Dear PB Readers,

Four years ago I watched both ends of the emotional spectrum occur in front of my eyes. Simon Whitfield and his parents, Geoff and Linda Whitfield, celebrating in pure ecstasy and, just meters away, Kiwi Hamish Carter in tears live on his national television station apologizing to his country for letting them down. Hamish is a quiet Kiwi who is respected by his peers but he had nothing to apologize for. While his 26th place finish was not what he had hoped for, he had given his all. Over the past few years Hamish has had many victories and represented himself and New Zealand with great distinction. A father of two, I remember Hamish waiting at the Auckland airport until they delivered their first child then flew all the way from Auckland New Zealand to race the next day at the Pizza Hut ITU TORONTO WORLD CUP RACE. Carter had less then twelve hours before he raced the Toronto Triathlon yet still finished fourth. With the rise of fellow countryman Bevan Docherty, Hamish has been allowed to pass the torch to another Kiwi. Today the man, who publicly apologized to his entire nation for letting them down, got to hear his anthem. Hamish led fellow teammate Bevan Docherty across the line to take gold and silver in the men's Olympic Triathlon. Both Kiwis have spent time with Dave Cracknell and the families in Caledon where I live. They are some of the classiest athletes to have come through our area and consistently make you realize that sportsmanship and winning are not mutually exclusive.

The media rush around Simon Whitfield has been significant over the past few months. In spite of the energy that media requires, Simon has realized that its part of his job and he has gladly accepted his role as Canada's triathlon ambassador. Simon watchers had two fears coming into the race: 1. That he wouldn't have a great swim. 2. That not having a teammate on the bicycle would put him at a huge disadvantage against other nations. Olympic triathlon has become much closer to cycling and having a teammate to help you on the bike is critical. Had Lance Armstrong not had a team he would have never won the Tour De France. Unfortunately the Canadian Olympic Committee does not appreciate the importance of helping a star with a gold medal and they had refused to accept criteria that would allow that to occur. Race morning was perfect. No wind. Beautiful blue sky. Big crowds. BUT OH MY GOODNESS WAS IT HOT! With my CBC announcing duties I was in the offices (not at the race site). I sat with my partner Brenda Irving in the control room and watched the pictures from race site on our TV screen. We are not going live until 10am Athens time (3am Toronto time) and I can just sit back and enjoy the views of the many pictures coming across the screen.

Christine Brown, a Canadian from Vancouver B.C. is live on the race site doing the race commentary and awards announcements. Christine and I do a weekly international Triathlon TV show out of Vancouver and it is comforting to hear her voice calling the athletes out onto the pontoon. With sixty seconds before the race starts our producer speaks into our ear piece from his production office and we are about to go live on TSN. CBC and TSN are doing these Olympic Games in partnership. TSN shows many of the events live and CBC then cuts those shows and plays them over throughout the day. With Simon in the race, TSN has decided to go for the entire race rather then cut away to other sports. This is the benefit of having a star in your sport. Sports without any legitimate medal threats will get less TV time. No one said life was fair!

Simon has selected a great pontoon spot. He is next to Hamish Carter at the end of the pontoon. American Andy Potts is out of the water first and the former All American has become an Olympian in his new found sport. Bevan Docherty has had a great swim and a small group of 8-10 athletes take off early. Aussie Peter Robertson makes the first break on the initial race hill and it looks like he and Swiss athlete Olivier Marceau might get away again. The two used this same early aggressive strategy at the 2003 World Championships where Robertson won the entire event. The great swim Simon has worked for over the past few years has not come. It wasn't a disaster swim, but he is 32 seconds behind American Andy Potts and will need to go early. Whitfield has ridden well over the past few months and he is going to need every bit of it today. Halfway up the toughest hill climb on the bike course (they have to reproduce this lap five tortuous times) Simon is only sixteen seconds behind the leaders. I remember saying to Brenda that this was going to be a defining moment in the race. If Whitfield is able to bridge up to the leaders on the bike, he is known as the fastest runner in the sport and repeating history is a possibility. Triathlon Canada has been critical of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) for not allowing them to send an athlete that is a swim/bike specialist and can help Simon on the bike. Countries like France, Switzerland and Spain have team approaches to the sport and, along with New Zealand, took most of the top 10 spots. Whitfield's pack is not going fast enough and lap after lap the leaders get further ahead. As the bike ends, Simon is over two minutes behind and suddenly becomes a long-shot to get back to the podium. Brent McMahon continued to push hard but the leg injuries he had earlier in the summer have not recovered and McMahon will have to use this event as experience for four years from now.

