I believe that I mentioned it in one of my earlier blogs, but the equestrian sports have been so all-consuming that I really don’t know much about what’s going on with all of the other sports, despite the fact that they’re essentially taking place all around me here in London. We had a late start to the riding events the other day and I took that opportunity to go explore a bit and get some exposure to the rest of the Olympics, outside of my daily orbit in Greenwich Park…

There’s a really unique experience that forms around the Olympic games, where people who are normally on the other side of a TV screen are suddenly right in front of your face. It takes awhile for the shock to wear off, but eventually you get oddly used to seeing Jan Ebeling chatting on his cell phone outside Starbucks, and waiting for the crosswalk signal to change next to Rodrigo Pessoa…

Yesterday I had a very special opportunity (courtesy of our good friend, Allyn Mann from Adequan) to tour the International Broadcast Center (IBC) at the Olympic Park with Jamie Saults from NBC. Jamie is an endurance rider and enthusiastic horse owner, but also directly involved in the production of NBC equestrian coverage for the Olympics, The Kentucky Derby, and many other major competitions like WEG…

I think it’s been clear from some of our earlier blogs that while the US Team and the staff of the USEF is all business over here, they do also find some time to kick-back and have fun. I think you need to have that “work hard, play hard” element to your day to get through an event as intense as the Olympics, or any major discipline competition, really.