Greg and Peter were at the Opening Ceremony on Friday.We are back from a very exhilarating trip to Beijing for the incredible opening ceremony. We flew to Beijing in the morning and were taken to the Olympic Village where we met our team. I had already met the officials in Barbados but this was an introduction for Greg. We also met the athletes for the first time. We got our uniforms for the parade of athletes and then sorted out our other uniform items. BOA gave us a big suitcase to hold it all and so we will be well dressed for the balance of our stay in Qingdao. Interestingly, the Barbados Olympic team uniforms were supplied by The Bay, the same supplier as the Canadian Olympic team. The connections between Barbados and Canada never cease to amaze me.
We took a short nap in the afternoon as we knew that it would be a late night. We were accommodated in a typical room. They have them set up with four bedrooms, each holding two beds, around a central room with a large table and chairs. There are no cooking facilities but there is a large fridge. I must admit that we are thoroughly spoilt by our accommodation in Qingdao. They do not have the five star quality furniture and fittings, the marble clad bathroom and the 40 inch HD TV with Bose sound system. We also had about twice the square footage. We visited their dining hall. It is huge to accommodate the large number of athletes and perhaps because of that their food quality is not as high as in Qingdao. After all, we are staying in an Intercontinental with a French executive chef. They have a McDonalds integrated into their dining hall.
We met up with the Barbados team in their rooms at 5:00 pm and did the final adjustments to our parade outfits. We were bused at 5:30 to a big hall where we were seated before our parade of nations. We were given a light snack and water was available. Unfortunately they did not have screens set up to show us the entertainment, but Dale has made a tape and so we can see what we missed when we return to Toronto. We got to chat with the other athletes during the 2 hour wait. All of the Barbadian athletes live and train overseas. They are similar to Greg in that they are amateurs, and are full or part-time students. They had a great deal of fun together, very relaxed and very welcoming of Greg.
We saw some very enthusiastic Barbadian supporters as we came into the stadium. They were waving a Barbados flag and we think it was Sir Henry Forde and his family. That was also very special seeing Barbadian supporters in the crowd. It was not something we could have expected as we expected to be overwhelmed by the other countries. They really made a big impact and generated a lot of pride amongst the Barbadian team that night in a land far away from home.
We then participated in the parade of athletes which is our highlight of the games to date. It was the most exciting feeling entering that stadium of over 100,000 persons to the intense applause and electric atmosphere. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Up until entering the Birds Nest Stadium, the event could really have been just another big regatta with great sailors around. Entering that stadium, Greg and I realized that this was the real thing.
Luis and I had a special moment together. Uruguay paraded close to us. When we got to centre of the field we were able to see each other and gave each other a big hug and said to each other at the same time “He really made it”. To better understand the origin of that hug and that comment, the attached picture was taken by me in 2002 at the IODA World Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas. Luis is on the left talking to Greg, Jason and Peter Hoad. Luis, Greg and I clicked and that first meeting led to Luis coming to Barbados to teach a racing clinic, Greg going to Bermuda to attend a clinic with him, Luis coaching Greg at the 2008 Laser Worlds, Greg working for and training with Luis in Bermuda in July this year and finally our being together, 6 years later, at the Olympics. Luis also helped Sarah develop as a sailor through clinics in St. Thomas and Bermuda, and finally in recruiting Roberto Fabini to coach LOOT. There are several coaches who all played important roles in getting Greg to this stage, but Luis Chiapparro holds a very special place in the hearts of our family.
The parade was long and very hot but very much worth it. We managed to see lot of superstar athletes. Greg was working the new videocamera and got footage of various celebrities. The US basketball players were the major stars, with Kobe Bryant, LeBron Taylor and Chris Bosh drawing a lot of attention.
After the opening ceremony ended we were bused back to the village where we had a late meal before saying goodbye to the rest of the Barbados team and crashing for a few hours sleep starting some time after 1:30 am. The 7:00 am walk up call came much too soon, we had a quick breakfast and then we were off to the airport. On arrival back in Qingdao they did something very special for us. The buses met us on the ramp and took us straight to our Village. In Beijing we went through the airport terminal which caused a certain amount of delay as they counted and recounted to make sure that they were not missing any sailors.
Back in Qingdao yesterday, we had a day off sailing. We rested and attended the Qingdao opening ceremony. It was a short event, although not quite as well organized as Beijing. They had us waiting outside in the heat for an hour before the parade of flags. Greg got to carry the flag in the parade. After the opening ceremony in Beijing, their event was underwhelming. I guess it is necessary fort the local politicians to get on local TV and they tried their best, but coming immediately after Beijing’s performance, they would always pale in comparison.
We slept well last night and Greg will be training this afternoon. We have to get back into our routine and back focused on sailing after two days of opening ceremonies. Greg has been having a wonderful time, soaking it all in.
That’s all for now. I have to go get our laundry.
No comments:
Post a Comment