Tonight through June 23, just over a thousand (1,007) qualified swimmers will compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Swimming inside the cavernous Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis.
According to the meet press kit provided by USA Swimming, which kindly granted a media credential, "this meet is the only way for an American pool swimmer to make" Team USA's squad of 26 women and 26 men entered at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Making history as hosts to the first swim meet contested in an NFL stadium, the city also known as racing capital of the world has rolled out the red, er, blue carpet for thousands of out-of-towners who poured through Indianapolis International Airport today.
As visitors deplaned and made their way to baggage claim, the pool-blue footpath eventually revealed a miniature medals podium photo opp stop and patriotic "Welcome to the Trials" signage.
Excitement for the event is palpable from the Uber/Taxi stand to hotel lobbies and along the downtown walk to the stadium, which now has two temporary pools -- one each for competition and warmups -- in the stadium divided by a massive curtain.
From a perch on one of the media rows along the finish line end of the racing pool, swimmers aged 14 to 46 are mingling with coaches, security and meet staff.
Opening night includes superstar, legend and newly branded bestselling author Katie Ledecky, who's racing in the 400-meter freestyle long course less than a week since the release her page-turning autobiography "Just Add Water" (review forthcoming).
Some additional details about the competition space:
First time 70-foot-tall vertical digital board topping off the athlete entrance (I suspect this is really gonna pop on live broadcasts via NBC and Peacock)
Water (1.8 million gallons) is sourced from the nearby White River, purified and treated for competition; after post-event filtration, it's all heading back to nature
Three years of planning, 8,000 hours of fabrication, 12 collaborating entities, four weeks for installation
Pools will see new life at permanent sites in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the Cayman Islands
As of this post, more than 10,000 are in attendance, with a target on an all-time record.
Feb. 29 marks four years since Atlanta hosted what may be called the "Pandemic Eve" Olympic trials for marathon on Team USA's road to Tokyo.
This week in Orlando, U.S. Track & Field's entourage set up shop for the Paris 2024 edition, with elite runners taking to the streets of the city's Thornton Park, Lake Eola Heights and Milk Districts, a few blocks east of downtown.
With a three-lap, eight-mile loop course, the qualifying standards for Paris varied for women and men.
In simple terms, the top three women with times of 2 hours, 29.5 minutes or faster (Nov. 1, 2022, to today) will represent Team USA this summer, while the men at 2:18 faster punch their ticket to the City of Lights. There were 165 female entrants to 215 men, ranging from age 22 to 47 for both genders. Also noteworthy were the four men and two women for whom the 2024 race marked their fifth consecutive marathon Olympic Trials.
I shudder to think about finishing a single marathon let alone five or more spanning 20 years/five Olympiads!
As a member of the working media who touched down at MCO yesterday, from my perspective USATF and the Orlando organizers killed it on organizing.
The positive vibe with fellow reporters, hundreds of volunteers (including a couple of friends from Atlanta) and spectators was high energy, and the weather cooperated with mostly sunny skies yet moderate temps.
During the races, thousands of spectators lined the route including a mix of locals and out-of-towners. In a live interview with NBC Sports, Orlando's longtime Mayor Buddy Dyer stated his glee to add an Olympic trials and more guests atop the 70+ million annual visitors to the city.
At a Friday press conference, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor and 1984 Olympic marathon champion Join Benoit Samuelson were on hand to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Benoit's gold in the first five-ringed marathon.
"Patience is going to be the name of the game," said Benoit Samuelson, referring to a runners' strategy for tackling the marathon course. She also offered that, in observing many of this year's entrants in the lobby of the host hotel, many runners are distracted now more than in the 1980s.
"Everybody's online constantly, and I think that needs to change," she said.
By the marathons' conclusion, the Paris-bound runners included race favorites and Utah neighbors Conner Mantz of Provo and Clayton Young of Springville, as well as Leonard Korir of Colorado Springs, finishing in 2:09:05, 2:09:06 and 2:09:57, respectively.
