Last day 24 August

Bryan Clay and his gold medal

For larger photo click here

The last day of he Olympics is typically the day of the men's marathon. In a very exciting pace and extreme conditions (at 9AM temperature had already risen over 30 degrees C), it was Samuel Wansiru who took the gold. Tsegay Kebede, one of the runners I met in Ethiopia earlier in the year finished third, Deriba Merga, another runner I met in Ethiopia finished 4th after looking the strongest runner for most of the race.

After I went for my (very hot) morning run, Bryan Clay (USA) the winner of the Decathlon came over. Bryan really dominated the decathlon from start to finish. Bryan won the grueling two-day, 10-event contest with 8,791 points. Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus won the silver with 8,551 points, and Cuba's Leonel Suarez won the bronze with 8,527 points. It was great to have a chat with the winner of the decathlon who is often called the world's greatest athlete (and I cannot disagree with that). In terms of sports nutrition, I think decathlon is one of the most challenging events. There are a lot of calories that need to be consumed but relatively little time in between sessions to do this. Great job Bryan!

In the evening we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant and the food was amazing.

Great Wall 23 August

Great wall

Today we visited the great wall. See photos here. My main site seeing day of my stay in China. We took a taxi to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This place is less toursity than the Great Wall at Badalingh where everyone seems to go since it is the closest to Beijing. At Mutianyu it was not too busy and there were less and less people the further we got (and the steeper the wall). On the way back I heard someone calling my name and it was Bas van de Goor, a Dutch volleyball player who was part opf the gold medal team at the Sydney Olympics. Small world!

It was a really beautiful day as can be seen from the photos I took.

Great Wall 22 August

Gelete Burka ETH 1500m


Eliud Kipchoge KEN 5000m

Waterpolo

It was a very hot day today. I went out for a run but after yesterdays long run and in the very hot conditions it turned out to be a bit of a struggle. In the afternoon I met up with Gelete Burka (1500m runner form Ethiopia), Eliud Kipchoge (5000 meter runner Kenya). Eliud would win a silver medal a day later.

In the evening I had an oppertunity to go to a waterpolo match and this proved very exciting as in the semi-final Hungary was playing Montenegro. Serbia-Montenegro when it was still one country at the last Olympic Games won men's waterpolo. It was a tough match but in the end Hungary won. The supporters went crazy and the atmosphere in the stadium with 4500 seats was incredible.

Great Wall 21 August

Beijing duck

Today was relatively quiet. I went for a long run, it had rained in the morning and therefore it was not too hot. In fact even during the run it rained a bit. I managed 28 kilometers. Unfortunately the running options were quite limited so I ended up running 8 times the same loop.

The highlight of the day was perhaps the dinner in the evening. This was the first time I had the famous Beijing duck and it was very good!

Witness of another world record 20 Aug 2008

Great venue for triathlon

World record Usain Bolt!

Usain Bolt, 100m and 200m Olympic Champion and another world record!

Photo with Haile Gebrselassie and Odd Snerthammer (Norwegian Physiotherapist)

Today we got up early again to witness a bit of Olympic history: the Olympic debut of marathon swimming. We went to the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park where the marathon 10k open water swim would take place. The pack of women stayed together till the last turn point. Two British swimmers Keri-Anne Payne and Casandra Patten had been in the lead almost all of the race. In an exciting rush to the finish Larisa Ilchenko of Russia outsprinted the British pair and won the gold medal. She finished the gruelling race in one hour 59 minutes and 27 seconds in the shallow, calm water at Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park. Keri-Anne Payne of Britain took the silver in 1:59.40. Her teammate, Cassandra Patten, earned the bronze in 1:59.42.

It was a scorching hot day with a humidity approaching 100% and we had to walk quite a bit to get back to the car to get back to the centre. Once back at the centre I went for a run and did a few intervals. It was very hard in the conditions!

