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Experiences that will last forever

By Roy Burch
This experience continues to get better as every day brings many new things. I have continued to meet the greatest of athletes with the likes of Ronaldinho and the 8 scull rowing gold medal team.
I got to feel how heavy those medals really are.
I played a football game with some people from Argentina and Korea which was interesting because all the communication was in different laguages.
To me that's what the games are all about. Those experiences will last forever

Olympic Blog: Itching to compete

By Tyrone Smith

I have now been in the Olympic Village for over a week.
The village is very nice as I said before and there are even arcades set up for the athletes along with numerous Internet cafes.
However even with all this I’m very bored due to the fact that I'm so anxious to compete.
It has now been six weeks since I last competed at the CAC championships and I'm itching to get on that runway!
Training has been going very well and I believe my coach and I have finally resolved my fouling problem, and I’m ready to put these corrections into effect.
The opening ceremony on Friday was amazing. Walking in to the stadium was of course breathtaking — I mean 204 countries of the world and 6,500 different languages and every one was thinking the exact same word...dream.
Every single person in that parade was realizing a dream walking into the stadium and at that moment I felt connected to every Olympian in history.

Olympic Coverage

By James Whittaker
Any thoughts on ZBM's Olympic coverage?
From what I've seen so far if you're a fan of beach volleyball, bad commercials and grainy footage that makes the Commodore 64 version of Daley Thompson's Decathlon seem state-of-the-art then you are in heaven.
If you want the kind of Olympic coverage, US sports fans are getting on channels that are normally available to you through you're regular cable subscription then you're out of luck.

Olympic Blog: I couldn't be happier

By Kiera Aitken

Yesterday was race day. I just swam in the Olympics! And I couldn't be any happier with myself. I had an amazing swim. It exceeded all my expectations, and by a lot. I would have been happy to take one tenth of a second off my personal best, and I dropped almost a second and a half.
The last couple of days preparing for my event I was feeling so overwhelmed by the whole thing. It doesn't get much bigger than the Olympic Games. Then this afternoon when I stopped to think about how I was going to swim my race, I remembered how hard I have worked this year and it gave me a lot of comfort. All the hard stuff I had already done, I just had to keep my mind from sabotaging it all. I did a pretty good job at that and it felt great to swim fast when everybody is watching.

Now I'm ready to enjoy the rest of the Games without any stress and I know I deserve it. I can't wait to go stand on the China Wall!

Olympic blog: A birthday I'll never forget

By Tyrone Smith
Well today is August 7, it’s my third day here in Beijing in my preparation for the games and also my 24th Birthday! This will surely be a birthday that I will never forget.
I didn't do anything special just the regular training session and hung out with some friends in the dining hall. Since arriving here I have just been trying to get adjusted to the time zone and it has been a challenge.
The last few nights I have woken up at 5am and not been able to get back to sleep so that's when my days have been starting.
Today I was actually able to get some sleep so I rested until 8:30am!
The people here — volunteers and athletes alike — are all so very friendly and the atmosphere is great.
The one thing I do have to say is all the media attention to the level of pollution here was spot on.
I have honestly seen the sun here just once and have yet to see the blue sky. It constantly looks foggy!
I'm not going to let that stop me! Training has been going really well and I am very anxious to compete. I'll be sure to wave to you all at the opening ceremony tomorrow!

Olympic blog: Grey skies but everyone is happy

By Kiera Aitken
Hi Bermuda!

I'm so excited to be in Beijing. I can't believe that I get to be a part of all this. Everyday I eat in the same cafeteria as the best athletes in the world. And in the pool I am training with World Champions and World Record holders. Yesterday I swam in the same lane as Aaron Peirsol, the mens Olympic Champion in Athens in both backstroke events. During workout I spend a lot of time watching some of the famous swimmers. The pool is pretty impressive. So far everything is going great as I'm preparing for my race.

I haven't seen much else in Beijing except the Olympic Village and the pool. The sightseeing will have to wait until after my race. The sky is always grey here, but its hard to get depressed by it because everyone is so happy and friendly. I can't wait to walk out in the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow and for the games to begin!

Sincerely,
Kiera

Olympic blog: Swimmer meets contenders

Roy Burch
So far the Olympic experience has been surreal. Living amongst the greatest athletes in the world presents a indescribable feeling. In my few days here I have managed to see and meet many of the major swimming medal contenders.
I had the pleasure of meeting the 50 freestyle World Record Holder Eamon Sullivan and I also met the first African American World Record Holder Cullen Jones who took the time to speak to me about his club team. I find myself taking in all the sights even if I have seen them twice. The atmosphere of the pool has a euphoric feeling that only brings positive energy to the experience.
So far so good.

NOTE: Roy Burch is competing for Bermuda in the 100 metre freestyle. He will be blogging for us throughout the Games.