In her marathon and Olympic trials debut, Fiona O'Keeffe of Chapel Hill, N.C., finished first for the women in 2:22:10, with one of the race favorites -- 2020 Olympian in 10,000m Emily Sisson of Flagstaff, Ariz. -- at 2:22:42, then Hopkins, Minn., runner Dakotah Lindwurm in 2:25:31.
O'Keeffe also became the first first-time marathoner to win the Olympic trials at this distance, setting an Olympic trials record in the process. During the post-race press conference, she said her marathon naivite was a factor in the race.
"Not knowing what I was getting myself into was a good thing," O'Keeffe said. Part of the main pack for the first laps of the race, once she pulled ahead several reporters noted O'Keeffe "never looked back" as she gained an ever-increasing lead to the finish.
Via NBC's finish line camera work, when Mantz and Young came into view, they were visibly sharing words of encouragement for several hundred meters, following a mid-stride high five.
"I just wanted to take every step of the way with Conner over the last couple miles,” Young said. “Conner is the guy who has pulled me this entire build, day-in and day-out in practice. He works hard and he deserves this just as much as I do.”
Young's daughters donned custom T-shirts proclaming "My Daddy Just Made the Olympic Team" (see photo below).
Meanwhile, Korir dedicated his race to his U.S. Army commander and unit, who encouraged him since his fourth place finish in 2020.
"For me to make the team ... this is for everybody who is serving in the Army," he said in a finish line interview with NBC Sports.
Korir will have to patiently await official word of his Paris travel status, with an additional qualifying stage The Athletic explains in the penultimate paragraph of this article. This blogger sure hopes he makes it, and that "The Three Musketeers" of both Team USA's marathon women and men find a way "one for all and all for one" when they race on Aug. 10 and 11 in the Olympic city.
Image credit: Nicholas Wolaver in Orlando. Race footage on big screens via USATF and NBC Sports.
Telling it like it is: this blogger has very little interest in the NBA.
Curiosity in this area is consistently so low, I was oblivious to the 2008 Olympic basketball competition and its professional players for its entire two-year lead up to Beijing, the Games that inspired launch of this site.
Not once in China -- nor during three Olympiads and two years since -- has the five-ringed hoops competition of Beijing crossed my mind until this weekend while reading the Oct. 6 New York Times review of the new documentary "The Redeem Team" now streaming on Netflix.
Screening the film -- combined with recent enjoyment of HBO's excellent drama-comedy series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" -- might have finally sparked more curiosity about the NBA and its reach within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). I definitely have a lot to learn.
Like the next person,1992's Dream Team did pique my interest, as did the '96 version, though most Atlanta team members came to my attention only through attending the unveiling of an oil painting by Bart Forbes held in a Buckhead gallery (now a Men's Wearhouse) a few weeks before the Games.
Since that event, I've paid money only once or twice to see star players, specifically a "retiring" Michael Jordan in the late '90s, and a couple of stars from the OKC Thunder in town just after Rio 2016. And though it was personally thrilling to work with the Atlanta Hawks through PR client Philips Arena from 1999 to 2002, and exciting to stand courtside during LA's Olympic bid press events at Staples Center in 2017, professional hoops just haven't captivated me.
Each of these NBA touch points were dusted off as "The Redeem Team" got rolling with its streaming recap of Team USA's historic dominance of Olympic basketball shut down at Athens 2004, where an unprepared assemblage of U.S. players lost a playoff round to the ultimate gold medalists from Argentina.
Viewers learn of "Coach K" Mike Krzyzewski's recruitment to rebuild Team USA starting in 2006, as well as the public perceptions and private personas of most of the stars who signed on for the Road to Beijing, with first-time Olympian Kobe Bryant joining returning Athens 2004 Bronze Medalists LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Carlos Boozer on the quest.
