Souhan: In the great outdoors

By JIM SOUHAN, Star Tribune

Last update: August 19, 2008 - 5:07 PM

Print this story

More from Olympics

We're heading down the backstretch of the Olympics, and it's turned out to be a different experience than I expected.

Reading up on the conditions here, I expected oppressive smog, oppressive heat, lots of native Chinese spitting, lots of body odor, attempted censorship, a police state, primitive bathrooms and exotic foods, and a cowed citizenry.

Walking around a little Sunday, I realized that most of the fears were groundless. The smog was terrible the first week but has dissipated. The heat comes and goes, like in any Southern city in the United States. The Chinese have been remarkably gracious and polite, and only on a really hot day in downtown Beijing did I see a lot of spitting. (And a kid almost peed on my foot, but I'm sure that was my fault.)

The body odor has emanated mostly from European journalists in the mixed zone. There have been no overt attempts at censorship, the soldiers we see are mostly standing at attention while guarding a gate, the bathrooms are primitive outside the normal media areas, the food can be exotic (pig's blood, eel, hoof) but you can always order kung pao chicken, and the people seem lighthearted and friendly.

As one local told me, the police and soldiers are invisible unless they see a reason to crack down, and then they crack down hard.

And these Olympics changed for the better, for me, once track began. We moved out of the claustrophobic venues and into large, crowded, noisy stadiums, and these sports felt as big in person as they probably feel back home, watching on TV.

And while Michael Phelps is certainly the story of these Olympics, I'd rather watch Usain Bolt dance to the 100-meter world record, any day.

Recent Olympics stories

Vonn rides highs, lows - August 19, 2008

Vonn rides highs, lows - The Burnsville native, who won two gold medals at the world championships, will miss today’s giant slalom and might miss Saturday’s slalom after a freak injury. More