Up early.  Finish packing and on the 7.30h train to the airport.  Flight at 09.50h.

Heth comes with me.  Very mixed emotions as I go through security.  I have said to heth to take every opportunity and enjoy the last week of the Olympic Games.  The problem is it’s not that easy at 37.  When you are a kid its beer and women (or men) and have fun, but at 37 that’s not really what you want to do.  I am sure heth will hook up with some other athletes, but I know she would much prefer it if I had stayed the extra week and we could have shared all the different experiences.  Her mum is there for another two day’s but then she’s on her own until leaving on the 26th.  Hope she stays busy and enjoys it.

A final hug at airport security and then its off.

Flight home un remarkable.

Arrive in London at City airport.  Baggage doesn’t!!!!!!!!

Walk out side and find works on the docklands light railway and thus no trains.

Am now sitting on the no. 463 bus to Plaistow tube station.  A completely surreal experience contrasting with where I have just come from.  I almost wish for the efficiency of the Chinese culture.
As I sit on the bus driving through some relatively poor areas of London and I can only contemplate what London 2012 will be like.  We certainly cannot match the stadiums and newness and scale of all the infra structure of Beijing….and neither we should.  London will need to be a very different games.  The bus I am sitting on has at least five different languages being spoken by a Mexican family, a couple of eastern Europeans, a Caribbean lady and a couple of white English.

In one sense I am delighted by this.  This is the cultural tolerance that Britain is extraordinarily good at.  We really should celebrate this more.   Then I remember I have just arrived home and have no baggage and am on a bus trying to get to a tube station to get home…..suddenly I like Beijing a whole lot more.

My Olympic Games experience will now be in line with everybody else…watching it on the tv.  The GB team are doing fantastically well and the weekend has brought an absolute Gold rush for us.  My heart is with heather though.  All the turmoil of the Games…the pressure of competition….the mixed emotions of disappointment and celebration and achievement…..and another competition to do and fortnight before she gets home.  Elite sport is a very tough mistress.

Being the person I am, my thoughts are already turning to what we need to do over the next four years if she wishes to continue paddling….but it isn’t my call.

The people in the UK sporting system who lied, who removed Heather from funding in 2005 and who said…and I quote….”Heather Corrie will never make an Olympic Games”………..I’m tempted to take an opportunity to say something, however Heather’s performance is far to good to sully with petty vindictive comments…….……but boy is my smile wide!

Weary, I finally arrive home at 21.00h.

Final thought and reflections….

I continue to be a romantic about the value, the emotion and the experience of the Olympic Games and sport….I just love it.

The key to success for all of us world wide is undoubtedly tolerance.  London is very different to Beijing.   I cannot agree with big chunks of the Chinese state, but the people are pretty awesome and capitalism, Chinese style, is alive and kicking and I am really glad there is space in the world for all of us.

Thanks to everyone for taking part in this diary in the spirit with which it was meant.

Heather and I really appreciate all your support.  I am sure I am  going to miss some people out, and if I do I am really sorry….and tired…… but everyone here has helped us in some way directly related to the Olympics.

To Heather’s Mum…..thanks….you were really fantastic.
To Andy (heth’s brother) and Michael (her cousin) …for making it all the way to beijing
Doug our masseur
My brother
Maggie………thanks
Lisa and Mel and the kids in Augsburg who helped us so much
All my staff who make it possible for me to be away from my office
My business partner, Paul…for everything
All of our clients and friends
Everyone in the US who made it possible for us
To Peak and to Immersion Research
To zigzag for making the boats
Everyone at Loughborough where we train so regularly
Millie…our dog….(died in November last year but was absolutely part of the team).
To all of our neighbours and especially lucky monkey
To everyone who sent us so many supportive emails and text messages

Thank you       Thank you    Thank you.

PS        Maybe we’ll all do this again in four years time in London….what do you think eh!!!!!!!!

Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

The morning after the day before.  We wake up in the IBIS Hotel in Beijing.

Breakfast with Heather’s mum and cousin.

We decide to spend the day as tourists and then we have tickets to the Birds nest tonight for the Men’s 100m final.
Heather is still swinging between disappointment and contentment.  It will take time to look back and be happy with everything, but the more people that contact us and congratulate her, the more the realisation that coming 8th in the Olympic final is pretty awesome.

We still don’t really get any time to ourselves and with me leaving early tomorrow and a late night tonight at the athletics, it is going to be another fortnight before we really get to talk about the performance.  Heather will travel back to the US to compete in the final competition of the season, the US nationals at the end of August.  She won this last year and it is good for a few reasons for her to make the effort to go.   Firstly we both think it is good as the only US representative, to be seen at the US trials and second it means that the possibility of heather continuing is still in everyone’s mind.  Whether or not she decides to is another matter.

