Rio 2016: The Experience - Day 3 - Go for the Gold

8/8/16 (Rio 2016 Day 3), “Go for the Gold”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Olympic Shooting Centre)

What is it that drives athletes to go for the gold?  Is it pride?  Honor?  Fame?  Surely Michael Phelps does not need any more hardware to increase his name recognition.  He is as famous as a swimmer could ever be.  Why, then, when the person standing next to me asked him last night if it ever gets old, did he look up at us, smile, shake his head, and slyly respond, “Never”?  It never gets old for Phelps, and for him, surely it is a sense of personal pride, to spend his entire life, so many hours a day, training to be the very best swimmer in the world.  It is then that pride that is rewarded when his training turns into gold time after time, and it never gets old.

What about the athletes though that are not so famous, that have never finished better than fourth?  The ones that only true fans of the sport know, the ones who are hoping for that gold medal, which would bring them instant name recognition at home and abroad.  Any gold-medal Olympic athlete from London is a name I’ll recognize.  There are other people who will also recognize the names of the gold medalists.

Every single event at this Games provides such an opportunity to countless athletes from around the world.  A shooter from India or Croatia can become a national hero by winning one of today’s events here.  Eternal glory is what at stake today, just as it was in Ancient Greece.  These are the reasons why the athletes go for the gold, in swimming, in shooting, in diving, and in all the sports that are contested at the Games.

It will be a fun day to watch, and a significant portion of it will be spent in these stands, watching the trap shooting, which is actually one of the more enjoyable events to watch in-person.  It is very boring to watch the rifle range in-person, as all you can see is the shooter shooting, then the shot shows up on the screen.  Here, you can actually watch the trap go up in the air and see the bright orange trap either break or not break.  It will be a fun way to spend the day before I head to diving late this afternoon.

After I closed last night, I was too tired to finish publishing, but I figured out why the air conditioning wasn’t working.  Raymond had turned off the wall switch, thinking it was a light switch.  I woke up about four hours later and finished publishing while Raymond took his shower.  We were going to be late for the event, but it was just some of the qualifiers that we’d miss.  We had a rushed breakfast, again the same food as every morning, and I got a coffee to go.  Our taxi driver knew where the venue was, but it was quite a process to get there.  It was at Deodoro Olympic Park, the second of the two Olympic Parks built for the Games.

Like the one from last night, it was heavily access-restricted, and the driver had to take us the long way around, which left us a long walk from the checkpoints, which were, in turn, also a long walk from the venue, but we got there, only an hour after it started.  Both qualifiers were still going on.  The rifle shooting was boring to watch and was coming to a close, but the trap shooting qualifiers had just started.

We found a seat with a good view, and we wondered if we could smoke in the stands if we went up a few rows and stayed away from other fans.  We figured the worse that could happen was that someone would tell us to stop (which was exactly what happened after about 20 minutes).  We moved up the few rows, where we sat down, and I lit up an H. Upmann Magnum and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can finish the cigar before rifle finals start.

(Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre)

One point that I did not mention earlier about going for the gold is the idea of national pride.  I mentioned that concept when discussing Team USA, but that is a major drive to the athletes, as well, in motivating them to go for the gold.  For China in particular, it is a point of national pride to bring home a gold medal.  For them, all too often, a silver siply will not do.  Here at the diving venue, that point is truer than anywhere else.  They want all eight gold medals.  Seven gold medals and silver simply will not do.  That is their national goal, to bring home all eight gold medals.  It doesn’t matter which divers are on the team, as long as they get the eight golds, they’ll be happy.  Each athlete who brings home a gold medal will be viewed as a hero.  That is the individual reward, but it is the sense of national pride that is the true motivator.