With the 40km bike ending the Olympic medals are going to be settled on the run. Six men had dominated the bike. Hamish Carter (New Zealand), Bevan Docherty (New Zealand), Olivier Marceau (Switzerland), Sven Riederer (Switzerland), Frederic Belaubre (France) and Andrew Johns (Britain) are sixty seconds ahead of the chase pack that includes Greg Bennett and nearly two minutes ahead of Whitfield and American Hunter Kemper. Immediately Carter, Docherty and Sven take off smelling a medal of some colour. If this was Hollywood, Greg Bennett would have run himself into a medal and Whitfield would have come by him to win gold. This is Athens, not Hollywood, and even with the 2nd fastest run of the day Australian Greg Bennett will finish in the cruelest position in sport (4th place). So close to the medals he can sniff them, but he will have to look at Simon Whitfield's trophy case to see the one he helped Simon win. The run is always Whitfield's best leg and he runs from 22nd off the bike up to a very respectable 11th place. While not the position he had hoped for, Simon is an optimist and he will have to accept the outcome of the day. The media often fear speaking to an athlete after they have come up short of their expected goals. Simon is a treat to deal with and he immediately deals with the media in a very professional way. Minutes later Canadian Brent McMahon comes across the line in 39th place knowing the next time he is at an Olympic Games he will be that much stronger and hopefully healthy.

My boss speaks into our ear and tells Brenda and me we are finished. Editing is just about to begin. While TSN has taken two straight hours of non-stop action for their morning show, CBC has to cut the footage we have just produced for three different shows on the main network. Editing has to take into consideration other sports that are occurring. A sport that is doing well (say men's gymnastics) could push your TV time down (if you have not won). Triathlon benefits today in that while he didn't win, Simon is now a personality and the network is going to interview him and his family later on. Bigger names bring bigger time for your sport. I stay in the studio box to watch the awards ceremony. Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty gush like school boys on their first big dates. Their smiles are infectious and I laugh out loud at their energy. They march out in front of the crowd in their black and white Kiwi uniforms and get to hear an athlete's ultimate goal (their national anthem). Four years ago only the New Zealand national TV channels wanted an interview from Hamish. Today, thirty different TV channels want words from the new Olympic Champion. Carter would be wise to speak with Simon Whitfield and see if he has any words of wisdom for becoming an overnight sensation. I can remember the incredible energy of standing meters away and watching Whitfield be awarded his medal four years ago. Today a country of 3 million people will get to see two of their sportsmen be recognized for their great efforts. The CBC offices are more than just TV. Within minutes of getting out of the TV show, the Executive Director for CBC Radio asks if I will do my assessment of the triathlon race. Within ten minutes all of Canada has been able to hear my impressions of the race that has just finished in Athens. The power of technology! I spoke to old Olympic media veterans who talked about taking movies and sending them back on boats to be seen weeks later. Today, spectators can go on the internet and see the results as they occur. I have had over 5000 emails since I have gotten to Athens and Canadians can communicate with their favourite athletes where ever they are located.

WHITFIELD VISITS THE CBC

When you are a rock star you get the full service regardless of whether you win or lose. Teri Liebel corners me for information on Simon and his family. She will be interviewing Simon in an hour and she wants a better understanding of triathlon, Simon's personal strengths in triathlon and knowledge of his family. The Radio and TV production at the Olympic Games is very much a team approach and no one person can be successful in isolation - sound people, lighting people, graphics people, research writers and segment producers. While our race is occurring, Karen Larson of Vancouver CBC is out at the race site interviewing people and waiting for the perfect sound bite. If everyone has done their part, the home viewer sees a race, learns more about the sport, the people within the sport, and is entertained. While my bosses would have preferred to have Simon in the lead pack getting more TV time, at least he is in the mix and the cameras drop back to pick him up from time to time. Ron Mclean stops over to ask if I can get him the race footage of the 2004 World Championship where Bevan Docherty out sprints Ivan Rana from Spain to win his first World Title. Within minutes we are identifying where the tapes are in Canada and how it can be in the CBC offices within hours for the evening shows. For a few brief hours each day the sport specialists are of some value. Once your sport is over - another person becomes a valuable resource and you are no longer needed.