Things sort of plod along during two years of prep, but filmmaker Jon Weinbach's team does a masterful job translating tensions of the court for viewers of the doc. Consider this writer now eager to view this director's treatment of previous Olympic matters via "The Nagano Tapes" or "The Other Dream Team" populating Weinbach's IMDB profile.
I enjoyed the last 20-30 minutes of "The Redeem Team" for the crescendo of drama it delivers. Bryant's on-court action and pre- and post-Games interview footage really drew me in and helped me "get it" how much he evolved as a player and person before his tragic death.
Munich '72 Olympian Doug Collins' visit to the team -- to share his vantage as a would-be-gold medalist robbed by history -- juxtaposed with Coach K inviting wounded or blinded soldiers as another teambuilding action, poignantly hammered home one of the bottom lines for the 2008 U.S. squad: You had better not f*ck this up, not so much because gold is on the line, but because untold millions of patriotic fans are drawing inspiration from the team factor above any individual glory for its players.
One of the journalists tapped for commentary eventually states of "The Redeem Team" players that, "... they're the biggest, greatest team arguably in the history of the Olympics." For some viewers this may ring true.
For all of this film's strengths, it did not establish for this viewer enough inspiration to earn GOAT status. Not even close.
This is no scrappy "Miracle" team of Lake Placid nor Soviet gold medal basketball team of 1972 (for better or worse, "the greatest" hoop dreamers for some Olympic fans on the other side of the world). I won't be alone in thinking of other top teams that rallied at the Games -- off the top of my head, how about the "Magnificent Seven" gymnasts, the 1996 and 2000 women's soccer teams and/or the undefeated-since-1996 U.S. women's basketball teams?
The NBA-infused 2008 team's only "Goliath" was overcoming self and pride for the sake of the team, which they did admirably. Watching this team get their act together is a fun ride.
Image credits: Coach K in Beijing via UPI; '96 team painting by Bart Forbes, Redeem Team photo w/Statue of Liberty via USA Basketball, "The Redeem Team" promo still via Netflix and IMDB.
Continuing a decades-long tradition, The White House formally hosted Team USA’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes of Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 on Wednesday morning.
The gathering was a well-organized, grand celebration of America's best, delivering fun memories for all on the scene.
Approaching 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on foot, positive vibes channeled with sounds of a military marching band (playing a five-ringed John Williams medley) and sights of aptly-branded "Chariots for Hire" buses from which arriving athletes descended.
When the musicians performed "One Moment In Time" as media waited by the West Wing, I was beaming, sensing the day might be enough of a consolation prize for missing two pandemic Olympiads.
For this blogger, this third time visit was a charmer in terms of stepping "on campus" (lingo of those employed there) at the Executive Residence.
Previously, I posted from the October visit following Rio 2016 hosted by the Obamas and the comparatively muted festivities of April following PyeongChang 2018 with many of the Clown Car (err, Insane Clown Posse?) cabinet members of that era in attendance.
All three events took place on overcast days, with 2016's gathering in one of the ballrooms and 2018's remarks delivered under the North Portico.
The May 5 ceremony, held on the South Lawn of the Executive Residence, was perhaps the first in history to include competitors of both summer and winter Olympiads together with over 600 uniformed athletes filling a temporary grandstand.
Hundreds of invited guests including family members of attending sportspersons -- as well as several dozen White House correspondents or visiting Olympic media -- also enjoyed remarks by President Joe Biden, first lady and five-time bobsleigh medalist Elana Meyers Taylor.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff also attended, receiving with the Bidens a set of special uniforms and shoes presented by the Olympians and Paralympians. A brief clip featuring the national anthem performed live is here:
“The Bidens are a big sports family, and we love watching the Olympics,” said President Biden after brief remarks by the first lady, who led the Team USA delegation in Japan. “Jill came home from Tokyo, all she could do was talk about you all constantly. You think I'm kidding – I'm not!”
