Olympics: Hello again from Athens

Written by: Adam Dailey

While most people are wrapped up the excitement of the U.S. Olympic Trials, we're here in Greece waiting for the masses to come and take over our city. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's exciting, but it's also overwhelming. Buildings are being unveiled. Venues are open. Kiosks are going up around town and Olympic tickets are finally available and in people's hands.

While the USA has their Trials and over 100 athletes will have their Olympic dreams realized over the next two weeks, others have not been so lucky. Two of my best friends this week had to face the harsh reality that they wouldn't be on the starting line in their events in Athens. Matt Kerr is the top Canadian, is the defending National Champion and has the Olympic "B" standard in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. But Canadian officials claim that not only does he have to better the "A" standard of 8:24, but also exceed their own standard of 8:20 (only one Canadian has ever done so in history). Someone please explain this to me…

The Olympics can either make your dreams or break them. While three people in every even will get the experience of a lifetime, dozens more will fly back home with the harsh realization that Beijing is four long years away. People forget this. They remember the Champions and forget the losers. For every Gabe Jennings that is the talk of the Trials, there is a Tim Broe who misses out by a few hundredths of a second.

Athens is prepared for what they call the most amazing event ever to grace them. The symbolism is obvious. What nobody expected, however, is that the Greeks would become winners of the Euro Cup (Soccer Championships). This is much bigger to them than the Olympics! In their history they have only ever even appeared in two major tournaments (Euro Cup 1980 and World Cup 1994) and have never won a game. They went from scoring one goal in history (!) and 100-1 favorites (to win) to being crowned European Champions. As an American, I can't explain what happened in this country on the 4th of July. All I can say is that this was perhaps the only day in history that a country was prouder than the USA on July 4. Millions of people poured into the streets in pure pandemonium. No drinking or looting, however (imagine that), just pure celebration. Singing and screaming. Tears and the beating of chests. As I said, it's hard to put into words the kind of crazy excitement that took place.

HERAKLION SUPER GP Recap
We were in Heraklion, Crete, for the Super GP meet during the 4th of July, where we were able to witness an amazing spectacle of pre-Olympic talent.

World Records in the Women's Steeple and Pole Vault. World Leader marks in the 400 meter hurdles (men and women). A sub 2:00 women's 800. A race that had six guys running 1:44 in the 800 and 11 guys run under the Olympic standard in the 1500.

I've never seen a 1500 that fast, in fact. It was a shame I didn't watch the leaders during the last 150 meters. My eyes were fixated on Jason Lunn as we were screaming for him, hoping he could hold on and get one step closer to Athens. He was running consistent 28-29 200s up until the last. He knew he was slowly falling apart at the end, but he never even thought about giving up. At one point, he almost fell as he was cut off by Brazil's Hudson de Souza. Lunn must have known it would come down to the FAT timing because he lunged at the line, blood running down his legs from de Souza (who, incidentally, stamped his ticket to Athens by running just under the standard).

The meet promoters put their showcase event last (but in time to make sure people could get home in time for the 9:45 p.m. kickoff). The Olympic 200 Meter Champion Kostantino Kenderis barely ever races, so it's a special occasion when he runs his specialty event. He barely won, but the crowd loved him and children rushed down for autographs from Greek's version of Michael Jordan. We'll see if he can handle the Americans and the rest of the world come August.

All in all, it was a great meet, especially given the fact that the country's biggest event in history (so far) was taking place the same evening.

Winning the Euro Cup was probably just what Greece needed in the month preceding the Olympic Games. Not only is the country now excited about sports, it's proud of itself. The anticipation excites everyone in Athens, as well as those around the world.