EYE CANDY

A few days before I left for Beijing, another one of my readers, Marcus, sent me an e-mail offering me one of his t-shirts. I was more than honored by his offer and he sent me one. I've looked at his website enterprise before and really like the t-shirts he has there for sale at MLDtees.

Unfortunately, it didn't arrive in time for my departure, but nonetheless, once I got back it was here. It's a picture of an eye with the word candy written next to it - you know, eye candy, get it? I think it's pretty cute. So if you like it, check him out over there. He has lots of different colors and styles and slogans for men and women. I wore mine the other day when I went to visit my parents.



On another note, I don't seem to be able to do anything but sleep! Something is definitely wrong with me. I would have thought that by now, that the jet lag would have worn off but I guess that 16hr time difference is no joke. I fell asleep the other day when I was up in Bakersfield and my brother took my camera and snapped a couple pictures of me. I decided to show you cause I wanted you to see how I'm spending my days (excuse the nostril shots:) I'm pretty much a professional right now at it. I can fall asleep at the drop of a dime, just ask my roommate Erica. I wonder if they pay people for this talent.....cause I would make a killing, lol!!!

OLYMPIC PHOTO BLOG

Thanks to an idea by one of my readers Torrance Stephens, I decided to do one last recap of the Games in pictures. I've put up other ones throughout my other posts but I figured I'd show some of my other pics as well. Here we go....

OPENING CEREMONIES

Me and Bayano Kamani (PAN), 400m hurdler

Me and the girls just chillin before the big opening event

Team gathering before stadium entry

Inside one the lavish rooms at The Forbidden City

Myself and Irving Saladino (PAN), winner men's long jump

Swimming venue

My teammates and I tired after a shopping trip

Having some fun with some statues in the village

Me and Germaine Mason (GBR), silver medal men's high jump

Start of the men's 110m hurdle finals - can you tell which one is David?

Me and Asafa Powell, former world record holder men's 100m

Me in the main dining hall that sat 5000!!

My teammate Leevan Sands, bronze medal winner men's triple jump

Building that The Bahamas team stayed in

Me and the girls waiting to get on the Cable Car at The Great Wall

Me FREAKING OUT on the cable car ride, lol

The awesome Wall

Golden Archways in the Village

Official Animated Characters of The Games

At the warmup track, with the Bird's Nest in the background


Hope you liked it!

BACK HOME

So I flew back to LA yesterday and all I seem to be able to do is sleep and wake and do one task and then go right back to sleep. Apparently, I'm exhausted! The last two weeks were tremendous in more ways than one. Some points were really high and then some were pretty low. I haven't yet had the time fully assess everything but I know that it is an experience I will never forget.

On the one hand, some friendships grew stronger, unbreakable it seems and then some things almost broke my spirit, my resolve, my belief in myself. But I am nothing if not a woman of strength and character and on that I can always rely. I know that bad things can and do happen to good people, both on and off the field, but I continue to wish nothing but good things for those around me.

I did my best to enjoy my last couple of days in Beijing. I made my last minute souvenir purchases for friends and family, I spent quality time with my teammates, and I watched the closing ceremonies. I say watched because I ended up watching it on TV with some of teammates in the village instead of attending. It was the first time I've ever done that and it's definitely a different and interesting perspective. When you're actually on the field you don't get to appreciate the full grandeur of the event. I haven't "watched" a closing ceremony since 1988 because I've been a participant ever since.

One realization I came away with is that my support and love for my friends is not contingent on my own success but purely on my wish for them to do well. It is unconditional and I will continue to be that person no matter what. Track and field has brought so much to my life. Things I couldn't have dreamed of for myself. The experiences, the travel, the triumphs, the challenges and it has been fantastic! I plan on competing next year so it is not the end of the road for me, but it is the end of my competitive season. I am now gonna just kick back and rest and relax and visit my family and watch and encourage my friends whose seasons continue on.

Here are a final few pics of me around the village and out and about. Enjoy....I know I did!!!!

On a camel at The Great Wall


At the flag area in the village

Me and fellow long jumper Grace Upshaw (USA)

The torch from my seat in the stadium as the Bahamas flag is being raised for a bronze medal in the men's Triple Jump by my boy Leevan Sands

COMING TO AN END.....

The last few days here in Beijing have been pretty exciting. First, David ended up winning a bronze medal in the men's 110 hurdles final. The stadium was packed that night and it was a thrilling race for sure. I was so proud of him and all that he has accomplished and it was such a great experience to be able to share with him. I was able to take a picture of him on his victory lap with David Payne who won the silver medal.



My Bahamas teammates also won a couple medals since the last time I posted. Leevan Sands won the bronze in the men's triple jump and our men's 4 X 400m relay team won the silver last night in a really exciting race.

