Into the Nest

After basking in the cool oasis of the USA House, I ventured off to the Olympic Green for my first event. So far, this trip has felt like a business trip to Beijing. Tonight, it felt like I was at the Olympics.

It's difficult to describe how cool it was. You see all these iconic venues on TV and next thing you know, you exit a subway station and there they are. The Olympic Green is massive and in addition to the venues, sponsors have these "pavilions" where they show off cool stuff, or in some cases, kinda boring stuff, but it's in an air conditioned room so it doesn't really make a difference. Johnson & Johnson had some of the terracotta warriors on display. Most cool.

Everyone everywhere is taking pictures of themselves in front of the stadiums. It's impossible not to walk into someone's shot. But the Bird's Nest was even cooler inside.

Well, cooler in appearance, but about 20 degrees warmer than it was outside, which was pretty darn hot. Not much air circulating in that old nest. Poor air circulation seems to be a recurring theme here.

But I wasn't complaining when I found my seats. Basically 50-yard-line seats with views of the finish line right in front of me for the 4x100 relays, and panoramic views of javelin throwing and all the other random things that happen at a track event.

Side note: Here's the coolest job at the Olympics. When the javelin guys heave their javelins, three guys on the field stick the tossed javeline in a remote-controlled car to return them to the athletes AND SOME GUY GETS TO JUST DRIVE THE REMOTE-CONTROLLED CARS ALL DAY AT THE OLYMPICS!!! I want that job. Oh, worst job at the Olympics? Being one of the three guys in the field who people are tossing javelins at.

The whole thing was amazing. The relays were great. I watched Bryan Clay from the US win the decathalon and get a medal with the national anthem and everything. An Italian guy earned a gold medal and they played that anthem, which apparently is 10 minutes long. And then at the end, the last thing left was the pole vault of all things, which an Australian guy won on the last vault. But he wasn't done: He decided to try to break the Olympic record after he already won the gold. He missed the first attempt, then took 20 minutes (20 minutes!) to regain his composure on his last try, and beat it. It was one of the most compelling sports events I've ever been at.

But exhausting as well. The weather was scorching and between trying to find USA House earlier in the day, and walking the Olympic Green, I was beat. Five subway transfers later (I'm getting to know the system a bit too well, which is frightening) I'm back in my hotel. And beat. More adventures on tap for tomorrow.