Almost immediately after we had to leave to watch the next event: athletics in the birdsnest. A great night! There were three finals: women's hammer, the mens 200m sprint and the 400 meter hurdles for women. We watched the heats of the 800m in which Yusuf Kamel qualified quite easily. I had been at some training sessions with Yusef in Switzerland earlier in the year (see photos here). Yusuf is running for Bahrain but is originally from Kenya. His Kenyan name is Gregory Konchellah but in order to compete for Bahrain he needed a moslim name and he choose Yusuf Kamel. Gregory's father Billy Konchellah is a two time World Champion who ran an 800m world record in 1987 in Rome. After the heats of the 800m the heats for the men's 5000m followed with Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia), Bernard Lagat (USA), Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) Kidane Tadesse (Eritrea) and Bekele's younger brother Tariku all made it to the finals. Great Britain's Mo Farah unfortunately missed out in sweltering hot and humid night. Also Craig Mottram, Australia's medal hopeful, did not make it to the final and finished 5th in his heat.

Then it was time for the finals. Usain Bolt stormed to a 200m victory and was very very impressive. The build up was great and the stadium went crazy when he set a new world record in 19.30! It was great to be there and witness this historical moment. To finish off a great night, Tascha Danvers won a bronze in the 400 meter hurdles! Well done Tascha!

Triathlon and a busy day at the centre 19 Aug 2008

Great venue for triathlon

On the bike course

A large pack at the start of the run

Brimin Kipruto (gold) and Richard Mateelong (bronze) 3000m steeple chase

Holding the two medals!

Swimmer Peter Vanderkaay,
a gold and a bronze!

Today we got up early and went to the triathlon venue to watch the men's triathlon. The favourite for this race was probably Gomez from Spain but the race was wide open and there were probably about 20 guys who could win it. It was a 45 min drive towards the venue in the direction of the Great Wall. The venue was stunning, a beautiful lake with a little island in the middle, surrounded by mountains. The race was a pleasure to watch and had a very exciting and quite unexpected finish. German Frodeno claimed the victory by outsprinting Simon Whitfield in the last 50 meters. I loved every minute of it and had the oppertunity to take some great shots. Check a selection of the photos I took at the event here. Or view them in with airtight viewer here (Flash required).

In the afternoon the centre got really busy and we had visits from several medal winners. First Jos Hermens came in with two Kenyans: Gold medal winner Brimin Kipruto who clocked 8 min. 10 sec 34 and Richard Mateelong. Clearly Kenya confirmed its supremacy over the 3000m steeple which it has dominated since the 1968 Olympics. Peter Vanderkaay also visited. Peter had won a gold and a bronze medal in swimming. Peter swam in the 4 x 200m relay team with Michael Phelps and won a bronze in the 200m freestyle. We then had Chunxiu Zhou here, who won the bronze medal in the marathon. Other visitors included triathlete Lisa Mensink from the Netherlands, Natalie de Vos was back and we had a US race walker in.

We had a party, caterers came in the food was great and it was a unique oppertunity to talk to some great athletes, and coaches. It was great to see so many world class athletes in one room. And...I got to hold Olympic medals... It was a pleasure and a privilige to talk to those guys. I did not have a lot of time to talk to Peter Vanderkaay, but what a nice guy he is! Two Olympic medals and so down to earth!

On this evening Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain won the gold medal in the Women's 400m in 49.62 seconds, whilst in track cycling Chris Hoy got his third gold and Vicky Pendleton won gold as well! WOW! Congratulations Christine, Vicky and Chris!!

Another day in Beijing I will not forget...

Haile Gebrselassie 18 Aug 2008

Gunn Rita Dahle superstar mountain biker! Olympic
Gold in Athens.

Haile talks about his race
and his nutrition

Haile on the treadmil

Where Haile is are journalists..

