As a big sports fan, I had always dreamed of attending the biggest stage for world sport - the Olympics. I watched the spectacular Opening Ceremony on TV- my favourite part was the way China's three-time gold medal gymnast Li Ning lit the cauldron at the Bird's Nest stadium. In my opinion this was as good if not better than the flame and the arrow gimmick at Barcelona in 1992.
I was hoping and praying that I would get to go for some Olympic events and my prayers were finally answered! I got off work and rushed over to mum’s hotel from where we would catch a shuttle to the Olympic Greens. We had time to wander around the expansive Greens’ before our event started and the atmosphere was electric. There were thousands of people walking about, getting their faces painted, waving country flags, clicking pictures in front of the Water Cube and the other fantastic-looking arenas and just soaking it all in.
Each of the official sponsors had a center where one could learn about the company and its association with the Olympics, besides getting memorabilia and other fun stuff. We made our way through the crowds to the Coca Cola Shuang zone and after spending some time there refueling we headed for the first event- Swimming.
I was so excited that I accidentally dropped one of the tickets and didn’t realize it until moments later. I called out to mum to check if she had it and she didn’t and both are faces just dropped. We turned back to trace our steps only to find a small group of Chinese women just staring at it on the ground as if it was something poisonous or untouchable. They were probably wondering who could have been so stupid to drop a ticket down. I hurried over and picked it up and held it safely in both hands. Thank God for honest people in this world, it would have been tragic to have your hands on a ticket and then just let it go. We continued to proceed towards the Water Cube when we came across a group of people holding out signs for swimming tickets- thank God they didn’t find my ticket. :P
We entered the Cube and took our seats. When I got to know earlier that I was going for the swimming event I quickly checked out the schedule to see is Michael Phelps would be breaking any records that evening- unfortunately there were only heat events taking place. Although his 4*100 Medley was one of the heats, the reserve team was going to be competing to secure a place for the main team in the finals. I was a little disappointed but I soon forgot all about that once the swimmers came out. Seeing the 41-year-old Dara Torres secure a place in the finals of the women's 50m freestyle, where she later won and received a silver medal while holding back tears, was inspirational. I also got to watch Australian Champion Grant Hackett secure a place for himself in the finals- he too went on to win Silver. Every time a Chinese swimmer was competing the crowd went completely mad- I could not hear myself think during the Men’s and Women’s 4*100 medleys. What an experience!
Once the swimming got over we went over to the spectacular Bird’s Nest Stadium to catch a few athletic events. Two Indian runners were competing in the 200m Women’s Heptathlon heat and it would have made a nice story if they had qualified for the finals especially since it was Independence Day- but sadly it wasn’t a perfect ending. The stadium was packed with fans from all over the world. Since there are several events going on simultaneously, it makes it hard to follow one event- although the announcers and scoreboards do try to make it easy. After a couple of events we headed back to rest before another exciting day.
A visit to the Forbidden City was on the cards for the next day, after which we headed to the Workers’ Stadium for a football match between Belgium and Italy. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t support the Italian football team. I was one of a few people who were rooting against them during their World Cup crowning match 2 years ago. Luckily for me, this time there were more Belgian supports than Italian ones. It was barely 15 minutes into the first half when a Belgian was shown a red card- and to add insult to injury- Italy converted the penalty. But 5 minutes later Belgium leveled the score and that’s the way it remained until injury time of the first half- when Belgium made it 2-1! Belgium really held their own in the first half even though they were one man down.
For sure the Italians were gonna come out with all guns blazing in the second half and for the first few minutes they dominated, but the Belgians did not let their guard down. After a lousy tackle from an Italian player, the Belgian goalkeeper limped off injured. His replacement wasn’t in a long time before he had to stand up to Giuseppe Rossi, to defend the Italians’ second successful penalty shot of the match. Striker Moussa Dembele, who was having a great game, scored his second and Belgium’s third goal just five minutes later. By this time Italian tempers were flaring cause it was a do or die situation, the Italian desperation resulted in their goalkeeper getting sent off. Belgium held their nerve while Italy started to fall apart and after 5 minutes of added time the referee blew his whistle much to the delight of the Belgians and their supporters.
Many may say that this wasn’t the best Italian squad on display, but it will go down in history books as Belgium 3- Italy 2. And credit to the tiny country who was one man short for almost the entire game and still came out victorious. This was a great display for what it means to be an athlete - to try and try even if the odds are against you. To be honest I was not expecting 5 goals and 2 red cards at the start of the game, but boy what a match it turned out to be.
Earlier on that day, I found out that there was a spare ticket to the final day of tennis and I claimed it within seconds. Who would give up a ticket to such a hot seat! The women’s finals match had been carried over from the previous day due to rain- and that was a hard fought match between Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva. But the older Russian showed her experience by not getting as rattled as her younger compatriot did when points didn’t go her way. Safina looks like a great player in the making and is certainly the future of Russian tennis. But in the end Dementieva won the gold and completing the Russian treble was Vera Zvonareva, who took the bronze.
After a brief intermission the finalists for the men’s match walked in, Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez. All the Chilean fans erupted; surprisingly they seemed to outnumber the number of Spanish fans. Rafa took the first set, but the Chilean came back strong in the second. However Nadal proved to be too lethal and took the match in straight sets. He rejoiced in the same way he did after winning his two Grand Slams of the year- he fell to the ground, as almost in disbelief. It was a treat to be able to watch this Champion in action and win Olympic Gold, a day before he officially took over as the new Number One.
I was so engrossed in the match that I didn’t realize that they were going to have the medal ceremony for the women’s doubles, until out walked the Williams sisters. I am not a big fan of the sisters, but they have contributed a great deal to tennis and as a tennis fan I appreciate that. And once that was over, it was time for the medal ceremony for the men’s singles, and being a huge Novak Djokovic fan I went nuts when he walked out. That really was the icing on the cake. Rooting for Nadal with a Mexican and cheering at the Women's tennis finals with a group of Russians, felt exactly like the Beijing Olympics' motto - One World, One Dream.
To me sport is more than just about winning and that is why I love it! It teaches you about life and its lessons. Commitment, hard work, sacrifice, team work, rivalry, integrity, success, failure, dedication, celebration, disappointment, so many emotions and values. Sport is an important tool which has been able to build bridges between people and nations and will continue to do so. Being able to witness athletes strive for success at the biggest stage of international sport will be a memory I will cherish forever.
