Top News Stories...
USA Wrestling and CPOW are releasing a new set of PSA's to support keeping wrestling in the Olympics, next up Olympic Bronze medalist Clarissa Chun....
Oklahoma State wrestlers Coleman Scott and Jordan Oliver and Coach John Smith discuss the 2013 World Team Trials being held in Stillwater, Okla. June 21-22...
Matguard USA is a leader in skin disease prevention products based in Red Bank, NJ. Its products are used by wrestlers nationwide and numerous leading wrestling programs....
USA Wrestling and CPOW are releasing a new set of PSA's to support keeping wrestling in the Olympics beginning with Actor Mark Ruffalo...
|
|
| USA Wrestling's Greco-Roman Team has arrived in Sydney for the Games |
|
|
By Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/10/2000
After 15 hours in the air, and an extended time working through immigration, credentialling and baggage, the U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team arrived in Sydney, Australia early on Sunday morning at about 9:00 a.m. Sydney time. Many other sports teams have already been in Sydney for a number of days, but this is the first wave of U.S. wrestlers, coaches and team leaders in wrestling. Their stay in Sydney was only for about an hour or two, as the group immediately loaded a bus and headed for the city of Canberra, about two hours away. This is where the U.S. wrestling teams will train, in anticipation of the wrestling competition at the end of the month. The team looked surprisingly fresh, in spite of the long day of travel. The delegation included the Olympic athletes, their coaches and a sett of training partners who will assist in their preparation for the actual competition. Things are a bit crazy at the airport each day, as athletes and teams from around the world arrive with their luggage. For some teams, the arrival is filmed by their national television networks, and a number of their countrymen greet them with applause. The U.S. Greco-Roman team arrival was much more subdued. Wrestling was the final group coming down the ramp from the baggage claim, as the softball team and canoe/kayakers were brought out first. Greeting the wrestling team was a number of officials from the USOC, who are coordinating all of the team arrivals. TheMat.com was waiting with them, along with Hillary Wolf, a judo Olympian who dates training partner Chris Saba. We were able to have each Olympian pose for our camera, and a disorganized team shot was created. All of the athletes were wearing official U.S. Olympic gear, as instructed by the USOC on their departure. Heath Sims, the team's blonde beach boy from California, sported a darker hair color. The coaches and athletes said the trip over from "the States" went well and they were excited to finally be in Sydney for the Olympics. They will not even see the Olympic Village, their workout facilities or the competition venue until later next week, when they return from Canberra to participate in the Opening Ceremonies. By then, the freestyle team will have arrived and the entire official U.S. delegation will be Down Under. After a short stop in the terminal for the USOC to get everything organized, the team members rolled their belongings out to the curb, loaded their bags on a truck and climbed into a bus. They will only see a small part of Sydney through their bus windows as the first destination for the team was Canberra. The athletes will be doing their final individual preparation while in Canberra, working on peaking for the competition and getting their weight down. All of the anticipation and excitement will subside, as the team gets into the routine of being in Australia and around the Olympic facilities. Now that U.S. wrestlers are in town, the Olympics can truly begin. Photos from Sydney
|
|
|
Untitled Document
|
HOME