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Playing the host nation at the Beijing Olympic games is something else! On Tuesday during our encounter with China, the almost full capacity crowd was definitely the biggest I had experienced at a hockey match. They broke out into cheers and a jubilant Mexican wave for their country. This made me appreciate the hand full of SA supporters that were behind our team.
The encounter saw some great hockey being played and an improved performance from our side. The final score of 3-0 to China was somewhat not a true reflection of the performance we had displayed. We played with more ball and had our chances to score. Our captain Marsha Marescia even put her head on the line for our team. Her moment of bravery featured on the 8 greatest plays of the day! Go Marshi!
Next we square up against Australia, in a battle of the southern hemisphere teams. I need not write about the rivalry between the two sporting nations. After our performance on Tuesday, our team is ready to take it to the Aussies.

The village is still alive and buzzing. Some athletes have finished their competitions some are yet to begin. Yesterday (Wednesday) Micheal Phelps added another gold medal to his tally, drawing him closer to the eight medals his aiming for. Which would be an awesome achievement.

Till my next post, enjoy the Olympic games.

Some hockey and a glimpse of Rafael Nadal

On Sunday the first round of the women’s pool games got under way. The results from the games:

Japan vs. New Zealand 2-1
China vs. Spain 3-0
Argentina vs. USA 2-2
Australia vs. Korea 5-4
Germany vs. Great Britain 5-1
Netherlands vs. South Africa 6-0

Obviously we didn’t start off as well as we would have liked to. We were up against the world’s number one team and knew that it would be tough from the start. The Dutch were on song on a day we were off par. Resulting in a game that had us playing defensively for most of the 70 minutes. The performance was disappointing but the tournament is far from over.

Yesterday we had a rest day. I went to watch a men’s tennis match on center court. The Spaniard Rafael Nadal played Italian Potito Starace. Being a self confessed Nadal fan I was completely in my element. The vibe at center court was spectacular. Nadal survived a second set wobble to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Go Rafa!
My teammates went to watch the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay (swimming). They got their monies worth as the witnessed Phelps and his gang, win the gold medal in record-breaking time.

Today we take on the host nation Beijing. We know we going to be up against 16 players plus a nation. The small South African supporters club here in Beijing and everyone at home is behind us 100%. I hope to right about a good result in my next post. Till next time.

91 000 Spectators

The feeling of walking into a stadium packed with 91 000 spectators is indescribable. That was one of the most amazing moments of my life. And I was privileged enough to share it with fellow South Africans and some of the world’s best athletes. The opening ceremony was nothing short of magnificent. The people of China pulled off an amazing show for everyone. I cannot describe the feeling that I felt when the Olympic flame was lit, what a special moment! A moment I will remember for years to come!

Beijing Olmpic games have now officailly began!

Beijing

I’m officially writing from the Olympic village in Beijing! We arrived and settled in on Wednesday afternoon. It’s been a while since my last post, so here’s a run down of the last week.

Daegu, Korea

The last couple of days have been spent in training mode. Our preparation in Daegu went off well. We put the final pieces of our puzzle together and can only hope that preparation and performance will come together for us to pull off a good tournament. In between our preparation we managed to polish our putting skills. Together with the SA Men’s hockey team we enjoyed a game of dress up golf. The golf was pretty entertaining and the outfits were a designer’s nightmare!

Olympic village

As I mentioned before, we arrived in the village on Wednesday. The village is absolutely amazing. I have dubbed it “The city within a city”. As these are my first games I was a bit overwhelmed by everything. Well, I guess spotting Ana Ivanovic, Kobe Bryant, Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez in a mere 3 hours can be overwhelming to anyone. I just have to take it all in. I’ve only got praises for this place. The Chinese have really gone all out to make athletes and officials comfortable. A hair salon, bank, photo shop, florist and dry cleaners are just some of the facilities and services offered within the village.

Training

Training has been going well for our team. Yesterday we played a friendly international versus New Zealand. It was a good game for both teams to settle into the conditions. The final score was 2-2 with both teams not giving too much away.
Today we had a light training at the main Olympic pitch, where we will face Holland on Sunday.

Last night we were hosted by the South African Ambassador at the Westin hotel. The same hotel that US president George Bush called home for the night. The occasion was well run and enjoyed by athletes, friends and families of a few of the South Africans.

Today is the big day 08/08/2008. The village is buzzing with a lot of athletes all excited for the opening ceremony. I am sure the Chinese will not disappoint
Until my next post (I promise not to make you wait for too long) enjoy watching the Beijing Olympic Games!

My first time

I’m privileged and excited to be blogging for the Lenovo Voices of Summer campaign. Over the next 4 weeks (and more) I will endeavor to give my readers a piece of the Olympics through my blog.

Beijing Olympics are my first games and hopefully not the last. This is the highest level of competition any athlete can dream of.

I’m currently writing from Daegu, Korea where we are having our last holding camp before heading to Beijing. The last few days have been filled with training and logistics in preparation for Beijing.

Training Diary

Daegu is unbelievably humid and hot. We have been acclimatizing well to the conditions and most of us have trained off the jetlag. I say most, as I am still battling with my sleep patterns. Our training has been going well. Yesterday training ended with an internal competition of short corners and penalty strokes. The stakes were high and the level of competitiveness was admirable. I ended up on the team that won the corners but narrowly lost the strokes. My team will take the next one though!