A chat in Dutch with Haile's agent Valentijn

Today I started with a run and a swim, not far from here in a 50 m outdoor pool (although judging from the times I swam it might have been a 44m pool...). The pool was in a resort not far from here and is surrounded by houses from very wealthy Chinese people. It is highly guarded and there is security everywhere but every morning we run past the guards, smile to them, greet them in Chinese and just run past them into the resort. Before they can stop us, we are well on our way to the pool. There it is the same story, we dont have to pay because we smile, greet them in Chinese and just start swimming.

We returned to the Energy Centre and in the afternoon we had visits from Gunn Rita Dahle, who was an Olympic Gold medal winner in Athens. Gunn Rita has dminated women's mountain biking for many years, is a multiple World Champion. She has won six World Championships and six European championships. Dahle has also won the UCI World Cup XC 4 years in a row. On Friday she will defend her title.

A little later we were joined by Haile Gebrselassie. Haile has won Olympic Gold in Sydney and Atlanta and has broken 25 world records in events ranging from 1500m to the marathon. He is quite rightly referred to as the greatest distance runner of all times. Haile is not only a great athlete but also a great person and businessman. He employs around 600 people in Ethiopia and has adopted 50 children for whom he build a playground, school and much more. In April I had visited Haile in his house in Addis Ababa and I have never been more impressed by someone's hospitality.

Haile's race the night before in which he finished 6th was evidence for him that he was in great shape but since he had focussed so much on marathon training it is not surprising that he did not have the kick in the last lap that the younger athletes had. He was so happy to be part of the Olympics even though he did not win a medal. Maybe we will see Haile break another world record in Berlin in 6 weeks time?

In the evening we went to a market where things could be bought very cheaply (after some negotiations I might add). WE also went to the largest Adidas store in the world which was quite impressive. Then it was bed time after a busy day at the centre.

More athletics 17 Aug 2008

A marathon full of emotions

Shona Halson visited us in the Energy Centre.

The birdsnest at night

A packed stadium

This morning was the women's marathon. I got up early to watch it on TV. What a race. Mara Yamauchi did so will to finish in 6th. I have had regular contact with Mara in the last couple of years and she prepared for this so meticulously! I am all admiiration for the determination of Mara and to perform so well on the day is just fantastic. She got everything right including her nutrition and I am sure she will only get better. Congratulations Mara well done!!

I spend the morning at the Energy Centre and on TV we saw Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal! Wow! It was relatively quiet again at the Centre.

At lunch time I went for a long run. I ran 2 hours (24km) in the heat and humidity. I lost bucket loads of sweat and it is hard to stay hydrated. Being out there in the heat running, makes you really appreciate what the girls in the marathon had to do earlier in the day.

In the afternoon Shona Halson from the Australian Institute of Sport visited us in the centre. Shona used to be one of my students and she is now is the senior recovery scientist at the AIS. It was great to catch up.

In the evening we had tickets to athletics. We went over to the magnificent stadium, had to dreop off a few PowerBar products for Keninisa Bekele with Jos Hermens, the Dutch manager of Haile Gebrselassie, Keninisa Bekele and many other great athletes. At night the stadium was even more impressive and we saw a night of great athletics including the 10,000 meter final for men. Also we saw Jeanette Kwakye make it to the final and finish in 6th, well done Jeanette!!! Unfortunately Nicola Sanders missed out on making it to the final by 0.08 seconds. Christine Ohurougu cruised through to he final. The British highjumpers all 3 made it to te final.

The 10,000 meters for men was a fast race with the Ethiopians finsihing 1,2 and 6. Haile Gebrselassie was in 6th and I am sure he had hoped for a lot more. Keninisa Bekele was very impressive and won in a new Olympic record. Seleshi Sihine was not far behind. It was interesting that many of the Chinese left the stadium before the 10,000 meters began and they really have not been exposed much to athkletics. The crowds go crazy at unexpected moments and they are quiet when something exciting happens...

Another great great day in Beijing !

The birdsnest 16 Aug 2008

The birdsnest

Inside the very impressive stadium

A packed stadium


Natalie de Vos in action at the 10000 m.