It’s a tough end to the season as with two boats, paddle bags, and at least five pieces of luggage, she has to get herself from Washington to the course at Wisp and then travel home, for which she won’t have any support.  This doesn’t sound like much, but with two boats and so much luggage it will be a nightmare.  However we both felt it was the right thing to do….so no coming home yet.  I know this is all Heather now wants to do.

Anyway, we spend the lunchtime and afternoon shopping at Wangfujing road….basically oxford street in Beijing.  We buy a few bits and pieces and then head back for the hotel for a quick rest and then on to the 100m final.

This is my first time to the Olympic Park.  Security is tight but easy if that makes sense.  As we arrive in the Olympic park, we catch the end of a Disney style parade and then slowly wander towards the stadiums.  The birds nest and the blue bubble are truly magnificent.  I feel excited and just want to get inside.  Once again I seem to be part of the novelty and pose for at least half a dozen photo’s.  I always wonder what they say when they show them to people……”here is a photo of an incredibly tall person”……..who know’s.

Anyway I have learned to live with it and take it all in good humour.  We are all taking lots of photo’s but of each other and the stadiums, rather than “novelty people!!!!”.

We climb what seems like a mountain of stairs.  The tickets I have are way up in the gods on the opposite side of the stadium to the 100m start.  We finally get inside the main stadium.  Wow.  All I want to do is get my kit on and compete.  It’s fantastic.  The stadium fills during the evening and builds towards a fantastic crescendo with the men’s 100m final.

The stadium is absolutely full and the atmosphere crackling.   The gun goes and I can’t take my eye of Bolt.  As he crosses the line and I see the time, all I can do, with hands on head is shout “oh my god….oh my god…….that’s awesome”.  I have just witnessed one of the truly great sporting moments in history. 9.69 seconds off an average start, show boating over the last 15m and still 9.69s.  Unbelievable.

We leave the stadium and have to walk for ages to get far enough away from the stadium to find an empty taxi.  We arrive back at our hotel at midnight and settle down for a final beer.  Bed at 1 O’clock and I have to be up by 5.30h to pack and get to the airport.

A great final day of sporting “grand occasion”…..and still heth and I have not really had time to talk about the performance….in one way that’s probably quite good.  I know Heth is not looking forward to me leaving and especially as she will not get home for another fortnight.

I am also sad and happy because tomorrow will be my last diary day in Beijing.

Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

An absolutely glorious morning meets us when we wake up.  Feels like a good day to perform.

We prepare in exactly the same way as we have done for the last few days and in fact exactly the same way as we have done for the last few years.
We arrive at the course by taxi and this is where we separate for about 90 minutes.  Heth goes and does her pre-warm on the water and walks the course with Sylvan, the US coach.

We meet up an hour before her run time as normal and we prepare for the semi-final run.

The course is a tough one with gates 3,4,5,6 being the particularly difficult sequence.  The approach is slightly different to the qualifiers.  This is not just about a steady safe run like the qualifying round.  This is now a race….but not stupid….a sensible considered race.

As 6th boat off, of the 15 qualifiers, If Heather is leading after her run, then she is definately in the final.  The first run down is a very careful clean run by the Japanese girl in 107s.  I figure that this means the pace will have to be about 100 if Heather is to challenge for a medal.  My view quickly changes as the next couple of paddlers come down.  It was carnage with a couple of people missing gates and getting 50 point penalties.

Heathers run arrives.  I am actually pretty nervous as I know this is the run that will decide a) whether she makes the final and b) whether she has a chance of a medal.

Her face appears on the big screen as they announce her.  She starts well and her approach to gate three is fantastic, gate 4 goes well but as she turns in to gate five, she doesn’t get round quite enough and the boat is in trouble.  She is off line going through the stopper and cannot get back to gate 6.  She misses it and has to loop round to get it.  This probably costs us 7 seconds in running time.  A touch later means another 2 second penalty.  She reaches the bottom with a 114s run putting her in second place with 10 still to go.

Fortunately we do not have to wait long for someone to get another 50 and finish behind her (don’t like wishing bad things to competitors but hey I’m biased…sorry).  Heather now definitely in the final.   The course is proving incredibly difficult and a couple of the top favourites also get 50 second penalties and don’t make it to the final.  Heth is eventually 8th after first runs.   Absolutely awesome.  I’m ecstatic but I think that Heth will actually be a bit disappointed.   The leading times are pretty quick but anything is possible with second runs.

We have a very short time between runs and Heather is really late getting back to me before the final.  Turns out all the athletes were held after their runs.  We don’t really know why and suspect this might have been to help the Chinese athlete who was one of the last down in the semi final and would have had less time to recover than the early athletes.  The Chinese athlete gets a 50 second penalty and doesn’t make it to the final.

