perthmuser (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} perthmuser) wrote,@ 2000-10-04 22:51:00 |
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Update - sporadic as ussssual!
I've been nagged by little Ms Showbag (GRIN) to update my journal, or else. I guess I'd better update :)
Well, back to Sydeeeernee. On the first day we went along it was the first day of athletics, on the Friday. Despite everyone being sure Sydney's train system would melt we got there ok. But a big walk was ahead, and the grounds are huuuge, but pretty impressive!
Anyway our first morning session saw men's 100m round 1, 20km walk, shotput and javelin qualifying. We also saw the women's 100m and 800m round 1. I saw all the big names of the 100s :) Matt Shirvo ran great! And I discovered long distance runners have a tendency to vomit on the track when they finish, altho I doubt you'll ever see it on tv :)
About the only thing I can say bad about the Olympics is that they didn't organise enough rest areas for the people hanging around outside the venues in between the morning and night sessions. It was pretty warm, and there was almost no chance of finding a seat to sit anywhere. I found a nice spot under an arch (on some comfy concrete!) but Mum insisted we try find a table. An hour later I found some more concrete in a food hall, :)
Oh. Food. EXPENSIVE! $4.40 for a coke, $12 for a BAD plate of chinese, :) Between Mum and I I think there were 3 coffees, 2 plates of chinese, 2 hotdogs, a hot chips, and a beer that day and it was almost $80! But anyway :)
Ok that night our seats were as good as the mornings (we had A class seats, 4 storeys up, right down the front), but on the opposite side. That night we saw the men's shot put final, qualifying of the high jump, the 2nd round of the 100m, and round 1 of men's 10000m. Women's we saw the women's 5000m round 1, 400m round 1, qualifying of triple jump, and the 100m round 2. We saw Kathy Freeman run which was great. One thing really annoyed me tho, the men's high jumpers were practicing and kept on encroaching on the track where the women were doing the 5000m. It REALLY annoyed me, particularly one guy who'd stand less than a metre away! Why didn't the officials clear them away? I don't know.
Anyway, a great night, but very tiring. It did take a little longer to get home. Then of course I chatted to people on the Net, I'm so hopeless, :)
Next day I mellowed out at the relly's place, and decided they were all a bit odd, :) I was supposed to go out that night but unfortunately my friend I was going to a free concert with is a airline hostess and was on call. She ended up flying off to Bali! She actually ended up in Japan when we were sposed to go out Monday too, siiigh. So didn't get to do any socialising in Sydney which was most annoying! I did get to stay and see a rellie bash that night, meeting lots of rellies I never knew I had, but it wasn't quite as exciting, :)
Anyway, Sunday, and I finally made it into the Olympic Superstore, which was always busy. LOTS of great stuff in there, :) I bought a t-shirt, a hat, a pin and a coin, a fluffy ollie for my sis, and a hat for her boyfriend. Oh, I already had one hat, a t-shirt, and a small fluffy ollie, ROFL
That morning we saw the women's marathon, and that was great! The Japan girl who won was really nice, she was just so happy to win! And the audience go wild cheering. When the first Australian girl came in at about place 6, the place went crazy, with lots of "aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi" going on, :) Being in the stadium is so much better than tv! But the biggest cheer probably came for the girl who came in an hour late. She was from El Salvador, everyone gave her huge cheers! We also saw the long jump for the women's heptathlon, the men's discus qualifying, and the men's 110m hurdles round 1.
I took lots of pics, and some video too. Our seats that morning were similar to the night before. Lunch was a little better that day, I didn't even bother looking for a seat, just found my usual concrete in the food hall, :) Had a chat to a guy who was from the states but weirdly enough lived in Perth, married to a local, GRIN He said he sat next to the Johnson family (100m sprinter) and that they didn't clap the fellow American running as apparently the families didn't like one another. How poor. The Aussies cheered everyone, and in general the athletes were all so nice together! The only bad thing was when an athlete would crash out or not make a final. On tv on Saturday night Shervo was GUTTED when he missed out by one spot. He ran a much better time the day we saw him!
Anyway, the final session that night was SPECIAL. We sat right on the track, at the bottom, 2m off the track, right next to where the athletes came out, it was amazing! I took heaps of pics, but my digital camera is a bit poor for fast shots. I had a PERFECT shot of Kathy Freeman set up, from one metre away, when a guy stood up in front of me, :(
That night we saw the women's javelin for heptathlon, round one of 400m hurdles, the final of the triple jump (won by a CUTE russian woman!), the semis of the 400 (go Kathy!), and the 800m of the hepathlon. For the men's we saw the final of the hammer throw, round 2 of the 110m and 400m hurdles, the 400m semis, plus the final of the high jump. I DID get a great pic of Michael Johnson the 400m runner at least!! I also got a pic of a poor guy crashing out in the 400m semis, he got carted off in a wheel chair the poor bloke, but he got a standing ovation from the crowd!
It was a great last night but it had to come to an end sooner or later! After one more night at the rellies we moved to Mum's friend's place, a fantastic apartment with a great river view. I just mellowed out for the day, which I think I needed anyway. So next day was home on the plane...Ah well, it was a good holiday!
