Checking Olympics, and other items, off my bucket list

USA’s Serena Williams celebrates after beating Russia’s Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 for the Women’s Singles Tennis gold medal match at Wimbledon, Centre Court for the London 2012 Olympics in London, England on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. (Nhat V. Meyer/Mercury News)

Julie Jag

jjag@santacruzsentinel.com

Gabby Douglas, 15, sat in a conference room, surrounded by reporters and Olympic officials with at least 20 years on her. One dusted off the cobwebs and mustered the saliva to ask Douglas, who days earlier became the first African American girl to win the gold medal in the gymnastics individual all-around competition, what she expected the impact of her historic victory to be.
“I’ve always wanted to inspire people,” replied Douglas, as she held court over the group.
“The thing about the Olympics, [there’s] this quote you see: ‘Inspire a Generation.’ You know, now I can check that off my bucket list.”
That moment near the end of my expedition into covering my first Olympics got me thinking about bucket lists. I hadn’t ever really made a physical list of the things I wanted to experience in life, nor taken an inventory. But Douglas’ remarks unlocked a mental file I had apparently stored away in the recesses of my brain. Attending the Olympics in an official capacity was right near the front.
While in the process of fulfilling that wish over the past month, though, I got the opportunity to places checkmarks next to several other life experiences — some of which I didn’t even realize were in the bucket until I’d experienced them for myself. This is the short list:
Serena Williams wins gold with authority
Whatever the reason, this stands out as one the highlights of my Olympic experience. Part of it can be explained by the intimate confines of Wimbledon’s Centre Court, where an entire crowd of 15,000 can share in an inside joke like friends at a dinner party. Part of it related to Williams’ demeanor, more powerful and amped up than ever in her 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of Russia’s Maria Sharapova. What really made it memorable, though, were the post-match antics — Williams dancing on the grass in excitement over her gold-medal performance and the American flag fluttering to the ground in the midst of the national anthem.
USA women’s soccer team gets revenge on Japan
This moment also had more to do with the building and buildup than the game itself. The USA and Japan entered with a tense history, especially from the Americans’ point of view. We were on the losing end of the same matchup for the Women’s World Cup championship in a game that went down to penalty kicks. The USA women made no bones about wanting revenge, plus they had barely escaped Canada in their semifinal. That led to the teams packing 80,200 vocal, flag-waving, sign-hoisting fans — an Olympic record for a women’s game — into Wembley, already one of the world’s iconic soccer venues.
The teams made the game almost as riveting as the anticipation. It was a close, well-played contest full of skillful shots and a couple rub-your-eyes-in-amazement saves by Hope Solo. As far as memories go, of course, it didn’t hurt that the USA came out on top.
Watching the fastest man alive with my own eyes (and seeing him be too slow to escape a gaggle of autograph seeking reporters)
Twice I headed to Olympic stadium to see Usain Bolt prove, again, he’s the fastest man alive. The first time I completed my own sprint, weaving through the thick crowds in my wedged sandals as I tried to get from the jam-packed Stratford train station to the stadium before the 100-meter final. When I got there, I was told the press seating was full. I’m more stubborn than that, though, so I sneaked into the back of an open-air broadcast booth and knelt down until the gun went off. Bolt finished not 100 feet from where I stood, the clear winner, albeit in a close race.
I thought about waiting around to hear his reaction in the press conference. One look at all the time he took “bolting” around the track and the long line of broadcast outlets waiting to interview him, and I figured it would be midnight and he would be exhausted, before the lowly print media got their time with him. Little did I know he planned to stay up until 3 a.m. celebrating with members of the Swedish handball team.
The second time I saw him may have been his last Olympic race. He was gunning for a trifecta by adding the 4×100 to his golds in the 100 and 200. Luckily, I was already at the stadium to cover the women’s 800 final and had snagged a nearly front-row seat. The seat became even better when I discovered that to my right sat an amicable reporter for the London paper The Sun, who happened to be a veritable expert on Bolt, having just finished writing a biography on the runner.
