ABBOTT RIO BLOG: Snyder’s mini-victory tour caps off fantastic final day at Rio Games

Kyle Snyder does a TV interview at the NBC compound at the International Broadcast Center after his historic victory at the Rio Olympic Games.

Sunday, August 21 – The Olympics are closing down all around me and I really don’t care. It’s raining out and everybody is in evacuation mode, trying to get out of Dodge. Doesn’t matter to me. I have a big smile on my face because, for the second straight Olympic Games, the last match of the Olympic wrestling tournament was won by an American Olympic champion.

Based upon the traffic numbers on TheMat.com and on social media, you already know the news. Kyle Snyder became the youngest U.S. Olympic wrestling champion in history at age 20, winning the 97 kg gold medal in freestyle wrestling. Rewind four years ago, and the last match of the 2012 London Olympics was won by Jake Varner of the United States at the same weight class, well, one kilo lower at 96 kg. Having your country win the final bout of the Olympics never gets old. The USA contingent gets to hear our national anthem, look up at our athlete with the gold medal, and leave the Games feeling good about life.

From a media perspective, winning a gold medal on the last day is a big bummer. The opportunity for media coverage for the achievement is cut down drastically. Basically, everybody is either in a big hurry to get out to Closing Ceremonies, are too tired to care about what is going on, or has already shut down their operations. You can compare it to a gold medal won on the first day, when all of the international media is in town and everybody is paying very close attention. Big difference. But then again, who cares when your kid wins a gold medal, makes history and that kid is a special person like Kyle is.

If you want the blow-by-blow of the day’s action, read the great wrapup stories by Richard Immel. Snyder wrestled very well in every match and in the finals, he beat Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan, a past World champion who beat Snyder in a tournament in Europe this summer.

Add in the courageous effort by Frank Molinaro, who missed out on an Olympic bronze medal by an inch or two, literally. If he was able to get 2015 World champion Frank Chamizo’s knee just an inch lower, it would have hit the mat and he would have scored a last-second takedown to win the bout and the medal. He settled for fifth, but his wrestling was special, and Frank is inspiring in his own way.

So a quick review of Kyle’s post-Olympic media stuff. I was on the field of play when Kyle won his gold medal. He was taken to the television portion of the mixed zone and then directly to medal ceremonies, so the print media I was working with did not get to see him. I brought National Coach Bruce Burnett into the Mixed Zone to talk to the press, and when Kyle was marched out for his medal, Bruce and I went out on the field of play where the photographers were. We watched Kyle get his medal up close, then watched the USA flag raised and listened to the national anthem together just a few yards away from Kyle himself.

After posing for some pictures, Kyle had to go back through the television portion of the mixed zone, and he did a number of television and radio interviews first. Of course, everybody wanted a selfie with him as he worked his way through. We finally got him to the print reporters and he did a very good job answering questions, in his normal, relaxed, intelligent Kyle Snyder way of doing things. It was the strangest thing. When they were interviewing Kyle, the work crew in the arena basically broke down the entire Mixed Zone all around us, taking out all of the barracades except for the one in front of Kyle which separated him from the media. They were taking the Olympics down right while we were still doing his Olympics interviews. You can’t make this stuff up.

Suddenly we realized he was going to be late to doping (his hour window had gone away), so I helped get him to doping control on time. We still had some other media waiting for him. He was able to pee pretty quickly. We took him into the back, and he posed for some photos taken by United World Wrestling (as well as by USA photographer John Sachs). Then he had a healthy interview with Shane Sparks of TrackWrestling, who waited for him until he was available.

NBC sent its social media team down to the venue for him. Sitting in the back of a van, Kyle did a Facebook Live session off a cell phone. He answered a few questions from the social media reporter, then he took a series of questions posted by fans from all over the world. For about 12 minutes, Kyle answered questions live from all over the place, including numerous topics. He did great, and it was kind of a cool thing. When he finished, the NBC folks said he had over 15,000 people on his live session.

Next was a stop to the NBC compound in the International Broadcast Center. We ran into some pretty big hitters when we got there. Jennie Thompson, who did all of the athlete bookings for all of the different NBC properties, came down to see Kyle and to welcome us. Although everybody else had gone to Closing Ceremonies, Jennie stayed around to visit with Kyle. Also, Jim Bell, the NBC executive who ran the entire Olympic coverage in all sports for NBC, stopped in to see Kyle and have their picture taken. Jim’s son wrestles at Brown and he is a big wrestling fan.

Kyle did an interview with the NBC affiliate from Columbus, Ohio, who made a huge deal of the fact that a current Buckeye athlete had won an Olympic gold medal. Then, another crew came in from Maryland and got a few questions with Kyle. We had a chance to eat a meal at the NBC commissary, then NBC took Kyle in one of their vehicles to where he wanted to go. He was heading off to the Lonier training facility for a quick shower and change, and then NBC agreed to take him down to the USA House to meet with his family.

I stayed, and went to the Main Press Center, to do some work on my blog in the USOC Communications office. That place was also getting torn down also. Peggy Manter was getting everything put away and one of the IT people arrived to turn off the internet. It was again like one of those evacuation scenes you see in the movies. I grabbed something to drink and went down to the workroom (called the bullpen) at the MPC, where at least the internet was still working. In comparison to the rest of the Olympics, the place was relatively empty. Lots of people were walking by with their suitcases, going back to wherever they came from.

I am posting this story then taking a bus to the hotel. I could have gotten a Closing Ceremony ticket, but if I had wanted to do that, I would have missed it anyway because of Kyle’s mini publicity tour. I will pack, maybe go to bed early, and get ready to leave on my flight tomorrow. I hear that the airport will be an absolute mess. They are recommending going to the airport six hours early. Not sure what I will do, but I will get an early start. It is time to go home.

I hope people enjoyed this blog. It was a sacrifice to do, as I had to give up a bunch of hours of sleep that might have helped me stay a little sharper. But I enjoyed doing it, and I hope that others enjoyed reading it. So, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as the entire Olympics is getting torn down and put away, signing off.

Saturday, August 20 – Cox wins bronze in his unique way and lifts everyone’s spirits

An acrobatic J’den Cox goes skyward defending against an attack by Amarhajy Mahamedau of Belarus at the Olympic Games on Saturday. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.

This morning, when we arrived in Arena Carioca 2, people were upbeat within the USA delegation. As National Freestyle Coach Bruce Burnett said, “the sun came up today.” Every day is a new opportunity, especially at the Olympics where anything can happen. If you don’t believe anything can happen, just go into TheMat.com’s Special Section and read some of the event coverage articles.

Richard Immel decided to give a quick review of the journalist picks for Olympic champions which we published the night before wrestling started. The most champions any journalist had from the 14 weight classes already contested were eight. That means the person in the lead had an 8-6 record on picking winners. Not very good percentage. But that is what the Olympics are like. Experts are never even close predicting the Olympics. At this event, the athletes determine who the champions are, and it never goes like it is written up.

J’den Cox and Tervel Dlagnev got the USA off to a strong start, with both winning their first two matches to qualify for the semifinals. Cox powered through a Belarus wrestler, then beat the Iranian he had defeated earlier this year at the World Cup. Dlagnev scored a come-from-behind win over 2015 World silver medalist Jamaladdin Magomedov of Azerbaijan, 6-5 with a clutch late takedown. He wrestled very smart to beat a veteran Polish wrestler in the quarterfinals.

The semifinals were a challenge for Team USA. J’den Cox was not aware of the nuances of the tie-breaking rules, and lost 1-1 by criteria in his semifinal against his Turkish opponent, World silver medalist Selim Yasar. Cox thought he was winning, and since he has some hearing challenges, he did not hear coaches Bill Zadick and Mike Eierman screaming at him that he was losing.

Dlagnev battled longtime rival Ghasemi of Iran, in a rematch of the 2012 Olympic Games bronze medal bout. Ghasemi was able to score multiple turns for a tech fall. With the losses, both Americans qualified for a bronze-medal bout.

It was during the repechage in the second session when I hit the wall with fatigue. It hit me like a hammer, right down to the bone. I have been getting through the days OK all week, so this was the first time I felt like I was going to nod off while sitting straight up. Not good, but perhaps something to be expected in our seventh straight day in the wrestling venue. Basically just had to suck it up and get it together in time for the USA bronze-medal bouts.

Before you knew it, J’den Cox was up on the mat against Cuban stud Reineris Salas, a multiple World medalist who tends to beat up on Americans. Cox didn’t seem to care. He matched Salas with his athleticism and his speed, the things that Salas has used to terrorize previous U.S. opponents. It was a great showdown of talent. The ending was also unexpected. With Cox leading 1-0 late in the bout, the referees put him on the shot clock. As time was running down, a wild scramble ensued. Referees did not give Cox any points, and gave the Cuban one point with a caution, giving the Cuban a 1-1 lead with criteria.

The U.S. challenged the call and the officials awarded Cox a takedown, and only six seconds remained on the clock. Salas and his coaches complained aggressively, then Salas refused to go back into the center to finish the match. Officials disqualified him and raised Cox’s hand in victory. The USA now had its second wrestling medal of the Games, and the first in men’s freestyle.

Cox is a fun and interesting interview, and has his own life approach. After the semis, when he realized he did not know the rules, which may have cost him the match, Cox let it go quickly and immediately moved onto the next task at hand. Tons of wrestlers would have wasted emotional energy on the loss, and may not have been ready for the bronze bout. Cox easily got past his mistake and focused on winning the bronze. He was relaxed, loose and excited when it became time to battle Salas.