As things are transpiring, it seems China will be winning this event, as well, though Team USA looks to be in good shape to bring home a silver.  David BOUDIA is one of our divers, and his gold in London (I even have a Coke can with his outline) was what upset Team China’s sweep.  He does not seem to be able to prevent a Team China victory tonight, but this is the synchronized event, and it was the individual event where he pulled off the upset in London.  Here we go, he’s diving again now.  That looked like a good dive, and it should further cement our silver medal position, but it will take a disaster for China to slip out of the gold medal spot.

Okay, so after I closed at the shooting venue, we headed outside to get some chicken sandwiches, and I got a beer.  We then found a spot where I could resume my cigar, and Raymond lit one up, too.  We found what appeared to be a practice range, where we could watch the trap shooting and smoke from the stands.  After our cigars, we headed back across the venue to the Finals Hall.  I had completely misjudged the timing, so if I had stayed for the trap shooting finals, I would have missed the diving, a very expensive ticket.

The only solution was to see the rifle finals and then leave before the trap finals.  One problem.  Our ticket had printed on it that we did not have access to the finals hall.  (The trap finals were held outdoors).  What did we do?  We snuck in.  I just walked in confidently behind the, I believe it was, Croatian delegation and found an empty seat.  Raymond lucked out by mis-explaining the situation to someone who didn’t understand English.  In other words, we both got in for free.  It was an exciting finals, and Italy brought home the gold, followed by Ukraine for silver and a Russian for bronze who messed up on his last shot and should have won gold.  That was that.

We then learned that trap shooting finals were delayed anyway, so we were going to leave anyway.  I picked up a sausage roll, and we found our way to the bus that would take us back downtown.  That was an interesting experience with people trying to sell snacks and electronic accessories during the ride.  We transferred to the subway at Maracana Stadium, and I realized that I would not have time to go back to the room.  I could have a quick lunch with Raymond outside the train station by our hotel, but then I would have to leave him there as I went to the diving venue.

We grabbed a slice, and I figured out how to use public transportation to get to the Olympic Park.  It was actually much easier and just as quick, not to mention the money I saved by not having to pay for a taxi.  However, once I got to the Olympic Park, everything was slow, of course, and it was already the second of the six rounds of diving when I got inside.  I was also on the wrong half of the venue for the souvenirs.  Well, that meant I had to go all the way back down and then all the way up again.  The guy at the souvenir stand did not understand that I wanted a diving pin and not a water polo pin.  I was like, they’re diving now, not playing water polo.  Eventually he figured it out.  Fortunately, I was able to sit on the side I was then at without have to go all the way back down, around, and up to my proper seat.

Here we go, dive number five for Team USA.  That looked like a good one.  Again, though silver good, not gold good.  Okay, so I was sitting in my not assigned seat, and, after round three, I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can watch the end of the event.

(Beach Volleyball Arena)

As I continue to say, a few more epics Days like this will make this trip a clear frontrunner for the title of my greatest trip of all time.  Here I am, on the famous Copacabana beach, waiting for my girl Kerri to come out and prove that, at age 37, after three kids, and with a new partner, she’s still got it going on.  That’s why she’s going for the gold, to prove to herself, more than anything, that’s she’s still got it.  I saw Kerri in person at the North Avenue beach in Chicago, 12 years ago, after I fell in love with her following her win in Athens.  I even have a picture with her from that event.  I am wearing the same watch in that picture that I am wearing now.  When she won in Beijing, I fell deeper in love with her.

By the time London came around, she and Phelps were probably my two favorite athletes of all time.  It was her victory in London that caused me to miss watching live the only of the 300-plus gold-medal finals during the London Games.  So caught up in the excitement of her third gold-medal, I forgot about the upcoming W Taekwondo match, and I remembered too late, turning it on only to see the woman Taekwondoist celebrating her victory.  I rewound the feed, but it was not the same.  That was how much I loved Kerri, only her victory could have distracted me from my grand quest.  Now, here I am in Rio, and she will soon be playing on the sand of the famous Copacabana beach.  It will be epic to watch.

