North Carolina State University Athletics
Dan Velez's Olympic Wrap-Up (8/29/08)
8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
My final days in Beijing were the busiest, believe it or not. We were trying to cram as much sight-seeing and event-watching as possible over the two weeks of the 2008 Olympic Games. I got back to Raleigh Sunday night, with a nasty cold and enough memories to fill several scrapbooks.
Other than the sniffles and screwed up sleep patterns, life is getting back to normal.
My competition at the Olympics was over on Aug. 9, so I had lots of time to enjoy my Olympic experience and watch other Olympians fulfill their dreams.
Almost immediately after I was done competing, I was able to become the cheerleader for my girlfriend, Durham’s Erika Stewart, who swam in the 200-meter individual medley just two days after me. I tried to calm her nerves and excite her confidence just as she did for me the day of my race. She ended up doing great, tallying the Triangle couple to a score of 2-for-2.
The rest of the swimming competition allowed me to see some of the greatest and most memorable races of my life, topped off by being on the deck for the 4x100 freestyle relay. You probably recall how the French team was heavily favored and talking trash to the United States team, which included my friend and former teammate at NC State, Cullen Jones.
This was an epic event that will rightfully go down as perhaps the greatest race in the history of Olympic swimming. And I had on-deck, front-row seats for it! The Cube turned into a megaphone of cheering during the three-minute race. The US team started out well, but fell behind almost a full body length going into the last leg, which pinned our best freestlyer, Jason Lezak, against the best freestlyer in the world, Alain Bernard.
If the US loses this relay, Michael Phelps loses his dream of eight gold medals. Lezak stayed a body length behind with only 25 meters to go, but then the miracle Phelps needed became reality. The crowd absolutely erupted as Bernard showed signs of dying and Lezak blew past him to touch him out. Chills flowed down the spine of everyone in the entire swim center. We each saw history with our own two eyes.
I was also able to see my Puerto Rican teammates compete with some success, making it an all around good swim meet for the Puerto Rico team. Other huge moments included Phelps' jaw-dropping “Immaculate Touch” in the 100 butterfly, and Rebecca Soni's upset of "Lethal" Leisel Jones in the 200 breaststroke.
The rest of the trip consisted of the other half of the Olympic experience: Watching the world’s greatest athletes compete and celebrate their lifetimes of hard work and achievements. I had the honor of watching one of the most beautiful sports in the world, synchronized swimming, along with the nail-biting men's 10-meter diving final (which came down to a perfect dive in the last round to win gold) and a little track and field. I had front-row seats to watch United States’ Jeremy Wariner in the 400 meters and the incredible Usain Bolt of Jamaica.
The celebrations were great, perhaps the most rewarding part of the entire Olympic experience. We have all trained so hard for so long to get to where we are, and the Olympics fully rewards us for that. Immediately after the swimming competition concluded, Speedo held a party for swimmers, where I was able to dance and have fun in the same room as basketball players Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant (FYI: they are all huge swimming fans, no lie), and legendary swimmers Gary Hall, Jr., Ian Thorpe and Rowdy Gaines.
A few days later I was able to attend a dinner party at the U.S. ambassador's house, where some medalists displayed their medals and athletes mingled with business executives and political figures.
The social aspect of the Olympics was also memorable. I was able to become friends with many athletes of many different sports and countries along the way, giving me friends and memories of a lifetime. The Olympic Games turned out to be all that I dreamed of and more.
I have fulfilled my Olympic dreams and I now have more motivation than ever to train even harder for the 2012 Olympics in London, with my mindset this time not only on qualifying, but medaling.
For now, though, I’ve been craving some Taco Bell and a little rest.