Dlagnev came out to wrestle against multiple World medalist Geno Petriashvili of Georgia. A quick takedown by the Georgian, followed by multiple gut wrenches ended the bout with a tech. fall loss and fifth place. Dlagnev, who did not talk with media after the semifinals, told the press what the USA delegation already knew. His back was so messed up that Dlagnev did little or no wrestling training ever since the Olympic Trials. He saved it all up for one day, and beat two wrestlers, giving himself a shot at a medal. Alas, his back locked up and Tervel was not able to compete well at all in this final two matches, but he gave it a great run anyway.

J’den Cox was inspiring and fun, a 21-year old who has the skills and mind set to win an Olympic medal in a style which he has barely had time to master. His medal run for sure gave the American delegation a lift, going into the final day when 2015 World champion Kyle Snyder and impressive Frank Molinaro take a final shot at the podium.

We finished early enough for Richard Immel, photographer Larry Slater and I to go to the mall across the street from our hotel for a nice sit-down “real meal.” Larry and I got steaks and Richard went for the salmon. We even had time to accidentally end up in Richard’s favorite chocolate shop, where somehow I ended up buying some chocolate for dessert. Here’s to J’den Cox and Tervel Dlagnev for lifting our spirits today. It was appreciated.

Friday, August 19 – About Jordan’s toughest day and Helen’s longest day

Photos of Jordan Burroughs, with coach Mark Manning, as well as Helen Maroulis, with coach Valentin Kalika, by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.

I can’t write about today without mentioning the difficult day for American wrestling superstar Jordan Burroughs, who lost two matches and did not medal at the Rio Olympic Games. There is no need to describe his wrestling bouts today, as those who watched his matches on television or on the internet already have seen them. Those who missed them will be able to find the video somewhere, or can read the tons of articles that are being written and posted about them today.

I can only describe my feeling as sad. Jordan Burroughs had his most difficult day on the mat since blasting onto the international scene in 2011 and immediately becoming a World champion and major wrestling star. As a staff member at USA Wrestling and a part of the American wrestling family, we have enjoyed Jordan’s outstanding wrestling, his tremendous success, and his personality and class. We take pride in Jordan as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and also as a first-class human being. Today, we did not see the kind of performance that we have seen so many times before.

After Jordan’s second loss ended his day, he went through the Media Mixed Zone, first doing one television interview. He next came through the portion where the print journalists were waiting to speak with him and stopped. I asked if he would be willing to talk now and he said he would. Choking back tears, Jordan spoke very honestly to the press about his emotions on his most difficult day as an international wrestler. You could hear the pain in his voice and feel his heavy heart by his demeanor.

Jordan was very tough on himself about his performance. There were no excuses. He said he felt good and was prepared to compete. He took responsibility for his wrestling today. He apologized for losing. He said he will have to evaluate things. He mentioned that today has changed his life.

As always, I remain very proud of Jordan Burroughs. He is a great man and a wonderful athlete. None of that changes because of a very tough day at the office. He is one of the world’s most popular Olympic athletes for a reason. I can’t help but feel for him and share in his sadness. And I am sure many of you have the same feelings today.

Early this afternoon, I met up with our newest Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, who has not slept in two days. Yesterday, she defeated a three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan and became our first women’s freestyle Olympic champion. Since then, she has been on a whirlwind of activity, including a number of press conferences, media appearances and other functions.

After stepping off the mat with her gold medal, Maroulis did a press conference at the venue, a press conference at the Main Press Center, then a series of television and media appearances at the International Broadcast Center. She was then able to join her women’s freestyle teammates and families at a party that was hosted by Team Leader Kyra Barry .

Her morning started very early, as she was driven by NBC to the Today Show, where she had an appearance on live national television talking about her Olympic victory. When I caught up with her, she was invited as a special guest at another press conference, this one hosted by United World Wrestling. Also included in the press conference were four-time Olympic champion Kaori Icho of Japan, three-time Olympic champion Mijian Lopez of Cuba and UWW President Nenad Lalovic.

I brought Helen by the USOC Communications office for a short time before the presser, a place on the fifth floor of the MPC where a number of USOC staff members and volunteers were working. They were very excited to see Helen, and they posed for pictures with her. They had her sign her photo on the wall where U.S. Olympic medalists are celebrated. She was gracious and friendly, and I am very glad we were able to stop in to say hello.

In spite of being sleepless, Maroulis did a wonderful job at the UWW presser, answering a number of questions during the formal part, then doing some individual interviews with three journalists. She was still saying the right things in her unique and intelligent fashion, a great representative of USA Wrestling, women’s wrestling, the U.S. Olympic movement, and most importantly, herself and her family. (The video of that presser is posted on our YouTube Channel).

As we were walking through parts of the Olympic Park, random people were stopping and asking for selfies with her, and others were just taking her picture. At least here in Rio, people know who Helen Maroulis is and what she did last night. Helen said she was having a very good time.

Later tonight, Helen will be a guest of honor as an Olympic medalist with her family and friends at the USA House. Sometime soon, perhaps she will get a chance to get some rest. And when her longest day is over and she gets up the next day, she will always be an Olympic champion who was able to live out her dream here in Rio de Janeiro.

Olympic champion Helen Maroulis poses with the other Olympic medalists at 53 kg at the Rio Olympic Games. Photo by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com

Thursday, August 18 – Helen Maroulis’ gold medal brought tears to her eyes, and to mine

Thursday, August 18 - You may have noticed some tears in Helen Maroulis’ eyes after she beat three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan to win the Olympic gold medal at 53 kg tonight. Helen was dealing with the intense emotions of reaching her Olympic dream, and becoming the first U.S. women’s wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal.

She had some tears also when she was on the podium getting that gold medal. As she said to the media in the Media Mixed Zone after getting that gold, Helen said “When the anthem plays, how could you not cry?”

She was not the only one with tears in her eyes. So was I.

My connection to Helen and to the women’s program is very tight and very personal. When I was hired at USA Wrestling in 1988, there really was not a women’s wrestling program. We didn’t have our first World Team until 1989, and it was a non-Olympic sport until the IOC added it in 2002 to debut in the 2004 Athens Games.

I was one of the early advocates for women’s wrestling on the USA Wrestling staff and on the national level. It was important enough to me that I was very public in my support for the women and their teams. I did everything I could as the Communications guy to promote the sport and celebrate its athletes. Later, my job description in the Special Projects part of my duties included “the development of women’s wrestling.” I have been the event coordinator for the USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle Nationals since it was created, and have been the events person for the Body Bar Women’s Nationals for many years. Helping women’s wrestling is a part of my job.

It is also very important to my family. My wife Patricia Fox is a member of the USA Wrestling Board of Directors because of her involvement with women’s wrestling. She has served two terms as the chair of USA Wrestling’s Women’s Age Group Council, whose job is to create opportunity for girls and young women to compete in wrestling. She has worked very hard helping improve our programming for the future Helen Maroulises of USA Wrestling, those who come through our age-group pipeline. Patricia Fox owns a piece of that gold medal around Helen’s neck because of her tremendous support for our women’s program.

I met my late wife Pat Swift back in 1988, who was an employee at USA Wrestling when I was hired. We were married in 1989. The women’s wrestlers were her favorite athletes, because Pat truly admired how tough the women were and she enjoyed watching them compete. When Pat passed away at age 40, we decided that one of the two organizations that would receive memorial contributions in her name was the USA Wrestling Women’s Wrestling Team. There were some funds donated to the program in her honor, something I am proud of.

There were some things about tonight that I will not forget. After Helen won, we realized she did not have her awards stands warmups with her. Team Leader Kyra Barry, a former college soccer player, went running into the back of the house in the locker room to get them, and sprinted through the arena to get them to Helen before the awards ceremony. After that, I was able to get Kyra and I onto the field of play to watch Helen receive her gold medal. I got down next to the photographers and shot a few pictures on my cell phone. It didn’t matter if the shots were any good. I just wanted to be there to support Helen and to witness history. I noticed tears in my eyes as we listened to the national anthem.

Because Helen won the gold, she was taken by the USOC and NBC on the Managing Victory tour, for a press conference at the Main Press Center and a bunch of appearances with NBC at the International Broadcast Center. I decided to let Richard Immel take her on that trip. First of all, Richard is very good at social media and this is a great chance to do a bunch of that. He also had never done that before, and I felt he would do an awesome job getting Helen where she needed to go.

However, I also wanted to be the one to write the wrap story on Helen for our website. After four Olympic Games without a gold medalist until tonight, this was something I had also been dreaming about for a long, long time. We cannot understate just how important getting an Olympic champion in women’s wrestling will be for the development of the sport. Now, our young girls will have a real life Olympic champion role model to inspire them. Helen’s achievement will allow us to continue to reach out to more young people and their families and will help us to get more girls on the wrestling mat. It was an honor to be typing up the story which is now our lead story on TheMat.com.

You will see a ton of media coverage about Helen tomorrow. Many journalists came to the venue because they wanted to see history, and Helen Maroulis delivered. She is a great young woman and somebody who was driven to reach her goal. Her achievement is one of the highlights of my 28 years with USA Wrestling.

How could you not cry about that?

Wednesday, August 17 – Augello is the real deal, and Icho makes history with dramatic win

Photo of Coaches Terry Steiner and Maxim Molonov with Olympian Haley Augello at the Olympic Games today. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.

 In our jobs with USA Wrestling, we get to spend a lot of time with our elite athletes. Across the board, the top athletes on the national team in all three style tend to be very impressive people. You don’t become successful in such a demanding individual combat sport like wrestling without have some amazing personal attributes. I always brag to people in other sports about the top-notch people we have in wrestling.

Today, 21-year-old Haley Augello had her day at the Rio Olympic Games, the only American on the mats when the women’s freestyle competition began. Haley dropped a weight class and had a great Olympic Trials, then qualified the weight class for the Games in the first World Qualifier in Mongolia. I have gotten to know Haley as she came through our age-group programs and also from the women’s college level, and I have liked her and been impressed with her during her development process.