Heth is disappointed.  She knew that a medal position was on after the first run.  My “half time talk” is one of….relax and enjoy and anything can happen.  By the time she leaves for the second run I am more confident that she is feeling better about the possibilities.

Heth returns to the water for her final run.  She knows she needs to put a perfect run down if there is to be any chance of snatching a medal from this far back.

The paddlers go in reverse order in the final so Heather is third boat down.  I am for the first time in months, totally calm about this run.  Whatever happens, I know in hindsight that Heth will be delighted that she made the final of the Olympic Games…..everything else will be a bonus. I know she won’t feel like that straight away, particularly if she has a bad run……..but she is now an Olympic Finallist….a massive achievement.  6 World team medals means nothing without the additional……”and I’m also an Olympian”.  It perfectly rounds off her career…..the itch will finally have been scratched.

Again she starts well, but again gate 5 – 6 causes a problem and, rarely for Heth, she rolls the boat between 5 and 6.  As she said afterwards, “suddenly I was upside down and all I could see was blue and I thought what am I doing seeing blue on my Olympic final run”.  She recovers instantly and this time makes it to gate 6.

The rest of the run is good and she posts a 104 second run…….but oh no.  The judges give her a 50 second penalty at gate 5,….indicating that she didn’t pass fully between the poles.  There is nothing we can do until the end of the competition.  Heather’s total running time is a 155s giving her a total of 269s for the 2 runs.  Genuinely neither Heather or I think she got a 50….and we would say if we thought she had.

The rest of the racers come down and Heather’s time eventually places her 8th in the final.  Once again a number of the top paddlers have difficulty with 50 second penalties.  Only the eventual winner, Kaliska, has two perfect runs with no difficulties and ends up winning the Gold by 15 seconds.  Even with the 50 removed, Heth would have only been 5th, so appealing the penalty didn’t carry much conviction…..8th to 5th…..doesn’t really matter….only medals would have made the appeal worth while.

An hour after the run we finally meet up with Heather.  I give her a huge hug and congratulate her.  She has very mixed emotions….delighted with 8th in the final of the Olympic Games, …..but also disappointed as Silver or Bronze was there for the taking.  Almost instant swings of mood between wanting to do it all again for London 2012 and retirement.  I think we’ll wait a bit before even contemplating any discussions.  No time to stop and review everything though.

Unfortunately the work doesn’t stop.  We meet up with Heathers mum, cousin and brother who came out to watch.  We now have a bunch of photo’s to take in order to get some shots in different kit, in order to thank the kit suppliers that have helped us, as this is the last time we will be at the course.  This takes about half an hour and we eventually start to make our way back to the hotel.  Get some great photo’s though.

We now have to check out of the hotel and get in to Beijing and check in to another hotel.  We have more bags than we know what to do with and are very grateful for the help of the family.

Finally at 21.00h we get 5 minutes to ourselves after checking in to the hotel in Beijing.  Literally only 5 minute though as we then have to go out to dinner with everyone.  Finally midnight and we clamber in to bed together too tired to chat and start to share the emotions of the past days weeks and years, happy to just to sleep without any nerves or pressure the next day.

It is a really strange feeling immediately after your event ends at an Olympic Games or other major championships.  I have experienced this a number of times and at least have been able to chat through this and prepare for it.

Anyway the race is over….we reached the hotel and we are exhausted.  Time for bed and we can start to think about things and reflect tomorrow.

A fantastic achievement coming 8th at the Olympic Games.   Disappointment at what might have been.   Fantastic support from the family members that travelled all this way to support and all the people that have helped us…………and all I can think is that now I am only the second best Olympian in our household!!!!!!!!!!!

Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

All revved up and no place to paddle.  What a day.

Went through our routine.  Heather was on the water in the warm up.  The C2 class had already completed their first runs.  The weather was bad with a lot of rain and then….lightning…….and the loudest bang of thunder I have ever heard.    It sounded like the biggest cannon in the world going off.  Un believable.  The athletes were pulled off the water and the ladies K1 was initially delayed by 30 minutes.  The rain kept coming and the sky showed no signs of getting any brighter.

Another 30 minute delay was announced. Heth rang me on the phone and we chatted about our strategy to deal with the delays and the uncertainty.

Then the announcement….race postponed until tomorrow.

This in itself doesn’t sound that bad until you realise the logistics.  We are only booked in to the hotel until tonight.  I have accreditation that runs out
Tomorrow.   The US coaches have accreditation that runs out at 09.00h tomorrow and is due to be transferred to the sprint paddler coaches that are moving in to our hotel tomorrow.  Dinner tickets, tickets for the venue….etc. etc.    I’ve got tickets for the swimming final tomorrow morning…which cost me a small fortune and now I can’t go….arghhh.  Anyway this is where the management earn their corn.

