and then worn after training to help cool us down. They work fantastically well. We are also guzzling electrolytes like they are going out of fashion. After the games i will need to detox my system of sports drinks and refined sugars, it will be strictly wine and pizza from then on.
I am typing this sitting in one of the many "resident centres" in the village which have internet stations, video games, places to chill out and talk to people and pool tables etc. Sorry for my lazyness in blogging but I have been preoccupied with getting myself back to normality and adjusting to all the differences here....but i am grand now, and will update as frequently as i can, with photos........