Nathan Taylor, the George E. Heekin '29 Head Coach of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country, is in London for the 2012 Olympic Games as a track and field coach for the Virgin Islands team. Taylor will be providing periodic first-person updates from London for CornellBigRed.com as well as videos from his time at the Olympics. Taylor will be coaching Muhammad Halim '08 in the triple jump as well as three other track athletes from the Virgin Islands. He arrived in London on Friday, July 20.
It's been a fascinating day at the Olympics even though the games haven't even started yet. Most of the athletes have arrived in the village and the cafeteria was full tonight when we went to dinner at 9:30 p.m. Although many of the biggest stars will arrive just before their competitions start there were still any number of international stars in the village including Pau Gasol and other non–American NBA stars.
My last 24 hours began at dinner last night when I was sitting near Koji Murofushi the reigning World Champion in the hammer throw from Japan. I asked him first if he spoke English, which he did thankfully, and then asked him if I could come to his next workout session with his coach. This afternoon I spent an hour watching him go through his paces. Very exciting. Last night I was given a front row ticket for the dress rehearsal for the opening ceremonies. Well actually, I was one of about 70,000 people in the stadium and this doesn't include the 7,000 performers all being directed by Danny Boyle himself. Of course, there was a stand-in for the queen, but I did have a front row seat. I took pictures but the crowd was sworn to secrecy before they were allowed to witness a real spectacle. Don't miss it. I spent most of the remainder of the day. after meeting Muhammad at the welcome center and then catching up with him before he crashed from jet lag, at the warm-up track watching members of the Jamaican team, along with about 30 other countries, workout. I watched, listened, learned, chatted and made friends with coaches and athletes from all over the world.
Tomorrow night is the official beginning of the games. Keep a look out for the Virgin Islands. I've been selected to walk alongside Muhammad and our other athletes. It's a small but proud delegation. Hopefully, NBC won't cut to a commercial just as we walk in.