All is well sorted before we even get back to the hotel.  We can stay tomorrow night if we wish or we can pack up and leave in the evening after the race and staff will stay to assist us and we can leave baggage at the hotel.  Heather is the only USA interest left in the race and fair play to them, they are making sure we are looked after.

I understand that some of my US friends got up at 2 In the morning to watch the race live….thanks for the support guys….really appreciated and sorry to put you through it all again tomorrow.,

The timetable for tomorrow is that Heather will be on for her semi final run at 15.12h China time.  The final, if she makes top 10, will be about an hour later.  The time is dependant on where exactly she is in the top 10 if she makes it.

So we are now in uncharted waters.  I have never known an Olympic final to be cancelled before.  We have to calm ourselves and then build up again tomorrow.  We have just spent the evening with Heather’s mum, brother and cousin, which was actually a good distraction tonight after all the ups and downs of the day.  10.00pm China time.  Once again I am having my evening relaxing beer, watching the table tennis……..to my friends and team mates at Unicorns….I think we could show them a thing or two eh!!!!!!!!!!

We all got absolutely soaked….wet through to the skin.  All our kit is drying on the balcony……and I’m very worried about the state of my Highland Cup golf hat……….Once again to my Highland Cup golfing friends….hat or no hat….I’m bringing game……Really going to enjoy the Ryder Cup…..and all the gloating afterwards!!!

Off to bed soon. Same basic timetable as yesterday.  Heather handling it all pretty well….but we need to make sure the fire in the belly is there again tomorrow.  We had it right today……let’s hope we can repeat it.

By the way…don’t tell anyone….but it’s my birthday today.     Happy birthday me……but save any best wishes and pass them on all on to Heth.
Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

Yes Yes YES YES.

You have now shared in my first proper celebration since Heather came 10th and made the semi-final.  My job in front of Heather is always to keep game face and to immediately move the focus to tomorrow, but inside I am so so so happy.  Would love to share a beer or two with a few of you right now…but alas that will have to wait.

Everything went exactly to our game plan.  2 good solid steady runs.  Nothing fancy, be very sure of the gates (the judging out here has been very harsh with even a slight doubt getting a 50 second penalty), do everything in the middle and don’t panic if you get a touch as one or two will not make a difference on this course.

First run down was a solid 105 and kept the lead for a while.  12th place after first runs.

We go through our routine again and a solid second run gives us a total of 211.  I know this is in and am really happy.  Really pleased that we moved up to 10th as this is what we need to be after 1 run tomorrow, in order to make the final.

Heather had a touch in each run, but basically everything went exactly to plan.

We overcame all the difficulties of having no accreditation and having to warm up in a public zone, the heat……. everything.  We used wet towels throughout to keep Heather cool and I protected “the bubble” around us, for the 30 minutes or so we were in the public zone.

A couple of strong paddlers didn’t make it as they got a 50 second penalty.

Tomorrow we have to take a different approach.  Everything starts from fresh tomorrow and the 15 paddlers go in reverse order, so Heather will be 6th boat off at 15.47 Chinese time.  If she is in the top 10 after this run, the final starts at 17.12h Chinese time.

We have to take a more aggressive approach tomorrow.  We paddled to qualify today and took it very steady and very safe.  Tomorrow we have to race and the first run has to be perfect for us to go through to the final.  The course suits us better tomorrow as it is more technical and the times should come back to us a bit and we should be a bit faster.

Thank you for all the text messages and emails congratulating Heather.  I have read most of them out to her….and thanks to Maggie who also congratulated the coach!!!!!!!!!!

I need a favour off a few of you, probably best done in my office please.  Could someone print out a couple of copies of today’s results for me on a decent piece of paper.  I cannot print out here and would like a record of the results.  If I end up with a few of them, not to worry.  THANK YOU.  Same again tomorrow as well.  The results are on the main Beijing 2008 website under schedules and results.  Just click on the canoe slalom date and you will see the results header for the various runs.  Please print all.  Thank you.

JOSIE; If my Accor card number has arrived could you please text and or email it to me.  Thanks.  If not, don’t worry.

Anyway it is now 21.35h and we are back in our room.  We have watched video of tomorrow’s course and decided upon our lines and game plan.  I have tomorrow’s timetable to do and then we are done.  Roughly speaking it will look like this:

09.00h breakfast

11.00h  pre-warm at hotel

12.00h  shower and then light lunch

12.50h  final kit check

13.00h  leave hotel

13.35h  water pre-warm at course

13.55h  Heather walks course with Sylvan (the US coach)

14.10    rest in cold room

14.35h  meet me in public zone.

14.45h  warm up

15.20h  meet Sylvan and get escorted through to water

15.30    on water

15.47    first run – semi final

You will have a good idea if Heather has made the final almost immediately, as she is boat 10 of 15.  She is 6th boat off (as they start in reverse order). So if she is in the lead immediately after her run ends, then she is definitely in the top 10.  If she is second or third, she has a chance of making the top 10.  If she is 4 – 6th then she is unlikely to make it.