After I closed at the diving venue, I watched David BOUDIA and his partner seal up their silver medal finish, a result with which they were very happy.  China’s last dive was practically flawless.  I then made the very long trek by public transportation back to the hotel, and I almost fell asleep on the subway.  We took a bit of a nap when I got back to the hotel, and then we headed out for dinner, going to Rio’s best Brazilian steakhouse: Fogo de Chao.  I remembered all the times my family went to the Brazilian steakhouse in Westchester, me and brother choosing it so often because we knew our parents hated it, so we would take advantage of whatever reason they were letting us unconditionally choose the restaurant, whether it was a birthday or the last day before summer camp or whatnot.  There was a bit of a wait for a table, so we sat down and each had a Caipirinha.

We soon were moved to our table, and it was Ray’s first experience at a Brazilian steakhouse.  I explained to him how it worked, and he was quite pleased with the idea.  We each ordered a second round, and the waiter just grabbed the drinks off a passing tray meant for another table.  We were very pleased with that.  The meat kept coming, and the two drinks somehow left us both utterly and royally toasted, literally to the point that we could barely walk.  I don’t know what they put in those drinks, but they were strong af.  Eventually, we had eaten enough meat and promised each other we’d come back another night.  We were “finito".  We paid the check and literally stumbled out of the restaurant.

I lit up one of my Bolivar Brasil Exclusivo, and Ray had his own cigar.  We smoked those as we walked from the restaurant to the beach.  Once we got to the beach, we still had a bit of cigar left, so we finished it on the beach before heading inside.  It was a purpose-built venue for the Games, and it was clearly temporary.  I got some souvenirs outside, and we headed up the long stairs to our section, where we sat down, and I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close, as my girl is about to come out.  Her name was Kerri.  She was a volleyball star, at the Copa…the Copacabana…

That’s my girl!!!  I shouted it after winner that Kerri had tonight, or at least for the second set.  She reminded the world why she is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in this sport.  It made me wonder what it must have been like for April Ross to get that phone call from Kerri Walsh.  It is a phone call that she had been working her whole life to receive.  It must have gone something like this.  “Hey, April, it’s Kerri.  I think I have one more in me, and I want to go for the gold.  Misty’s retired, so I was hoping you’d want to partner up with me.  I think we’ve got a real shot at this.  You in?”  How could April say no to that?  When the GOAT calls you up and asks for your help to win her fourth gold medal, well, it must have been much like when FDR asked HST to be his VP.  So, in Tokyo, will April Ross choose a new partner, and will they go for the gold together?  Well, first, Kerri and April need to get their gold here in Rio.  If they keep playing like they played tonight, it will be easy for them.

After I closed, Kerri and April soon made their entrances, and Raymond came back with our beers.  I am sure my reader understands that I am not in love with Kerri because of her physical appearance, even though I find her looks to be the epitome of desirability, but rather because she is the GOAT, and because of the history I have had dating back to 2004.  I never once rooted for Anna Kournikova to win a tennis match.  Okay, so then the match started, and Team USA got off to a rocky start.  I wasn’t worried.  Far too many times did I witness Kerri and Misty get off to a slow start and come back to win the set definitively.  There was a large Team USA contingency in the stands, and a large anti-US contingency that was voting for China.  There was not a large Team China contingency.

In fact, a significant portion of the stadium was empty.  It was so glorious to see Kerri play again in-person, and she was just as good at age 37 as she was at age 25.  Wow, I am now older than she was when I first saw her.  That makes me feel old.  Our girls won the second set in commanding fashion, and Team USA erupted in applause.  It was not easy exiting the stands, but we made our way out and hailed a taxi back to our hotel.  I was dead tired, but I knew I had to write my entry, even if, like last night, I won’t be able to publish it until the morning.  After relaxing for a bit, I headed up to the roof, where I sat down and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can go to sleep.  I suppose I’ll save publishing for the morning.