September 24, 2000
Sydney, Olympic Village
Today's Olympic Village Headline:
U.S. Racewalker battles Australian Chess Master and
says, "Check, mate!"
Who says that the Olympics are just about flexing your
muscles? In order to be the best athlete in the
world, you need to exercise your mind as often as your
body. In an effort to prove that athleticism and
intellect do mix, I took the Olympic Chess Challenge.
While two of the world's chess grandmasters battled it
out in two short-play chess games in the Olympic
Amphitheater, I tried my best to outwit Australia's
youngest chess master. Since he is only 14 years old
and has a much younger and nimbler mind than my own, I
decided he needed some kind of handicap. The way the
tournament was set up, he had to play me and 19 other
athletes and officials at the same time. After
choosing his opening move against me, he proceeded to
make 19 other opening moves and return to my board to
answer my first move.
There were a few tense moments when I had him on the
defensive. I did get to say, "Check, mate!" to him a
couple times, but he got up a pawn late in the game
and was able to outlast me for the win. I was happy
to be one of the last players standing, though. All
those games of chess for the Lincoln High School Chess
Club finally paid off.
It was a big media event for the Australian chess
community, so I may even be featured in their monthly
newsletter or the local newspaper. Photos were taken;
interviews were given. It was all very exciting. I
think I made reference to the mental concentration it
takes to walk for four hours in a 50 kilometer event,
comparing that type of cerebral task to the rigors of
a chess match. I'm sure they were impressed.
This morning's workout was much less taxing than the
chess match, just an easy 10 kilometers at just under
8 minute per mile pace. It's nice to feel very
comfortable and smooth now that I am cutting back on
the mileage. Over the next few days, I will continue
to do some short workouts and rest up a good bit.
I rested most of the afternoon and then went into
downtown Sydney tonight for the first time. Wow!
There is a ferry that shuttles athletes from near the
Village directly to an area called The Rocks in the
heart of Sydney.
In order to get there, we passed directly beneath the
famous Sydney landmark, the Harbor Bridge. Mounted in
bright lights across the entire span of the bridge are
the five Olympic rings. It's an awesome sight,
especially cruising slowly underneath with the glow of
the city lights all around. And then, as soon as you
pass underneath the bridge, boom, there is the Opera
House lit up in blue, then gold, then red, and white
and a mosaic of colors. I've seen so many photos and
so much TV footage of the bridge and Opera House that
I expected to be disappointed when I saw the real
thing. Nope. It was really amazing.
Many of the swimmers and athletes in other sports that
have already finished were drifting into the downtown
area to celebrate and enjoy the post-competition
aspects of the Olympics. They may or may not be back
to the Village later tonight. Many of them were with
family and friends who had made the trip over from the
U.S. to see them compete.
It's gotten late and I need to get on my pre-race
schedule: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a walker
fast, faster and fastest!"
Cheers, mates!
Philip
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