Heather wanted an ice bath tonight as she is a bit sore and feeling a bit heavy armed.  What a hassle.  They would not give us any ice in the hotel as they have been told not to, for fear of an athlete eating the ice.  This is because every hotel has been told not to feed Olympic athletes outside of the village or official hotels, for fear of being accused of introducing drugs to the athlete.  After battling, the hotel insist on three people, including a manager, coming to the room to see the ice poured in to the bath.  What a laugh.  Anyway we got it done and Heather got her ice bath.

I saw Heather’s mum arrive before the start of the race and knew we made the right decision about not seeing anybody.  She looked really ashen with nerves.

After the race, we met up with Heather’s mum, brother and cousin, and she had definitely been crying.  As I said in a previous entry, I do feel for the family as they don’t really have any coping mechanism for the pressure.   Heather’s mum was really happy and I have to say I was chuffed to bits for her.  I only feel a bit sorry as we will put her through it all again tomorrow….but all for the right reasons.  (Don’t worry Jess…we are all looking after her).

So we’re still in the game with everything to play for.  Thanks to everyone who has helped us and supported us in every way.  Today it all paid off and Heather was in the top 10 at the Olympic Games.  Let’s hope she can do the same again tomorrow after first runs and if she does…then who knows.

I am now completely content……obviously not as far as Heather is concerned though……..and everything from here on in is a bonus.

Thanks and…….YYYEEEESSSSSSSSSS.
Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

Here we go then.

We have just finished our pre-warm up at the hotel.  Time is 11.50h.  Heth is very sharp and very adrenalised.  Pre-warm was good to get the shaky adrenalin out of the system.  Heth showering and then we go for a light lunch.  Off to the course at 13.00h to start all our pre-race preparations.  A water pre-warm at 13.40h.  Walk the course just to get it all in mind once more and then rest for 40 minutes.

Main warm up starts at 15.00h.  On to the water at 15.35h and then first run at 15.52h.

Will write part 2 of this entry after today’s racing so you will probably already know what has happened.

Heth must finish in top 15 to make it through to tomorrow’s semi-final.

She is 6th boat down and is number 16.
Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

When the English language meets the Chinese language, I guess that is a pretty extreme clash.  In the pool yesterday whilst swimming, I noticed the signs at the end of the pool that said “ No D iving”.  I wondered why there was a gap between the D and the i.  On closer inspection of the signs, they had been made with “No Driving” and someone had scribbled out the r.   Quite funny really.

Anyway, an easy start to today.  Spent the morning catching up on all the Olympic results on the official Beijing web site.  Lunch and then off to the course.

We decided to watch only the k1M semi-final runs.  This is so that Heather has at least seen some boats going down the semi-final course, (which is different to the qualification course) without interfering with our thinking about the qualification course..

I get there in time to see most of the C1 men as well.  The stadium is pretty full today.  Both the US and UK paddlers do well and make it to the final.

In the K1 M the Brit doesn’t make it.  This has been a semi-final full of surprises with a number of the favourites not making it.  In the C1’s Estanguet the defending champion failed to make it to the final and in the K1M, Campbell Walsh, Kauzer and Kurt all fail to make it.  This re-inforces to us that the key to this course is to be smart and patient.  Don’t cut the lines between gates too much and make certain of the ups.  Also this is not a course to rush.

We leave and head back to the hotel without waiting for the finals.  Don’t want to get caught up in all the emotion of winners and losers, medals etc.  Need to keep calm and focussed.

I head in to Beijing to meet with Heather’s mum and family who should all have arrived.  I have to give them their tickets and talk them through tomorrow.  No cheering Heather’s name when she is on the start line, no talking to us if they see us etc.  All sounds a bit harsh but Heth and I now need to live inside our own little bubble for the next 48 hours of race days.  My job is to protect the boundary of the bubble, whilst Heather’s job is to perform inside it.

Heather’s mum tells me off for mis-directing her.  I told her to get off the train from the airport, at the first stop which would be about 15 minutes and was called SanyuanQiao.  She duly did this, but thought it was a bit quick.  Turned out she got off at the next terminal building and the train hadn’t left the airport yet.  She went through the barrier and had to pay again.  Quite funny and no damage done…..I took the rap anyway.

Heather’s mum is pretty nervous, which is another reason not to see Heather as the nerves would rub off.   I do feel for family on these occasions.  I will be nervous as hell when she races, but it is a world and an experience that I am used to.  I know that I cannot control anything and so my focus is really on dealing with the consequences of whatever happens in the run…good or bad…., whereas the family will just be plain nervous.

