The Moment, Enjoyed
Comments and Thoughts on the Opening Ceremony
Words are my life. When not working with our Olympic athletes, I teach and coach public speaking and writing for a living. And I don't own the vocabulary to describe what yesterday's Opening Ceremony was like. So since I need some help with my words, I'll quote team member Andrew Campbell: The Opening was one of those "Forrest Gump" moments when you look around and ask yourself how and why you are there.
It was magic, pure magic, and the easiest way to share the experience is to simply walk you though the day, starting with the trip from the Qingdao Village to the airport. We were given a highly weaponized police escort, with roads and highways totally blocked and police officers standing at attention every few hundred feet all the way from our Village to the airport - about 20 miles. No delays at the airport. We had our own dedicated security and passport lane, and we were at the charter flight in minutes. Same treatment on the other side in Beijing.
I could write a few thousand words about our afternoon in the Village, but the real action worth writing about started at about 5pm. We gathered in the Village in our Team uniform with the rest of Team USA, and were driven over to the Fencing Stadium where we met the President and his family, including his father, one of his daughters, a brother, and Laura. They were so gracious and so excited to be with the Team. He said a few words, and then met with and took photos with each of the Teams. He remembered Andrew, Sarah and Amanda from their trip to the White House a couple of weeks back. We also spent time meeting and taking photos with some of the more famous members of Team USA. We all were like little kids.
We then moved to the Indoor Stadium to sit with the athletes from other countries, and around 9:30pm lined up for the walk across the way to the Birds Nest. We were snaking our way through the crowd, and everyone on either side of the street was going crazy, cheering, slapping hands, asking for autographs... just unbelievable energy.
If you polled the members of the team, I think most of them would list the walk into the tunnel to take us into the Stadium as a highlight moment of the night. Inside the tunnel, there were volunteers and staff standing 5-10 deep on either side going absolutely berserk. We got closer, and closer and you could see the lights inside the Stadium and the noise of the crowd was increasing with every step. And just before Lopez Lomong, our USA flag bearer, stepped out of the tunnel and into the Stadium, our whole team broke into a "U.S.A... U.S.A... U.S.A..." chant. Fists pumping the air, and the goose bumps were an inch high.
The Stadium was so loud, and so big. 91,000 fans going crazy. I was towards the back of the USA lineup, with most of our sailors. And as we finally broke out of the tunnel and into the Stadium, there was this one American standing just above us, screaming himself hoarse, and wildly waving an American flag with tears streaming down his face. I don't think my feet ever touched the track during our lap around the Stadium.
My favorite moment of the night, without question, involved the President and his wife Laura. When we walked past their box, they were already standing and clapping since so many Americans had already walked past. Andrew and I, along with one or two others around us, paused in front of the President, tipped our caps in a show of respect, and pointed in his direction. He and Laura saw it, and acknowledged it with a point back, and the President gave us the two thumps to his heart and a wave of his fist. Politics aside, that was magic.
We were all also surprised at how many American flags there were, and whenever we made eye contact with or pointed in the direction of Americans they showed their pride and yelled even louder.
Eventually we made it to the infield with all the other athletes, and watched the rest of the show which was intense, emotional, and beautifully done. The Chinese outdid themselves, and the rest of us too, and the bar is now pretty high for our friends in London four years from now. I won't take time to describe the torch lighting in detail. But if you are one of the nine people on the planet who has not seen it yet, go online and watch. I've never seen anything like it.
That night was about as good as it gets for me, and it felt even better than I expected it could. It was such an honor to be there with so many members of our team, and enjoy this moment. Other than my wedding day, this was, without question, the greatest experience of my life. Everyone who was there will remember it forever.
We are now back in Qingdao, and it is time to get back to business. That moment is over, the racing has begun, and it is time to focus 100% on our performance. Zach and our Yngling team of Sally, Debbie and Carrie raced yesterday. They race again today, along with Tim and Chris in the 49er.
It's game time in Qingdao.
