Greg Welch: Live From Beijing
Couldn't dig your way to China for the 2008 Summer Olympics? Don't worry, we'll bring the five-ring action to you. Check in throughout the next couple weeks, as multisport legend and triathlon luminary Greg Welch reports on all the sights and sounds surrounding the Games.
It’s raining cats and dogs
Today we were greeted by torrential downpour in the streets of Beijing. Not bad for the air quality, but Games organizers are left with delays and schedules that now require some catching up.
It didn’t stop road cycling’s Sammy Sanchez of Spain from dropping by to say hello. Sammy brought over his gold medal in his pocket. I asked him to see it and he pulled it from his hip pocket all scrunched up. I had to laugh, but that’s normal. I would carry it in my pocket, too. NOT!
You have to earn these medals; there are blood, sweat and loads of tears. Sammy was quite emotional standing atop the dias receiving his medal. When listening to his national anthem being played, Sanchez’s eyes filled and his chin began chattering like it was a winter day.
After speaking with Sammy at Oakley’s safehouse, I really felt that Sammy is one terrific guy, very humble and with only positive things to say. I was really impressed. Good on ya, Sammy.
I also had a visit from triathlete Fredric Belaubre of France. The Frenchman just won his third European championship last month and hasn’t raced much this year. He could be a darkhorse for the gold as he must be rested. Fred said he trained too much early in the year, but he feels that he is now ready to give it everything in the heat of Beijing.
Fred was taking time out from his training schedule to make his way into town for a break. The triathlon is a one-hour drive from Beijing, so I imagine it is rather quiet out there.
The Olympic Triathlon is edging closer with the briefing happening in the next few days, so I will try to get out there and report.
Last night we had a few cyclists over for a few. Stuart O’Grady of Australia and Julien Dean of New Zealand to name a few. The boys were ready to settle into the lounge and talk post-road race. The stories were hilarious, ranging from the fluids they took in during the race to how there were no crowds because of the event’s closed out-of-town course. The boys knocked back a few and enjoyed each other’s company.
Now those boys earn their money. They leave today for races in the U.S. and Europe.
OK, that’s it for now.
See ya soon,
Greg
OLDER ENTRIES
Wednesday, August 6
OK, I slept a little better than I did my first night. I have quickly settled into a nice early-morning habit of getting out and getting amongst it. It seems that most of the Chinese get out and do something in the morning whether it’s walking the dog and grabbing a half hour doing Tai chi!
I walked in Chaoyang Park again and today I found some trails. I also found some fellow westerners jogging in the early fog!
I found it to be incredibly humid today and it was evident it was going to rain. Being from San Diego, any shower is welcome to me and today I was waiting for a drenching to cool me down. It did rain, for 30 seconds. The drops were massive and I thought I was going to get a royal drenching, but it wasn’t to be.
I continued my walk toward Workers stadium, a soccer venue, and noticed a group of shirtless elderly men playing badminton on a makeshift court in a parking lot.
I also noticed that there were three men: My chance to get in a badminton instead of a walk.
I approached the men and asked if it would be OK to play. They obliged and reached into their bag and drew a spare racquet. Now, it’s been a while since I’ve played anything with a bat, racquet or anything that requires my heart rate reaching 100. But I had the best time, played for 45 minutes and had three terrific and hard-fought sets. Mate, these guys were all over 65 years old!
Last night was epic. I hosted a party for Oakley at its safehouse and the evening was a celebration for Lolo Jones, the current world indoor 100-meter hurdles champ. She won the trials early July and is dominating the world of hurdles.
We had a wonderful dinner with dishes ranging from squash-wrapped goat cheese to filet mignon and garlic shrimp, finished off with a tiramisu birthday cake. The food here is sensational, so don’t worry about what you hear, the horse’s mouth speaks volumes for the med restaurant in Block 8.
I am taking a tour of the village tomorrow and will endeavour to capture scenes of the nervous energy of Olympic eve. I will also try and talk to some triathletes, but I am hearing that most of the teams are coming in for opening ceremonies then leaving to neighboring islands and countries.