Made friends with the police

With Julian Marley sun of
Bob Marley

Julian Marley at the Puma party

Today I had tickets to the Athletics events in the National stadium. Tickets are not easy to get here. However, if you can get hold of them and avoid the black market, they are quite reasonably priced. The tickets for Canoeing were 100RMB (under £10). The athletics tickets were 200RMB. Drinks at the stadium are also very reasonably priced (at least for our standards because the Chinese do complain about the high prices).

It took a long time to get through security but once inside the Olympic Green it was amazing. The birdnest stadium, the amazing aquatics centre and all other Olympic facilities. The "wow" factor was very high. I watched the race walking for a bit which was taking place outside the stadium then went into the stadium to watch the rest of the athletics programme. I had a good place in the stadium, low and very close to the track. I watched the women's 100m and 400m heats, with great performance by Jeanette Kwakye, Lee McConnell, Christine Ohuruogu, and Nicola Sanders, the women's heptathlon longjump with Kelly Sotherton and several other events. The atmosphere in the stadium was great and I had a great morning. I took quite a few photos in and around the satidum.

I walked back to the PowerBar Energy Centre (pretty long walk because so many roads were closed) and in the afternoon one of the athletes who stopped by was Natalie de Vos, a Belgium distance runner. Natalie ran the 10,000m in Beijing and finished in 32.33 in a race that was run in a blistering pace in hot conditions. We talked about her race and nutrition as she wants to move up in distance next year.

The 10,000m the night before had been a fascinating race. Lorna Kiplagat running for the Netherlands set a blistering pace and in the heat the group got smaller and smaller. One of the victems of this fierce pace was also Jo Pavey. In the end Tirunesh Dibaba proved to be the best runner of the night and ran 29.54 a new Olympic record which in those conditions is really unbelievable.

In the evening we went out for Chinese Yannan food and then to the PUMA party. WE got invited to this party, not far from Silk street in a Puma store/club. The party was set up on this day because Jamaican Ussain Bolt, who is sponsored by Puma, was running the 100m. There was a big screen showing athletics and the entire place was Jamaican style. The sun of Bob Marley, Julian Marley was there and would be playing later in the evening. We were perfectly positioned in front of the screen when Bolt destroyed the field and set a new world record of 9.69 whilst already partying in the last 15 metres. One of the most amazing sports performances I have ever watched. The place went crazy, including the Jamaican amabassador and set the scene nicely for Julian Marley to start the party Jamaican style. A night of reggae followed and people partied till the early hours. It was a great night!

A selection of photos from this day can be found here.

A breath of fresh air 15 Aug 2008

Driving through Beijing's polluted air

The vortex, most spectacular part of the slalom course

The last gates before the finish

Slovakian brothers won the C2 event

After a day of terrential rain yesterday, today the skies in Beijng were bright and blue. Beijing ranks among the most polluted cities in the world with the air concentrations of carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter approaching or exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s established limits. The Chinese government has taken steps to clean up the air for the 2008 Olympic Games it seems that the air is still very polluted. The steps they took were quite drastic. Today for example only cars with registrations ending with an even number are allowed on the roads. There is strict control by police everywhere. The roads are relatively quiet but I can only image what it would be like with twice as many cars.

The pollution may certainly affect athletic performances at these games, especially in those athletes that require high levels of ventilation for extended periods of time, such as marathoners. Exposure to elevated levels of these pollutants has been reported to result in cough, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, headache and eye irritation.  More importantly, exposure can also bring on acute asthma attacks and respiratory infections, even in those without chronic asthma. Some countries have issued masks for their athletes and many stay away from Beijing as long as possible and only fly in a couple of days before they compete. Athletes like Haile Gebrselassie are running 10,000m instead of the marathon. Personally I think that the heat and humidity here are a far greater challenge than the pollution. If athletes have not acclimatised properly to those conditions they will suffer in the marathon. If the weather stays like his there will be no pollution issues for the women's 10,000m on Friday night and the marathon on Sunday morning.