I've been doing a little more sightseeing as well. I got to got to Tianemen Square and The Forbidden City. That place is gigantic and my feet were killing me but it was very interesting to see this all encompassing city in all it's ancient glory.



Yesterday, me and three of my teammates went to The Great Wall of China. Now this was a sight to behold. We got up early and left the village at 7am to take the one hour drive. This wall is more than 5000 miles long. We took a cable car ride up the mountain side which by the way terrified me, and then walked down the wall path for quite some time.





Suffice to say, it was definitely a workout, but fun nontheless.

Last night, after the last event at the track, I went out to the Budweiser party until about 4am. I had a pretty good time although I'm really tired right now. The closing ceremonies are tonight and then I leave tomorrow morning bright and early to head back to LA.

This trip has been a roller coaster ride to say the least but I wouldn't trade it for anything. You learn so much about yourself and your character when you go through experiences like the ones I've had here and sharing them with friends makes them all the better. I'm gonna make sure to take some pictures tonight and give you the final run down on everything once I get back to LA tomorrow morning.

Thanks for taking this ride with me....it's sure been fun!!!

I CAME, I SAW, I DID NOT CONQUER......

So I did not qualify for the finals of the Women's Long Jump. I guess it just was not meant to be this time around. I gave everything that I had in my effort to come here and compete to the best of my God given ability and sometimes, His plans are not ours. And I have accepted that.

A quote that I often refer to is one that my mother frequently says, "When man on earth has done his best, the angels in heaven can do no better!" And I believe this wholeheartedly.

This morning I woke up and I told myself to keep my head up, maintain my poise and to count my blessings for they are many. Obviously, I wanted to show my worth here and jump like I know that I'm capable of but the odds proved to be insurmountable this time around.

I felt pretty good. I was about 80 percent over the virus and felt good enough to get the job done. I am still not wholly well. My timing however was waaaaay off! My runup to the takeoff board which is oh so crucial in my event, was shaky and inconsistent. I'm not sure if I wasn't focused enough or whether my acceleration was insufficient, but I do know that I did not execute. One of my 3 jumps was just a run through - a run through!!! I've only ever done that once in my ENTIRE long jump career that I can recall, about 7 years ago.

Anyway, so that's it. I've cried. I've digested. I've accepted it and I'm still here. I'm gonna be OK you know. I have accomplished so much in my career and I am proud of that. I am a former Olympic finalist, I am a 3 time World Championshipe finalist, I am a 2 Time NCAA champion, still Stanford University and The Bahamas long jump record holder, and I've been ranked in the top 10 in the world several times. Along the way, I have never lost sight of my character and my self-respect. There are others whose fate is far worse than anything I could imagine. The young lady that has the world's farthest jump in my event for the year and who looked like a "sure" gold medal hopeful, also did not qualify for tomorrow night's final. She had foul trouble as well.

I don't have a monopoly on things going awry here at The Games. I'm sure you've all seen a few of these happenings as you watch the coverage. Lolo Jones in the women's 100m hurdles, hitting the 9th hurdle and stumbling from 1st place to 6th I think. Churandy Martina (AHO) and Wallace Spearmon (USA) both being disqualified after thinking they had won the silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's 200m for running on the line.

The Olympic Games are not a gimme. When you see people's successes on the track, do not take them lightly! Hard work, talent, execution and yes a little luck and fortune all must come together and sometime it does and sometimes unfortunately it doesn't. For me, sadly, it didn't. Thanks to all of you for your love, support and encouragement. I have hung onto that and it has made my journey all the better.

On another note my friend David, won his semi-final race last night in the men's 110m hurdles. He looks fantastic and ready and poised for success. I'm so excited for tonight's final. You don't have to wonder where I'll be tonight at 9:40pm Beijing time. D.O. the King, Do your thing! Lol! This time is your time. Carpe Diem!! Now if this rain would just stop......

TIME TO GET BUSY!!!

So today is my last day of preparation before my competition starts tomorrow morning. That virus had me down and out for a good 3 days where I was unable to train and literally could not leave my room for 2 of those days. I'm still not 100% but I was able to workout yesterday on some very flat legs. This morning I did a dry run of what I will have to do tomorrow as far as getting up at 6am and getting to the stadium in time and I'm very pleased to say that the "pop" was back in my legs!! Thanks goodness!!

Often times, the body is not an exact science and so we make do the best we can based on past history and past results. I had a feeling that I would bounce back today and thankfully I didn't panic yesterday when I felt as flat as a pancake.

Last night, my training partner Tiffany Ross-Williams got underway in the women's 400m hurdles and we watched her win her heat easily, advancing to the semi-finals. Dave started today. Man was I nervous. I finished my workout in time to get to the stadium and into the athlete's seating section so I could watch first hand. He did what he was supposed to, which was win his heat in 13.30 seconds. His second round is tomorrow. Here's a pic of me, Dave and Tiff at practice the other day.