I find out that dave Florence, the Brit, wins a silver in the C1.  I was in the security queue with his dad, so I know both Dave and the whole family will be delighted.  Ben Fraker from the US comes 6th.  A great result for Ben and I am delighted for hi and his Coach, Kathy Hearn.

The K1M is won by Grimm (no not you Nic!!!!!), the young German.

I travel in to town by taxi to the airport and then on the express train from the airport to the city.  On the way back my taxi driver has no idea where to go.  I spend an hour and ten minutes in the taxi on a trip that takes 20 minutes.  He stops and asks directions about 5 times and eventually we pick a guy up on the side of the road, who has to hide his motorbike and get in the taxi to guide us to our destination.  To say that I was getting a little frustrated would be an understatement.  I felt a small amount of sorrow for the taxi driver, as he was obviously trying, but just wished he’d not picked me up in the first place, if he didn’t know where to go…….it took us 25 minutes to get off the airport.

Finally arrived back at the hotel and rest.  Have a beer and then settle down with Heth.  We watch a bit of TV and then bedtime.

Everything starts tomorrow.  Heathers running times are 15.52h and 17.34h China time.  UK 7 hours behind.  US 12 hours behind I think.

Nothing more we can do now.  No more training….no more talking….just a good night’s sleep and then the off.
Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

Really looking forward to today. At last I get to go in to the course….even if it is only in the stand.

Got a morning to kill first though.  Breakfast followed by a good stretch and a few short sharp runs with Heth, just by way of a last little short sharp training session.  Then have a swim.  Very pleasant (water a bit cold for my rather taught muscular frame!!!!!…never did like the word skinny!!!!).

Early lunch and then finally off to the course.  I have tickets for stand 202.,  My real mission today though is to see where Heather and I could possibly meet up and do her warm up on race day and to get the lay of the land and to see how the race and the venue work.

Watch the C1 men and then the K1 men’s first runs.  I have split loyalties between the UK and US:

UK                    Dave Florence does well int eh C1 and Campbell is a lttle slow but looks good in the KI.

US                    Ben OK but needs a good second run to ensure a place in the semi’s and Scott Parsons (no relation) finishes third looking very                                    good.

In the break Heather and I do a bit of a recce and find the spot where we will warm up where I can be with her, before she has to go through a security zone with her accreditation and get on the water.

Back in to the stand for the second runs:

UK                    Dave excellent and finishes third.  Campbell also great second run and finishes 6th.  Easy qualifiers for the semi’s tomorrow.

US                    Ben has a great run and finishes in 10th, qualifying for the semi’s and Scott has a 50 point penalty at the last but one gate and                              doesn’t make it through.

The course is quite a spectacle, although not quite as grand as Athens.  The crowd is really disappointing though.  Although reasonably busy for first runs, over half the crowd leave during the break.

This is a bit of a recurring theme at this Olympics.  We have all been told that there are no spare tickets and it has been hard getting the one’s that we have.  If you look at the TV though, event after event has empty seats.  This is a tragedy both for the athletes and the real fans of each of the sports who cannot get tickets.

I have a meeting with the Chief Exec. Of LOCOG, Paul Deighton, not long after my return, and it is definately one of the issues we need to get right for London (not that anything I say will have any influence).  We need to get tickets in to the hands of those that want to be there and will turn up.  It is a tragedy having acres of empty seats and fans standing outside unable to get in.

Back to the hotel and evening dinner.  We go for a game of pool and meet a good friend of our, the commentator at the course, Lamar Simms.  Heather has known Lamar for many years and he has been a commentator at the Olympics, for Canoe Slalom, for at least the 2 or 3 Games.  He is a DA in Denver, Colorado.  We have a good chat and a beer.  The beer took ages to buy and to pay for and get change.  This is an enormous hotel and yet there is no bar.  There is a counter with a fridge behind it and no proper till.  They are not geared up for selling anything.  I buy us 2 beers and a water and it takes about 10 minutes in all to unlock the fridge, get them, pay for them and for the girl to run to reception and get the change.  Don’t try and do anything in a hurry here!

Lamar leaves and we potter back to bed.  A bit of tv and obviously, I have to write my diary for the evening.  Heather getting a bit miffed at me for spending time each night writing.  Will be very careful for the next couple of days so don’t panic if I’m short and sweet (metaphorically speaking!!!!).

I am noticing the security out here considerably more than in Beijing, particularly at the hotel.  There is a real feel of being watched at this hotel.  Guys in suits in the corner of the grand hall, guys at the gate etc.  What the west does with money, China does with people.  We solve problems with technology, the Chinese just throw people at it.  In the pool room, a girl is employed just to rack the balls between games.  I guess you have to keep whatever it is….2.3 Billion people or something…..busy.

