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Balancing training and rest
By Jeff Hartwig
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
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Today was my first normal day in China. I did have one slight change of plans, though.

I was going to travel to the U.S. training camp, which is located in Dalian, China. The primary reason for the camp was to avoid the heat and potential bad air quality of Beijing. So far, the heat has not been bad for me, and the air quality seems OK. Travel to the training camp would have meant another long day, and things are so good here in the village that I decided to just stay here and focus on getting ready.

The U.S. team uses Beijing Normal University as its primary training site. It is really a great venue, as it is exclusive to the U.S. team, but all sports train there. It is fun to see the other athletes from different sports in training. The university has nice facilities, two tracks and basically everything we need to prepare.

At this point, the most important thing is to balance training with rest to make sure I don’t wear myself out. I am sharing a room with my pole vault teammate, Derek Miles. We trained together for several years and are good friends, so it is nice to have someone to partner up with.

Today we did a short workout, because we are going to jump tomorrow. Pole vaulters don’t jump every day. We balance jumping with running, weightlifting and some other exercises. We will actually only jump two more times in practice before we compete on the 20th.

Tomorrow will be a fairly heavy day of training, though, because after jumping we will have some plyometrics and weightlifting.

Another perk of staying in the village is that the U.S. Olympic Committee provides spare tickets to other events so that we can see other sports. Today, we went to the first round of men’s gymnastics. We do some gymnastics training ourselves in training for the pole vault. It is nothing like Olympic-level athletes. It was a different perspective to see them live, versus on television. We are hoping to see the women’s gymnastics once they get started and maybe a few other sports.

Two presidents, lots of photos
By Jeff Hartwig
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
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Well, the decision to stay and do Opening Ceremonies turned out to be a great one. It was a really incredible experience from several different perspectives. We all lined up at the athlete village about 5 p.m. local time.

The plan was to load into buses and go to a staging area at the fencing hall. This was due to a visit from President Bush and his family. It turned out to be a great opportunity. While waiting for President Bush to arrive, the basketball team arrived. The atmosphere was very relaxed and the NBA guys were great. They posed for countless pictures and were easy to approach and talk with. When President Bush arrived, he spoke for a few minutes and then started a procession to meet and take photos with Team USA.

President George H.W. Bush was there, as well as the First Lady. Because of the extreme security getting into the building and the nature of the situation, it was a more relaxed atmosphere once inside and we were able to approach the President and former President for a few words and photos. We staged in this building for about two hours before moving to the indoor stadium, which is the site of gymnastics. When everything in the stadium got started, the teams began to file out in procession toward the Birds Nest Stadium. We were only able to watch parts of the program on a big screen in the arena, but we saw some of the show and it looked very impressive and well done.

The “athlete walk” is always near the end of the evening. The U.S. team received a very loud and supportive welcome into the stadium. It was chilling to walk along to the cheering and chanting of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

The grand finale is always the lighting of the Olympic flame. When the flame was lit, they announced the Games officially open and we started our journey back to the village. I was extremely impressed with the reception we received in the stadium from all the fans and especially those from the USA.

Overseas with a 17-foot-long suitcase
By Jeff Hartwig
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH

I made it to Beijing. From the time I left St Louis, it took about 48 hours, including my overnight in San Francisco to pick up all my gear.

The flights were good, and it is so nice to finally be here. I got checked into the village. Everything is very well-organized, and the best part is that all my luggage, including my poles, made it.

When I travel, I check my poles just like any other piece of luggage. It’s pretty fun traveling with a 17-foot-long suitcase.

I traveled with Derek Miles (one of my pole vault teammates), and due to a small schedule change, we have decided to stay in Beijing for one extra day so we can walk in the Opening Ceremonies. I had originally planned to skip the Opening Ceremonies, as I had done it in Atlanta and it was miserable in the heat, but the situation should be better here. So it will give us a chance to do it again.

The U.S. flag carrier is from track and field, so the track athletes will get to march in front. Maybe that will give us a better chance to be shown on television.

I will then leave on the 9th to go to the U.S. training camp in Dalian, China. Tomorrow I should get a chance to better check out the village and find my way around.

It’s about 3 a.m., and I am wide awake. But I need to find a way to sleep. I look forward to seeing more tomorrow.