(Photo's coming soon)
Hi Everyone,
Well I am now a resident of the Olympic Athletes village and it is an eye
opener. It is pretty much a little but big town, functional all on its own.
But I will start from the beginning with my trip into Athens.
We left Buttgen on Monday morning at 10:15am and flew into Greece stopping
once in a small airport before heading into Athens. When we arrived in
Athens there were signs and cloth fence liners with the Athens logo and the
rings everywhere. We went through and got ourselves accredited and the photo
of me is 2 years old when I had short red hair so it is not too recent.
Didn't take long for us to get our luggage and there was no customs to go
through so we were straight out into the car park filled with buses to go to
the village greeted by media that was outside the fences enclosing the area.
The bus ride through Athens was not long and we saw the main stadium on our
way. Then we saw the village. Much like the housing in Athens just quartered
off with high security. We pulled into the drop off zone and the army
checked with mirrors under the bus before it was allowed to enter. A
practice which takes place every time a vehicle enters. We then got off and
took ourselves through security with our luggage and had to catch another
bus inside the village just to get to where we were placed. It is absolutely
enormous! Like I said a running place on its own.
We had a pretty easy night that night just having dinner and going to bed,
however we went to bed a bit puzzled as there was a sign on the bathroom
doors requesting us not to put paper in the toilets. We thought to ourselves
surely they don't mean toilet paper but who would put any other kind of paper
in the toilet?? Who knows??
Today was not as quiet a day but still enjoyable.
Up for breaky in the main dinning hall which might I add is enormous, and
then ready for the AOC meet and greet which took about 45 minutes to an hour
from 9am.
During this meeting we discovered what the signs on the toilet doors meant
and yep, we were right. Greeks don't put toilet paper in the toilet. They
have a bin next to it that they put it in once they are done. They do not
put toilet paper in the toilets because it blocks them. We were also
informed that there had already been toilet blockages in the village at the
top of the hill...... which didn't leave too much hope for those at the
bottom of the hill. he he he
Anyway we were informed of the best way to handle that situation and I am
sure you don't want that one in detail. We all thought it was very funny
though.
Then we went back to our rooms and got some of our clothing and boy oh boy!
About 17 shirts, 6 shorts, 1 skirt, 10 pairs of socks, 6 sports bras, three
bags, track suits, rain coats, 4 skinsuits,2 road kit, vest, jacket,
booties, gloves.... a lot of stuff and that was just our racing apparel and
casual kit. Apparently there is more on the way including footwear.
The skin suits by the way are wonderful. Not as bad as I first thought they
would be with a rather see through piece of yellow material covering my
backside??? but the green and gold is just awesome to look at.
After trying on every piece... yes every piece, we then had to play
swapsies. Well considering that we were measured up for our uniforms 2 years
ago you could imagine how much did and did not fit. For me all my shorts
were too small and all my shirts far too big. No doubt due to me being
almost 5 kg heavier then I was 2 years ago. So I gave pretty much all my
casual clothing back to be changed and I hope to get it back tomorrow or the
next day.
After the fitting session we had a quick bite to eat before going to the
velodrome.
What a venue. Ah!
It is truly amazing what the Greeks have done and should be very proud.
The track has been sanded back to the point where there is absolutely no
gaps between the boards and you could imagine how fast that makes it. The
track is supposed to be the same as the track we trained on in Buttgen but
believe you me, it is nothing like it. Far flatter and smoother. The
transitions are no where near as steep and the bends are longer then
anticipated.
The roof is great. Much like the roof on the main stadium just smaller of
course. There however is not as much seating as I would of thought. Perhaps
half that of what was at Worlds in Melbourne but that's quite alright, I am
sure they will be loud.
The main factor of the track is going to be the wind. Yes you read right,
the wind. They have not actually closed in between the roof and the track
itself so there is a large area for wind to flow through the velodrome and
today in our session it was rather windy. Not quite Wanganui windy (Oceania
Games) but windy. This plays a big factor as now it seems almost we are
unable to use the aero dynamic front disc simply because it will catch the
wind and blow us all over the track so we ran five spoked front wheels today
which was fine and despite the wind the track is still extremely fast!
Ah,..... What else can I tell you about??
Oh, today at breakfast I sat with Peter Brock! He is our Athlete Liaison
Officer and he is real nice. Felt real weird sitting with him and also
seeing other famous athletes. I am in the same building as the swimmers and
have already run into Grant Hacket, Geoff Hugal, Michael Klim etc. Is truly
amazing and everyone is so friendly and talkative and supportive.
It is funny though when Big Man, (Sean Eadie) walks in anywhere. He gets so
many looks from people and you can just tell what they are saying.
"Look that's that cycling guy....... with the goatee." he he he. We have a
bit of a giggle at him and with him. Everyone knows who he is, it is
amazing.
All in all this place is great but I am trying not to get caught up in it
all until after my competitions are finished. I am having a great time with
the team and the aussie team at large.
I have received so many emails from so many people wishing me luck. It has
been lovely! I am thankful for everyone's support.
Anna Meares