Inside National Stadium for the Liu Xiang-less race
Friday, 22nd August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
I got extremely lucky about a month before the games started, when a friend of a friend sold me a pair of tickets at face value for last night's athletics (track and field) event at National Stadium in Beijing, aka the Bird's Nest.It was the night that Liu Xiang would have defended his 110-meter hurdles gold from 2004. It was supposed to be a showdown between Liu—who had been elevated to superhuman status in China over the past four years—and world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba, along with the USA's Terrence Trammell. But only Robles would run, as both Liu and Trammell had pulled out with injuries.
After Liu left the stadium rather than run his preliminary heat Monday, scores of Chinese fans reportedly headed for the exits. Given that China now had no man in the race, and no medal contenders in any of the evening's finals, attendance looked strong Thursday night, with few empty seats visible in the tk-seat stadium. The bargain basement 200-yuan tickets being sold by scalpers outside might have had something to do with it.
I took my seat in the third tier. It was my first time inside the Bird's Nest, and I have good news to report: Even up near the ceiling, the view of the track and the field is pretty good. The nosebleeds in the stadium are much better than the ones in the nearby Water Cube.
Throughout the course of the evening, it became clear that Chinese fans appreciate the stellar sprint performance that Jamaica has had this year. After Chinese athletes, it was the runners in yellow and green who got the loudest cheers.
Despite the fact that Liu was absent, it seemed that the crowd considered his race the marquee event of the evening. After it ended, the stadium began to empty quickly. Have the Chinese actually become fans of the 110-meter hurdles race or had they been holding out hope that Liu Xiang would somehow show up? Maybe they heard about the Nike conspiracy theory and thought Jacques Rogge and the IOC would step in and give Liu a spot in the final.
Though it still seemed to be the moment that many of the spectators had come to see, when Robles crossed the finish line in 12.93 seconds, he was met with the quietest applause of any of the night's gold medalists. And my enthusiastic cheers for USA runners David Payne and David Oliver, who came in second and third, were met with long looks by my neighbors.
It must have been a bitter night for Liu Xiang fans. For Team USA, it was bittersweet. America's high moment of the evening was its gold-silver-bronze sweep of the men's 400 meters. But the lows were lower than a middle school high jump bar—both the US men and women dropped the baton in their 4 X 100 meters relay preliminary heats, ending the medal hopes of these heavily favored teams. When the men dropped their baton, it seemed to give some Chinese fans a sense of relief—I distinctly heard ripples of laughter in the stadium when the moment was replayed on the jumbotron.
Tags: 110m hurdles, athletics, Beijing Olympics, Bird's Nest, Liu Xiang, National Stadium, Olympics, track and field
Liu Xiang Cruising in Beijing Test Event
Friday, 23rd May 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
With one of China's biggest stars in Liu Xiang, and one of the Beijing Olympics' most hyped venues in the Bird's Nest, this event should be pretty hard to get into. But you can try your luck with one of the ticketing outlets listed on the Good Luck Beijing Web site.
National Stadium, aka the Bird's Nest, debuted last month with the finish of the marathon and race walking test events, but this weekend's four-day track and field meet is the venue's most complex event to date. In fact, it is probably the most important test event in terms of gauging Beijing's readiness to host the Olympics in August. The homepage for this event also happens to be the best that Good Luck Beijing has produced yet, with regular results updates and a wealth of video, photo and written content.
Image: Good Luck Beijing
Tags: Bird's Nest, events, Good Luck Beijing, Liu Xiang, National Stadium, track and field