I started the day with a 12km run and although it was hot already, the humidity was lower and the skies a bit clearer so the run was a lot more pleasant than the one a couple of days ago when humidity apporached 100%.

Then I had a chat with a few delegates from Chinese government and Chinese Sport Institute. The discussions were difficult because of a language barrier but the conversation as insightful in the way sport is managed in China.

In the afternoon we went to see the canoeing white water slalom and his was a great event with spectacular results especially in the women's K1. Because this used to be my sport when I was a kid I have a special interest in this fantastic spectator sport. In the Olympic setting and with 10000 spectators going crazy it was definitely special.

Thunderstorms 14 Aug 2008

Driving through Beijing

"Adidas on the rooftop"

The slalom was postponed
till the next day

Greg Welch putting together my new Oakley's

After a good sleep, a coffee and an interview for the PowerBar web site, we went to the adidas centre in the centre of Beijing. Here I met up with marketing manager Mark Sinclair, got a guided Tour around their impresive facility and saw several athletes including Christine Ohurugu, Great Britains medal hopeful in the 400m and several other US track and field athletes. The facility was still quiet, a few people from the Chinese Sports Ministery came over but with a lot of athletes still finding their feet in the Olympic village it remained relatively quiet.

Around lunch time it started to rain and buckets of water fell out of the dark sky and this seemed to continue endlessly. Nevertheless, we made our way over to the canoeing venue where we had tickets to the mens C2 and womens K1 white water slalom. The venues in Beijing are rather spreadout and the taxi drive seemed to take ages. Once we got there and made our way through the pooring rain and security checks we found a place on the stands where we could sit relatively dry. The venue was very impressive. Entirely designed and built for these Games was a concrete duct with pretty rough water. The water, when it got to the end of the duct got pumped back up to the start. We sat down and waited for the first competitors. However, whilst the rain was still coming down in bucket loads, the event got postponed because of the adverse weather conditions. First it got postponed for 30 min, then till the next day. We then had to find a bus together with 10,000 other people to get back into Beijing.

After a long bus ride and a slightly shorter taxi ride we ended up in an area of Beijing where most of the nighgtlife is located. We were invited to an Oakley party (sunglasses), and we had a great night. It was great chatting to one of my personal sports heroes: Greg Welch. Greg was one of the greatest triathletes of all times due to his remarkable dominance in very different diciplines: the Olympic Distance Triathlon World Championship (1990), The Ironman Triathlon World Championship (1994), The Duathlon World Championship (1993) and the Long Course Triathlon World Championship (1994). He is now retired and works for Oakley. Amongst the partygoers I spotted also Jason Gardner. We did not go home too late and finished the day with a scary taxi drive home (driving here in China is interesting to say the least).

Arrival in Beijing 13 Aug 2008

Within minutes after arriving at the PowerBar Energy Centre in Beijing I was dragged out for a run by Zibi (from PowerBar). It was 7 in the morning but already 26 degrees and the humidity was at least 90%. Great conditions to prepare for Ironman Hawaii but not so great for athletes who compete in the Olympics.

The Olympic village and facilities were fenced off and there was security everywhere. Although the Energy Centre was just across the road form a huge park, there was no way to get in with lots of security at all gates and high fences everywhere.

I finally got to meet Mandy Ma who had been organising everything for the Energy Centre from Beijing. The PowerBar Energy Centre is a place for athletes and support staff to hang out, get away from the hectics of the Olympic village and stock up on PowerBar products. There is a large TV where the Games can be folowed in English (in addition to Chinese), there is a great coffee machine (which I tested extensively already on day 1), a fridge with drinks, a kitchen, sofas, a wii system, a treadmil, and so on.

The rest of the day was relatively quiet, and we followed what was going on in the Olympics a bit further down the road. There was also an interesting visit to the police station where I had to get registered. The day ended in the fitness Centre with a workout before going to bed, 48 hours after I had seen a bed for the last time.