Olympic Update #14

Dear Family & Friends,

Hi, hope all is well. Things are going well here, this morning it rained "cats & dogs" as I wanted to go shopping. Thus I decided to try the new subway line that joins the exciting very good metro system, to get the crowds of spectators to the main Nation Stadium and Water Cube.

At the moment this section (Line #8) has only 4 stops, but is free to anyone with games tickets, plus, of course, all the 16,000 athletes and officials also get it for the free. Plus we get the whole Beijing underground network too, pretty cool..

The new line goes north into what is now call the Olympic Green, a park that will remain for the benefit of all Beijinger's & visitors.

Photo to the left shows the new station platform, note the design copied from the Birdsnest, all platforms now have (or on the main system) will have automatic doors, keeps the aircon in the summer & heat in the winter, and on the platforms, not along the tunnels, also stops accidents on the line.

The other two photos show the interior views of the new trains.

My outward trip was fine, walked 5 minutes from the OV, took the new Olympic line, to the interchange station to get on the #10 line to find the shopping market I needed. However, on the way back, at the internet station, instead of changing platforms and picking up the new Olympic I was bundled out of the station, with the crowds, into the street, then forced to walk about 10 minutes around the block to go through a security check point......

Security is fine, I am all for it, but come on, throwing your citizens and visitors out in the pouring rain, making them walk alomost a kilometer, only to find yourself back where you started at least 20 minutes longer than moving from platform to platform when changing trains.... is far from smart.

Up to now I have only offered the highest praise, so to be balanced, I feel I need to air this grip. Of course, I know why some bright soul thinks it easier to do the security checks in a huge empty area of tarmac, than in the rail station. However they are doing these same checks all over Beijing in the subways, just where the normal trafic flow is......

Ok, I am back to positive mode.......

Last night I was privileged to see Usain Bolt, blaze into Olympic History, with his win in the 200m........ for an Olympic final, leaving the rest of the field for dead is almost unheard of, such was this new World & Olympic record run.. After being witness to his 100m final, when he did the same thing, most people were sure he would win, but not so utterly destroy the other runners...

Micheal Phelps move over, we have another super star on stage.

I am still in part shock, part very proud that my tiny little island can hold it's own againist such power house like China and the USA, and still keeping 3rd stat in the medal table........ GO UK.............

Take care, I wonderful what I can find to you good folks tonight. Yes, back to the Birdsnest, even the volunteer helpers in the Stadium, are asking me if I want my favorite seat..... he, he.

warm regards,
David

Oooppsss!

David sent out the update below yesterday morning and I didn't post it hear right away... not on purpose!! So don't be mad when I tell you that Fred won!



Dear Family & Friends,

Hi, today I meet the young lady in the photo, can you guess her name ??? Will it help if I tell you she comes from Liuzhou in Guangxi, is 143 cm tall, and weights only 30kg. The first to tell me her name gets a prize.............

I am not a tall man in anyone's book, but she only reaches to my shoulder, and she was wearing a small healed shoe. We were both in the Olympic Pin trading center, she was giggling and having a great time. So I just had to ask for a photo.

Take care, I have a busy day, at 2pm to 4pm I will watch the Gym medal winners give a special presentation performance, then it's off to watch China play basketball at 4;30pm, followed be another evening in the National Stadium, our best medal hope is in the women's 200m semi finals, please check the TV at about 9:25pm tonight.......

warm regards,
David

Olympic Update #12: 2 in one day

I have to apologize. I should have made David's email available a long time ago for you guys to be able to contact him directly. Feel free! Val

dstedall@lwconline.com


Dear Family & Friends,

Good afternoon, good news our 200m runner cruised through her heats this morning, she won a bronze in 2004, so our best medal chance this time too. Her next time on track is 19.07pm tonight, this is the 2nd heat of round two......
I gave you a look at how pretty the National Stadium is at night, here are some photo's taken from behind the scenes.

This photo is of the main passage that circles the track under the main seating area.

The photo to the right is up on the 4th level, here are the private corporate boxes, the main Olympic sponsors rent these either by the day, or a few are for whole week of athletics..... As with the VIP Olympic family lounge, the only place's where alcohol is allowed..... sad!!!! Here you can see the red plastic film on the windows I spoke of yesterday.

This left photo is showing you the access from the hidden passageway onto the track. You can see the main seating through the tunnel. On TV you will see people & things appear on the track and vanish again, this is where it happens. The narrow railed off area along the left hand wall, is where the athletes come to get on track, this is near the 100m start, they leave the track near the 100m finish.

The last photo to the right is just before the medal winners and medal presenters line up here to march out in the public glare...

Now what shall I offer you next time...... if you have a question, please write and ask..

warm regards,

David

Olympics Update #10: The Olympic Village

Dear Family & Friends,

Wow !!!! what a past few days, with my home land in 3rd place in the medal table, only China & the USA have more medals, the Brit's are over the moon, and yes I am very proud. Also for Michael Phelps wining 8 gold medals in the pool, then Jamaica winning gold in both men's and woman's 100m, which I was so lucky to see happen right in front of me...as I sat in the Birdsnest Stadium.
But, today I will tell you a little about the OV (Olympic Village) which houses about 16,000 people, both athletes & working officials, the NOC Presidents & IOC members live in the 5 star Beijing Hotel right close to the city center.

OK, our building #A1, is part of what will be an apartment complex, all these units sold over a year ago.....

this is the view from my balcony, where I sit to write emails (I get Wi Fi from here) and enjoy the view.