Today did not go as Haley and Team USA had wanted. After an impressive first-round victory over 2015 World bronze medalist Jessica Blaszka of the Netherlands, she drew three-time World champion Eri Tosaka of Japan in the quarterfinals. Augello wrestled tough, trailing 1-0 at the break. In the second period, she scored a takedown to take a 2-1 lead over Tosaka. Then she made a mistake, trying to work a high gutwrench, in which she was reversed and then turned by Tosaka. There is no guarantee that Augello would have won if she hadn’t tried the move, but when the technique did not work, it gave Tosaka the chance to close out the win.

Tosaka reached the finals (and ultimately won the gold), pulling Augello back into the repechage, where she faced multiple World medalist Zhuidyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan. Augello was the aggressor the entire match. However, she was hit for passivity twice in the first period and gave up a point on the shot clock. In the second period, after Eshimova got a counter takedown, Augello battled back with a takedown of her own to trail 3-2. For the entire period, Augello took shots and pressed the action, while Eshimova just backed up and blocked attempts. Yet, the officials did nothing, never putting the Kazakhstan athlete on a shot clock or penalizing her for the blatant stalling she got away with.

Augello could have cried unfair, and could have been angry, but that is not what she did. After her loss, she immediately talked to the media in the Mixed Zone, not taking time to compose herself or get through the emotions. She talked about being a hunter in a cat-and-mouse game, and that this time the opponent won with the tactic, that the next time she would hunt her down and win. She said she would rather be the cat than the mouse.

Augello took responsibility for both losses, admitting some mistakes and saying that she will learn from them. Although she is just 21 years old, she acted like a veteran who is many years more experienced. Coach Terry Steiner has talked about how much she hates to lose, which you could feel in the way she talked about her day. Haley Augello plans to stay at 48 kg, come back and win many medals for the USA in future World and Olympic events, and you can picture that happening. Coach Steiner said how she takes the pain and disappointment today and uses it to drive herself to new heights will determine just how far she will go. This is just a start of her journey, for sure.

It was a historic night in the wrestling venue, when Kaori Icho of Japan became the first four-time Olympic champion. Coming into Rio, Japan’s two superstar women, Icho and Saori Yoshida, are both going for four Olympic titles. No wrestler had ever won four times. The most famous attempt for a four-timer came at the 2000 Olympic Games when undefeated Alexander Kareline of Russia lost to unheralded Rulon Gardner of the United States and had to settle for a silver medal, ending with three golds and one silver at the Olympics.

For most of the finals match, Icho looked like she might meet the same fate as Kareline. Tough Valeria Koblova of Russia (who boasts a win over Yoshida earlier in her career) took a 2-1 lead on Icho going into the final minute. For some reason, Koblova took a leg shot on Icho, maybe thinking that was the best way to kill off the final seconds. It backfired, as Icho spun behind for a counter takedown with just five seconds left for a razor-thin 3-2 win. It was a great moment of sports history, and almost didn’t happen. There is a reason Icho is a superstar champion, and it was shown by her ability to win that match, even though it did not seem like she was wrestling at her best. You don’t win four Olympic golds without having that something special under pressure. There seemed to be a billion Japanese press members there to document the moment, and that is very good because she deserves every bit of the attention.

It was a great night for Japan’s team today, as they swept all three finals. Also coming home with golds were Eri Tosaka at 48 kg and Sara Dosho at 69 kg. Both had to score late in their matches to win as well. It was a great night for women’s wrestling most dominant nation. Yoshida goes for her fourth Olympic title tomorrow.

What I enjoyed was seeing the reaction caused by the bronze medalists in 58 kg, Icho’s weight. Taking home a bronze were Marwa Amri of Tunisia and Sakshi Malik of India. For Tunisia, it was their first Olympic wrestling medal ever, and one of the few Olympic medals the nation has ever won in any sport. For Amri, it was India’s first Olympic women’s wrestling medal. (Wrestling is a big deal in India, so this medal will be a huge boost for the women’s program there).

The Media Mixed Zone was a wild place after those two wins, as a ton of journalists from both Tunisia and India were there to talk with their new heroes. I think it was great for our sport to have these women go home as heroes and help build the sport in those nations. And when I watched the medal ceremony for the weight class, both Amri and Malik beamed with pride and joy. That is really what the Olympic Games is all about. Bronze medals were a huge deal to them and their nations, so it is not only about winning gold medals here.

Tomorrow, the USA puts out its three top women’s stars, World champions Adeline Gray, Helen Maroulis and Elena Pirozhkova. We are seeking our first Olympic champion in women’s freestyle. Here’s to another historic day on Thursday, this time for Team USA.

Tuesday, August 16 – A visit to NBC studios, Lopez’ great achievement and those little Olympic moments

Photo of the NBC Wrestling Crew: Producer Mike Molinari, announcers Jason Knapp and John Smith, researcher Mike Finn.

I knew today would be a little different, because for the first time in my eight Olympics we have a day of competition with no U.S. entries. The final two Greco-Roman weights are the ones that the USA did not qualify for. It allowed me to break a little from our normal game-day routine and do a few other things as part of our coverage today.

Instead of going right to the wrestling venue, I made an appointment to meet with the NBC crew that is doing the production and commentary for wrestling at this year’s Olympics. At the last Olympics, NBC had its commentators do their calls from Connecticut, not bringing them to London in person. This time, NBC brought the wrestling crew to Rio, but they are not doing their work from the Carioca 2 wrestling venue, but are making the call from an NBC studio in the International Broadcast Center (IBC), a block or two away from the arena.

The group doing the work is producer Michael Molinari, announcers Jason Knapp and John Smith, and researcher Mike Finn (whose day job is editing WIN Magazine). We have worked with this group at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Iowa City, and we had Molinari and Knapp at other big wrestling events within the NBC family in the past.

We sat together in the NBC Commissary (the cafeteria for those who don’t speak TV talk) and went through a bunch of production items. Basically, we compared notes from the first two days, and they had a few things they felt my staff and I could do to help them, since they are not sitting here in the venue doing their jobs. I have a checklist of things I have to learn about and will get them the answers that they need if I can.

It gave me an opportunity to thank them, give them some wrestling pins, and get a group picture of our team here from NBC. If you are not pleased with the overall NBC coverage of wrestling so far, these are not the people who make those decisions. They are making calls of the American matches and the other major events, and it is somebody else who decides which video to push to which network. One thing that will help us get more TV time in the NBC Networks is when American wrestlers win a bunch of matches. We are hoping that our U.S. women and men freestylers will start racking up victories and giving these pros a chance to have their work get broadcast. At the Olympics, some people like to go to see other sports, others like to do tourist stuff, I like to go visit friends and check out their work situation deep inside the IBC. Call me crazy.

Being at the venue without an American wrestling was a bit strange, but it was still the Olympic Games, with some fantastic wrestling. We did have an assignment today, as the women’s freestyle tournament is getting underway tomorrow. The USA has one entry on Wednesday, young Haley Augello at 48 kg, and she was at weigh-ins. I was able to interview Coach Terry Steiner about her, and then we covered the draw. Haley drew in the top quarterbracket and has a lot of hammers in her half-bracket. She says she really doesn’t care who she has to wrestle and will be focused on doing what she does well. I continue to be more and more impressed by this talented and mature young person who has such a bright future. Of course, we are all hoping that bright future begins tomorrow with her first Olympic medal.

It brings me back to last night’s finals, which happened after I had finished the blog for the day. Mijian Lopez of Cuba, the massive and talented heavyweight, was going for his third Olympic gold medal. This is an amazing feat, something only eight other wrestlers have ever done, and only two other Greco-Roman wrestlers, Carl Westergren of Sweden and the great Alexander Kareline of Russia. Westergren won his in 1920, 1924 and 1932, while Kareline won his in 1988, 1992 and 1996.

Lopez faced his Turkish nemesis, Riza Kayaalp, who beat him in the World finals in Las Vegas in September. When Lopez is motivated, he can be absolutely dominant. He came out quickly in the match, grabbed Kayaalp and tossed him for a big four-point move. It was a statement to the Turk and to the crowd that he was ready for a big performance. Lopez never let Kayaalp get even close to scoring on him. There was a minute left in the bout, and it appeared that officials called a two-point move for him to end the match with an 8-0 technical fall. Lopez had this amazing celebration dance, not the kind of moves you might expect from a man that big. However, the two points were not confirmed, so Lopez had to wrestle another minute before the match ended and he was a three-time Olympic champion.

The place was rocking. The Brazilian crowd was supporting him, as they have done with all of the Cuban wrestlers this week. Lopez was having a lot of fun, celebrating with fans all over the stadium. The place was full of joy and excitement. Lopez is one of the most impressive athletes I have ever seen, regardless of sport, and he is a superstar in Cuba and in wrestling. I was very glad that I had a chance to see him have this kind of night to celebrate.

As a Greco team, Cuba had an amazing three days, with their lightweight Borrero winning a gold at 59 kg and their 98 kg guy Lugo taking a silver tonight. Three Olympic medals for Cuba was amazing, especially when you consider the population of the island, its dismal economy and all the other barriers that might keep them from being a World power.

The Olympics are special often because of the little moments. This morning, I saw the lady who helped me at accreditation on Sunday walking inside the park and I stopped her to give her a USA Wrestling pin. It was my way of saying thank you, and she had nice reaction.

Yesterday, I ran into an Olympic friend for many years, Julie Jarvis of NBC. I only see her every four years at the Games, but when I worked with her in the Mixed Zone yesterday, she ran up and gave me a big hug. We have been working Olympics for many years and things have always gone well. Julie asked if I could get them a prop, such as a singlet, to use on their broadcasts for the next day or two, and Cody Bickley was able to send me down an extra they had with our national team. He had it delivered to me at weigh-in through Team Doctor A.J. Monseau, and I was able to get it delivered to Julie today. She says it will help them promote the USA wrestlers coming up the next few days. Another nice moment.