Some crazy stuff happened in those hurdles today though. The BIG Chinese hope, Liu Xiang, went down with injury and so did USA's Terrence Trammell who looked like he caught a cramp or something. Dave's medal prospects now are even greater than they were already and they were already great! I can't wait to watch the next few rounds and be there to celebrate with both him and Tiff when they come through victorious. Here's a pic of the inside of the stadium empty a few days before the competition started.



Well, say a prayer for me everyone, as I embark on my journey tomorrow. I have done everything that I know how to get my mind and body ready. There are around 44 of us on the start list. Let the chips fall where they may....

PS. I just Venus and Serena walk by....bodies for days, lol!!! Good grief!!

PPS. That men's 100m was OUT OF CONTROL!!! One for the ages! And Jamaica sweeping the women's 100m - their 4X100m relay is going to be insane!!!

BEIJING UPDATE

I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to update my blog recently because I've been doing a lot of running around. I finally have a moment now so let me fill you in.

I had a couple days of long jump workouts that went very well and it seems that what I thought I had corrected in my technique is actually the case and I'm really pleased with how that has gone. Couple that with some massages and ice baths and I'm doing what I need to do to be ready come August 19th.

I have found some time to get out of the village a little bit. I went downtown to the shops with some of my teammmates. Here we are in this huge candy store enjoying some gummy worms, lol.



I also went to the swimming cube a couple nights ago to watch a couple of the Bahamian swimmers swim in their heats. One guy PRed so you really can't ask for much more than that. I also got to see Michael Phelps swim in the 100m fly event. He definitely is very impressive. He's got to be tired. I think he's swam a total of about 15 plus races by now!!



The other day it POURED rain again and a lot of us were caught in the dining hall and so the very helpful volunteers in there quickly made some makeshift raincoats for everyone - out of garbage bags. The dining hall seats around 5000 people so you can imagine what it looks like in there on any given day with that many people roaming around. It can get pretty hectic.



I'm supposed to be training today but unfortunately I've come down with some sort of virus. I'm not having the best of luck in regards to the timing of certain things but I just have to make the best of this opportunity and hope that in the next couple of days, I will be back to full speed. Speaking of speed, tonight is the blue ribbon event of the Olympic Games -the men's 100m final!!! Nuff said!! Get your popcorn ready!!

ONE WEEK TO GO....

So I have one week to go before my qualifying round in the long jump on August 19th. So far my training has been going very well and I looking forward to the competition. My start time next week is at 9:15am and so I have been getting up pretty early to get my body accustomed to being active at that time of day. If any of you know me, you'll know that I am not really a morning person. Funny thing is though,once you get on a routine, it really isn't that bad.

The weather here is CRAZY! The day of the opening ceremonies it was ridiculously hot and humid, the following day, it was pretty hot in the morning, cool and breezy in the afternoon, the next day we had TORRENTIAL downpours, and then back to hot today. Who knows what to expect from day to day, so you really just have to be ready for anything.

I've been having a pretty good time here in the village just walking around and seeing the different athletes that are here. There is a lot to do here so there's not too much down time. I'm planning on heading out to the swimming in the next couple of days to see Mr. Phelps do his thing. You know he looks a lot taller on TV.

I'm a big tennis fan and so I really want to get a chance to get out the tennis venue to see who I can see. Right now Nadal is playing Hewitt, but I'm just watching a TV in the village. Everyone's been going shopping down in this area called the silk market where they have the best of the best knockoffs of everything from Gucci to Prada and everything in between. Me being the non-name brand girl that I am, I haven't ventured down there yet but I might go take a look one of these days, we'll see.

Anyway, here are few pics of me just hanging out and then one of the building in which the Bahamas team is staying. That's it for now. Tomorrow is my day off but Brooks told me to come out and do a jog, stretch, massage, icebath, etc. I'm still gonna head out pretty early so that I don't break my rhythym.

OPENING CEREMONIES

Last night was the Opening Ceremonies for the 29th Olympic Games. It was quite the experience. The day started with me going to practice at 9am. Having arrived in the village late Thursday night at around 11:30pm, I was pretty exhausted but I had to be up at 7:30am to get to the track on time. I didn’t do too much but I needed to do a shakeout to get that travel out of my legs.

I had a massage later on and then we had to be ready by 6pm to leave the village, headed for the gymnastics arena where all the athletes gathered before marching into the stadium. This is a picture of what it looked like inside that gym as we waited.




We sat there for at least 2 hours or so before we were called. They were using the Chinese alphabet and so we were team #42 in the order out of 205 teams.



We walked across over to the Bird’s Nest and then processed into the main stadium




where we were greeted by over 100,000 cheering spectators.


