More on my thoughts of Beijing and the Olympic games to come once I have arrived home…

Thanks for all your support and emails along the way.

Karina

I am sitting in our hotel room in rainy Shanghai quite relaxed at the view from my room.

Although I have been to China several times this is my first time to Shanghai and I cannot think of a better time to be here. It will hopefully be a place for a lot of firsts for us once again.

In our first outing to the Olympics for women’s soccer for our country, we have qualified for the quarter-finals. Although we lost to Sweden 2-1 in our last match two days ago, because of our tie to China and our win against Argentina, fate would have it where we play the US, our North American rivals.

The mood on our team is great as we know that this will be by far the greatest battle between both teams and all past records count for just that, the past. It is do or die time where one of our hopes for an Olympic medal will continue and the other will end.

I am off to bed and tomorrow cannot come sooner. It will be a day of rivalries as Sweden will play Germany, Japan will be China and Norway will play Brazil.

A lot will be determined in the next 24hours and for those who are women’s soccer fans, whether you choose to watch it live or taped, I know it will be several memorable games where dreams will be both made and taken.

I have to say that we are feeling pretty confident in the way we are playing at the moment. We got a good result in front of almost 53,000 spectators the other night in Tianjin with a 1-1 tie against the Chinese and what made us happiest was the way we played and the number of opportunities we created on the offensive end.

Today we go up against Sweden which will be another great contest. We are now back in Beijing and in the village and although the atmosphere is different, we are still focused on what we came here to do.

It has been a bit of a change being back in the village. Going from staying in a hotel room where you meals and meeting rooms are an elevator away and your showers are shared between two, to now, where the meals are a 20 minutes walk away, meetings rooms you check a map to figure out where you are going and showers you share between three, there is a difference.

Chappy, Sincy and I took a VIP car to the Canadian village to hang out with some of our teammates and family that met up with us there. We had from 11:00 to 2:30 off so it was great timing to relax and chill outside the village.

My parents unfortunately went to the BC Canadian Pavilion house rather than the Canada House which was on opposite sides of Beijing. With the language barrier and traffic they showed up 20 minutes before we had to leave which was sad but I did get to spend some quality time with them which made me happy.

We enjoyed some of the delicious food that was made for us at the Canada house and the company of Richard Scott which was a great help as he speaks every language necessary to help get my parents to me. Even though it was a short visit, it is always special when I am with my parents.

Today is a big day here as it is the day of the opening ceremonies.

We have already played our first game against Argentina which we won 2-1. It was not our best game but it was a result and with that result we walked away with a lot of firsts for ourselves and for Canada. It was the first win at these games for a Canadian team.

Les, our manager, told us last night that at the Flag raising ceremonies in Beijing, after our flag had risen and the playing of our national anthem had been played, they announced that the women’s soccer team had won it’s first victory at the games and the place erupted with enthusiastic cheers and shouts from the other Canadian athletes.

I think that moment sums up a big part of the games for me. We are representing our country, all of us and no matter what sport we here doing we are united in our cheer for one another.

I have represented our beautiful country of Canada for many years and during this time is really when you literally feel the truest support from everyone as goose bumps raise on your arms daily from the simplest of things to the biggest and it makes me so proud and honored to be in this position.

Although we will not be at the ceremonies we will be watching along with all of you. CBC will be at our hotel and we will get to march in at the same time as the Canadian athletes.

It will be a very monumental moment in all our lives and the plan is that you guys will get to see us all at some point of the ceremonies as they will get that segment to the important guys so that you guys may view us.

I thank you all for the support along the way to myself and my teammates. We do this for all.

KK

So we are on the bus heading away from the village to Tianjin. I have to say that everything has already been so much better than I could have ever imagined it.

I remember when I was young watching the different Olympic games being mesmerized by the athletes and how proud they seemed playing their sport and representing their country. They really enjoyed what they were doing and they were at the top of their sport. I wanted to be like them.

I would watch whatever sport was being shown on the television and I only left when I had to. I wanted to do it all…from track, to basketball, to soccer…at that point it did not matter, I just wanted to be like them. I remember telling my parents that one day I wanted to be in the Olympics and them telling me that I could do it. The fact that I am here and that my parents will be here in within 24 hours is proof that if you dream big and are willing to really go after your dreams, it can really happen.

Leading up to this trip so many people asked me what I was feeling. It was hard to explain because there was so much anticipation leading into it and having been to China several times prior I felt I knew what I was going to be seeing, but I had no idea of the feelings that would follow.

Walking around the athletes village for the past two days has been unbelievable because it feels like no other China experience I’ve had. It is a completely different atmosphere than at the World Cup last year because you see and recognize other athletes from other sports which is incredible.

I have to admit that many of the athletes look much different in person but nevertheless you can tell who they are from the moment you see them. Just walking around in the village you feel special. The volunteers are always smiling and willing to help you out in whatever way they can. There is a mutual respect amongst everyone. Read the rest of this entry »

First batch of Olympic photos are in!

Click on the photo below to view the full gallery.

KK will be sending a new journal in soon.