Tonight I saw a young woman journalist in the press area today, and I was certain I knew her, but could not come up with the where and when. I let it go and went on with my business. In the 66 kg finals, Davor Stefanek of Serbia became the first Olympic champion ever from their country, since it became its own nation after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The Serbians in attendance went crazy. Afterwards, the young lady approached me and told me that we had worked together when I attended the 2013 Cadet World Championships in Serbia. I suddenly remembered who she was, and how helpful she had been to me there. She was very excited about a wrestler winning her nation’s first Olympic gold medal and she was planning to make a big deal about it. She wondered if I knew where the “Wrestling House” was, because she wanted to catch up with UWW President Nenad Lalovic, who is also a Serbian, there later tonight. I had that information, and she was very happy. Another small moment.

The finals ended earlier tonight and Richard and I wanted a real meal. (We have been eating average food in press locations for days). The mall across the street from the Ibis Hotel has an Outback Steakhouse, but when we got there, we discovered an hour wait time. So instead, we went to the next restaurant, which had no wait. The food was excellent (Richard really enjoyed the salmon he ate), the prices were very reasonable, and we had eaten and left before we would have been seated at the Outback. Afterwards, Richard introduced me to a little chocolate shop in the mall he had become addicted to, and I was able to savor some very good chocolate. Another moment to smile about.

When you collect enough small moments, and add in some big ones (like the gold medals we are hoping the USA will win in the next few days), you go back home with some great Olympic memories.

Monday, August 15 - Another rough day for Greco team and for the USA Wrestling contingent in Rio

Day two in the wrestling venue and another tough day for the American Greco guys. Robby Smith and Ben Provisor dropped their openers, and both did not get the opportunity for repechage. We leave the Greco-Roman portion of the Rio Games still seeking our first Olympic medal.

Both guys could have won their matches, and really needed to, because their opponents were not able to get to the finals and pull them back in. Ben Provisor was pushing 2015 World silver medalist Assakalov of Uzbekistan hard all over the mat, but a four-point lift and throw made the cushion just enough that the exhausted Assakalov was able to hold on for the win.

Smith led 2-0 at the break over Shiarati of Azerbaijan after an arm throw early on (which many of us thought should have been for four points). However, when Smith was put down after a passive call in the second period, the big Azeri got a powerful gutwrench and scored four straight guts before he was done. Again, the margin was too large for the hard-charging Smith to overcome.

Assakalov ran into past World champion Lorincz of Hungary in the next match, and the pounding that Provisor had given him was apparent, as Assakalov did not have enough juice to win that match. Shiarati drew two-time World champion Kayaalp of Turkey in the next match and could not hang with him at all, with Kayaalp getting a pin and moving on.

As was the case Sunday, the two Greco athletes today and Coach Matt Lindland were stand-up guys and did their press interviews with class. I recognize that it is not easy, but these guys were pros about it. Coach Lindland’s conversation included two key topics, par terre defense and building Greco’s future in the USA. On these topics, Lindland gets a bit emotional. In short, he says we need to get our athletes committed to Greco at a much younger age, and they need to go to Europe and Asia more often to learn how to compete with the world’s best.

Matt did not mince words when it came to dealing with the folkstyle structure of American wrestling. Said Lindland: “If they want to start wrestling in the world, to beat the best guys, we have got to start wrestling the style that they are wrestling. That is it. That is basic common sense. We can’t think that we are going to do something different than everybody else in the world and get different results.” He had some issues with young wrestlers doing all of the styles, hoping to get more talented guys to specialize in Greco early. “We can’t be bouncing around, changing styles, and calling this a Greco season. This is a sport we do full time,” said Lindland.

The entire Greco-Roman program, including athletes, coaches, Team Leader, medical staff, workout partners and others are disappointed, and deservedly so. This team talks about being tight, about being a band of brothers, and that really is the case. They are going to deal with this as a group, as a family, and that is what will help them to move on and move ahead in the future. Whatever lessons come from these two tough days in Rio will be addressed as a team. You can count on that. One thing Lindland talked about was becoming much more technically proficient, making that a strength for our program rather than something they always have to work on. And Lindland feels it starts with the younger athletes, and must happen right away, with no time to waste.

I can tell you that it is not just the Greco team that gets beat down when the results don’t match the expectations. All of the Americans affiliated with wrestling also take these rough days hard. When you spend as much time and effort we do in supporting these athletes, and getting to know them as individuals, when they are hurting, so are you. I have heard often about how wrestling people explain that the highs in the sport are so high, and the lows are so low. Nowhere else does that become so apparent than at the Olympic Games. This is the event which kids dream about, which the media covers extensively, which is the most important thing on earth for more than two weeks every four years. So when things go well, it really feels wonderful, and when they don’t, it really stings. You just can’t avoid it.

The good thing is that in the Olympics, as in life, tomorrow is another day. For the USA group, tomorrow is an off-day. We have no Greco-Roman wrestlers competing on Tuesday, as we did not qualify at 66 kg and 98 kg. TheMat.com will cover the event for you, since this is the Olympics and the results really matter. But our focus will also turn to the women’s freestyle event, with Haley Augello weighing in at 48 kg mid-day on Tuesday. We will pass the baton on to the women’s program, who will look to get some medals for Team USA, including the active pursuit of our first women’s freestyle Olympic gold medal. And we will go into that tournament with great joy, expectations and enthusiasm, looking for that highest of highs.

Photo of Ben Provisor, and his coaches Matt Lindland and Chris Saba, walking to the mat at the Olympics by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.

Sunday, August 14 – This is the day we have all been working so hard for, day one of the wrestling at the Rio Olympic Games. Today was Greco-Roman, with action at 59 kg and 75 kg. Jesse Thielke and Andy Bisek were the first two Americans to step out on the mat in Rio.

I had an early start, because I need to get my credential changed from an E (journalist) to an Ao (team official). It is an important change, because it allows me to get to the back of house where the warmup areas are located and where I can get access to the team. The accreditation office opened at 7 a.m. and I wanted to be there right when it opened, in case I ran into any hassles. The first session of wrestling begins at 10:00 a.m. and I wanted to be on time.

When I got there, the person who was supposed to handle this procedure was late coming into work. I sat around for 20 minutes or more but the woman still hadn’t showed up. A very nice and persistent lady who was there got somebody on the phone, who explained to her how to get it done. I was very grateful, as it was one of those small acts of kindness that is appreciated in this place. My E credential was cancelled and I started the new day with a different credential. I was able to get to the venue early, select the seats we wanted to sit in the tribune and get the day going as scheduled.

Team USA got off to a good start today, as Jesse won his first match by technical fall over Messaoudi of Morocco. Andy scored the only point of his match on a passivity call to beat tough Cuban, Hernandez, somebody he has wrestled a number of times before.

Things went sideways in the quarterfinals, however. Jesse battled a two-time Olympic medalist from Azerbaijan, Bayramov, and got behind early. When the USA protested a two-point move by Bayramov, the officials did the review and gave the Azerbaijani four points instead, giving him a technical fall.

Bisek had a tough battle with a relatively unknown Croatian named Starcevic who defeated the three-time World champ Cebi from Turkey in the first round. Andy couldn’t get his offense on his feet going, and Starcevic was able to get on top on a passivity and barely get a turn on Bisek to score the only points of the match, upsetting the American 2-0.

It was in the semifinals when things got really weird. Bayramov got a early lead over Ota of Japan, and it looked like Thielke might get pulled back into the repechage. However, Ota locked up and threw Bayramov to his back, and unexpectedly scored a fall. Just like that, Jesse was out of the tournament.

Andy needed Starcevic to upset World and Olympic champion Vlasov of Russia in the semis at 75 kg. With Vlasov up 6-0, Starcevic grabbed a tight front headlock and turned Vlasov to his back before time ran out in the first period. It seemed as if Starcevic may have choked out the Russian, who did not immediately move while lying on the mat. But there had been time on the clock when Vlasov was on his back. The USA contingent thought Starcevic got a pin, but the officials gave the Croatian two points instead. Trailing 6-2, Starcevic was unable to come from behind in the second period and Vlasov advanced, knocking Andy out of the event.

Both of our guys were very close to getting back into the tournament, but neither were able to advance to the second session. One of the hardest jobs for me to do at an Olympics is to bring out our athletes to talk to the press after they have been eliminated from the tournament. Both Jesse and Andy handled this task like the pros that they are. It is difficult talking about their disappointment and the details of their day, but both were able to give good interviews to their hometown papers and the wrestling media from the USA.

The format of this tournament is different than what we are used to. The morning session ran through the semifinals then stopped. Usually, we wrestle the repechage rounds in the first session, and only do the medal matches in the final session. When we took our break, we knew the finalists, but the bronze pairings had yet to be determined. It was similar to what judo did the other day when I came here to see Kayla Harrison. Not a format anybody in wrestling is used to.

Here in Rio, we started session two at 4:00 p.m. with repechage. In another change from normal protocol, they used only one mat in the second session, wrestling five repechage matches one after the other. Normally, repechage is spread over two or three mats. This caused the session to drag out in time. It ended up being a three-hour session before they finished all the gold and bronze medal matches. Add in the final gold-medal ceremony for the second weight class and the session was not officially over until 7:20 p.m.

Adding to the strange day was the fact that 2012 Olympic champion Roman Vlasov of Russia was able to repeat and become a two-time champion, beating Denmark’s Mark O. Madsen in the finals. However, almost everybody in the arena felt Vlasov lost his opening match to another 2012 Olympic champ, Kim Hyeon-Woo, who threw him in the closing seconds. It looked like a four-point move, but officials only gave Kim two points, and the decision was booed by the crowd. Kim battled back and won a bronze medal, and was distraught after winning that final match, dealing with the sadness that he should have been the champion.

