The venue is packed and the music is pumping as we prepare to watch some great fencing at the semi-finals. Will there be a US sweep? A US Gold? As the four contestants line up it is hard to tell if they are nervous or just ready to get going. After a 5 hour break they need to get moving quickly to earn a shot at the gold.
Read the recap of the Women’s Sabre semifinal matches at Fencing.Net
Rene Roch held a press conference today as he promoted the advances of the FIE over the past few years. At the same time Roch highlighted advances on the technology and fairness of fencing as well as the advances of non-European nations to show that fencing is a modern and worldwide sport.
In the round of 64 match, Poland storms out to a 4-0 lead vs. Byrne of Ireland. Byrne gets on the scoreboard with a slow attack and then followes it up with an attempt at another one, but is caught with her arm back.
It’s a case of “premier attack no” as Byrne’s hand comes back during her motion, allowing Wieckowska to take over on the attack. At the break, Wieckowska leads 8-1.
I’m now checked into the apartment complex and have checked out the hotel’s media center as well as the Main Press Center (MPC) just outside the Olympic Green. This view looking outside of my room’s window shows the huge lanes and the gray skies that are a staple here in Beijing.
The volunteer staff is doing a great job with hospitality. They are taking great pains to make everyone (at least those of us with credentials) feel welcome. The media center is first rate, with lots of seating, access to wireless service (more on that later) and lots and lots of bottled water.
Left at 5am this morning for the airport. Once in the airport, I recognized “the Miz” of WWE (and earlier Real World) fame at the bookstore. (Which is worse, that I recognized him from the MTV show or from his WWE persona?)
The flight to Seattle was long, but the flight to Beijing will be twice that. Once in Seattle I had a 3 1/2 hour layover but I went to find my gate right away to get a seat assignment. (Aisle seat - Yay!) Now power charger for the laptop - that’s business class only and Fencing.Net is frugal and would only pay for a coach/economy ticket.