Sail fast,
Dean Brenner
Team Leader
US Olympic Sailing Team
Words are my life. When not working with our Olympic athletes, I teach and coach public speaking and writing for a living. And I don't own the vocabulary to describe what yesterday's Opening Ceremony was like. So since I need some help with my words, I'll quote team member Andrew Campbell: The Opening was one of those "Forrest Gump" moments when you look around and ask yourself how and why you are there.
It was magic, pure magic, and the easiest way to share the experience is to simply walk you though the day, starting with the trip from the Qingdao Village to the airport. We were given a highly weaponized police escort, with roads and highways totally blocked and police officers standing at attention every few hundred feet all the way from our Village to the airport - about 20 miles. No delays at the airport. We had our own dedicated security and passport lane, and we were at the charter flight in minutes. Same treatment on the other side in Beijing.
I could write a few thousand words about our afternoon in the Village, but the real action worth writing about started at about 5pm. We gathered in the Village in our Team uniform with the rest of Team USA, and were driven over to the Fencing Stadium where we met the President and his family, including his father, one of his daughters, a brother, and Laura. They were so gracious and so excited to be with the Team. He said a few words, and then met with and took photos with each of the Teams. He remembered Andrew, Sarah and Amanda from their trip to the White House a couple of weeks back. We also spent time meeting and taking photos with some of the more famous members of Team USA. We all were like little kids.
We then moved to the Indoor Stadium to sit with the athletes from other countries, and around 9:30pm lined up for the walk across the way to the Birds Nest. We were snaking our way through the crowd, and everyone on either side of the street was going crazy, cheering, slapping hands, asking for autographs... just unbelievable energy.
If you polled the members of the team, I think most of them would list the walk into the tunnel to take us into the Stadium as a highlight moment of the night. Inside the tunnel, there were volunteers and staff standing 5-10 deep on either side going absolutely berserk. We got closer, and closer and you could see the lights inside the Stadium and the noise of the crowd was increasing with every step. And just before Lopez Lomong, our USA flag bearer, stepped out of the tunnel and into the Stadium, our whole team broke into a "U.S.A... U.S.A... U.S.A..." chant. Fists pumping the air, and the goose bumps were an inch high.
The Stadium was so loud, and so big. 91,000 fans going crazy. I was towards the back of the USA lineup, with most of our sailors. And as we finally broke out of the tunnel and into the Stadium, there was this one American standing just above us, screaming himself hoarse, and wildly waving an American flag with tears streaming down his face. I don't think my feet ever touched the track during our lap around the Stadium.
My favorite moment of the night, without question, involved the President and his wife Laura. When we walked past their box, they were already standing and clapping since so many Americans had already walked past. Andrew and I, along with one or two others around us, paused in front of the President, tipped our caps in a show of respect, and pointed in his direction. He and Laura saw it, and acknowledged it with a point back, and the President gave us the two thumps to his heart and a wave of his fist. Politics aside, that was magic.
We were all also surprised at how many American flags there were, and whenever we made eye contact with or pointed in the direction of Americans they showed their pride and yelled even louder.
Eventually we made it to the infield with all the other athletes, and watched the rest of the show which was intense, emotional, and beautifully done. The Chinese outdid themselves, and the rest of us too, and the bar is now pretty high for our friends in London four years from now. I won't take time to describe the torch lighting in detail. But if you are one of the nine people on the planet who has not seen it yet, go online and watch. I've never seen anything like it.
That night was about as good as it gets for me, and it felt even better than I expected it could. It was such an honor to be there with so many members of our team, and enjoy this moment. Other than my wedding day, this was, without question, the greatest experience of my life. Everyone who was there will remember it forever.
We are now back in Qingdao, and it is time to get back to business. That moment is over, the racing has begun, and it is time to focus 100% on our performance. Zach and our Yngling team of Sally, Debbie and Carrie raced yesterday. They race again today, along with Tim and Chris in the 49er.
It's game time in Qingdao.
Sail fast,
Dean Brenner
Team Leader
US Olympic Sailing Team
posted by Dean M Brenner at
6:34 PM
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