Though he was playing for laughs, Biden was serious about his Games-time fandom. Similar to the FLOTUS, as vice president, Biden led a Team USA delegation to Vancouver 2010 (my first of several converging paths with Joe).
On Wednesday the president also expressed appreciation for the uniting spirit the athletes provide, citing 18 U.S. military veterans among the 2020 and 2022 competitors. He also noted the challenges of COVID-19 navigated on the journeys to Tokyo and Beijing.
“The pandemic made training and competing especially difficult and draining, but you did it,” said Biden. “You all did it, and we were in awe not just of your incredible athleticism but your endurance and your state of mind -- but most of all your character. You all have such incredible character.”
“As a team … we’ve been through a lot,” said Meyers Taylor. “We came together, and we persevered, and we hope we’ve made this country proud.”
As she spoke, I reminisced about meeting Meyers Taylor in Sochi, her second stop along the journey to become the most decorated Black Winter Olympian and the most decorated female Olympic bobsledder.
Opting to maintain a celebratory tone for the occasion, during their South Lawn remarks, the president and first lady did not mention Olympians of other nations—such as the unresolved Russian doping controversies of Beijing 2022 that prevented medal presentations for the figure skating team competition—nor world events such as the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Also unmentioned: Team USA’s two-time women’s Olympic basketball champion and WNBA center Brittney Griner, who was detained for allegedly possessing vape pen cartridges with hashish oil upon arrival at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Feb. 17.
In an interview with USA Today published Monday, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said the organization supports efforts to hasten Griner’s return stateside.
Speaking of the national Gannett newspaper, I wound up spending most of the ceremony in proximity to legendary sports columnist Christine Brennan—a fellow May 14 birthday celebrant—and she kindly swapped Games-time stories of 1984 to present while newsgathering for her column and also introducing other reporters and Olympic figure skating champion Sarah Hughes (thanks, Christine!).
In a media scrum at a White House visit countdown event on Monday, Hirshland also called for sporting sanctions of Russia, according to the Washington Post Olympic reporter Les Carpenter, who was also reporting from the South Lawn.
No basketball athletes from USA attended Wednesday’s South Lawn event, according to a list distributed to media by The White House Press Office. Also absent: Shaun White, Mikaela Shiffrin, Simone Biles, soccer stars and A-listers of track and field.
The festive mood and camaraderie, however, seemed to bestow many with all the feels.
Over in the Rose Garden, tables were stacked with healthy snacks, and some athletes posted selfies or other photos and videos including an impromptu dance from ground floor rooms of the Executive Mansion, revealing some interiors illuminated in red and blue.
After the president’s South Lawn remarks, the Bidens and the vice president remained with the athletes for several minutes to shake hands, share congratulatory messages and pose for photos.
We spotted White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki uncharacteristically fangirling with a few Olympic stars (believe it, I was also star-struck, but then again, "When in Rome ..." or "When on The White House campus" applies, yes?).
Soon after Wednesday’s gathering, pole vault champion Katie Nageotte shared videos online, captioned with the message, “White House visit with Team USA! Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity!”
In some ways, the post-event wind-down created the most impactful and funny moments of the experience.
In addition to brief intros with Hughes and Olympic beach volleyball champion April Ross, Olympians Katie Ledecky, Reggie Jagers III, monobob champion Kaillie Humphries and figure skating medalist Vincent Zhou each worked the rope line with reporters.
The nicest surprise was a brief reunion with Olympic diver Katrina Young.
A few days after her Olympic debut in Rio, we first met in a crowd of wishful fans vying to talk our way into the men's basketball final with only our Games credentials. Equally ticketless, she made it to the game. Sadly, I did not.
Months later, recalling that brief introduction, we got acquainted at the Team USA Gala for 2016 Olympians in Washington the night before each of our first visits to The White House. We both got in the building that time, but by earning her Olympian status, only Young got to sit in the rooms where it happens. It was fun to reconnect in person after occasional Facebook Messenger or Instagram messages during the pandemic.