Now lets take a look at my room, it has two beds, but I get it to myself, yes a very lucky guy,

this is my bathroom, quite a step up from my blue Refugee tent in Sichuan... and to my amazement the beds are nice and soft.

The last photo, is one of our security gates.

The village is incased in a 3 meter high fence, in fact two fences, one behind the other, about 2 meters apart, with a PLA guard every 40 meters, flood lit at night & supported by night & day vision cameras.... the safest place in town. On each gate, apart from the regular security listed below, we have several SWAT team guys, totting machine guns............

To get in, we must first pass a visual face & badge check, then they electronically scan our ID badges, then we go through airport style security, walk through doorframe type scanners, a separate one for anything you are carrying, then it's arm's out as we are wanded before we are free to enter.
Oh, I have a good story about security........ quite a number of the volunteer security, are PLA folk dressed as volunteers, no volunteers keeps there shoulders so far back, and is so unsmiling. Near the main dining hall, we have a crossing on the main East - West road that runs through the village, it is a dual carriage way, with a set of stop lights.

However, until it becomes an apartment complex, we only have electric buses that glide along at 10 kph, it's often faster to walk. And this main road is always 95% clear and empty. Well; we have a couple of these army guys dress as volunteers, and are trying so hard to get a very strong minded bunch of Olympians to not cross the road when the lights are red, but with a 100% empty road.......of course they are out of luck. .

I feel a bit sorry for them, as they are not use to people ignoring to their commands, they look so sad at no one listening to them... poor souls, they are just doing what they have been told.... " Welcome to a whole new world...."

OK, must dash, next time it will be night photo's of the Birdsnest & Water cube..

warm regards to you all.
David

Olympics Update #8 (a quicky)

Dear Family & Friends,

Hi, from another wonderful day in Beijing. Yesterday was the first day of the Athletic competition, and the skys were as thet say picture perfect.... don't take my word for it, check the skys both by the Birdnest and here in the OV.

WELL DONE CHINA & BOCOG

You keep your promise..............

warm regards,
David

Olympics Update #7 (though he says #5)

Dear Family & Friends,

Hi, hope all is well, this will be my 5th Olympic report, trying to offer you something you don't see on TV or in the newspapers, they are full of who won the gold etc, so let me try to give the other side of the coin. If you missed a report, please let me know, as a few have not arrived ok ???

My photos this time are from the "Water Cube". I was amazed getting off the athletes bus, walking along the side of the National Aqua Center, just how huge it was, look at the people, then how tall this thing is....

Another shot is the diving platform, very pretty, and from what I hear works well too...

The next is a view you can get on TV, the audience seated, 8 swimmers in the pool...

Now look at the photo of the training pool, not open to the public view. It's like a busy pool during the school holidays. How they warm up ok, I have no idea...

This evening I just saw Michael Phelps swim his 100m Butterfly heat, his old 2004 Olympic record was 51.25 sec. so he took it easy the first 50m and was 5th at the turn, and then went up several gears to record a 50.87 sec. what can he do if he really tries....

Earlier in the evening we saw the heats of the Women's 800m Freestyle, that's 16 times up and down the pool, a long way to swim going as fast as you can. The British girl, Cassy Patten set a new Olympic record of 8mins, 18.55sec, beating the old record of 8mins 19.67. Guess who is rather proud, and being 9th out of 205 Countries in the medal count is very good for a tiny island full of strange folk.....

The past few days have been very interesting, from sitting in the VIP seats with the Sri Lankan Ambassador chatting & watching boxing, to attending a meeting of all Technical Delegates for the Athletics (Track & Field) that start tomorrow (Fri 15th) Our athletic coach does not speak much English, and as a past track athlete, judge & organizer of a UK state (province) athletic championship, I was next in line......

Add to this some three-hour in the Poly Clinic, with our badminton player, who suffers from breathing problems, but only when she gets a cold, and her medicine, contains a small amount of a banned drug. So she has to take a test to claim an exception.

Which she did back in Sri Lanka, but the doctor forgot to add the make of the equipment used and the strength of the test drug.... So she needed to be re-tested, however there was real concern, that if she took the test again, that if she was given a radmon drug test, she would be positive, and get banned not only from the Olympics, but everywhere for at least two years...

But, we got it solved ok, she player her match as her world ranking was 131st, she lost to a girl who was ranked 75th in the world. This may seem a bit sad, that she only got to play one game of 3 sets, and got knocked out of the Beijing Games. However she did write her name into the history of Sri Lanka, as the first woman ever to represent the country in this sport at an Olympics......

Just how many of us, would be very proud to be the first ever to represent your Country at anything, let alone the Olympics Games.

Just before I set off to cheer our swimmer in the mens 50 m freestyle, I had to take our two track athletes uniforms to the Sports Info Center, to have them photographed, thus insuring they complied with the rule #51.

Any trade mark on a garment is limited to a certain size. (At the weight liffing a liffer had masking tape stuck pver a offening trade markon his shorts) This is to ensure that if your company pours millions of US$'s in to being an official sponsor, someone else can not get the credit on a TV close up.

However, I think they have gone a bit crazy this time. On a visit to the any bathroom, be it in the village or any competion venue, all the American Standard white porciline, wash basins etc, have little white stickers over the name...... Why build all these brand new venues with a product you have to put a lable on....

Thanks for your letters and remarks, the photo of me with the torch yesterday, got the most emails.............. I wonder why.

Take care,
David

I'm starting to get real jealous!!! :)