COMPETITION BEGINS!

Friday rang in the beginning of the track cycling events: the Men's Team Sprint qualifying rounds and finals, as well as the qualifying rounds for the Individual Men's and Women's Pursuits. I began the day in the press mixed zone, ended up down in the office for awhile, and then finished in the broadcast mixed zone. Being in the broadcast mixed zone is tricky business; you have to silently squeeze in by interviews, quote the athletes, make sure not to bump into/knock over any equipment, and whatever you do, never, EVER get in the shot. I happened to sandwiched between the Australians and Germans during the team sprint finals: Australians vs. Germans for bronze (ironic spot?) and Great Britain vs. France for gold and silver. The results: Great Britain dethroned France for gold, and the Germans beat out the Aussies by .008 seconds for the bronze. 

It was like looking through a cycling kaleidoscope: The Australian coach squatting on the bottom of the track, waving his arms furiously for the team to haul faster; a German, post race, sitting on the steps with his face buried in a paper bag trying to keep it together; French team members barking encouragement from the training area during the race; Chris Hoy, hanging over the barrier to the spectator area, hugging his family and signing autographs; an event coordinator wearing a headpiece, pushing teams away from the journalists because, "THE MEDAL CEREMONY CANNOT WAIT! They will come back!"; Arnaud Tournant wearing a shirt with "Happy Birthday, Mom" in French scrawled on it.. there are many elements in an event, and it's fascinating seeing it all come together behind the scenes. 

Here's a YouTube video of the medal ceremony from the Men's Team Sprint, as shown by the BBC. At 2:15, this is the view from the press mixed zone, where I started my day. Directly under the French, British, and German flags, see bright yellow and green barriers? This is the broadcast mixed zone, where I viewed both races in the Aussie German sandwich. Pretty fantastic, eh?

Today is my favorite event, the Keirin, in addition to two other medal competitions. I have much more to write about that happened this week, including interviews with athletes and a SWAT team saving my now-useless ATM card, so stay tuned.