Ralph Lindeman Reports from Osaka
8/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Aug. 24, 2007
Greetings from Osaka! We moved from our "training camp" on the outskirts of Osaka into the "village" on Tuesday. Our hotel is one of five large hotels in the center city which comprise the "Athletes' Village." The competition stadium is on the other end of this huge city, a 45-minute bus ride away.
Osaka is huge -- very crowded with pedestrians and choked with traffic. There are over eight million people in the "prefecture" and over 18 million people in the metropolitan area, so it is one of the largest cities in the world. On the positive side, the people have been very welcoming and seem genuinely proud to serve us.
The stadium is spectacular -- with a lightning-fast track that may be the fastest in the world. Expect a few world records in some of the sprint and hurdles events, and maybe even a field event or two, but the oppressive heat and humidity will adversely affect performances in the distance events.
We had a team meeting tonight, our last such meeting before competition starts tomorrow. Our team is tuned and ready. We have a tremendous team of medical staff, including a team doctor, team chiropractor, massage therapists and athletic trainers, as well as a sport psychologist.
Beginning tomorrow we'll find out just what kind of team this will be. We start the meet with a few of our strongest events -- the 100-meter dash and shot put, so those should give us an early lead in the "medal count." Since the World Championships are not a "scored" meet like the Mountain West Conference or NCAA Championships are, the 'medal count' is our barometer for success. Our goal is to surpass the 25-medal count from the last World Championships in Helsinki in 2005, and to set our team up for an incredible medal output in Beijing next summer.