There was also a renewal of Olympic joy—severely depleted by the pandemic's many challenges—in the form of a few pin trades, including the hot design du jour given to White House visitors by the USOPC in patriotic, high-quality cloissone (see photo).
If only the designers at pin manufacturer HONAV could get the Olympic rings on these Team USA designs!
And finally, the day provided a return visit to the James Brady Press Briefing Room, the theater/workroom for many of the nation's best reporters and publicists/political advisers-turned-press secretaries. I have a lot of respect for Psaki restoring professionalism and decency to this hallowed ground, and was hoping to shake her hand and tell her so.
As it turned out, the Team USA visit delayed the afternoon's scheduled briefing, creating a short window for me to instead strike a pose, all in good fun. My caption on social channels was, "Psaki was at lunch, so ..."
Quoting Nageotte again, "Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity!"
Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, here's hoping this horseplay avoided inspiring placement of my name on future no-entry lists, and that additional Olympic reporters may enjoy Team USA visit to The White House down the road.
According to The White House Historical Association, U.S. Olympic athletes have visited the mansion as far back as 1924, with a Team USA delegation from Tokyo 1964 among the earliest-cited full-team ceremonies hosted by a sitting president. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt hosted members of the U.S. Olympic team of London at his “Summer White House” home on the north shore of Long Island, N.Y.
Earlier in the week I was hopeful the team at Keep The Flame Alive might be able to attend on the heels of their first in-person Games reporting from Beijing. Though there are no promises of a rose garden, in conversation we concured next time is a must!
Several dozen American women and men will spend Leap Day 2020 running for the Games, with three competitors earning their tickets to Tokyo as Atlanta hosts the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for marathon.
The Feb. 29 event starts and ends midday around Centennial Olympic Park, with mile markers for the 26.2-mile course set along Peachtree Street from Forsyth Street in downtown to Peachtree Circle near the north end of Midtown.
The route also heads through the Virginia-Highlands neighborhood along Highland Ave. to southbound Jackson Street before turning west onto the Old Fourth Ward's Edgewood Ave.
The journey nears its end when runners, who've completed three loops on the aforementioned course, will bank south from Edgewood onto Piedmont Ave., heading south past the Gold Dome and the Siah Armajani-designed Olympic Bridge and Cauldron (erroneously referred to as the "Olympic Rings and Torch" in event press materials) with a U-turn on Capitol Ave. near Georgia State Stadium.
The final two miles cross west along Mitchell Street, with viaduct views of State Farm Arena's iconic "ATLANTA" grand entrance and Megatron's Butthole, er, Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the thinning pack runs the final stretch back toward Centennial Olympic Park.
Runner's World magazine and event host Atlanta Track Club produced a high-quality and informative video of the route available here:
To showcase Atlanta's Olympic spirit on NBC's live national broadcast, fans are encouraged to #showyourgold on race day, with several places to watch designated on the event's official website.
In Midtown, for instance, Hudson Grille, Publik Ale House and City Tap House (each along Peachtree Street) will offer $2.62 beer, tacos or other marathon-inspired specials. With numerous road closures, MARTA is recommended.
Though I cheered runners at Peachtree Road Races many times since 1996, this will be my first Olympic marathon experience and the city's second, which I missed thanks to work shifts at the Atlanta Olympic Village.
Female runners to watch for include two-time Olympic marathoner Desiree Linden, who did not finish in London 2012 but placed seventh at Rio 2016. According to the event site, her all-time fastest marathon (2:22:38) and Trials qualifying time at the 2019 New York City Marathon (2:26:46) put her a few minutes from the top Trials qualifier Jordan Hasay, who set her personal best time at the recent Chicago Marathon (2:20:57).
A hometown runner on which to keep an eye is Georgia native Bridget Lyons Belyeu, who trains on the Silver Comet Trail and near her south Atlanta residence in Newnan, Ga., according to a recent profile in Atlanta Magazine.
