Exciting developments?

Well, in the last few weeks, there's been a couple of developments on the Olympic front.

First, I must say, Facebook memories have been a lot of fun the last few weeks, as my Olympic experiences in both PyeongChang in 2018 and Sochi in 2014 have been popping up in my memories. It's a lot of fun to look back and see some of those places again.

And, I've been watching a bunch of the alpine world championships and the biathlon world championships on NBCSN and there has been tons of commercials for the upcoming Tokyo Games, which has helped to stoke the excitement a little bit for this coming summer. Last Wednesday, the press was invited to take part in an online meeting where representatives from the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 discussed some of the plans that are in place to try and keep everyone safe this summer. The IOC had previously sent out the press playbook, which outlined what we have to do, which I wrote about in my previous post a few weeks ago. There were plenty of questions, many of which got answered, but I think there will always be questions since this will be an unusual Olympics for sure. I am intrigued about how it's all going to work, but also excited about my first Summer Olympics.

Of course, Tokyo has been on the mind since back in 2018 when the credential approval came through, so I've done just about all the research possible for those Games. But, there is also another Olympics on the horizon in less than a year and that's where the other big development came this past week.

On Friday morning, I was eating my breakfast at Lydia's Cafe in Wolfeboro and reading the news on my laptop when I got an e-mail from the Beijing 2022 accommodation desk giving me the deadlines for reserving rooms for the Winter Olympics next February. As it turns out, the deadline for reserving press rooms is in the first 10 days of March.

However, I have yet to receive official notification from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee that my application for credentials has been approved. I e-mailed the accreditation folks at the USOPC and they told me they plan on sending out notifications this coming week. However, the Beijing e-mail did say they received my e-mail address from the USOPC, which I am hoping is a good sign as far as credential approval goes.

The e-mail from Beijing also allowed me access to the media extranet, which contains all of the manuals and guides that have been released regarding Beijing. I've started reading through many of them and my plan tomorrow is to start researching the accommodations, so if in fact I do get credentials, I can request my rooms as soon as possible. It's pretty exciting to look through all the information available, including about the press transport service, the main press center and more. Beijing plans on using some of the same venues from the 2008 Summer Games, which is kind of cool.

I'm not going to get too far ahead of myself. The accreditation for Beijing is not official, but I have to admit I am feeling optimistic about my chances of getting to China next winter. While it is exciting, Tokyo is also a pretty exciting and that comes first. Either way, there seems to be plenty of excitement ahead. Then again, I thought that was the case a year ago too...

Three of the venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, including the Bird's Nest Stadium, which was the centerpiece of the 2008 Summer Games.

This is the China National Convention Center, which will house the Main Press Center for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.