Athletics spectacular

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to meet some world class athletes. I was walking out of the IBC by the exit from NBC and out of sheer lucky timing I crossed paths with three gold medalists finishing up interviews. Aaron Piersol, Jason Lezak, and Brendan Hansen, 3/4 of the United States medley relay team were still in their Team USA warmups with victory roses in hand from the medal ceremony 4 hours after the event. I shook the hand of each and offered congratulations. Each one obliged the greeting and climbed into a minivan waiting to take them to the Athletes Village. This was the first time in three Olympics that I’ve ever gotten to meet such high profile gold medalists. They were actually the second meeting of the day. Twenty minutes earlier I had run into Rebecca Soni, the new 200 meter breast stroke world record holder after she too had finished an interview. It was quite thrilling to be able to congratulate athletes who throughout the week had given me such an entertaining performance.

The main event for the day, and what will be a lasting memory for my life was the opportunity to attend an event. In the past Olympics I’ve attended speed skating, men’s indoor volleyball, and table tennis. At two of those events I witnessed medals being awarded. It was a great experience but somewhat lacking in true Olympic buzz. So you can imagine my excitement at finding out a way to arrange an upgrade pass for entry of Lincoln and myself to the Bird’s Nest for Track and Field in Primetime Sunday night. We would get to see the showcase venue up close and personal, without even buying a ticket. In actuality, going with our pass gave us access to areas that normal tickets would never have. Here is an Insider’s View into Athletics at the National Stadium.

Upon walking up to the stadium there is a huge plaza that separates the Nest’s enormous compound from another enormous showcase, the Water Cube. The Stadium is surrounded by very well maintained flower gardens with little light posts along walkways that incorporate the architectural elements of the Nest into their look. We had been instructed to report to the television compound to obtain our passes. The Compound manager met us with two passes and a stern warning to bring the passes back to him at the end of the night. He also made a passing comment of his unusual generosity in giving us access to the evening session. We thanked him profusely and made small talk for a minute or so and then he directed us to follow the hundreds of cables leading from the compound into the stadium structure. We headed down into the bowels of the enormous facility following the heaps of wiring carrying the video, audio, and information that enable the magic. We arrived at a lower concourse that had several pass checks. We flashed our passes and were given access to every point we came to, passing several interesting sights along the way. For the first time I was able to see the venue mixed zone. A mixed zone is where the press and video media are able to interview the athletes. The press get a bit of a raw deal at the Games. They have to line up inside the main lower concourse in queue lines with questions and recorders in hand. The reason I say raw deal is that the athletes get interviewed by the Broadcast media immediately exiting the field in the video mixed zone. They answered numerous questions, then the press get a crack at them. By then, they are done, so the press gets the short end of the stick most of the time. Most of you probably didn’t know this but, athletes cannot simply exit the field to the locker room. The field exit literally winds winds in between several rows of rented space cubicles that usually contain a reporter and a cameraman. In order to skip interviews they have to actually walk past and ignore reporters who could reach out and grab them. Its a system that is designed to create interview opportunities. The location of the mixed zones, help give an impression that the interview is taking place down on the field. Its not, its actually occurring about thirty feet away and several feet up from the track surface.

Continuing on we went up several flight of stairs, following signs for the Commentary Control Room, or CCR. This room is the extension of my department at the venue. All the commentators equipment is wired to feed this room built into the back of the lower level stands. In there all the audio circuits are monitored and then they are fed into digital modems that carry the signals to the main broadcast center switching center which is where I work. At the National Stadium we get to know the crew there pretty well over the period of the Games because we work extensively with them in getting things ready for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It has the most commentary positions, and special compound feeds of any of the venues. Track and Field is still the grandaddy of the Games. More countries are interested in Athletics because of the broad nature of the events and the fact that many of the smaller nations can compete in many of the track events. It doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment to run.

We walked into the CCR and greeted the crew. Lincoln and I took in the setup, which for us was very helpful because the switching center acts as the lead on trouble shooting. So any insight we have on the other side of the line helps us help the venues figure out issues. After some time of swapping stories, the CCR manager showed us the observation seating area. The seats were right outside the room and located just above the start finish line, behind the mixed zone. We were about 40 feet from the track. We grabbed two seats and took in the scene. The stadium was at capactiy, filled with color and waving mini flags representing dozens of nations. Two giant scoreboards gave stats on the action taking place on the field. One was in Chinese and the other in English. There also two giant video boards showing closeups of the various things happening down on the field of play. Camera flashes continually popped up little white sparks of light. Above the three levels of seats ringing the stadium was the enduring image of the Olympics: The Torch. It was across the stadium from us creating a perfect backdrop for many of our pictures.

For any of you that have ever attended a track meet you know that it is a bit of a circus. There are running events, jumping events, and throwing events all happening at the same time on different parts of the field surface. On this particular evening there were sprint and hurdle running events, the high jump and triple jump, and the hammer throw. If there is ever a sport that television doesn’t do justice to its the hammer throw. We were watching the men’s final. These guys were launching cannon balls attached to metal wires from a cage, about half way across the green field. It was unbelievable. Its sort of like when cheerleaders use that air cannon to launch t-shirts into the stands, except that in this case the object would kill you. Same sort of flight path. Once the hammer lands on the field it is picked up and returned to the cage, via a remote controlled car. Yep, that’s right somebody gets paid to drive a remote controlled car back and forth on the field of play returning throw objects like a game of fetch.

On this particular night the women’s 100 meter final was being run. When it came time for the event everyone pulled out their cameras and got ready to witness the fastest woman in the world be crowned. The amazing thing about the race is that when it actually happens its over so quick, you don’t even have time to react.

We witnessed a new world record in the 3,000 meter women’s steeplechase. There was a medal winner from China recognized, and to hear the roar of 80,000 Chinese fans was something I will always remember. It was unreal. Pride in their athletics achievement is not something they have to conjure up here.

We took a number of pictures, walked around the concourse admiring the architecture, and then returned our passes calling it a night. It was an experience that was unexpected but certainly welcomed and will leave me a lasting memory. What a blessing. When I get back into the States I will post some of the photos from the evening, so you can get a little more visual perspective. 8 days left on my Chinese adventure.