In the men's competition, three-time Olympian and Rio 2016 marathon bronze medalist Galen Rupp is the leading 2020 Trials qualifier (with 2:06:07; he is also a three-time Olympic competitor in the 10,000m, earning silver in London 2012). Atlanta marks his fourth Olympic marathon trials, which he won on the Road to Rio.
The entrant with the second-fastest qualifying time (2:07:56) is Leonard Korir, who "ran the fastest-ever marathon debut by an American" in the 2019 Amsterdam Marathon, where he did not have an elite bib but placed 11th. He was a Rio 2016 Olympian and considers Rupp one of his heroes, according to his Team USA bio.
Portland resident Patrick Reaves returns to his hometown Atlanta to compete in his first Olympic trials with a qualifying time of 2:17:45.
As reported in Sports Illustrated on Feb. 13 and in this Yahoo! article on Valentine's Day, the Atlanta event also includes first openly transgender athlete competing in an Olympic marathon trials. Though Megan Youngren's bio is not yet posted on the event website, her qualifying time of 2:43:52 puts her further back in the rankings.
The S.I. article explains how the International Olympic Committee would handle her qualification in Tokyo should Youngren earn a Games berth in Atlanta.
The three top female and male finishers will compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games on Aug. 8 and Aug. 9, respectively. The 2020 Olympic marathon course is in Sapporo, Japan, host city of the 1972 Winter Olympic Games and some of the Olympic football competitions this summer.
Marathon site at Sapporo Odori Park
For those heading to Japan, it appears the start and finish in Sapporo Odori Park is just a few blocks from the city's main rail station. Check out the course map below and at this link for more details.
Check out more of the competitor roster on the event website -- with the marathon route along Peachtree Street just a few blocks west of my Midtown residence, I may set up a viewing spot at The Vortex Bar & Grill between Seventh Street and Eighth. They serve some delicious sake!
The United States Olympic Committee is no more. And Team USA's longtime acronym USOC is now former.
On Thursday the Colorado Springs nonprofit formally announced its new, more inclusive name: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
In short, that's USOPC.
Has a nice ring to it ... well, five rings.
The new nomenclature -- the result of a unanimous vote by the board of directors at a quarterly meeting held in Chicago -- was several months in the making, according to leadership interviewed on an afternoon media conference call.
Team USA joins Norway, South Africa and The Netherlands as the world's only national committees overseeing both Paralympic and Olympic sport domestically. It surprised me more nations, including the United Kingdom (where the Paralympics began), are not already on board with such a change.
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons put the USOPC's announcement into perspective.
"To see the USOPC make this inclusive statement by changing its name demonstrates the true parallel nature of the Olympic and Paralympic movements," said Parsons. "This change lays a strong foundation to transform the Paralympic Movement as we look toward the Los Angeles Games in 2028 and beyond."
In a social media post sharing a news report about the announcement, Rio 2016 Paralympics shooting competitor Tricia Downing said it was "exciting news for Team USA" while Australia's five-time gold medalist Amy Winters, who competed in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, wrote, "Wow, this is big ... such an enormous shift from when the U.S. hosted both Games in 1996. A huge statement for inclusion."
The USOPC's CEO Sarah Hirshland said, "Paralympic athletes are integral to the makeup of Team USA, and our mission to inspire current and future generations of Americans."
"The new name represents a renewed commitment to that mission and the ideals that we seek to advance both at home and throughout the worldwide Olympic and Paralympic movements," Hirshland added.
On the media call, fellow May 14 birthday celebrant and USA Today Olympic reporter Christine Brennan "went there" asking if, in an era of rampant national divisiveness, the USOPC wished to send a broader message. Read the USOPC's answer in Brennan's column noting her 35 years and thousands of reports on the Olympic Movement.
