Olympic Headline Hodgepodge

Lots of weekend Olympic headlines.

Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard talked to the New York Times about motherhood.

Beijing's Water Cube is set to open as China's grandest water park on Aug. 8.

Jim Thorpe's family is duking it out in court with the town of Jim Thorpe, Pa. (don't let me bury the lead -- the family wants to move Thorpe's casket to his Oklahoma home town).

Commonwealth Games calamity is just one of many "issues" for India's Olympic leadership.

X marks the spot for Gagnon, not Shaun White.

Have a great week!

Photo via this site

Get Inspired

Quiet day in Atlanta, except for the thunder. This afternoon in Midtown there were lighting strikes like those in "War of the Worlds," plus torrential rain. Great day for catching up on emails.

One inbox message unlocked some inspiration: A note from an old friend who now lives in Denver.

I first meet Tricia Downing while we interned at the U.S. Olympic Training Center during the summer of 1995. For three months we lived, with about a dozen other interns, in the former military barracks on the southeast corner of the USOTC (steps away from the nation's best athletes-in-training for Atlanta 1996, and in the other direction just a few blocks from "The Jock's Trap" bar).

Tricia, the other interns and I worked hard that summer. Fortunately, one of the perks of living at the USOTC was free access to the dining hall. And except for a couple of intern excursions or crossing paths in the dorms, visiting over meals was the main time Tricia and I got to chat.

Five years later, got a call that Tricia was involved in a terrible cycling accident, leaving her paralyzed from the chest down by a driver making an improper turn. Fortunately, a few years later on her visit to Georgia, a mini-reunion for four of us former interns proved that Tricia persevered through the terrible challenges she faced at age 32.

Today's email announced Trish recently completed a published book telling her story. I ordered a copy immediately after reading the first two chapters shared via her website, http://www.trishdowning.com/.

Also got some additional inspiration from this Oct. 2007 Muscle & Fitness feature on Trish.

I hope you will join me in supporting Trish by purchasing her book and looking into Redefining Able, Inc., which she founded. Go-Trish-GO!

Photo via Amazon.com

Wannabe Marine One Helicopter Buzzes Downtown Atlanta

Since a third grade "transportation unit" assignment, I have remained in awe of helicopters.

Today at my high rise desk on the 29th floor of an office building, it was amazing to see Marine One -- or at least a helicopter that would be named as such if President Obama was aboard -- buzzing over downtown Atlanta with a clear sky as its backdrop ... in flight at eye level!

Wishing my camera was handy, watching the massive "bug" one could clearly see "United States of America" emblazoned in white letters across the glossy black tail boom. The aircraft cruised into the downtown area from the east then banked north, over Centennial Olympic Park, continuing along Interstate 75 in the direction of Cobb Co. (home of Dobbins AFB).

I suspect this was a logistics flight -- getting the helicopter into place for a presidential visit elsewhere -- as there was no apparent escort aircraft. A couple of hours later another giant military helicopter buzzed downtown, destination unknown.

Would be cool to see Marine One up close. Anyone got a hook-up at the White House to help me with that?

Photo via this site

WEEKEND UPDATE AUG. 1, 2010: According to this Atlanta Journal-Constitution report by Ariel Hart, President Obama is landing at the aforementioned Dobbins AFB on Monday morning, then heading to the Hyatt tower in downtown Atlanta (via Marine One?). That would be cool to see the presidential helicopter in action again! My camera will be ready. Hail to the Chief in Chopper!

Better Know An N.O.C -- Paraguay

It's been too long since the last post of a "B.K.A.N.O.C." -- Better Know An N.O.C.

This entry is for South America's national Olympic committee for landlocked Paraguay, which is nestled amid Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia.

A few years ago I experienced Paraguay first hand, first entering from Brazil via Ciudad del Este, terrified because our taxi did not stop at the border crossing on the Paraguay side of a large arch bridge (some travel books warn that Ciudad del Este is about the least-safe city in South America). Fortunately when we finally stopped the cab and walked back to the bridge, the crossing guard laughed and instructed us to "just go back" to Brazil. Whew! We carried our backpacks while some of the locals carried parcels of goodness knows what.

At any rate, a few days later, had a more relaxed entry into Paraguay at the southern border town Encarnacion, which is a fun little metropolis. It was interesting to see an early 1900s locomotive -- a real one -- in operation (on about a quarter mile of track) on one corner of town. Our "downtown" Encarnacion hotel was $4 per night. Great food at the town square, and the sushi restaurant beside the bus depot!

But back to Paraguay's N.O.C. and Olympic connections.

Paraguay entered the Olympic Family in 1968 with a single foil Olympic fencing competitor at Mexico City, and Paraguay fielded a team at each summer Olympiad since (except 1980 as the nation joined the U.S.-led boycott of Moscow's Games). Paraguay has just one medal -- silver in the 2004 Athens football (soccer) finals against Argentina.

I won't soon forget Paraguay's track and field entrant at Athens and Beijing (and I hope London): Olympic javelin would not be the same without Paraguay's Leryn Franco hurling Paraguay's Olympic dreams across the Olympic Stadium grounds every four years.

