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| Jessica Lorenz |
Great Wall of China - 9/16/08 2:42:14 P |
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Had a great day. Climbed the Great Wall of China. The section we walked literally had almost 2000 steps- all of different depths and height. I was really pleased that I could walk it independently. I did the best when I used my cane and the rock face or hand rails as my guide. Gwynne, Tom and I walked together and she provided us with some great description of the scenery and of the Touraine we walked. It was pretty cool. I had to tease Gwynne a little. She is the athletic trainer for our team. For me the wall wasn't really a cardio vascular challenge to the extent it was for my two walking companions- I had to slow my pace a little bit. I had to tease Gwynne and remind her that she was the one who created my cardio vascular endurance program that included the Harvard Step test- several times a week! The step test is used in the military and allows you to test your VO2 Max.
Essentially I'd step up and down on a 20 inch high step box at a rate of thirty steps per minute for five minutes, take two minute rest and do the step test for another 5 minutes followed by another two minute recovery and a final five minutes on the box. I am very used to stepping up and down on that 20 inch step box!
I am Glad we did the wall after competition- we took our medals and got some fantastic team photos.
Next we visited the Ming Tombs. This was also very cool- even though we did not actually go inside the tombs. There were statues and ornate carvings as old as 1400 that I was able to touch- the detail on some of the animals, knights and dukes guarding the tombs was really surprising to me. How often do you get to touch history/ art that old? 600 years later the stone still holds the original details perfectly well so far as I'm concerned.
This evening and last we went to athlete receptions. Last night the reception was conducted by Voltzwagon- we were given these really cool model cars and signed the Volts wagon gold medal wall of fame.
This evening the reception was at this beautiful hotel- I am told it is the hotel where President Bush stayed during the Olympics. This reception was put on by the Paralympic Committee and featured exquisite Italian food.
Tomorrow- closing Ceremonies.
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| Author: |
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| Jessica Lorenz |
Golden Haze - 9/15/08 7:31:25 A |
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Golden Haze
What an incredible evening.
Last night USA Women beat China in the gold medal game. During pool play China went undefeated. The USA had one loss and two tie games. We were the underdog
going into this game...
We played in front of a standing room only crowd of 6000 spectators- which was rather remarkable all in and of itself! During the 96 Atlanta games the final
games attracted under 500 spectators. Think of the atmosphere of a division one basketball game- those were the competition conditions- it was lots of
fun!
No one really prepares you for the mayhem that occurs directly following a big win. Two of my teammates were immediately taken for drug testing after our
game. There is a limited amount of time to go and change into the medal attire. There were 100 or so other players from other countries who were in the
athletes section of the venue congratulating us and posing for photos. We had a press conference with the Chinese team. The press conference was full of
drama- including a protest of the game by the Chinese coach.
Those Chinese women played hard. They have really helped to raise the bar in women's goalball and I am honored to have competed against them. The venue
is state of the art and my Paralympic experience has given me a great deal of respect for the Chinese Paralympic training program. The Chinese have a
Paralympic training center that dedicates two teroflex courts exclusively to the goalball program. China's men took the gold and their women battled it
out with us last night to take the silver in their Paralympic debut
Nothing is like standing on that medal podium and hearing our national anthem play. I was keenly aware of how many people touched part of this dream. Behind every athlete is a partner, friends, family, co-workers and coaches- I happen to have the best of all of these supporting me.
One oddity with having all visually impaired people on the podium was
our challenge in finding the appropriate direction to gaze in to show the flag our respect. One of our players spotted it though- so there we were, left
hands on heart, singing along, most of us with tears in our eyes- for all the world to see that the USA has the best woman's goalball team in the world.
I believe that athletes with visual impairments challenge society because we become what many people feel is impossible. To be the best in the world at
my sport was what drove me to continue to play- and now here we are- at the top of that podium.
After the medal ceremonies I had my picture taken with several hundred strangers- everyone wanted to be in a photo with the medal and the beautiful flowers.
(I thought a lot of Chinese people how to say cheese.)
Bob, who was with the gold medal French handball team during the Olympics was only ever able to touch the medal itself for 2 seconds. I let Bob put my medal
around his neck and he took a photo with the entire team.
This entire experience has been an incredible journey.
Quite frankly, I am still in a golden haze.
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| Author: |
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| Jessica Lorenz |
Gold in hand. - 9/14/08 1:14:37 P |
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We just beat china! Won gold!!!! Thank you for your support- this is the realization of a dream that touches many.
Love, Jessie
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| Author: |
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| Jessica Lorenz |
Going to face China. - 9/14/08 1:11:56 P |
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We will battle China for gold. Shootout was done over. In May of 08 at the tournament in Malmo Sweden we went to a shoot out with China and won. This will be an excellent game!
... Traded for New Zealand and Italy pins while waiting in line at lunch this afternoon- pin trading is getting more exciting as the end of the paralympics draw near.
We play for gold this evening at 7:00. I Couldn't be more proud than I am right now. What an honor to be on this team playing for my country. Go USA! |
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