Madsen’s career is a heartbreaking. He is the perpetual bridesmaid. Coming into Rio, he had won four World silver medals and a World bronze. He battled his way to the finals again, only to lose to Vlasaov, 5-2. Counting his 2016 Olympic silver, Madsen has lost in five World or Olympic finals. So close, but never a champion. His career has been fantastic, but he will always be known as the guy who could not win in the finals. You just have to feel bad for him. But the good news is that he is bringing home an Olympic medal to Denmark in his third try at the Olympic Games.

Cuba’ lightweight Borrero was dominant all day long, adding an Olympic gold medal to his 2015 World title. The fans from Brazil were very supportive of the Cuban, as it seems that they support athletes from the Pan American nations when they beat somebody from Europe or Asia. Borrero has a great personality as well, which was well received.

We have Robby Smith and Ben Provisor tomorrow, our last chances at a Greco-Roman medal. Both have difficult draws, but all draws at the Olympics are tough. This is truly an all-star tournament, with only 19 or 20 entries in each weight, so it is expected that to medal you must beat somebody very, very good. Hopefully tomorrow we have a medal to celebrate. It really is no fun going to the second session without one of our athletes competing.

Tonight’s photo by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com, shows Andy Bisek trying to lift Hernandez of Cuba in the opening round of the Rio Olympic Games.

Saturday, August 13 – Wrestling kicks off in Rio with first Greco-Roman weigh-in

I have been here a week in Rio, and I believe in a conversation yesterday, I told somebody it felt like a month. The reason is that we have had so much to do in so little time, and every day is very long, very tiring and very full of activities. Whether it has been a week or a month, the reason we are here started today – the beginning of the Olympic wrestling tournament.

We went to the Main Press Center to work on a few things before jumping on one of the internal buses that run through Olympic Park to get to Carioca 2, the venue for wrestling. Judo finished on Friday, and it was set-up day for wrestling. Richard Immel and I walked straight into the venue, right onto the field of play, with no security or volunteers around. The stage had been built but the mats were not yet down. Just like most other wrestling tournaments, people were putting down cables for the internet and broadcasting, and crews were busy doing what work crews do.

We walked into the back of house, where the warmup mats were located, which is the site of the weigh-ins each day this week. I quickly found the USA delegation (the U.S. Olympic gear is very distinctive and quite classy) and went over to visit with National Coach Matt Lindland and others. One of my favorite people on earth was around the mats, Grappling Coach Ricardo Liborio, who was one of the volunteers for the venue. We had a nice visit and promised to spend a little time as the tournament progressed.

Andy Bisek and Jesse Thielke were relaxing, already down to weight, just waiting for their chance to weigh in, fuel up and get rested for tomorrow. In this setting, you really don’t know it is the Olympics, because it is all the same people, the same protocol, the same feeling that you might have at a World Championships or major international event. But it is also hard to miss the fact that it is the Olympics, because so much is at stake.

There were a few new twists at the weigh-ins. When an athlete went back to step on the scale and draw the number, it was in a room but was broadcast live for all to see. You heard the referee read off the athlete’s weight. You saw the draw number as it was randomly selected from the handheld device. As far as the Americans went, Jesse drew an athlete from Morocco and Andy has a familiar Cuban in their opening bouts. Both will have tough half-brackets, as Jesse has the Iranian Olympic and multiple World champion Soryan on his side. In Andy’s weight, a pair of 2012 Olympic champs face off in round one, Kim of Korea and Vlasov of Russia, the winner who is a possible semifinal opponent. Bisek would have to beat a three-time World champion from Turkey, Cebi, in the quarters to get there. It really doesn’t matter too much about the draw. With less than 20 entries, almost every draw will include a few World or Olympic medalists.

We went back to the Main Press Center to write up our stories. I handled the weigh-in story, and Richard put together an important article on how fans can watch the Olympic wrestling event. I also started collecting and editing the journalist predictions for the Olympic champions, an annual tradition we host for our journalism peers from around the USA and other parts of the world.

I had a choice tonight, to either do something “Olympic” by attending another sport, or just going back to the hotel to do some work and relax. Starting tomorrow at 10 a.m. we are in competition mode, and who knows whether there will ever be any real free time before we get on a plane next Monday to head home. I chose going back to the hotel. I really want to be well rested. I went to the mall across the street to get a quick dinner and buy some supplies for the hotel room to get me through the week. I finished up the journalist picks article and posted it. I am now banging out my blog, probably the earliest I have done it this week. I have a few other small writing projects to get ahead of before I go to sleep. Since I was going to work anyway, it is a lot more restful to do it in a quiet hotel room rather than in the middle of the USOC Communications headquarters.

Sometime tonight, the United States is expected to win its 1,000th Olympic gold medal in the history of our nation at the Summer Games. This is a huge deal. I am not going to stay up to see who gets that 1,000th. We were thinking it would be cool if a wrestler could do it, either Andy or Jesse, but the USA team has been so successful at this Olympic Games that it would be a surprise if we didn’t blast past that 1,000 mark and go a bit beyond it tonight. As part of the USA delegation, we truly enjoy supporting the American athletes in all sports. In my mind, we should win as many gold, silver and bronze medals as possible. Since our Olympic Committee is not funded by our federal government, its support comes from donations and sponsorships, meaning that all Americans are involved when Americans win an Olympic medal. It is truly the Olympic team of the people, and everybody shares in that success. Go Team USA.

I can’t wait until morning to see wrestlers up on the mat, and the first whistles blown for the 2016 Rio Olympic wrestling competition.

Friday, August 12 – Greco meets the press and Tucci gets a heartwarming honor

Sometimes I think I must be crazy even considering an Olympics blog. Friday was one of those days. This blog is being written Saturday morning, because there was no time available and no gas in the tank to finish this on time. Expect shorter blogs now that we are going into the wrestling competition.

Friday started with a revelation. We have been here almost a week at the Ibis, and there is a dining area. I assumed that people were paying for breakfast, so we would go without or pick something up when we are out and about. So when Richard and I went to try to pay for a breakfast, they looked at us like we are crazy. Apparently it is complimentary with the room, and we just have to sign for it. Oh well.

Went to the Main Press Center for the Greco-Roman press conference, which was literally only 24 hours after the team’s arrival. The decision was for the team to come from Lonier, and the vehicle did not have extra room, so we met Coach Matt Lindland and the four athletes at the MPC. The van picking them up was 30 minutes late, but at least the driver was good, because they arrived early for the presser and our schedule held up. A lot of the wrestling press was around today, like Shane Sparks of Track Wrestling and Bryan Van Kley of WIN magazine, along with our great photographers.

I asked Richard to run this press conference while I did the video. Doing these pressers just makes you better when you have to do them any other time. Richard was prepared, asked each guy one question, opened it up for public questions and then allowed time for one-on-ones. Although their presser was way late in the Games, each athlete had at least one hometown media there. And just like the other two teams, our Greco athletes hit a homerun. Quite proud of them too, especially since Saturday is weighin day for Jesse and Andy.

After finishing off a story on the press conference, I headed back to the Ibis Hotel to meet photographer Larry Slater. We were off to the “Wrestling House” where they held the UWW Hall of Fame ceremonies. Here in Rio, taking ubers is a better option than cabs. I have the app on my phone, but I don’t know how to use it. Richard Immel has ordered all of our ubers. Larry, of course, didn’t know either, so we actually asked a young person at the hotel desk to help us set the destination. In fairly short order, our Uber ride appeared and we were taken off to our destination. UWW created a “Wrestling House” for the first time, a nice little resort on the water where wrestling people can socialize all week. Great idea UWW. There were big photos of great wrestlers all over, including a huge cutout of Dave Schultz, where many people had their pictures taken.

There are four U.S. people being inducted this year, but three of them are deceased. Nancy Schultz Vitangeli, who is a good friend, came to receive the award on behalf of the late, great Dave Schultz. She was with her husband and Dan Chaid and his wife. There was no family there for the late Bill Farrell, who was represented by Freestyle Team Leader Andy Barth, who was a longtime New York AC member, and USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender accepted for the late Joe Scalzo.

Then there was Rick Tucci, our legendary referee who was being honored in the officials category. Everybody knows Rick Tucci. Everybody likes Rick Tucci. Besides being an outstanding official, Tucci was very fair, and really knows how to treat other people. So when it was time for his award, the people in attendance gave him the longest and most heartfelt standing ovation I have ever seen for a Hall of Fame inductee. It wasn’t just the Americans. It was everybody. And after his presentation, there must have been 100 different photos taken of Tucci with different groups of friends. I got into one of the pictures with the USA crowd, but Tucci had groups from many different nations who wanted a selfie with him. It was absolutely wonderful.

After the dinner ended, we asked Nancy to help us reset the Uber and we were able to get to the hotel by 10:00. It took a few hours, almost until 1 a.m., for me to finish the article on the UWW Hall of Fame, but I wanted to get the story up before bed. I hit the wall, decided to skip my blog, and crashed. That is why this is going up Saturday morning. With the first weighins today, expect shorter blogs from now on.

Thursday, August 11 – Greco arrives in Rio and Kayla Harrison’s historic gold medal effort

Another full day on the schedule today, beginning with the open workout for the media with the men’s freestyle team at the Lonier HPTC. A number of outlets, mostly television networks, came to practice in the morning to film and interview some of our athletes. Richard and I got an early uber out to Lonier, and spent a full morning helping the media get some video, talk with some athletes and coaches and capture the atmosphere at our world-class training facility.