Thursday's move pleased me -- it seems only a positive one. It will be interesting to see how new branding takes shape in the months leading up to Tokyo 2020. No word yet on new logo or pin designs, but Team USA's press release does shed some light on other updated uses.
The name change is effective immediately as seen through updated marks on social and digital platforms. Physical changes to signage at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Sites, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Headquarters in Colorado Springs and all associated properties will be made as soon as possible with a goal of completion by 2020. Additionally, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame will be renamed the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame.
I'll bet Brennan will have to correct herself, as will I, of the multi-decade habit of typing the former acronym. But it's also a safe bet many are very happy like me to put the "P" in USOPC.
If you're an American at the Olympics, you might as well be leaving your patriotism at passport control if you don't make it at least once to the NBC TODAY Show set in Olympic Park.
Been there, done that in Atlanta, Athens, Torino (they brought Al Roker to my P.R. client's B.C. Canada Place log cabin pavilion), Beijing (we took client, the Premiere of British Columbia, to sit with Matt Lauer), London and Sochi.
Wednesday night (Tuesday morning stateside) brought the first opportunity to check this five-ringed ritual off the list, and it turned out to be an exciting night to be there!
I stuck around for the first hour of the show with about 200 fellow Team USA fans and a few curious South Koreans.
Behind the scenes, members of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team awaited their national TV spotlight and conversation with Al Roker to preview their competitions.
Cute to see Olympic silver medalist Devin Logan meet briefly with her boyfriend. Gotta hand it to her for gently stroking his beard with her Trump-size pretend mitts!
Roker's main updates were about the strong winds that temporarily shut down much of Olympic Park.
Other news du jour concerned four-time Olympian, three-time medalist and No. 100 U.S. Winter Olympic medalist Shaun White's triumphant return to the gold medal podium.
White, who earlier in the day got flustered when reporters asked about past #MeToo-relevant choices, took time to apologize in his TODAY interview that focused mostly on his big day in competition.
"I've grown as a person over the years and it's amazing how life works, and twists and turns and lessons learned," said White. "Every experience in my life I feel like it's taught me a lesson and I definitely feel like I'm a much more changed person than I was when I was younger."
Way to stay on P.R. message.
I was delighted when Kotb later worked the crowd and responded to my offer of an Olympic blog pin, which she complimented while posing for selfies.
We had previously talked hours before the 2016 Olympic opening ceremony (in front of the Rio Marriott) and, as always, she was all smiles and so friendly to each of the fans on site.
Not sure when there might be another late night at Olympic Park (the live broadcasts to the States start at 9 p.m. in Korea), but it will be fun to discover TODAY sets in Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 and beyond.
Following a troublesome mid-Games trek to the Deodoro venues in search of Olympic shooting, I was pretty much done, cooked, completely spent and downright cranky about the host city, a five-ringed first!
Years ago in Blogging 101, they taught us to avoid posting while angry or overly negative. So, I created the end-of-Games roundup of medalists and took a breather.
The good news, however, is that in spite of my frustrations the second week of the Games provided an array of exciting experiences, providing content for many future posts.
And with a month of rest and recovery under my belt (now about five weeks since the Closing Ceremony), a trio of Team USA-related events in Washington revived my enthusiasm for posting here.
With thanks to the U.S. Olympic Committee communications team for a media credential, on Wednesday evening I enjoyed collecting interviews and photos on the red carpet for the 2016 Team USA Awards presented by Dow.
Held in the historic McDonough Gymnasium at Georgetown University, the wear-your-best-suit or don-your-most-glamorous-dress event featured Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Matt Iseman of "American Ninja Warrior" as co-hosts, with more than 500 Team USA Olympians and Paralympians as VIP guests.
Just like the red carpets for the Oscars, Emmy's or Grammy Awards, reporters and photographers had their hands and heads full trying to keep up with all the A-listers making their way to the arena.