The race was riveting. Team USA and Jamaica quickly emerged as the leaders, but the chance of disaster cropped up at every handoff [in fact, the third-place Canadian team was disqualified for an illegal one]. It came down to the final leg, with the USA’s Ryan Bailey and Jamaica’s Bolt — who doesn’t usually run the anchor leg — taking the batons at the same time. But in a head-to-head footrace, Olympic rookie Bailey, who took fifth in the open 100, couldn’t keep up. Bolt not only broke the tape first, but had the consciousness of mind to immediately form an “M” atop his head in tribute to his friend and adored British distance runner Mo Farah, a two-time gold medalist in London.
The press conference that followed more than an hour later proved with the wait. In fact, it might have been more of a spectacle than the actual race. In it, Bolt’s relay teammate Yohan Blake said of the team: “We are not normal guys. We are from space, I am from Mars.” In a more bizarre outburst, “journalists” from around the globe asked Bolt everything from how did he expect to live a normal life now that, as they put it, he is “truly and by far the greatest athlete to ever live” to whether he would tweet a picture if he found himself in the company of Norwegian women’s handball players that night. As the capper, at least a dozen of these “journalists” rushed the stage after the conference to ask for autographs, while the rest of us cringed.
Feeling the bond of beach volleyball’s gold medal winners (even as the floor falls out from under them)
Standing on top of the podium together for the third time in as many Olympics, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor still couldn’t hold back the tears during the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” The best known beach volleyball players in the world went out on top, and this time they did it the hard way.
Life had changed so much for the two of them since winning in Athens and Beijing — two kids for Walsh, an Achilles injury for May-Treanor — that they needed couples therapy to get through it. Like any relationship worth fighting for, though, the tests only brought them closer, and that was clear in their cooperation on the court.
It was illustrated even more not 30 minutes after the medal ceremony, when they found themselves on rock-bottom once again. Actually, it was plywood bottom.
The floor of the packed “mixed zone” interview area collapsed under the weight of the unexpected mass of reporters who showed up to cover a sport they could no longer ignore now that the duo had hammered harder than one of Walsh’s spikes into the national spotlight. Walsh managed to hop to level ground and she quickly helped her teammate out of the hole she’d fallen into.
Hey, what are partners for?
“The bond we have and understanding we have for each other is so special,” May-Treanor said. “Kerri said it a couple of times, the first two medals, I think it was more volleyball. The friendship we had was there, but it was all volleyball, volleyball. This was so much more about the friendship, the togetherness, the journey, and volleyball was just a small part of it.”
Holding a historic Olympic medal
The Olympics revolves around medals — those who get one and those who don’t. Still, it didn’t occur to me to want to get a close look at one until Abby Johnston, half of the duo that won silver in 3-meter synchronized diving competition, noted how heavy her hardware was during a post-win interview.
How heavy is it? This question led to one of my coolest first-person experiences. There is something magical about a medal, even a silver one. They’re a piece of art and yes, they are heavy. In fact, they weigh about 14 ounces.
Somehow, though, they carry more weight when put into perspective. It was the United States’ first medal in synchronized diving since it became a sport in 2000.
Experiencing the pride of a country (or what moved Mo Farah)
All we heard heading into London for the Olympics was what a disaster they were going to be. The masses weren’t happy about having to pay for these frivolous stadiums and improvements to the train system, especially during an economic downturn. Then, once we got there, they weren’t happy about being turned away while empty seats glared at them from the TV screen. Making matters much worse, several days of competition passed without the Brits bringing home a single gold. Panic started to set in.
But on Day 6, a couple of female rowers broke the golden spell for the host country. Three days later, local darling Jessica Ennis nearly brought down Olympic stadium when she won the heptathlon. It bolstered the Brits’ the national spirit, uniting them in ways even they didn’t expect. When the medals started piling up, each one dusted off a little more pride. Londoners even started talking to each other on the subway, which apparently never happens.
By the time Mo Farah raced to victory in the 5,000 on the eve of the close of the Games, the country practically glowed with glory. They sent the Somali runner — considered by many a true symbol of the nations-uniting purpose of the Games — and the Olympics out with ear-rattling cheers that clanged through the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium.
Nice thing was, when they weren’t cheering for the home team, they respectfully applauded and lauded outstanding athletes from other countries, even the big, bad USA.

