Olympic Massage

I am now in Dalian China at the USA Olympic Training camp for the Track and Field (Athletics) team.  The sports medicine crew arrived in Dalian on Thursday, July 31 one day ahead of the USA athletes who began arriving today (Friday).  Our USA Track and Field management team has been in Dalian for 10 days ahead of us preparing and checking all our logistical arrangements and believe me we have many!

Our training camp is located at a Five Star seaside resort in Dalian.  It is a beautiful hotel property, with a beach and view of the ocean with well manicured grounds and incredible service from the Chinese staff.  This type of service would be considered Ten Stars in America if there were such service available, it is truly incredible here at the resort.

Let me describe to you, without revealing security details around the USA Olympic Track and Field team, what a typical travel event through Dalian is like for us.  We travel to our training facility in Dalian and we have three training sites, twice a day.  Athletes and their coaches can sign up  for practice times.  We have a morning practice session and a late afternoon practice session.  All of our bus departure times are exact.  When Chinese security say the bus departs at a specific time, that bus departs at that time exactly for the training facility!  The security in our wing of the resort hotel is at the highest level afforded only the highest ranking government officials such as presidents and I am not kidding!  You have to see what it is like when the USA team travels through Dalian, a city of 18 million residents!

There are 2,000 police, military, and plain clothes Chinese government security involved with each bus transport event with the team.  You really have to see this production to believe it!  We have five police vehicles that escort our team bus.  There are police, government agents, etc. that are stationed along our route.  All traffice is stopped for our team bus, the townspeople line the streets in certain areas to catch a glimpse of the American team.  When we travel through Dalian, our team bus never stops!  It is a continous direct drive to the track stadium in Dalian from the hotel and we never stop!  The Police literally stop everything on the street for us to travel!  And that was not a typo at the beginning–we have two thousand (2,000) Chinese security officers from various branches providing protection for the USA team.  You cannot get into our section of the hotel without passing through several layers of very tight security.  On the grounds of the hotel at each security station you will find a stoic military security policeman standing motionless at attention at all times and I mean to tell you they are seriously stoic and at attention. 

 A Chineses SWAT officer rides at the front of our team bus while we are surrounded by ground police escort.  The Plain Clothes agents seem to be the highest ranking security agents.  They all wear the same type of vests that US Security details for the President of the United States wear and yes that are all carrying firearms.  I have never felt safer anywhere I have ever been on the planet than I do in Dalian China at this very moment.

We began our first evening of sports performance care for US athletes who arrived today at training camp.  Most of what we did today were massage and stretching to work out jet lag and travel tightness and kinks.  The food service is incredible for us.  We have an American chef from Denver supervising the kitchen with a staff of Chinese chefs and service staff.  The food prepared for us each day is as good as it gets here in Dalian.

I was assigned to cover our first practice at the China National team training facility in Dalian.  Besides all the police cars in the parking lot and SWAT team van standing by and all the townspeople trying to get a glimpse of Amercia Olympic team athletes, it was a pretty normal two hour practice for our athletes.  When I began stretching one of the USA sprinters who will run the 100 meter race, I drew an audience of Chinese coaches and athletes watching my every move and soaking it all in.

We have more USA athletes arriving tomorrow, Saturday and we will have a very full and long day.  Our clinic area operates from 7am to 11pm seven days a week with emergency after hours service  So far, so good.

 The Olympic Games are near but first things first, training camp began in earnest today.

 Benny Vaughn

 Dalian, China, 2008

Posted on August 1st, 2008 by Benny Vaughn
Filed under: 2008 Olympics