With the help of the USOC's designated handlers, I enjoyed a few minutes of conversation, photo access or pool Q&A with the following Olympians:
A special highlight of the red carpet experience was spotting Paralympic shooting athlete Tricia Downing, with whom I was a U.S. Olympic Committee intern in the summer of 1995.
At events like this, it's not too shabby catching up with journalist friends like Examiner.com's Olympic beat writer Tom Burke or USA Today's Roxanna Scott while meeting other Games-minded journalists.
Each of us had Rio tales to tell, not to mention a bit of anticipation for the following morning and Team USA's visit to The White House (for which I was biting my nails over press credential approval until the very last minute -- more about that experience in a separate post).
Check out this gallery for a broader view at the scene outside the arena.
The red carpet media opps also included conversations with living Olympic legends or family related to other legendary athletes:
Carl Lewis, who recently donated nine of his 10 Olympic medals to the new National Museum of African American History and Culture
Swimming superstar and LA2024 Olympic bid executive Janet Evans
Mexico City 1968 Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos (enshrined in the NMAAHC as a large medal stand statue)
Marlene Dortch, granddaughter of Jessie Owens and Georgetown alumnus.
I'll post videos, notes or additional images from these many conversations.
Once the busloads of athletes had all arrived to a hero's welcome that included Georgetown cheerleaders and hundreds of excited students, inside the arena the Olympians received their official Team USA rings before the live show began as cameras rolled.
Turns out the Team USA Award trophy is a three dimensional object, usually in the likeness of an Olympic torch. During the event I got a peek at Katie Ledecky's trophy as she carried it back to her seat (see photo), and post-event I found this link with brief details from the designers.
A list of the winners is available via the Team USA press release here, and fans can tune in watch the taped ceremony on NBC Sports Network on Oct. 4 at 10 p.m. ET. My favorite presenter: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The Team USA Awards post-party was spectacular, and its organizers deserve gold stars or perhaps a gold pin like the ones given to athletes as their "ticket" and Olympian status for security purposes (yes, I did manage to trade a Rio blogger pin for one of the auric mementos).
With an excellent DJ setting the scene musically, I had never seen so many Olympians dressed to the nines and dancing/partying in one setting ... or ever.
Held in an elaborate meeting room overlooking the Potomac and high rise towers in Rosslyn, Va., the catering was superb and most athletes lingered until the final fleet of buses arrived to whisk them back to their hotel. And were it not for the rain drizzling on the party venue's overlook patio, the revelers may have spent more time enjoying the early autumn breezes outside.
It was fun to get acquainted with more Olympians during this laid-back event, including a follow-up conversation with 2012 silver medalist diver/medical student Abby Johnston, first met at the Team USA Media Summit earlier this year. We swapped stories of Rio pedestrian and security headaches, and also tracked down Uber options as the party was winding down.
Also enjoyed an extended conversation with Olympic diver Katrina Young, who I previously met in the rain behind the Carioca One arena just before the gold medal men's basketball game in Rio. On that day in August, we were both in search of tickets or special access, and during our post party D.C. chat she cheerfully shared how she scored court side seats while I explained the paths bloggers take to get last-minute access. Very fun to learn Young studied music at Florida State -- check out her YouTube Channel for some great performances away from the pool.
It was also a wonderful surprise to bump into Atlanta-based "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" documentary filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper and her Coffee Bluff Pictures colleague Lacy Barnes to catch up on the film's journey to mainstream release, and the duo's role in a special presentation to surviving family members of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. More on that soon.
Photos by Nicholas Wolaver except Katrina Young's Instagram photo, and the topmost ticket image cropped from the site for the artists selected to create the Team USA Awards trophy.
A public relations executive by day, small-time eBayer by night and weekends, lifetime member of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and full-time Olympic enthusiast who also looks at "BoingBoing-style" unusual news with interest. Please e-mail me at olympiada@yahoo.com or if you can't get enough try my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/people/Nicholas_Wolaver/713593008
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