SJSU volleyball player making Brits proud

Britain’s Savanah Leaf, left, spikes the ball as Algeria’s Sehryne Hennaoui, (1) and Lydia Oulmou defend during a women’s preliminary volleyball match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 30, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

By JULIE JAG
jjag@santacruzsentinel.com

LONDON – Savanah Leaf simply wanted to return to her roots when she decided she would try out for the Great Britain women’s volleyball team almost a year ago – before she even knew the squad would be competing in the 2012 Olympics. Now the 18-year-old Marin Academy graduate is making the Brits roar on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I didn’t think I would be here four months ago, I didn’t think this would be possible,” Leaf said following Great Britain’s 3-0 loss to Italy in pool play Wednesday night at Earls Court. “I see my family up in the stands, and it’s just incredible. It’s amazing.”
Leaf, who at age 8 moved with her mother, Alison, from London to the Bay Area, was considered a long shot to make the GB team. At 18, she holds the distinction of being the youngest British volleyball player at the Games of any discipline and the only American on the team. She played just her freshman season at San Jose State after graduating from Marin Academy in 2011, and she has no international experience.
So it would seem playing at the Olympics in front of a capacity crowd of 19,000 – many yelling “GB!” and “Smash it!” – would be intimidating.
“The first game definitely got me nervous, especially since we were playing really tall Russian players that are really well known, so that gave me some butterflies,” the 6-foot tall Leaf said. “But I’m actually kind of getting used to that big crowd and actually I’m feeding off of them. It’s helping me so much.”
Team GB coach Audrey Cooper said that is true of the entire team, which may have contributed to some of their somewhat unexpected success.
“When they give you that roar, that just gives you a lift. It just gives you a real boost. Everyone’s reacting to that,” Cooper said of the crowd. “It’s like a cauldron to do battle. No sign of nerves.”
The volleyball team’s historic first Olympic win came in wee hours of the morning Tuesday when GB defeated Algeria, 3-2. To advance after losing to Russia and Italy, it will need to win one more match and claim a few sets in the other. The team finishes Pool A play against the Dominican Republic on Friday and Japan on Sunday.
Leaf has tallied seven kills and two aces in limited play at the Olympics. On Wednesday, she made three kills and an ace in two sets against the strong Italian team.
“She is an absolutely delightful, mature 18-year-old. She’s just lovely,” Cooper said. “She has made a significant impact on the team already and she is pushing for that starting six position. She’s a little like a sponge as well, she picks up information quickly and asks superb questions. She has a really bright future.”
About 18 months ago, Leaf decided she wanted to play for Great Britain and sent Cooper a recruiting film her mother, an animation director at Pixar, put together. Cooper invited her to join the team for a training camp in Sheffield during Christmas break when Leaf planned to visit her mother’s hometown of Wetherby nearby.
“First I was thinking about the team, I wanted to make the GB team,” Leaf said, adding her motivation initially was to play in front of her English friends and family. “And then when I found out about the Olympics, I was like I really want to try out for this team.”
Leaf’s dark-horse status may have been what initially endeared her to Cooper and the GB players, most of who have been competing together for four years or more. Locally, Team GB has earned the nickname the DIY team because it has supported itself by holding bake sales and adopt-a-player drives after it was cut off from its public funding in 2010. Players have also left behind mortgages and boyfriends to be part of the first united Great Britain team – until 2006 it was divided into Britain, Scotland, Ireland and Wales — to compete in the Olympics. The team qualified automatically as the representative from the host nation.
“She’s gotten along really well,” said Ciara Michel, 27, a middle who made six kills and three blocks against the Italians. “She’s so young and such a raw talent. She goes out there and plays big, like we’re all trying to.”
Leaf already has plans to return for the European Championships in September, when she will also be starting her first season with the University of Miami, where she transferred after the 2011 season. Right now, she’s trying to believe she’s actually at the Olympics, playing in front of a packed stadium of hometown fans and, of course, staying at the Olympic village.
“It’s like a dream, kind of,” Leaf said. “There are so many athletes that you watch on TV and so many amazing athletes from around the world that you meet every day and everyone’s telling you their stories. It’s crazy.”