Everywhere athletes...

Starbucks was just there. I don’t know why we chose it as a refuge. I don’t even drink coffee. It must have been the soft chairs and air-conditioning, although I am beginning to like iced green tea.

I was early for a meeting and it felt good to take a breath and organize. A gaggle of Canadians came in and sat down next to us. I know they were Canadians because every item of clothing they were wearing from head to toe said CANADA and had a maple leaf on it. “Canada, right?”  I said. “How’d you guess?” was the reply.  The whole family had come from Vancouver Island to watch son/brother Geoff compete in cross-country mountain biking . The Canucks were out of it now and they were heading home a bit early.

Not enough could be said about the welcome treatment they received from the London Organizing committee’s hosts. The Athlete’s Village was comfortable.  The food was good and transportation to and from venues and events went smoothly.  There were 30 miles of "Olympics Only" Lanes put on the roads and, by the end, 2500 civilian motorists had paid about 300,000 Pounds Sterling in fines for driving in them. Otherwise, they were good.

Athletes from 204 nations competed in London.  There were also a handful competing under the flag of the International Olympic Committee because the UN only recognizes 192 nations.  Of the 10,500 athletes competing in the main Olympics, 4,688 were women and 5,802 were men. They used 900,000 different items of sports equipment from hurdles and javelins to trampolines and shuttlecocks. Sports is sometimes about statistics, you know.

Not too much circulating was done by the athletes in Central London until their competitions were over.  Stratford City is a long train ride into town and, with what must be the world’s largest shopping center attached to park, they spent most of their time there. But the athletes were everywhere you looked. On the streets, at the venues, on the tube and buses and in the restaurants.

The tube is was a great place to connect.  No different than the subways in New York, under normal circumstances people keep to themselves. But with badges, sashes, jackets, uniforms and hats on everyone, it became one huge reception with everyone talking and sharing.

It was there that I met Sarah, an archer from the midlands, and Leslie, a canoeist from Sweden.  They had met at the Village and were spending time together in the city. Both in their 20’s, they were the perfect picture of Olympic athletes, well-mannered, mature beyond their years but giddy with enthusiasm for the Games.  Their competitions were over and neither had medaled but Leslie placed 5^th in her event. Almost in unison, they said their parents had encouraged them for most of their lives to excel at sport…any sport of their choosing. It’s no wonder that their generation has its sights set so high.

When we met Geoff’s family at Starbucks, they were scrambling to leave for home.  That is one thing I noticed that seemed a bit unusual to me.  We met lots of athletes who were leaving when their competitions were over, before the Closing Ceremonies. If you had come so far and made such a commitment, I always thought that you would stick around and do a little celebrating.  There were fewer athletes at the Closing Ceremonies than at the start. I guess maybe growing up completely focused on competitive sports comes with certain priorities. I just wanted to have fun.

The Games are still about the athletes.  All the bickering and politics aside, a great group of strong, healthy, focused young people from around the world show up every four years to compete. Some things are still right in this world.

Wrapping it up tomorrow.