Serena Williams = Super Slam (C'MON!)

The word of the day: "C'MON!"

Serena Williams blasted this four letter word -- as if to say "heck, yeah!" -- at Wimbledon at least three times today en route to her rare Super Slam victory with a gold medal at the London Olympics.

Maria Sharapova didn't seem to know what hit her -- by the time she got on the board, it was way too late. C'MON!

I loved learning Williams' trademark fist pump only steps from her place in the field of play. It is unreal to me that from the front two rows at Centre Court I captured the photos posted on this blog. Sharapova is as gorgeous in person as any magazine, (Serena is, too) and it was amazing and unbelievable to see her playing tennis where only weeks ago she won the Wimbledon title.

Viewing Williams' play, it really did seem like watching an Olympic goddess. Her serve is majestic. Her victory dance is entertaining. Though stoic with a hard core game face during match play, once she won Williams never stopped grinning and dancing, having the time of her life.

The Olympic tennis experience included other surprises, like all three women's medalists standing on the same patch of grass from which I grabbed a few blades for a longtime tennis friend back home.

Entering the venue, fellow Oklahomans Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci (married Olympic champions) walked beside me to the seating area (they were across Centre Court from the spot I found along one of the service lines). This was the third time in as many years to speak with Conner and Comaneci.

The most curious moment: During the national anthem, as the U.S. flag went up over the court, the flag flew off its hoist during the line "That our flag was still there" (see video). Williams handled the situation with grace, smiling to the crowd as if to say, "C'MON, it is all good" and "Come on, are you going to play our anthem again and get this right?" all at once (they did not start over, but it was all good).

I am too tired tonight to post about the other tennis feats from Team USA today, but there are/were more medals and a separate post will follow once sleep is achieved. There is also an interesting Olympic exhibit at the Wimbledon Museum about which to post. Today's women's triathlon experience also yielded amazement.

Congratulations, Serena Williams -- Super Slam Champion.

Photos copyright Nicholas Wolaver may not be used without written permission

News From Back Home

Last week in my home state Oklahoma, the U.S. Olympic Committee and local officials announced that Oklahoma City and suburban Edmond, Okla. (my hometown), now each have official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Sites.

According to the U.S.O.C. press release, the "Oklahoma River south of downtown Oklahoma City, in partnership with the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation, [is now] an official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site for rowing and canoe/kayak. The University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla., already a Paralympic site, added the Olympic designation to become an official site for volleyball, archery and Paralympic sports."

The Daily Oklahoman did a nice job covering the event with a report and video by Mike Baldwin. I've been scanning the coverage but yet to determine whether Clay Bennett, owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder, was in attendance at the festivities (it seems appropriate he'd be in on site given his past work with the U.S.O.C.).

This is great news for Oklahoma and the athletes who will train there. Both of the newly designated venues are tied back to U.S. Olympic Festival '89 (for which Bennett was executive director 20 years ago), the between-the-Olympiads U.S. Olympic event that landed in OKC for 10 great days -- lots of memories volunteering with USOF-89, which kick-started my Olympic interests.

At the USOC ceremony by the Oklahoma River, Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner, who is based in Oklahoma, said, “We [OKC] hosted the United States Olympic Festival in 1989 and we have never hesitated to support United States Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the values they stand for – excellence, discipline, the spirit of fair play. I am so proud of what we have achieved through MAPs to transform our community and put us in a position to receive Olympic Training Site designations. The future is bright and today’s announcement is only the beginning of great things to come.”

Bravo, OKC!

Photo provided by the University of Central Oklahoma press office. Photo includes, from left, U.S. Olympic Committee acting CEO Stephanie Streeter, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and UCO Executive Vice President and Vice President for Administration Steve Kreidler.

Mary Lou and 60 other Olympians, too

Saturday night in Los Angeles, the LA Memorial Coliseum was decked out for the 25th Anniversary of the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad. More than 60 Olympians from LA84 and other Games assembled with hundreds of LAOOC and other Olympic officials and veterans for a gala under a perfect LA evening sky.

It was indeed a special celebration, and the hosts paid great attention to detail, bringing back some of the most iconic moments from LA84 while honoring Los Angeles' prominence in the history of the Olympic Movement.

Time Magazine's 1984 Man of the Year and LAOOC chief Peter Ueberroth read a letter from former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who wrote a note of congratulations and memories, stating, "We will never forget that LA saved the Olympic Games," referencing how the host organization and city turned the Olympic Movement for the better following a most challenging Olympic decade filled with terrorism, financial fiasco and boycotts that nearly closed the Olympic tradition forever.

Ueberroth, the architect of the new financial system that worked wonders and set a new standard for host cities, stated that when he took the helm of LAOOC in 1979, the IOC had a respectable $1 million in its bank account, and as earlier this year, they maintain an account estimated at more than $1 billion, with billions more moved over the 25 years since LA's success. Ueberroth thanked the thousands of volunteers, government and Olympic officials who contributed, and he also honored several LAOOC and LA government executives who are no longer with us.

The event afforded attendees and media access to speak 1x1 with Ueberroth, IOC Member Anita DeFrantz, Edwin Moses, Greg Louganis, Bart Conner, Nadia Comenici, Evelyn Ashford-Washington, Henry Tillman, Peter Vidmar and Mary Lou Retton. Emcees for the night included ABC Sports veterans Keith Jackson and Jim Lampley. Also spotted on stage, where they assembled 60 Olympians, were Janet Evans, Mark Spitz, Billy Mills, Wyomia Tyus and Rafer Johnson.

Johnson, who lit the 1984 Olympic Cauldron, also took time to answer questions about his experience climbing the stairs in that perfect moment of the Opening Ceremonies (I will post video of that conversation and others throughout the week). Johnson repeated that moment, sans stairs, igniting the night before spectacular fireworks capped the night.

Posted now, part of the conversation with Retton. More to follow as time permits (heading to the beach then back to LAX and ATL)!

Sunday Gymnastics, Part 2

Here are some more photos from Sunday Gymnastics (see post below).

Sunday Gymnastics

The Beijing National Indoor Stadium was the scene of day one for women's gymnastics. Though my seat for the big event -- opening competition for the women's teams from USA, Japan, U.K. and Italy -- was for the 300s section, I never made it that far up in the arena.

After helping a fellow American with a photo request (they forgot their cameras, so I snapped a shot to later e-mail), I followed my new acquaintances into the 100s seating (the helpful and plentiful volunteers never did ask my exact seat number). This entry point combined with my assigned Olympic credential later opened doors to the media photo pit for the event (overlooking the balance beam and vault, just a few yards away).

The USA women did not disappoint. All the team seemed to be trying their best (it was slightly challenging to keep up with the scores and rotations). Italy had the best floor exercise tunes (Madame Butterfly, ohh, la, la). After the second rotation, and feeling like there was nothing to lose, I moved to another corner of the arena and sat on the front row overlooking balance beam -- sweet seats!

Turns out more than two things come from Okahoma ...

To my left, a fellow Oklahoman: Mr. 1984 Gold Medalist Bart Conner!
Behind Bart: His wife, Nadia Comaneci, trying her best to keep track of their very young son!

Though gymnastics' golden couple did not respond to requests for a blog interview, at the conclusion of the fourth and final rotation, most of the building was cleared. I lingered for a bit and discovered the photo pit again, this time transformed into the post-event media Q&A area, sans security!

I did not want to push my luck any further on the access coup, so did not attempt any interviews with team USA. But there was no problem snapping a photo or 10. The day was off to an awesome start, and it wasn't yet noon!