After a nice lunch at the cafeteria at Lonier, where the food is created by the regular cooks from the U.S. Olympic Training Center, I went on a scouting mission. We were discussing the plan for Friday’s Greco-Roman press conference this morning, trying to determine if we wanted to bring the team in to the Main Press Center from Lonier or from the Village. In order to be helpful in the process, I decided to go through the transportation system which connects these locations.

One of the crews at the freestyle open practice was with Athletes In Action, and accompanying the group was longtime wrestling friend Carl Dambman. He helps with this AIA project, but is also working the Olympics as a chaplain in the Athlete Village. Carl goes way back as a great supporter of USA Wrestling and international wrestling, and has lent a helping hand at many places all over the world. It was nice to have him at the open practice.

He was heading down to the village for his chaplain duties, and we went together on the shuttle that the USOC runs from Lonier to the Village. Because he had been doing his ministry in the Village since the Games opened, Carl knew where everything was there. He showed me where to check in and get my day pass, how to get to the area where the athletes were housed, and joined me as we went into the housing unit where Team USA was located. It was my quest to catch up with the Greco-Roman team, which had just arrived in Rio this morning. It was a blessing that he spent the time to help me find my way around there.

The first Greco-Roman person I ran into was Team Leader Kiki Kelley, who had been there since Opening Ceremonies, where she was able to walk with Team USA into the Olympic stadium. Kiki, a wonderful person who has done so much for our program, told me all about the special experiences she had being with the USA wrestlers in Opening Ceremonies. Ultimately, I also found National Coach Matt Lindland and trainer Rod Rodriguez. I also found Robby Smith and Andy Bisek getting a message to work out some of the kinks from their long flight from the USA. The team had a meeting with the USOC staff at the Village, and I was able to snap a photo of Lindland and the athletes before they went in for their briefing.

Next, I found the bus which take people from the Village to the Main Press Center. One of my other goals was to check out the Carioca 2 Arena, which is currently hosting the judo competition. Wrestling takes over the building on Saturday, when we have our first weigh-in for Greco. I wanted to see how the venue was laid out and what the press operations were like, but I also wanted to see American Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison in action again.

Rewind back to the London Games, and I was able to run over to the judo event to see Harrison win her gold medal then. She was the first American to win a judo gold medal, and she had reached the semifinals at her weight class here in London. I ran into photographers John and Anne Sachs near the Main Press Center, and we jumped a bus and got into the venue prior to the start of the final session.

My connection to the sport goes back to when I was the USOC press officer for judo at the 2000 Olympic Games, a team which featured some great people like Jimmy Pedro, Sandra Bacher, Hillary Wolf (now Saba) and others. Pedro, who I actually knew when I was a coach in Massachusetts and he was a star high school wrestler, was an EIWA champion at Brown in wrestling. Judo was his best sport and he became the top judo star in our nation, winning two Olympic medals and a World title. I covered his career as an athlete and wrote it up for our website, because of his close connection to wrestling.

Pedro has now become a wildly successful judo coach, and Kayla Harrison is one of his students. I interviewed Jimmy and Kayla after her big win in London, and I was hoping to do the same thing again in Rio. Harrison won her semifinal match, and got into the finals match against a strong French girl. Ahead in a close match, Harrison scored an ippon in the closing seconds to win her second Olympic title.

I went down to the Mixed Zone and got a quick interview with Jimmy, who recognized me among the other journalists. Then we had a few seconds to talk to Kayla before they whisked her away for medal ceremonies. I went back to the Main Press Center to work a bit, then decided to attend Kayla’s press conference there, which is part of the USOC Managing Victory tour. I filmed the entire press conference, asked another question of Jimmy about Kayla, and got them to pose for a picture together. I was able to piece together a feature article on Jimmy and Kayla, which we made the lead story for the day on TheMat.com. Jimmy is still very active in wrestling, has a son who is a talented wrestler, and coaches wrestling in addition to judo back in Massachusetts.

I had a tear in my eyes after the press conference. Part of it was because I was so happy for Jimmy, who is truly a classy and impressive person, but also because of the amazing person that Kayla Harrison is. She was saying some things about being a woman in combat sports, and how she wants to be a role model for other young girls who can be confident and strong and successful in life. These are the kind of things that our women wrestlers talk about and stand for. The message that Kayla was giving was the same message that Adeline Gray, Helen Maroulis and our other top wrestlers also include in their interviews. It was a tiring day, but a very good one, and the wrestling action is only a few days away.

Wednesday, August 10 – I’m so incredibly proud of our Olympic wrestlers today

On paper, today was destined to be one of the busiest days of the Olympics for our Communications staff. We had a Jordan Burroughs appearance on the TODAY show, a combined Main Press Center press conference with our men’s and women’s freestyle teams, and an open media practice with our women’s freestyle wrestlers. I expected it to be busy and hectic, and I was absolutely 100% correct. What I came away with on a crazy day was that no matter what, I continue to be so very proud of our wrestlers and feel blessed to work with them.

I had to get up way early to get out to the Lonier training facility to meet up with Jordan Burroughs for the TODAY Show shoot. They scheduled a 7:15 a.m. pickup for Jordan, who was accompanied by his coaches Mark Manning and Bryan Snyder and his workout partner Robert Kokesh. Since NBC was sending a van, National Coach Brandon Slay hitched a ride with us in order to meet up with a friend down near Copacabana Beach, right near where the TODAY Show set was located.

We had a miscommunication which could have been a disaster. A car pulled up, an SUV, and we asked if they were from NBC. The Brazilian driver said yes, NBC. It was too small for our group, but Brandon and I sat in the way back and we got in. As we left Lonier and were a block away, Jordan Burroughs was riding shotgun and said, ‘Hey, an NBC van just passed us.” I got the driver to stop and asked him, “NBC? Today Show? Copacabana?” He said, “No. MPC.” This guy was taking us to the MPC (Main Press Center), not NBC. We turned back around, found the NBC van (which was late) still going through Lonier security, jumped in the big, roomy van, and headed off to the TODAY set.

The drive down to Leme (which is on the far side of Copacabana) was nice, with some fantastic views of the ocean and the world-famous Rio beaches. The only problem was that today was a very rainy day. We were all joking that we get the chance to go to the beach, and it could be the only day that it rains here. Even though it was gloomy, the beauty of Rio was still very apparent.

So, we arrived early as planned for the TODAY Show, and they took Jordan into the Green Room, where the guests wait until they go on the air. There were a bunch of medal winning swimmers from the night before, along with the new Olympic silver medalist in judo, Travis Stevens. We had a nice time visiting with people, some who knew Jordan and wanted to visit with him. They took him off for makeup, and the next thing you know, it was time for him to do his interview.

They decided to do the interview outside in the windy, rainy weather. Jordan was out there with Al Roker, Matt Lauer, Hoda Kotb and Natalie Morales, with the ocean in the background. There was a photographer that we know on the TODAY set, Harry How from Los Angeles, who was taking pictures of the show, and we followed him right onto the set, only a few feet away from Jordan and the hosts. The interview went incredibly well. Jordan was very relaxed, and instead of it sounding like an interview, it was like he was just talking with a bunch of old friends. He represented himself and the sport so very well, and all I could think of was how proud I am of him. When Jordan came off the set, he told me that is was exactly four years after the day when he won his Olympic gold medal in London, which was August 10, 2012.

NBC (yes the right van) drove Jordan and I back to the Main Press Center (this time we wanted to go there). We met up with the men’s and women’s freestyle teams, coaches and Team Leaders, who came down from Lonier in a few vans. Because of scheduling, we decided to do the men and women together this Olympics. Usually, I have had a separate press conference for each style.

We started with the women, did a quick one-question for each athlete and coach, then opened up for question. Next up were the men, who also answered one question, then took questions from journalists. We concluded the presser with one-on-one time, and every athlete had a few journalists talk to them, some from their hometowns, and others from some of the national media.

The athletes, every single one of them, knocked it out of the park. They answered my questions with well-spoken answers and were friendly and funny and interesting. When they had questions thrown at them which might have been a little unexpected, they handled them very well, saying the right things in a positive way. Some of the athletes may not enjoy doing interviews, but the press would never know it. Once again, all I could think of was how proud I am of these young people.

It wasn’t just me. A bunch of the journalists came up to Richard and I and thanked us for a good presser. There was one journalist who has been attending all of the MPC press conferences who told us that the wrestlers did the best job of all the athletes. Hours later, when I was able to check emails, I got some messages from journalists who thanked us for the press conference and said it was excellent. And what made it excellent were our athletes, no doubt about it.

We were not done. Coach Terry Steiner agreed to let some media come to the women’s practice this afternoon, and we had about six different TV crews there. They each had different interests, but we were able to help them get what they needed. One of the crews ended up asking Adeline to try to crush a watermelon, because they had seen a wrestler do it on the internet. (I was not aware of that, but when I asked some wrestlers, they said it was Zain Retherford who did the video of a crushed watermelon). Adeline ended up smashing a watermelon for their clip and did it with great humor. Once again, I felt proud of our athletes and coaches and felt very appreciative of what they all do to help promote their sport.

Richard and I are finishing up our work here at Lonier before heading back to our hotel. We have to come back early tomorrow morning, because Coach Burnett is allowing us to bring some media to their practice. On Friday, we have a Greco-Roman press conference at the Main Press Center. Then on Saturday, the first set of Greco guys weigh in and on Sunday, we are into the competition. Today was busy and tiring, but after two days of trying to find out where everything is, it finally felt like we were at the Olympics.

Tuesday, August 9 - Amazing practice facility at Lonier where U.S. wrestlers are preparing

We got up early today to head over to the Lonier High Performance Training Center, a facility where the USOC set up a first-class complex for wrestlers, fencers, archers and taekwondo athletes. We have been hearing great things about this facility, and we wanted to make sure we checked it out and got down our transportation plan for going there with the media.

