2004 Olympic Trials | Day 2
Saturday - 10 July 2004 - Sacramento, California:
A late start this morning, but it was another beautiful day in
California. Hubby went for a run and I followed on my bicycle, acting as his
domestic. The pace along the
Sacramento River Trail was grueling for only one member of Team Taylor.
One member of the team went for a five-mile run and the other went for a
five mile bike ride. Lance would have been bored to tears, but I help where
I can. But then again, Lance does not ride a 3-speed Townie! The path was
crowded with runners, walkers and bikers today.
Getting into the stadium today was a horror! I know, I know, I said above it
would be best for me to ONLY report the daily sport happenings, but I just
cannot get over the terrible facilities. And you can all shoot me, because
today I ran into Craig Masback and I did NOT say a thing to him! I just
smiled. The crowds were tremendous, the heat was tremendous and we did not
get into the stadium for 40 minutes after arriving!
The never-ending line to get into the meet
Seriously, isn't that the most pathetic thing you have ever
seen? I mean, it's not like it is the Actual Olympics. The mood in line was
NOT jovial. People were pissed, to put it mildly. Volunteers would come down
the lines shouting "No food of any kind is allowed... no water, no carrots,
no sunflower seeds, no sandwiches. I was unsure if she was naming actual
forbidden food items, or citing examples. To appease the angry, hot crowd,
free samples were given away by sponsors. Today the sample was a Pain
Relieving
Bengay Patch. Just what a girl needs in 90-degree heat. Brother Steve
received a free Intel stopwatch in his line! Dang! Steve was lamenting that
our daughter wasn't volunteering for NIKE at these trials (she did in 2000)
and he was not getting his usual share of Swoosh Loot, but he has a
stopwatch and we have a disposable Patch and he was unwilling to trade.
The races today were good. They had the 10,000 medal ceremony for the
winners from last night. Meb and Dan Browne will run the 10,000 meter AND
the marathon. Amazing! Bill Nieder, winner of the Gold Medal in the shot put
in the 1960 Rome Olympics, gave the medal to Adam Nelson tonight. Nieder was
quite funny and jokingly claimed to have invented the spinning method
putters use these days! The Sacramento Trials Committee are honoring past
Olympians and the Tennessee State Tigerbelles over the course of this meet,
and so Wyomia Tyus gave the medal to the winner of the Women's 100 meter
race today. Miss Tyus held the world record in the 100 meters twice and is
the first person to win Olympic Gold twice in that event.
Meb & Abdi receive their 10,000 meter medals...
no idea where Dan Browne was during the ceremony
Wyomia did not give the medal to Marion Jones. She gave the
medal to LaTasha Colander. Marion will not be representing Our Country in
the 100 meter. It is a New Day in American Women's Sprinting. LaTasha
Colander, Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams will be on the team.
After the meet, we drove out to Roseville and met Steve and Gina for dinner
at P.F. Chang's. Wonderful food. Wonderful company. Steve and Gina will join
us tomorrow at the track.
RV Park:
Cal-Expo RV Park
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