The Most Amazing Sporting Event Ever!

I watched the swimming prelims for the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay and the Woman's 400m Freestyle last night at the Swimming Cube. I was getting out of the Women's Gymnastics event and realized that swimming was just about to get started so I rushed down to the stadium.  I pulled out my makeshift sign that reads " I need tickets" both in English and Chinese.  It was pouring down rain but luckily an Australian woman sold me her extra ticket.  As I was about to walk in to the Swimming Cube, a young man approached me and asked me about the ticket I had bought.  He desperately wanted to go to the event.  He told me he was the captain of the Columbia University Swim Team and in China for an overseas study program.  I figured he wanted to see it more than I did so I sold him the ticket.  No more than three minutes later, a staff member of US Swimming walked by and handed me a free ticket for the event.  Karma has its advantages.

So this morning when I woke up, I had one singular mission and that was to get to the swimming session and watch the medal rounds for the events that I watched the night before.  I took the subway to the Olympic Green.  Right out side of the subway station is where people exchange and sell their extra tickets.  I couldn't find swimming tickets for the life of me so I bought a cheap fencing ticket.  I don't know how it happened but I started talking to a Chinese woman and she mentioned that she had a swimming ticket but wanted to go to fencing.  What? How random is that? We quickly made the trade and I was off to watch history in the making.

I can't describe how exciting it was to watch the medal rounds.  Kathie Hoff came so close in getting the gold in the woman's 400m Freestyle falling short in the final few strokes.  The highlight by far was the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle.  Michael Phelps was the lead swimmer for the US and after his turn we were in 6th place and looking like it would be impossible to catch up.  The next two swimmers, Weber and Jones, made up some strokes but the French were holding a commanding lead by swimming standards.  As Jason Lezak started his stretch, the crowd stood up sensing that something special was going to happen.  After the turn, he was gaining on each stroke.  What looked  impossible a minute go, looked manageable.  I started jumping up and down. The Chinese group that was sitting next to me began to clap in support. It was too close for me to tell who won so I looked up at the scoreboard.

We won! The woman next to me hugged me and it wasn't even her country's swimmers.  The crowd was going crazy.  The American swimmers were jumping up and down their fists raised to the rafters in victory.  A lone Frenchman lingered in the pool.  He was the world record holder in the 100m Freestyle.  This was his event.  He had guaranteed victory for France.  He lost by hundredths of a second.  Experienced swimming fans in the stadium were calling it the biggest comeback in a race that they had ever seen. It will be one of the Beijing Olympic moments that will be remembered twenty years from now.  It is a story that I will retell countless times over the next few years.

Michael Phelps is still on track to win his eight gold medals.  If he does make that historic milestone, he will have to thank Jason Lezak for his incredible come from behind victory.  I can't imagine the pride that athletes feel when they hear their national anthem after their victory. As a spectator, it was a special moment and so great to see the stars and stripes being hoisted to the rafters.

Comments

[Clyde]

Hi Sam,I'm soooooo envious that you were poolside the see such an amazing race. Take care.

[S.Balatan]

Amazing Race! You may or may not know that the French Trash Talked before the race since they were favored. Something to the effect, "We will Thrash Them." It was all Lezak.

[Bro]

Dude, I cannot believe you were there for this. Unbelievable. That was the most chilling event I have ever witnessed in my storied career of watching the olypmics on TV. You truly are SFS!

[Baird]

SERIOUSLY!?! SERIOUSLY?!? YOU BLANKETY BLANK!!! YOU WERE ACTUALLY THERE?!? YOU SUCK!!! and it was a terrific moment on TV too...

[Allison]

two words...so jealous!