THE OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
Saturday, July 31st
By James O’Brien
People often ask what the Olympic experience is like; indeed, what that phrase even means. Like much else, it is easy to promulgate (just watch NBC), but almost impossible to explain. You have to experience it. So, I won’t really try to explain; I’ll just give some sense of my experience (hence these blogs) and trust that some of it resonates.
Each Olympic Games has its own character; some are organized chaos, some are well-oiled machines (Beijing and London, in particular, spring to mind). All have their own unique characters, often defined by circumstances entirely unrelated to the Games: 1948 – austerity; 1972 – massacre; 1980 – boycott. 2020? Probably, the Games that defied the odds. I cannot deny that, in the weeks and months prior to the Opening Ceremony, the preparations for making the trip to Tokyo almost drove me to distraction. Indeed, a handful of journos of my acquaintance opted not to make the trip simply due to the quagmire of bureaucracy. Having navigated all the uncertainties of that minefield, however, I can only say that, on the ground in Tokyo, the Local Organizing Committee has gone for the gold.
Having had to deal with a local populace reportedly far from enamored with hosting these Games – in fact, feeling that it was being forced upon them at enormous financial and social cost – the LOC appears to have calmed those troubled waters in remarkable fashion. Certainly, the atmosphere of an Olympic City is non-existent (how could it not be with no tourists and all attending being restricted to accommodations, venues and nothing more?); but, venues are accessible. transportation is efficient, and volunteers – the true essence of any Olympics – are simply magnificent. Friendly, kind, knowledgeable and welcoming; that’s a winning combination in any environment. So, while this is an Olympic experience far from customary, it is unique, it is memorable, and it is fodder for endless anecdotes. After all, what is the value of any experience if there are no good stories?
And then there’s the competition. In the handful of venues that I have visited so far, it is a peculiar phenomenon that, after a while, you forget that the arenas are largely empty. That can be a testimony to the intensity of the competition as well as to the ingenuity of the organizers in endeavoring to provide backdrop elements that complement whatever action is underway. It may be music, commentary, announcements – whatever is appropriate. It just works, the competition underway before me as I write this being a perfect example.
The US men are playing Hungary in their fourth match in group A in the water polo competition. Thus far, Team USA has defeated Japan and South Africa and lost to Italy. Right now, with little more than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Hungarians have forged a 7-4 lead. The US is far from defeated, but they need this win. Jesse Smith, Alex Obert and Alex Bowen are the NYAC men in the fray and, with nine Olympic appearances among them, their experience is key in keeping things on course.
The Hungarians, though, are like a solid wall. At the end of the third quarter, the US is down 8-4, and even though goalkeeper Alex Wolf is a human barricade, there is little he can do to stem the tide. With three minutes remaining, the US pulls within two – 7-9 – but, Hungary is resolute. The last score of the game goes in right at the buzzer, leaving the final score at 8-11. So now, the US has won two and lost two; meaning everything turns on the game against Greece on Monday.
While water polo hangs in the balance, US record-holding discus thrower Valarie Allman made a purposeful statement of intent in the morning’s qualifying rounds. Taking just one attempt, she threw an automatic qualifier of 66.42m/217’ 11”, the farthest of the day, and called it quits. That, as they say, is all she wrote. For now. Her final is on Monday at 7am EST.
NYAC evening action on Saturday focused on Sam Mattis in the men’s discus. The only American to make the final, it seemed as though his 2016 decision to turn down a career in investment banking with JP Morgan Chase may have been about to pay dividends. Mattis must certainly have been aware of the Club’s peerless tradition in his event, Al Oerter having won four consecutive medals from 1956 to 1968. Oerter’s accomplishments are the stuff of Olympic lore. Against such an historic backdrop, Mattis produced a sterling performance in this most heated of competitions, unleashing a season’s best of 63.88m/209’ 7” on his second attempt that installed him in sixth position; but he could not improve on that mark and, while he held sixth through the fifth round, the rallying forces behind him ultimately moved him back to eighth.
If you tuned in for the NYAC’s 100 Days Out zoom event in April, you will certainly remember Adeline Gray, the Club’s five-time world champion wrestler. Having listened to Adeline speak, you will now, unquestionably, be a fan of said Adeline and be anxious to know what is evolving with her in Tokyo. Well, here it is, as just announced by USA Wrestling.
Gray (76kg) will compete on Sunday, August 1st, the first day of the wrestling competition, opening against Zaineb Sghaier of Tunisia. The NYAC woman has received the #1 seed, though she will certainly not have things all her own way. If Gray wins her first match, she will face the winner of 2017 world champion, Yasemin Adar of Turkey, versus past world championships silver medalist, Aline da Silva of Brazil. Also in Gray’s half-bracket are 2012 Olympic champion, Natalia Vorobieva of Russia and #4 seed and Olympic medalist, Elmira Szzdykova of Kazakhstan. A strong case can be made that Gray is the greatest female wrestler of all time. The right outcome in Tokyo would seal that deal. Medal rounds are on Monday. Just saying.