The countdown can officially begin.
After spending Wednesday in Raleigh for a live Rob Has a Podcast event, I headed back to the Raleigh airport to catch a plane south to Orlando, where Kennett and Kingswood teams were heading for a little spring training baseball action.
As I ate some breakfast, I turned on my computer to check my e-mail and one popped up that caught my attention. From "Accreditation," it was indeed the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee e-mailing a confirmation that I had received a credential for the upcoming Paris Olympics next summer.
The USOPC e-mail said that they had granted accreditation to 135 different media outlets for Paris, compared to 77 outlets in Tokyo, 111 in Rio in 2016 and 119 in London in 2012. So, I guess I have to count myself lucky that I was able to nab a credential given the incredible interest in the 2024 Summer Olympics. I would like to think that my willingness to cover the last two Olympics during the middle of a pandemic might have helped my cause.
As previous posts here had noted, I was getting a little concerned about the credential process not going my way, as we had passed the 500-day mark until Paris and I had heard nothing from the USOPC. The e-mail did say that they were a bit later than normal, but had to make a lot of choices.
I wasn't 100 percent sold on going to Paris, but over the last few months I've decided I might as well go for it while I have the chance. I don't know how long I will be able to continue doing these trips, but while I have the access to the credentials and can still scrape together the money (the new car payment is not helping in this regard), I might as well try to make it happen.
The next step for me will be getting my passport renewed. After all, there's only 484 days until the Paris Olympics. The countdown is on.
The Eiffel Tower will be host to beach volleyball next summer.
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