Yesterday was another great day of sport and culture in Beijing.  With Lisa preparing at the triathlon venue outside of the city, and us having no access to the course, we decided to head downtown for some shopping, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square.  Richard Mathews, Lisa’s fiancé, joined us and our first stop was the shopping area of Wang Fu Jing.  This areas is famous for its Dong An Men Avenue where you can buy almost anything “on a stick” including scorpions, grasshoppers, random animal’s hearts, and seahorses!  From here we walked over to the Forbidden City, on the way passing some interesting stores including one that sells different styles of full police lights/sirens for the top of your car if you so desire.  We were all followed by watch salesmen that negotiated Rolex watches down to $9 with not a word from us.  I can tell you one thing that China is progressing forward economically quickly, in fact by the day.  At the beginning of the Games the cab drivers would not, or did not, take tips.  Now when I hand them a tip they smile without hesitation and say “thank you” – I think the Americans have something to do with this.

The Forbidden City was incredible although we did not have time to really explore it properly and then when we walked through the temple to the massive Tiananmen Square it was fenced off and closed, probably another measure to prevent gatherings.  A bit of a disappointment. 

Now it was off to boxing to meet where we met up with Lisa’s dad, Fred.  The boxing was fun to watch and although the flyweights were fast and skilled, the middle weights were more exciting to watch.  The highlight was probably the Russian/Khazakstan fight where large sections of the crowd were going nuts for each fighter, including a guy that had the loudest voice I have ever heard, right behind us, yelling something like “Olgaaaa!”  The beer being 80 cents at each venue might have something to do with this.  After the fights, Lance and I went for an authentic Chinese dinner and ended up watching the Chinese/Germany basketball game with the locals, well after the restaurant had closed.  It was do or die China who pulled out a close victory to advance to the playoffs on the strength of Yao Ming who has single handedly made basketball China’s new number 1 sport.  He was quite emotional after the game and has publicly stated that this is the most important tournament of his life, with his home country hosting the Games. 

Today started with a run around the Olympic Green and then Lance was lucky enough to attend the final day of swimming and experience Olympic history live!  Phelps winning the 8 gold medals is an Olympic accomplishment that will probably not be matched in our lifetimes, or maybe ever.  Also, a big congratulations goes to Ryan Cochrane, a nice young guy that’s been swimming in our pool in Victoria over the last 10 years and is a good friend to many of our younger triathletes.  A bronze in the pool in the 1500m and Canada’s first swimming medal since Sydney 2000.  Congrats Ryan! 

In the evening we hit a local “hotpot” restaurant recommended to us by our “lobby volunteer” who has be assigned to our hotel by the local organizing committee. From there we attended the Olympic Diving finals where the Chinese were once again incredible taking 2 of the 3 medals. 

Earlier in the day I met Lisa in the Athlete’s Village to coach her through a race preparation swim, meet with the Dutch coaching team, and then an athlete meeting with Lisa.  Her swim today was fantastic, she was right up on top of the water, rhythmic, and powerful. She said it felt effortless.  I have given her an extended taper the last 8 days after a really hard 3 week block, the biggest taper I have ever given her because she has been traveling the world to qualify and any extra time opportunities have been used as training blocks.  It is really paying off – her legs are fresh and she feels great.  She has a strategic plan for tomorrow but mostly it is to be relaxed and aggressive at the same time – her fitness is high so that with this plan she will be able to have a very successful race.  Although she is not highly ranked here, she will not be a tourist and one of her goals is to be at the front of the race and make a difference.  I really like where her head is at and I explained that on race day at the Olympics it is a very different vibe, weird things happen and many of the athletes are really freaked out – I’ve been through it twice before and that she should be prepared for it, have some fun and use it to her advantage.  

It will be on live TV in Holland and Canada so it is really exciting.  It will be a great day and we will be wearing our Dutch orange to support her.