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Some Olympic tidbits

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A few pieces picked up in the last few weeks regarding future Olympics as well as Olympic sports in general that I thought were kind of interesting. One of the biggest gripes about watching winter sports has always been the broadcasts are not readily available everywhere. I subscribed to a web site that used to broadcast all the FIS events from around the world, with the exception of events here in the United States and Austria. There was a complicated rights issue involving FIS and other countries, which made things difficult at times. However, there was a great deal of progress made since the end of the last winter season and that web site will no longer be the home to the alpine sports that I love to watch. Instead, all alpine events will be broadcast live on Peacock and/or NBC throughout the winter sports season. In the past, this was just the case for events in the US and Austria, but it was announced earlier today that all World Cup alpine events will be broadcast on the same out...
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The Olympics, only close to home....

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At the end of August, I took a short trip to Lake Placid, N.Y. to visit some Olympic sites from the Winter Olympics of 1932 and 1980. This is the column that appeared in Salmon Press Newspapers in the week following the trip and I thought I'd share it here. As anyone who has read these pages over the years probably knows, I am a big Olympics guy. I’ve had the honor of covering six Olympic Games over the last 12 years, four Winter Games and two Summer Games. Even before I got those credentials for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, I loved watching them on television. All those things considered, it’s pretty surprising that I had never been to the Olympic venues that are physically closest to where I live. My recent trip to Los Angeles allowed me to see some of the venues being used in two years (and some that were used in 1984) and I’ve also seen places in Atlanta that hosted the Games in 1996. But until last Monday, I had never been to Lake Placid, the two-time Winter Olympics host in upsta...
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The process begins again

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Way back in 2012 I submitted my first application for credentials for the Olympics, hoping to attend the Sochi Olympics in 2014 to see Kennett graduate Leanne Smith and possibly fellow Kennett grad Sean Doherty compete on the big stage. I was not terribly optimistic about my chances of getting those credentials, but I figured it couldn't hurt to at least put my name out there. I remember where I was when I got the e-mail stating that I had been approved for credentials (the North Conway Burger King parking lot after a Kennett football game) and ever since then, it's basically been a constant process of applying.  I didn't apply for those first Summer Games after Sochi (Rio in 2016) but applied again for PyeongChang in 2018 and then started looking at the Summer Olympic possibility and applied for Tokyo. Due to the COVID pandemic, the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 came just six months or so after I got back from Tokyo in 2021 and then it was Paris in 2024 and Milan-Cortina...
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Talking Los Angeles

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The second full day of the Los Angeles 2028 World Press Briefing (and my final day here) was spent in a conference room as the assembled media heard from numerous different folks associated with LA28 and the IOC about updates regarding preparations for the Olympics in two years. First up we got some updates on the sport and competition schedule then we heard from folks who were in charge of the competition venues and the infrastructure and the plan for the games. We heard about the LA28 brand and then heard about the press and photo operations and the Main Press Center operations. There was plenty of discussion about getting in and out of the country (for those coming from foreign countries) and we heard about the accreditation process, accommodations, transportation and logistics before the lunch break. In the afternoon, we heard from the IOC about Olympic and Paralympic Games operations, got an update on the Olympic Information Service and then heard from folks regarding technology, ...
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Visiting the venues

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In the first full day of the World Press Briefing ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, the press spent a lot of time riding in buses, which will likely be the case when the actual Olympics start in two years, as the LA traffic promises to be one of the biggest hurdles organizers have to get over as they prepare for the Games. Today was the day that we visited a number of the venues that will be hosting events during the Olympics and Paralympics in 2028. Honestly, this was the part of the event that I was most looking forward to, as there were a few cool places on the list. We started pretty strong, as we visited SoFi Stadium, the home of the Rams and Chargers and quite possibly one of the largest places I have ever seen, right up there with the Bird's Nest in Beijing. It was absolutely massive. For LA28, the stadium, which will be known as 2028 Stadium, will host the Opening Ceremony and will also be the home of swimming, making it the largest venue to host swimming ever. Intere...
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Now that was something

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It's currently 9:40 p.m. in Los Angeles, I woke up at 1 a.m. on the East Coast, so with the exception of the little bit of sleep I got on the plane, I've been up for almost 24 hours. But I thought I needed to share a bit of what the opening evening of the World Press Briefing for LA28 brought. I arrived in LA just after noon and checked in at the hotel a little after 1 p.m. I registered for the World Press Briefing and took an Uber to In N Out Burger (the Uber rides cost more than the meal, but it was the closest location) and it was worth it. The first event of the World Press Briefing was the opening reception, which was held on Tuesday evening at a place called Cosm in Inglewood, right near SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect at the location, as no real information was given to us ahead of time. There was plenty of food and drinks but the highlight had to be the feature presentation by Cosm, which absolutely blew my mind. The attendees ...
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California here we come

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This week marked two years until the start of the Los Angeles Summer Olympics. There was plenty of information floating out there about plans and ideas that Los Angeles has put forward as the time gets nearer.  Obviously no credentials have been issued yet, in fact the process to apply for credentials has yet to begin, but with two years to go, Los Angeles 2028 has scheduled the World Press Briefing for next week and for the first time in my Olympic history, I am going to attend. The World Press Briefing is traditionally held in the years leading up to an Olympics, but obviously previous WPB's have been held in foreign countries, which made attending a bit tough. With travel to Los Angeles a little cheaper than say Beijing or Paris, I applied to go to this year's WPB and I was approved. The hotel was still a bit expensive, but I still have no idea if I will be able to get credentials for Los Angeles, so I thought it would be worth spending the money to get some of the Olympic e...
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