Richard Immel got us an uber, which was the recommended way to get to Lonier, and everything went well. The police have closed some roads surrounding the Olympic Park, so the driver was forced to do a detour or two, but we got there in a reasonable time frame and ahead of schedule.

Lonier is tucked away in the corner of a valley at the end of a road, right next to some good sized foothills. It was a beautiful setting for sure. But what makes it more beautiful is the amazing training setup that the USOC set up for these Olympians to train. The buildings were separated like a small college campus, where you could easily walk from the dorms to the offices to the gyms to the cafeteria in no time at all.

Everything you wanted to prepare for wrestling was there. We had a gym with three mats just for wrestling, right next to a fencing gym. Also in that complex was a full weight-training area. There is a sauna there for the athletes, and if they wanted to cool down afterwards, there was a swimming pool right outside. Ideal for preparation.

We met wrestling photographer Tony Rotundo up at the practice site for a freestyle workout. Coach Burnett split the group in two, based upon when they will be wrestling in the day. Frank Molinaro and Kyle Snyder wrestle earliest, because they wrestle on the last day, and they moved up the schedule due to Closing Ceremonies. The other four guys will wrestle on a normal schedule for the rest of the tournament, with a 10:00 a.m. start in the first session.

After they completed their wrestling for the morning, I was able to interview four of the men’s freestylers for a video we posted on YouTube: Frank Molinaro, Jordan Burroughs, J’den Cox and Kyle Snyder. Two of the women did an individual workout in the morning and we were able to interview them: Haley Augello and Elena Pirozhkova. Richard did some neat things with Facebook Live and Periscope during the practice as well.

It was a big day for Frank and his family, because while he was away, his wife gave birth to a new son, who is named Frank, back home in the States. Frank was very excited and grateful when he talked about his new boy during our interview, and after practice, he went on social media to tell the world about baby Frank’s birth.

There are two big projects that I was working on during the time we were at Lonier and for the rest of the day. We have four media opportunities prior to the competition. On Wednesday, we will have a press conference in the Main Press Center for the men and women freestylers at 12 noon. Later in the afternoon, at 4:00 p.m., we will allow media at a women’s workout up at Lonier. Thursday morning, men’s freestyle is allowing media at their workout, and on Friday at noon, the Greco-Roman team will be holding their press conference at 12 noon at the Main Press Center. I confirmed things with the coaches and all the people on the USOC side, and then we had to publicize it to the media at the Games.

Also, we were able to confirm that Jordan Burroughs will be a guest on the TODAY show tomorrow morning, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. I will go down to TODAY with Jordan, and then we will head back to the Main Press Center for the noon presser. Richard will accompany the rest of the teams from Lonier to the Main Press Center for the press conference. After we finish the presser, we have to head back to Lonier for the 4:00 p.m. open workout. It will be a busy day.

We took an Uber back to the MPC, and our driver showed up quickly. However, our destination was the Main Press Center, and because of security, the car was not able to get close to the Main Press Center. We ended up at a roadblock, and the cops made us get out of the car and take a healthy walk just to get where we needed to go. We were joking that the policeman said it would be a four minute walk, when it was closer to at least 24 minutes to actually get to where we were going.

I spend the afternoon and early evening working at the Main Press Center, which not only has great wireless and excellent company with the USOC staff and our fellow press officers, but also has cold drinks and snacks while we are working. The USA office at the MPC has a very professional setup which gives us all the tools we need to do our jobs well. (Do you see a pattern here about how the USOC does everything to support the success of the American delegation in all areas?) I got my organization act together on our press activities, and also posted the six interview videos I had from practice at Lonier.

At the USA office, there are TVs all over the place with the live feeds of the different sports venues all over the Olympics. This is a great tool for the USOC staff to keep up with the different news coming out of the events. The master of doing results updates is our long-time friend Craig Bohnert, who not only watches the events on the TVs, but gets updates from press officers in the field as well as the different online information sources. All day long, we get updates from Craig as the various American athletes compete in their Olympic events.

For instance, today while I was working on wrestling details, I was able to see the USA judo athlete Travis Stevens power his way into the finals, before losing by ippon in the finals to an opponent from Russia and taking a silver. Last Olympics in London, when Kayla Harrison reached the women’s judo finals, I was able to get over to the judo venue and actually saw her gold-medal in person. This time, I could not go, and took a short break to watch his finals match in its entirety. Stevens was trying to become the first American man to win a judo gold medal, and although he fell short in the finals, his performance was very impressive and exciting.

I also saw the last few minutes of the women’s gymnastics team competition, where the USA won the gold medal again. I also saw the beginning of the USA women’s soccer game against Colombia. The USA women were winning when I finished up my work and Richard and I headed back to the hotel for the night. For the first time this Olympics, we were able to get to our bus for the hotel, and right when we stepped on the bus, it took off immediately. We got back to the hotel and the soccer game was still on. While I was eating dinner at the hotel, a hamburger and fries, Colombia scored a goal in the closing moments of the match to steal a 2-2 tie with the favored Americans. At this time during the Games, I may be able to take a peek at how the other USA sports are doing. Once we get started in the wrestling venue, I won’t have time to see the other teams. But of course, I will be getting Craig Bohnert’s regular updates on the cell phone each and every day as things happen.

My intention was to use a Tony Rotundo practice photo with today’s blog. However, the internet in the hotel room is so slow, it is going to take up to a half-hour just to download a zip file of his practice pictures. I will put up a photo I took out at Lonier, which shows the wrestling building, the pool and the hills surrounding it. When I get a chance tonight, or in the morning, I will replace it with one of Tony’s masterpieces. (I should have downloaded the pics when I was in the press center and had great internet. Lesson learned. (The one thing about working an Olympics is that you continue to learn new lessons as you go).

Monday, August 8 – Arrival in Rio, and getting right into the thick of things quickly

Richard Immel and I have hit the ground in Rio, and although it is just day one for us, the Olympic Games are already into its third day and things are already clicking along, business as usual for many of those who have been here awhile.

As we started our travel yesterday, it seemed like wrestling has some momentum in the general public going into Rio. As Richard and I waited to board our plane in Houston, there was a TV commercial at the bar in the airport by Devry University, featuring Adeline Gray, a recent graduate who has been a spokesperson for the university. When I sat down in my seat and pulled United’s Hemispheres magazine from the pouch in front of me, there was a full-page photo of Kyle Snyder in the July edition.

We ran into a friend, Patrick Wixted from Ketchum Public Relations, who was also flying to Rio. Patrick was an account leader for Ketchum when CPOW hired his firm to help us during the Keep Olympic Wrestling campaign. His company handles the Hershey’s account, one of the big Olympic corporate sponsors, and he reminded us about a public appearance on Wednesday at the USA House that will feature Jordan Burroughs. So a few minutes later, I received a text from my wife saying she had just watched Jordan on national television in a Hershey’s commercial.

I can’t sleep on planes anymore, so I watched an excellent movie, the Big Short, and relaxed in and out of light sleep listening to playlists from the 70s and 80s. When we arrived in Rio, it was the warmest part of the day. As happens once in a while, there were some problems with my accreditation which should have been simple at the airport, but took a few hours to straighten out including a special trip to accreditation office at the Main Press Center (MPC). Thanks to Peggy Manter of the USOC for helping me get it worked out.

The drive from the airport to the MPC was quite nice, as we weaved in and out of mountains and along the seashore, with neighborhoods of buildings squeezed in between. After looking at photos of Rio for a number of years, my first time driving around the city was quite impressive. The beauty matched my hopes and expectations.

After getting my credential activated, we took a bus to our hotel, the Ibis Parque Olympico, which is not super far from the Main Press Center. As we waited for that bus, we ran into wrestling photographer Larry Slater, who gave us some pointers on transportation and indicated he was at the same hotel. We got a single room, which is nice and roomy and will be a nice crashing place when we get a chance to sleep. There was a big mall across the street, and we grabbed a late lunch at a Brazil version of Subway (not exactly the same sandwiches), bought some water and a few more electric plug adapters.

Since our day got started late, we have decided to go to the training facility at Lonier in the morning. The recommendation for us was not to take three bus rides to get there (hotel to MPC to Village to Lonier) but to order an uber, which is inexpensive and will get us there more quickly. That will be the plan for tomorrow. We did confirm that the extensive bus network does not keep to the published schedule, at least on the four bus rides we took today.

In the evening, we went back to the MPC and spent some time at the USOC Communications office, where we visited with USOC staffers like Mark Jones, Christy Cahill, Brittany Davis, Joey Maestas, Brandon Penny and others. I visited my favorite place in the USOC office, where they put up photos of every American medalist and will update those medal pictures every day of the Olympic Games. I really enjoy going in there during the Games and seeing the podium photos of every American who claims a medal, and really can’t wait to see our wrestlers join that “Wall of Fame.”

As I was taking a picture of the photo gallery of gold, silver, and bronze medalists for this column, good friend Bill Hancock photobombed my picture. Bill is one of the nicest and most talented people on earth. You probably know his name from his regular jobs. He ran the NCAA Basketball Tournament for years, then was in charge of college football’s Bowl Championship Series (BCS), and now runs college football’s Final Four, also known as the College Football Playoff. Bill runs “special media ticketing” at the games, where he handles the events where media interest is higher than available space, and helps decide who can attend those popular events from the USA. He has been doing this for the USOC for many Olympics and said that his first Olympics was back in 1984…

Another top wrestling photographer Tony Rotundo joined us for dinner at the media cafeteria, and we visited for a while before heading back to our hotel (or in Tony’s case an AirB&B apartment). I can’t wait to sleep, since I really haven’t had any rest for two straight days. Looking forward to day two.