Heather’s mum, brother and a cousin arrive in Beijing tomorrow.  I have to pop in to town to drop tickets off tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow Heather and I will just watch the semi final run of the K1 men’s as the gates are different for the semi’s than for the qualifying and it is important we at least see them, without causing ourselves any confusion with the qualifying course.  Other than that it is a quiet day tomorrow.  Keep out of the heat and plenty of fluids and rest.  Not long now.

We have a meeting with Sylvan, the US coach, at 10.00h tomorrow, to run through our race day timetable and requirements.  After that it’s all up to Heather.  Off to bed now.

By the way, thanks for all the nice comments that many of you have sent.  Seems that the diary is going down well.
Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

Demo day today.  Again I still cannot get access to the course.

Heather rings me.  In a very un-Chinese fashion, a gate fell down at the start of Demo’ runs.  The water has been turned off and everything has been delayed.   The athlete’s are all now hanging around the course while they fix things.

I am in our hotel room.  Seriously contemplating my first exfoliation session of the day!!!!!  May go for a run first.  (am writing this entry in real time).

Already fed up with the Chinese coverage of the Olympics.  It is all just Chinese stories.  I said in an earlier entry that the BBC were a bit biased with the coverage, but I have to say, it doesn’t compare with the Chinese coverage.  The stories do show the rather young, nervous feeling of the Chinese nation.  They are so afraid of losing any face or covering things in a gritty fashion.  It reminds me of a young, insecure teenager who still hasn’t come to terms with who they are and is not yet comfortable, as  nation, on the world stage….so they think the only way to present themselves is to be perfect….which is actually what we in the West, find strange and laugh at.  Growing pains.

Writing again now 10 hours later than the words above.  Went for a run at lunch time, to the front entrance of the course.  Only 20 minutes (well 19m 45s but who’s counting).  Sweat was blinding me by the time I got back to the hotel.  God only knows how you run a  marathon in this.  I actually feel concerned for Paula’s well being after what happened in Athens.

Spend most of today watching the Olympics.  I suddenly become a fan of such spectator sports as archery and handball.  Watched the GB’ers lose in the semi-final of the archery by 6 points.  It’s actually quit exciting the way they fire 3 arrows at a time and compete up to 24 arrows.

Watched the final later in the day, when the Koreans beat the Chinese.

Also watched most of the synchronised diving and quite a lot of the women’s 53 and Mens 56 KG weight lifting.  Having lifted for most of my life, I find the weights these people move, absolutely phenomenal.  Finally saw Nicole Cook win GB’s first Gold in the cycling.  Good start for team GB.

Heather arrives back from the course.  The demo’s have been OK with the qualifying course a little open but tough because of the big water.  Semi and final course a little more technical.

We plan our timetable for the next three days.  This has a settling effect as it establishes our routine and movements for the next 72 hours, right up until the end of Heather’s second qualifying run.  It allows us both to relax in the knowledge that we know our routine and now just follow the clock.

Dinner was good tonight after a bit of skank first meal last night.

I have now decided that the mirror by the desk, in our room, has cameras behind it.  Why else put a mirror next to a desk???  My natural paranoia beginning to show!!!!!!!!

Finishing tonight as I want to watch the China USA Basketball match which has just started and China are winning 6 – 4.

I go to the course tomorrow with Heather for the first time as we watch the Qualifying rounds of the Men’s C1 and K! classes.  This is good preparation for us for Wednesday, as long as Heather manages to keep out the heat as much as possible.  Very sapping now with only 3 days to go before the first run.

Got 2 beers, a great Olympic Girlfriend and a ticket to watch….feeling pretty good really and.it all starts soon.
Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons

Bit of a stream on consciousness diary entry today. This may also be delayed as I am having trouble connecting through my VPN to my server and thus am struggling to get my emails out or to receive any at the new hotel.

Packing up at the Novotel at Sanyuanqiao. Moving today up to the Reward International hotel at Shunyi, next to the whitewater and rowing course. I am reminded of my time competing, when living out of a suitcase for weeks at a time, packing, travelling, competing, packing travelling competing etc. etc. was the norm……I remember again my loathing of having to pack bags.

Shunyi is about 45 minutes to an hour North East of Beijing. I plan to get the high speed express train to the airport and pick up a taxi from there. Heather will not be back at the Reward until 17.00h so I have a few hours to kill.

Get the subway to a shopping area and have a good wander around. Then just wander generally. Take some photo’s of some fantastic new buildings, the new Bank of China Building and the one everybody is talking about that looks like a bit of a mobius ring. I am told that the local Chinese refer to this building as the “pair of pants” , because it looks like a pair of legs in some baggy trousers. I can kind of see it.

Lunch in McDonalds…I’m giving up apologising…its just so easy and they have Olympic sports on the TV. The big coverage is of the first Chinese and the first Olympic Gold medal winner, the 48Kg womens weightlifter. I saw her first lift, the snatch, and she did 95Kg easily. Awesome lifting. Suspiciously spotty skin…or am I just a cynic like everybody else these days!!!!!!!