See you tomorrow!
Greg
Tuesday, August 5
The Olympic triathlon, where do I start?
I can go back to the beginning, it was 2000 and it was my hometown, born just kilometers from the triathlon site, it was always going to be epic.
The women’s triathlon was the first event on the whole program. The scene was set as the Sydney Harbor bridge looming in the background and the Sydney Opera house in the foreground, you couldn’t have asked for a nicer venue and the organizers were hoping for a stunning Sydney day, and they got it.
On a picture perfect late-winter morning, yes late-winter morning, the women’s triathlon was run and won, but not by an Australian, by a Swiss woman, Brigitte McMahon, who could rarely crack the top 10 in a World Cup. Michellie Jones from south of Sydney flew the boxing kangaroo and narrowly missed the gold by mere seconds.
The men’s race was what I thought it would be: a running race. And the best runner won. Simon Whitfield, a cheeky little bugger from Victoria, Canada, stormed down Macquarie street, rounded the roundabout and raised his arms in a well-deserved gold medal.
I think the fondest memory for me was that triathlon was accepted into the Olympic program and you couldn’t have asked for a better way to start a Games or a more incredible city to feature. Sydney is my home!
Onto Athens and a different situation, triathlon was now slotted into the mid-program and two veterans in Kate Allen, an Australian now married to an Austrian and representing Austria, and Hamish Carter, who orchestrated an Ocean’s Eleven-like move, towing only the people that could take him to the gold, running with them until he needed to then making his move to bring home a gold for New Zealand. Kate, on the other hand, did something I never thought possible, running from 28th off the bike and over two minutes down to catch Australian Loretta Harrop inside the last 400 meters to claim the biggest victory in her life.
The Olympic triathlon is going to be hotly contested with both men’s and women’s fields at near to full strength.
This time we are going to be treated to an epic clash in the women’s event with Emma Snowsill and Vanessa Fernades set to race head to head yet again, this time for a title that can ride for the rest of time. To me, Snowsill deserves this more than anyone. Why, you may ask? Well, for personal reasons that I won’t go into, but she was left off the team in 2004 after she won her first of three world titles (She is the only woman with three such titles). Why on earth would you leave the current world champion off the Olympic team? Oh, by the way, Michellie Jones didn’t make the team either, and she was still winning World Cups, and she could swim bike and run better than anyone at the time.
The women’s event is not a two-horse race, though. Helen Tucker is the reigning world champ, Erin Densham and Emma Moffatt make up our strongest Olympic team to date, and the Americans are strong, too. Laura Bennett is due: She won the Hy-Vee Triathlon last year in her biggest win but has an incredible record at the world championships and is one to watch. Same with Sarah Haskins.
There are others to mention and I will do that as we get closer, but today I am happy to report that all athletes are still healthy and ready to go.
My flight here was non eventful but I did strategize and ask for a window seat trying to get a glimpse of anything Olympic.
I wasn’t surprised to find that descending into Beijing, the skies darkened and the haze set in. My views were uninterrupted, nothing!
Ah well, I have seen it all before, I have come here a few times on business and I have taken in all the sights before.
I must say that the venues here are fantastic, reports to come.
The weather. I awoke to the chickens crowing. Highly unlikely. No, I woke up and took an early walk through Chaoyang Park, the host of the beach volleyball and also the Coca-Cola festival.
It was 6 a.m. and the gates opened and the hustle and bustle was on; crowds stormed through the gates and they were on their way. Did I mention the Olympic games have not started yet?!
The temperature was upper 70s at 6 a.m. and the humidity was a staggering 90 perfect. Needless to say, my early jaunt was a sweaty at that!
While I was walking, it lead me to think that he or she who performs well in the heat and humidity is going to walk away with a gold medal here.
OK, enough for now. Way to much to give, so stay tuned for my next installment from Beijing.
