Rio Olympics Blog — Day Seven: Sitting in on press conferences

If yesterday was our first work day at the Olympics, then today was our first interesting day at the Olympics.

After a much-needed easy morning sleeping in, we left for a buffet lunch around noon and arrived at the media center around 1 p.m. Our primary mission was to sit in on the U.S. men’s basketball press conference since Jasmine and Akshay each have stories involving the team, but because we got there so early, we were able to sit in on the IOC press conference with president Thomas Bach. Needless to say, that was the biggest press conference I’ve ever been at, and, with the exception of maybe two questions, the most pointed question-and-answer session I’ve witnessed in person.

Bach credits popularity, youth and urbanization for adding baseball/softball, skateboarding, surfing and karate for 2020. #Rio2016

— Jacob Martella (@ViewFromTheBox) August 4, 2016

Bach: “We want to keep the cheaters out of the Olympic games.” #Rio2016

— Jacob Martella (@ViewFromTheBox) August 4, 2016

Bach: “For me the guiding principle, after this decision … you have to look into the eyes of all of the athletes.” #Rio2016

— Jacob Martella (@ViewFromTheBox) August 4, 2016

Bach says he believes the refugee athletes walking in will be the most emotional moment of the opening ceremony. #Rio2016

— Jacob Martella (@ViewFromTheBox) August 4, 2016

Then it was time for the USA and man was that crazy. They introduced Coach K and then the roster for the team. Literally all that was missing were spotlights and pump up music. After a few brief statements, the players scattered about the perimeter of the press conference room. I didn’t really get a chance to ask a question since there were so many media members crowding around the players, but I didn’t need to ask any questions.

Members of #USA basketball speaking to the media. The men are looking for their third-straight gold medal. #Rio2016

A post shared by Jacob Martella (@thesportsjournalist) on Aug 4, 2016 at 11:17am PDT

My two biggest takeaways were that the cruise ship the team is staying on is nice and the team has stayed away from the village since 1992 and that Deandre Jordan values a gold medal over an NBA championship (or at least he says he does).

We then walked back to the apartment, finalized our assignments and did some planning on how we were going to get to the events.

Tomorrow the madness begins. Get ready for the insanity.

Miles walked today: 4.88

Total miles walked: 38.51

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