Opening the Games

Day one in Sochi. Also, the day of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony (yes, Ceremony. Not Ceremonies. There's only one.).

Fortunately, I somehow managed to avoid jet lag, maybe because I launched straight into action after a decent night's sleep. The day started with a little exploration. Sarah and I wandered around the Gorki Media Center, which happened to be right next door to our hotel.

Our hotel was an interesting saga. Contrary to the media stories making the rounds in the USA, Sarah and I were in an absolutely incredible hotel, the Marriott Krasnaya Polyana. However, we got there in a roundabout way. Originally, we were supposed to be at a hotel further up in the mountains, but it wasn't quite finished on time. Since Sarah arrived two days before me, the Organizing Committee moved her temporarily to the Marriott. After getting settled, Sarah inquired at the front desk about simply staying there for the duration of the Olympics instead of moving. They said that was fine, so the Marriott ended up being our home base!

During the course of my travel to Sochi, I received three different emails telling me to go to three different places upon arrival in Russia. Fortunately, a quick phone call with Sarah from Sochi airport solidified where exactly I was going.

Anyways, back to day one.

At Gorki Media Center, we met some stray puppies (which, incidentally, one of our athletes ended up adopting and bringing back to the USA) and familiarized ourselves with the media transport system. Probably the most convenient thing about our hotel was the fact that it was located right next door to the Gorki Media Center (GMC) and, thus, the transport hub for media. It made getting to events a piece of cake!

I was filled with a nervous anticipation all day, anxiously awaiting news as to whether or not I was going to be able to attend the Opening Ceremony. It was definitely something on my bucket list, and I desperately wanted to cross it off of my list. But, as staff, we wouldn't find out about our tickets until after the rest of the media ticket allotment had been sorted out.

Even though we weren't sure if we would be attending Opening, Sarah and I hopped on the TM10 bus down to the Coastal Cluster to attend some press conferences and explore the Main Media Center (MMC). After an hourlong bus ride, we pulled up to the gorgeous, impressive MMC building and walked in.

It was like a little village just for media. Walking down "Main Street," the primary hallway of the building, we went by a laundry room, a media lounge, a McDonald's, a food court, a small grocery store and a souvenir shop, to name a few things. And that was just the downstairs.

Upstairs, the tall ceilings were coved with glass, letting tons of natural light in. Media workrooms and private offices were in various meeting areas off the main hallway, as were large press conference rooms. Sarah and I made our way to the women's ski jumping press conference. Since the women's ski jumpers train in Park City, I know them decently well. It was exciting to hear them talk about being at the Olympics after fighting to get their sport there! It was finally happening!

And, speaking of finally happening...right after the press conference, I found out that I had a ticket to the Opening Ceremony!

After the press conference, I went back to the USOC's office in the MMC, where I ran into Lauren, my boss from my intern days at the USOC. It's always so exciting seeing old friends at various events! I greeted my good friend Brandon (also from my intern days) and a few other USOC staff members. Excitement levels were definitely high as we all began planning for our walk over to Fisht Stadium for Opening!

After some quick logistics talk (How do we get back to the mountains from Fisht? Are we coming back to the MMC first?), we set off. Tom, Margo, Amanda and I hopped on a bus and eventually made our way up to Fisht Stadium.

We got there nice and early since the media area wasn't assigned seating. We were all pretty happy to find that there was wifi in the stadium, so most of us whipped out laptops and hammered away on work while various local acts entertained the crowds waiting for the main event. We took lots of photos, too. Brandon and I took a a photo together, which was only fitting since we both started our Olympic careers as interns together four years ago! We took a USSA group shot. Everyone - even the people who had attended multiple Openings - was beyond thrilled to be there.

When the show finally got started, it was amazing. It was a little strange because the stadium was so huge that you couldn't really process everything that was happening at once. When the athletes began coming out in the Parade of Nations, a group of us were frantically counting down to see if the American athletes would walk by us (they were rotating directions with each country). Unfortunately, they didn't, but we still cheered loudly enough that they hopefully heard us!

The whole experience was a bit of a blur of excitement. I can't imagine what it must be like for the athletes when it was so amazing just for me as an audience member!

I ended up walking back to the MMC with Margo. We took a wrong turn and got a little lost, but we chalked the extra walking up to our exercise for the day. After waiting awhile, we climbed onto a very crowded bus (but managed to score seats!) and headed back up to the mountains.

As I collapsed into bed that night/morning, I was on cloud nine. I was exhausted, my body was confused by its round-the-world traveling and I knew I had to be up early in the morning. But I was also exhilarated and couldn't stop smiling.

Day one was in the books. Time to get the competitions going!