Sunday, August 7 – Live Rio updates on Skype and starting the journey to Brazil

The USA Wrestling Board of Directors had its annual meeting at the Antlers Hilton in downtown Colorado Springs on Saturday, and there was a definite Olympic focus to much of the discussion.

One of the cool things which went on were some live Skype updates from USA Wrestling staff members on the ground in Rio de Janeiro. USA Wrestling leaders had an opportunity to see a live report from two different staff members who were already busy supporting our Olympic wrestling team.

First up was Director of Partnership Marketing Harris Kalofonos, who was reached on a balcony at the USA House in Rio de Janeiro. Harris handles USA Wrestling’s Olympic Hospitality program, which provides many people with a complete and unique Olympic Games experience. Harris has handled this project for the last few Olympic Games, and is very good at making sure that all of the needs of those he serves are met.

With a wonderful view of the beach and ocean in the background, Kalofonos explained how his project was advancing, and what it was like to be in Rio for the Olympic Games. This will be his final Olympics on the USA Wrestling staff, as he will assume his new job in Marketing with Nor’wood Development, an important firm which a strong Olympic connection in Colorado Springs. A native of Greece, Harris has brought a great international flavor to his work with our sport, and truly made a difference in building a successful corporate sponsorship program for USA Wrestling.

Next up was High Performance Manager Cody Bickley, who started his Skype call from the cafeteria at the Lonier High Performance Training Center in Rio. Lonier is the amazing training facility where wrestling and a handful of sports are doing their training prior to competing in the Olympic Games. At this time, both our men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle programs are doing their final preparation for the Olympics in Lonier.

In addition to explaining how things were going for the USA Team on the day after Opening Ceremonies, Bickley lifted up his computer and walked us around the Lonier site, taking us through the cafeteria outside to where there was a pool as well as buildings for training and housing. Much of the USA delegation will be staying at Lonier, including some coaches, training partners and administrators. In addition, many of the Olympic wrestling athletes will be housed there for some portion of their preparation for the Games.

I can’t speak for everybody who was at our Board meeting in Colorado Springs, but I enjoyed both of the live Skype reports from Rio. We got a chance to get a glimpse of what things were like for our people down in Rio, including some of the beauty there. I was able to get that small taste of what to expect when I arrive in Rio on Monday morning.

Also at the Board meeting, Associate Executive Director Les Gutches, who oversees the National Teams program at USA Wrestling, gave an update on the preparation for all three of the USA Wrestling teams who will compete in Rio. Each team had a different training schedule and plan, and Les gave specific information on how team planned for success. He explained where they went for training and competition and what was the schedule once in Brazil. He also provided background on each of the 14 U.S. Olympians in wrestling, with information on their achievements and a scouting report on each of them heading into competition. It was very well done, and once again, gave all of us some inside perspective of the process.

Things have been so busy and hectic lately, not only with Rio preparation but other important activities at USA Wrestling, that I was not able to pack for Rio until this morning, the day in which I am travelling. Luckily, my wife Patricia Fox is a master at packing, something she does for our family and also for me when I am traveling. I have a ton of stuff to bring, not only clothing, but also some work-related items. I also agreed to bring some gear with me from the city of Colorado Springs, which I promised to deliver to the Colorado Springs Gazette journalists already in Rio, columnist David Ramsey and photographer Mark Reis. Although I have travelled often as part of my job for many years, I have still not learned to pack lightly. Patricia and I loaded all of the things on a big table in our home, and then I got out of the way. She was able to get everything in two suitcases with wheels. It was an impressive effort for sure.

Patricia dropped me off at the airport and have started the journey south and east to Rio. My itinerary on United starts with a leg from Colorado Springs to Houston, then we head down directly to Rio de Janeiro from Houston. Richard Immel and I have the same itinerary and it is always good to have somebody to travel with on international trips. At the airport, we ran into one of our women’s coaches, Emma Randall, who was also travelling to Rio today but on a different airline and schedule.

Even though many of those competing and working in Rio are already there, others are still on their way. Wrestling is in the second half of the Olympic schedule, and a number of other sports will be contested near the end of the Games. We recognized a young woman in the airport wearing Team USA gear, a member of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team who lives in Colorado Springs and competes in javelin. You probably saw a large group of athletes during the Opening Ceremonies, but there will be a second wave of people still travelling there over the next few days. One of the last groups to come in will be our Greco-Roman team, which does not hit the ground until Thursday, August 11.

Our flight to Houston had a slight delay taking off, but it should not greatly affect our connection in Rio. Hopefully, I will be able to get online and post this blog update before I get on the plane to Brazil. Even though my first Olympics was in Seoul in 1988, I still get this feeling of excitement, anticipation, nervousness and wonder when I get on the airplane and start heading off to the Games. There will be a ton of work ahead of us when we get there. We already have media who are chomping at the bit to spend some time with our Olympic athletes. Every Olympics is totally different, so it really doesn’t matter what the experience was like the last time. I have also learned not to get wrapped up in how the media portrays things at the Geams. We hit the ground running on Monday, and it is really an empty canvass on which we will create a new experience.

We look forward to sharing a bit of what we are going through as the Games progress.

Friday, August 5 - Today is the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. NBC and the host broadcasting companies worldwide are bringing interesting, entertaining and inspiring images of the athletes and teams who will participate in the Rio Games.

The U.S. men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle team are part of the march of athletes going into the Olympic stadium, behind U.S. flagbearer Michael Phelps. Most of the wrestlers marching are first-time Olympians and this will for sure be a highlight of their memories of the Olympic experience.

The USA Greco-Roman team is not in Rio tonight. The team has decided to do its final training in its home facility at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. All four of the wrestlers, Jesse Thielke, Andy Bisek, Ben Provisor and Robby Smith live and train in the Springs. They will be here until August 10, fly down on August 11, do a press conference on August 12 and then start weighing in for the first day of wrestling on August 13.

Colorado Springs brands itself as Olympic City USA and there are so many people from the Springs down in Rio already, including athletes, coaches, leaders, NGB staff, USOC staff, pretty much everybody who is going to be there. The Greco-Roman Olympic Wrestling team are the last Olympians in town. And they are very cool with that. They are preparing at home, and then going on a business trip to Rio.

On Wednesday, USA Wrestling held a Media Day at Greco-Roman practice, and there was a big turnout. All three of the major local television stations were there, along with one of the radio stations and the local newspaper, the Gazette. The athletes and coaches were able to talk about their Olympic preparation so far and their goals for the Rio Games. It was a nice success.

At the start of every Olympic Games, Colorado Springs holds a Downtown Olympic Celebration, closing down Tejon Street near the U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters. The Colorado Springs Sports Corp takes a leadership role in organizing this popular event along with many others in the community. There are lots of fun things to do, and the local NBC affiliate KOAA did live coverage from the event. Included in the celebration was a torch relay, where past Olympic athletes who live in town carry a torch from the U.S. Olympic Training Center, passing it from hero to hero until it reached a stage downtown and an Olympic-style cauldron was lit.

It was already going to be a great day to celebrate wrestling, as the final Olympic hero selected to light the cauldron was Bruce Baumgartner, the four-time Olympic medalist, two-time Olympic champion and 1996 Atlanta Olympics flagbearer. Baumgartner is an officer on USA Wrestling’s Board of Directors, and is in town for the annual Board meetings. It was a perfect opportunity for one of the greatest American Olympians of all time to be part of the Olympic City USA.

When the organizers heard that the Greco-Roman Olympic Team was still in town, living, breathing Rio Olympians, they were excited to include them in the Downtown Celebration. The four Greco-Roman Olympians were asked to carry the last leg of the torch relay in the middle of downtown, wearing their official Opening Ceremony outfit which the other Olympians in Rio were wearing and displayed on the NBC broadcast. The team looked at this as their own Opening Ceremony day, a chance to celebrate the start of their Olympic Games in their hometown instead of down in Brazil.

Things went well, the Greco athletes carried the torch to the stage, Bruce Baumgartner lit the cauldron live on local NBC and everybody had a great time. There were thousands of people there to cheer them on. The USA Olympic Greco-Roman Team were treated like heroes and celebrities. They brought their coaches on the stage with them, along with the Olympic wrestlers from Korea and Algeria who are doing their training for Rio here in Colorado Springs with our team.

When the celebration was over, the Greco-Roman Olympians went to the USA Wrestling booth to sign autographs. It took a long time to get there, because so many people stopped them along the way, asking to take selfies with the wrestlers and wishing them luck. Once they got to the booth, the four U.S. Olympians signed autographs for 30 straight minutes with a long line of admirers. They were thanked and hugged and congratulated and encouraged, from people they already knew and many others they never met. When the Olympians were done with autographs, Bruce Baumgartner signed posters for another lengthy session, again with long lines of people excited to meet him. It was a good wrestling day for sure.

I had these grand ideas to try to shoot a lot of pictures and videos of this for a nice story for TheMat.com. I also wanted to do video interviews of the Greco-Roman wrestlers and Bruce. I was able to get a bunch of pictures, shoot some shaky video tape, and did one interview with Ben Provisor, who did a nice job talking about enjoying the experience. I decided a blog was a better idea than an in-depth feature. Our athletes were having a good time meeting people and enjoying their Opening Ceremony day in Colorado Springs and I didn’t want to bug them. From what I could see, our Greco team got a nice sendoff for Rio even though they did not march into Olympic stadium.

I’ll be heading to Rio on Sunday with my colleague Richard Immel. It will be my eighth Olympics and Richard’s first. We will be responsible for working with the media and with our athletes and teams and bringing the news about wrestling in Rio back to the USA Wrestling community. I am not sure I will be able to do a regular blog or not, but people seem to like them and they can be fun to write. Go Team USA.