After a night in Encarnacion, my girlfriend, her sister and I took a jalopy bus to Asuncion, which is also an interesting metropolis and home to the Paraguay Olympic Committee. Some of the friendliest people in South America are in Asuncion, and we were impressed with the historic architecture.

I'll be rooting for Paraguay at London 2012 (their team at the 2010 World Cup did well; expect good things in the U.K. competition.

Photo via this Flickr account

Cincinatti 2024 Olympic Bid

You read it here first, folks.

Cincinnati, the Ohio metropolis that is home to the International Olympic Committee's new TOP Olympic sponsor Proctor & Gamble (P&G), is planning a bid for the 2020 or 2024 Olympic Games!

Just kidding.

But with today's announcement that P&G will share its wealth with the IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee now through 2020, a decision by Cincinnati to dust off its 2008 and 2012 Olympic bid books would not be as much of a stretch as, say, this time yesterday.

According to P&G's press release, quoted executives from the company are "proud" and "thrilled" about the 10-year Olympic partnership (unfortunately, proud and thrilled are, in this public relations writer's opinion, two of the most overused press release executive canned quote buzzwords).

But even with (Pringles?) canned quotes, P&G is embarking on an interesting global program titled "Raising an Olympian, The P&G Momumentary Project," through which a "video series will tell the stories of Olympic hopefuls as seen through the eyes of their moms."

I like the program -- probably would have considered "Olympic MOMents" as an alternative title (maybe in creating the word "Momumentary" there was a MOMentary lapse of ... hmmm, I don't know), but I will tune in regardless.

Today's P&G and IOC press event in Manhattan included several top Olympians' mothers, which may be viewed in an online photo gallery.

Other noteworthy items from the announcement:

• " ... due to the success seen during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, P&G is in the early stages of evaluating plans to host a family home facility at the London 2012 Olympic Games for all U.S. athletes, similar to the one in Vancouver at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The P&G Family Home was a place where all U.S. athletes and their families could relax, do laundry, entertain their children, and participate in other family activities.


• "For P&G, [the sponsorship] is about partnering with the IOC to make life better for athletes, moms and their families as we take the Olympic Movement to our four billion consumers around the world that our brands already serve.


• "P&G will continue helping athletes, moms and families immediately. As part of the 'Proud Sponsor of Moms' campaign, the company will continue its 'Thank You Mom' program in conjunction with the IOC's inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held in Singapore from Aug. 14-26, 2010.


• "P&G will help up to 25 moms of Youth Olympic athletes from around the world, including three mothers of U.S. athletes, with their travel and lodging costs so they can be in Singapore with their children as they compete." (NOTE to P&G P.R.: If you are sponsoring either of the moms from Edmond, Okla., with YOG athletes heading to Singapore, email me for my news reports, in progress, on these two Oklahoma athletes)
  

P&G began as a candle manufacturer in the 1800s, so one may ponder ... did IOC founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin draw some inspiration while reading by P&G candlelight in 1894?

Sadly we may never know the answer to this burning question.

The P&G and Olympic Rings illustration is a blend of images at this link and this link, respectively

Fitness Ambassadors Bound For London 2012

With today's two-year countdown to London 2012, my inbox contained a handful of Olympic announcements, including one tied to my Edelman colleagues working with 24 Hour Fitness.

According to a U.S. Olympic Committee press release, the San Ramon, Calif.-based company is creating a U.S. Team High Performance Training Center (HPTC) in London, which will be staffed by "Fitness Ambassadors" (a.k.a. 24 Hour Fitness team members from their 420 locations).

The 2012 HPTC is now under construction at the Docklands Campus of the University of East London.

National Governing Bodies (NGBs) -- the national federations for Olympic sports in the U.S. -- also benefit from the 24 Hour Fitness NGB Incentive Program and Elite Membership program, according to the press release.

More Olympic Acronyms Coming Soon

There's a running joke, or trend, or something (can't put finger on how the right noun) from one Olympic organizing committee (OOC) to the next.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) or other National Olympic Committees (NOCs), international federations (IFs) and even the global TOP Olympic sponsors have TMAs -- Too Many Acronyms.

According to the AP -- that's the Associated Press -- and ATR (Around The Rings), two more acronyms are signing up for five-ringed status this week: BMW and P&G.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG was not a big surprise. After all, BMW provided hundreds of gorgeous new cars used by the NOCs staying at the Atlanta OLV (Olympic Village, where their global CEO -- chief executive officer -- presented me a sweet BMW sponsor pin).

Also, BMW's global showcase BMW Museum in Munich is nestled between the 1972 Olympic Village and Olympiapark (if you haven't seen these three sites, they are worth a round trip flight no matter where you live, and you need at least three days to see them all).

Proctor & Gamble. Well, they aren't exactly a surprise either. In Vancouver they had a broad range of engagement underway, and a lot of their product found its way onto The Colbert Report post-Games. What surprised me is their likely announcement of TOP global sponsor status so close to Dow Chemical's IOC sponsor announcement. But then, Tuesday, July 27, marks the two-years-to-London 2012 milestone, so the timing is right.

What other brands do you want to see in the OAS (Olympic Acronym Scene)?

TTYL.

Photo via this Flickr account