A CBC van has been sent to pickup the Whitfield's and the McGlone's. Samantha McGlone will get some extra national air time as a result of being the top Canadian female at yesterday's women's triathlon. While triathlon accepts its few minutes of additional fame, another team of staff are at the USA Basketball game, a third team out at the canoe-kayak course and Mark Conley is preparing for tomorrow's women's mountain bike race. Life never stops at the Olympic studios and our rabid team is just one of 100 countries that have major production studios at the International Broadcast. While I have focused on TV and Radio, next door is an equally large building which houses all the newspaper and magazines of the world. Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star, James Christie and Christie Blachford of the Globe and Mail have equally long days doing stories in their local and national newspapers. Cole, Brunt and Canada Press's Donna Spencer are responsible for the millions of columns of newsprint that hit the newsstands every day. If you are wondering why the Olympics are so huge, it's because of the 20 000+ people working in the Olympic media for the 3 weeks of the games.

GREECE SHOWS THE WORLD

The small nation of 10 million people will keep Canada as the only nation to not win a gold medal when they have hosted the games. Greg Joy on the final day of the Montreal Olympic Games won a silver medal in high jump. The Olympic stadium and the city of Athens went wild last night when their 400m hurdler won gold. Between wrestlers, track athletes and divers the country that is 1/3 our size has won more medals (total and gold) than we have. Each morning a volunteer has driven the hour to my apartment and driven me down to the CBC offices. I have used that time each day to find out more about the country and its citizen. My driver is a 24 year old named - WHAT ELSE BUT NICK! - a university student. Greece has a policy that anyone who ranks high enough in their high school marks gets free university public education. Nick is one semester away from graduating with a mathematics degree. Greek students get up to six years of paid education and books from their local university. I find out that the Greek minimum wage is actually a minimum MONTHLY WAGE (based on 40 hour weeks) of roughly 600 Euros. Nick tells me that the country doesn't come alive until 11pm and he recounts the great energy his citizens showed when they won the world cup of soccer. I ask Nick if he fears any dangerous acts will be done in his city during the Olympic Games. Nick believes the fact that the Greek people have not done anything against those who bring terrorism against the world, that they will not show up during the 3 week Games.

I am quite surprised at how well everything has gone since I have gotten here. Traffic is not a problem. OLYMPIC BUS and TAXI LANES exist from 6am until midnight. Anyone caught driving in the OLYMPIC LANE is fined the first time and jailed the second time. It seems to be working. The Greek Olympic Committee has gotten all of the venues ready as they had promised and each one is spectacular. Elevating prices is always a fear that Olympic organizers have. In my travels around the city, this does not seem to have occurred. While the events were not sold out in the first week, attendance at events in the second week has increased dramatically. It is important to remember that Greece is a small country of roughly 11 million (50% of them in Athens). The organizers feel confident they will go over their 3 million ticket sales during the 3 week event. I now personally regret not having brought my wife to Athens. Caron, her twin sister, mother and aunt all came to Sydney and were blown away with the Olympic experience. I was concerned about Caron's safety in Athens and we collectively decided for her not to come. The events have been so well run that I regret not being able to share the experience with my biggest supporter. Those who have not traveled to Greece and Athens should definitely put the historic country on their list of places to see.

SUPPERS AND PARTIES

The Olympics are about celebrating all athletes, not just the athletes who win. Sponsors run nightly parties for many clients. Federations run parties for their volunteers and athletes. I was invited to the ITU (International Triathlon Union) year end party this evening. Three dozen of the hardest working people you will ever find. These individuals have planned and worked for nearly four years on the Athens Olympic course. Markus Gerngle was the race director. He is so good at what he does that he moved from Hungary to Athens to oversee the event. When Markus arrives at the post-race party he is given a standing ovation. Having just been a co-race director in Caledon a few weeks ago, I can only partially imagine the stress he had in the past twelve months. International delegates arriving on your site to watch the world's best Triathletes, 300+ media wanting the best camera angle, access to athletes on a timely basis, elite athletes who are stressed, spectators who want to purchase tickets for an event sold out months ago. The job of a race director is never easy. Being a Hungarian man, in a Greek City, trying to execute a world class job is extreme. Markus has risen to the occasion and the small accolades he is receiving tonight are well deserved.

THE FINAL PUSH TO MEDALS

Any runner knows you can't give up 5 meters from the finishing line. The Canadian team needs to remember that. Athletes who have already finished events are often a major distraction to those still competing. They are done their events and want to site-see and celebrate (after months of being to bed early and up early training). The athletes going late in the Olympics have to deal with all the extra distractions around them AND STILL TRY TO HAVE LIFETIME BESTS. This is not an easy task. We are down to 20 athletes still competing over the last three days. A few of them have legitimate shots at medals and we owe it to them to provide the best possible environment for that to occur. The biggest names still on the blocks are Daniel Igali the 2000 Olympic gold medal wrestler and Alexandre Despatie the teenage diving sensation who already has a silver medal.

TOMORROW

Site-seeing. Daily round up and finding new heroes from the 2004 Olympic Games.