Now, I'm tiiiired as. I should go into lots of detail about the wedding I was best man for on Sunday, but it's just tooo late! Let's just say my speech went down a treat, but I'm NEVER getting a cutthroat razor shave again, :)
Nightyall
I've been nagged by little Ms Showbag (GRIN) to update my journal, or else. I guess I'd better update :)
Well, back to Sydeeeernee. On the first day we went along it was the first day of athletics, on the Friday. Despite everyone being sure Sydney's train system would melt we got there ok. But a big walk was ahead, and the grounds are huuuge, but pretty impressive!
Anyway our first morning session saw men's 100m round 1, 20km walk, shotput and javelin qualifying. We also saw the women's 100m and 800m round 1. I saw all the big names of the 100s :) Matt Shirvo ran great! And I discovered long distance runners have a tendency to vomit on the track when they finish, altho I doubt you'll ever see it on tv :)
About the only thing I can say bad about the Olympics is that they didn't organise enough rest areas for the people hanging around outside the venues in between the morning and night sessions. It was pretty warm, and there was almost no chance of finding a seat to sit anywhere. I found a nice spot under an arch (on some comfy concrete!) but Mum insisted we try find a table. An hour later I found some more concrete in a food hall, :)
Oh. Food. EXPENSIVE! $4.40 for a coke, $12 for a BAD plate of chinese, :) Between Mum and I I think there were 3 coffees, 2 plates of chinese, 2 hotdogs, a hot chips, and a beer that day and it was almost $80! But anyway :)
Ok that night our seats were as good as the mornings (we had A class seats, 4 storeys up, right down the front), but on the opposite side. That night we saw the men's shot put final, qualifying of the high jump, the 2nd round of the 100m, and round 1 of men's 10000m. Women's we saw the women's 5000m round 1, 400m round 1, qualifying of triple jump, and the 100m round 2. We saw Kathy Freeman run which was great. One thing really annoyed me tho, the men's high jumpers were practicing and kept on encroaching on the track where the women were doing the 5000m. It REALLY annoyed me, particularly one guy who'd stand less than a metre away! Why didn't the officials clear them away? I don't know.
Anyway, a great night, but very tiring. It did take a little longer to get home. Then of course I chatted to people on the Net, I'm so hopeless, :)
Next day I mellowed out at the relly's place, and decided they were all a bit odd, :) I was supposed to go out that night but unfortunately my friend I was going to a free concert with is a airline hostess and was on call. She ended up flying off to Bali! She actually ended up in Japan when we were sposed to go out Monday too, siiigh. So didn't get to do any socialising in Sydney which was most annoying! I did get to stay and see a rellie bash that night, meeting lots of rellies I never knew I had, but it wasn't quite as exciting, :)
Anyway, Sunday, and I finally made it into the Olympic Superstore, which was always busy. LOTS of great stuff in there, :) I bought a t-shirt, a hat, a pin and a coin, a fluffy ollie for my sis, and a hat for her boyfriend. Oh, I already had one hat, a t-shirt, and a small fluffy ollie, ROFL
That morning we saw the women's marathon, and that was great! The Japan girl who won was really nice, she was just so happy to win! And the audience go wild cheering. When the first Australian girl came in at about place 6, the place went crazy, with lots of "aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi" going on, :) Being in the stadium is so much better than tv! But the biggest cheer probably came for the girl who came in an hour late. She was from El Salvador, everyone gave her huge cheers! We also saw the long jump for the women's heptathlon, the men's discus qualifying, and the men's 110m hurdles round 1.
I took lots of pics, and some video too. Our seats that morning were similar to the night before. Lunch was a little better that day, I didn't even bother looking for a seat, just found my usual concrete in the food hall, :) Had a chat to a guy who was from the states but weirdly enough lived in Perth, married to a local, GRIN He said he sat next to the Johnson family (100m sprinter) and that they didn't clap the fellow American running as apparently the families didn't like one another. How poor. The Aussies cheered everyone, and in general the athletes were all so nice together! The only bad thing was when an athlete would crash out or not make a final. On tv on Saturday night Shervo was GUTTED when he missed out by one spot. He ran a much better time the day we saw him!
Anyway, the final session that night was SPECIAL. We sat right on the track, at the bottom, 2m off the track, right next to where the athletes came out, it was amazing! I took heaps of pics, but my digital camera is a bit poor for fast shots. I had a PERFECT shot of Kathy Freeman set up, from one metre away, when a guy stood up in front of me, :(
That night we saw the women's javelin for heptathlon, round one of 400m hurdles, the final of the triple jump (won by a CUTE russian woman!), the semis of the 400 (go Kathy!), and the 800m of the hepathlon. For the men's we saw the final of the hammer throw, round 2 of the 110m and 400m hurdles, the 400m semis, plus the final of the high jump. I DID get a great pic of Michael Johnson the 400m runner at least!! I also got a pic of a poor guy crashing out in the 400m semis, he got carted off in a wheel chair the poor bloke, but he got a standing ovation from the crowd!
It was a great last night but it had to come to an end sooner or later! After one more night at the rellies we moved to Mum's friend's place, a fantastic apartment with a great river view. I just mellowed out for the day, which I think I needed anyway. So next day was home on the plane...Ah well, it was a good holiday!
Now, I'm tiiiired as. I should go into lots of detail about the wedding I was best man for on Sunday, but it's just tooo late! Let's just say my speech went down a treat, but I'm NEVER getting a cutthroat razor shave again, :)
Nightyall