Back to the hotel and pick up the bags and off to Shunyi. All goes well until I get to the entrance of the Reward hotel. My lack of accreditation once again causes problems. Heather and the team are not yet back at the hotel and they won’t let me past the front barrier. Eventually they go and get the manager and things get sorted. Everything here looks new. I pick up a book in the hotel room that advertises Shunyi as the International Green port. The roads from the airport are absolutely brand new.

Heather arrives back at about 19.00h with the rest of the team. They look like they have had a long day. Turns out that boat weighing and measuring and kit checks was extremely hectic and long winded. Lots of the athletes had problems with their boats, kit badges etc. etc. Huge queue’s each time they tried to get a boat re-weighed or a piece of kit re-checked. In addition most of them had to train as well. All Heather’s kit and boats now good though.

Heathers session was actually pretty good and for the first time since I have been out here, I got to see video of her 2 full runs. (her final session). The first was OK, but the second was awesomely good. Lots of room to feel encouraged and positive. The water is enormous and very strong. Even from the video I can see that one mistake and you really struggle to recover from it.

We attend a team meeting at 19.30h. This provides us with the information we need for planning our next few days. The meetings ends on a bit of a downer when Sylvan, the team coach, informs us that an American Volleyball players parent has been stabbed in Beijing and the attacker then committed suicide. (Haven’t seen this reported on Chinese TV at all). No other details were given but I guess this gives food for thought…particularly for someone like me…having just spent 2 – 3 hours wandering around, off the beaten track on my own. I always figure I’m pretty big and ugly (and can run very fast when motivated appropriately!!!!!)…but I suppose you never know.

After dinner, back in the hotel room, I explore all the brochures. Turns out that they have a spa here………I look forward to exfoliation, foot buffing and oiling and a full body salt scrub! I expect that you will see me in the crowd on the TV as I will be glowing!!!!!!!!!!

It is interesting…Heather was saying that last time she was here training a couple of months ago, there were speakers in the streets that were constantly on, giving what she supposed were Chinese propaganda messages/news. These have all gone now that the Games are on. Also the hotel has a sign that tells you are being video’d in the lift. This is the first ever huge hotel I have been in that doesn’t have a specific bar area.

This place feels a bit more like old Moscow used to. This feels a little bit more of an oppressive surveillance society. I am told that Shunyi is a bit of an “expat” area, which might explain things………this just feels like “the Party at work”. Interestingly Heather also spoke to a Chinese athlete on the bus from the opening ceremony. She asked him how Beijingers viewed the Games. He said it was mixed as many people, farmers etc. had lost their houses and land with all the new building with very little, if any compensation. There was apparently a place in Beijing where you went to voice your complaints…you obviously had to wait so long that people build homes there…a bit like the Hutong that I described in an earlier diary……but these were apparently all demolished for the Games.

Anyway.

Heather got to shake hands and was photographed with George Bush yesterday. He apparently came to visit all the US athletes whilst they were waiting to come in to the opening ceremony. So far this trip she has got to meet Big Arnie, Big George and Big Jaques. (It’s a bit like being on safari and ticking off the big five…Lion, Tiger, Rhino etc.).

Enough for now. We need to start to plan the next few days timetable. Tomorrow is demo’s day. A small number of boats will go down the course, firstly with the gates set as they will be for the qualifying round. This is the first opportunity the athletes will have to see the course and assess how to paddle it. The course will then be re-set and the athletes will be able to watch paddlers go down what will be the semi final and final course. We are pretty lucky as we will get to see all of the Men’s race, both qualifying and finals, on the first 2 days, before we have to paddle.

Heather also now has her bib number….16. With only 21 athletes in the race, this means that she will be 6th athlete down the course. She needs to finish in the top 15 on the first day in order to make the semi final the next day.

The qualifying race is 2 runs down the river….Heather’s times are 15.52h and 17.34h local time (so I figure that means 08.52h and 10.34h UK Time on the 13th Aug). Her combined running time, plus penalties, is what will decide where she finishes. Penalties are 2 seconds for a gate touch and 50 seconds for missing a gate. Normally missing a gate means you are not going to make the semi-finals, but here it looks very possible that you could still get through with a 50, so it is crucial that whatever happens, you keep focussed and don’t give up. Heather very good at this and we deliberately train in such a way that when we miss a gate in training, we always go back for it. This helps teach the athlete to recover from unusual positions and is mentally toughening.

A 50 is very unlikely to be good enough to make the final, in the semi-final run, the next day as only the top 10 go through to the final.

The sap is beginning to rise. The guy’s are on in 48 hours and we compete in 4 days. This is what it has all been about.
Kind Regards
Geoff Parsons