It was a pretty fantastic moment and I tried to take it all in as I knew that this would be the last time I would ever have this experience this. We walked around the stadium once and then gathered on the in field while all the other teams walked in. I will have to say that this might have been the hottest night EVER in Beijing. We were sweating to death!!! I mean I was so drenched underneath my blazer that at some point I had to take it off and take a seat on the infield, lol. Not a good look but with that satin lining underneath my jacket and skirt, I felt like I needed my own personal air conditioner!



I saw a lot of the more notable athletes parading in like Kobe and Lebron and Yao and Roger Federer. It’s a thought I’ve had before but on this night, in this place, we are all the same…Olympic medal hopefuls. Nothing is guaranteed. No one is given the gold medal. You have to earn it, on the day, at the designated time. But we all start here – happy, and hopeful and eager and proud.

It was a long night to be honest and by the end of the night, I was beyond tired. We made the mandatory rush to the buses to try to get back to the village and to the dining hall for some sustenance after a very long day. We didn’t get back until after midnight. I don’t know whether or not The Bahamas team was shown on the NBC coverage but I know that my cousin in Australia saw us and the Chinese coverage showed us walking in.



Now that that is over, it’s time to look to the real business at hand. I don’t start competition until the 19th but this morning it was back out to the track for a sprint workout and an ice bath.

By the way, I was walking into breakfast this morning and a guy stopped me out of the blue and asked me if I was Jackie Edwards and I was taken by surprise because I was sure that I didn’t know him. I said yes and he told me that he knew me because he reads my blog!!!! How cool is that!! Another athlete reading my blog. He is also a part of the Lenovo blogger program. I don’t remember his name but I will try to find him and look him up and add him to my blog roll.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I need to get some well deserved rest. Brooks, David and Tiffany arrive tomorrow and I look forward to seeing them.

FAITH IS A FIVE LETTER WORD

So I am leaving for Beijing tomorrow at 12:55pm. As I type, I am still up in San Jose, CA but my flight leaves from LAX. So guess what? In about 3 hrs or so, I have to drive down to LA....not looking forward to it, but oh well, I'll sleep on the plane.

Now that everything has been completely sorted out, I need to say a couple things. The past three weeks of my life have been TUMULTUOUS to say the least. Now I know I mentioned a couple weeks back that something had come up that was very trying but I did not say what that was, except to say that I hoped everything would work out in my favour. Only as of this morning, did I get final confirmation that it had.

In a nutshell, without getting into too much of the specifics, I was selected by my National Track and Field Federation (BAAA's) as a member of The Bahamas Olympic Team. They selected a total of 18 athletes in my sport. My Olympic Association however (BOA, who for the record have since this debaucle been entirely voted out of office)), entered 17 names and did not submit my name for entry in a timely manner and as a result, the deadline for entries passed.

By the time I became aware of this omission, there was very little time to rectify the situation. Initially the IAAF said that they were sorry, but there was nothing they could do because the deadline had passed. I thought that was it. Of course I was in ruins, gutted, devastated, everything you can imagine, trust me. However, with the guidance, counsel and encouragement from the BAAA's, the new BOA members, from my friends, from my family, and from the Bahamian public and press, I tried to remain positive and keep praying and keep training. To say that this was an enormous challenge given the possible negative outcome would be a huge understatement.

At the end of the day, the athlete's rep for the IAAF, Mr. Frankie Fredericks (he was 2nd to Michael Johnson in that world record 200m in the Atlanta Olympic Games), former many time Olympic medalist from Namibia and now Mr. Who's Who on the IAAF and IOC saw to it that the situation was addressed and that my name was rightfully added back to the startlist for the women's long jump, only as of THIS MORNING!!!!

I have shed enough tears, I have lost a bit of weight and I have been pretty low, but through it all, I somehow managed to have faith that things would work out. I didn't know how or why or when but I kept listening to Mary Mary's song which says in part "nobody told me the road would be easy, but I don't believe He's brought me this far to leave me". Those words saw me through everything and now I am leaving tomorrow and I will join my team members who are already there in time to participate in Friday night's Opening Ceremonies which is mandatory for all Bahamian athletes.

To everyone that has stood by me (in particular Mr. Mike Sands), you all know who you are, I say THANK YOU. I am truly in your debt. I didn't talk about this with too many people because it was much too hard but I feel that in the aftermath, it is only fair that I share exactly what has been happening. Had it not worked in my favour, trust me, I had my blog readers in mind....what was I going to say? The truth, yes. How so, I wasn't sure. I just decided to wait until that truth in it's entirety and this saga had come to an end, one way or another.

Anyway, so that's it. Probably the next time you hear from me, I'll be showing you my pictures from The Bird's nest and The Opening Ceremonies where I, Jackie Edwards, will be competing in my fifth and final Olympics. I like the sound of that.