2016 Olympics
Rio, you are a beautiful city and don’t let any journalist or media outlet tell you any different. After spending 12 days in Rio for the Olympics I can tell you the media “hype” was completely wrong but this blog won’t focus on that. Instead, I want to highlight the incredible experience I had at the 2016 Olympics.
Travel: Early media reports destroyed Rio for not building out an adequate subway system to reach all of the event stadiums. Here is what I experienced; Ubers that cost about 20 real($7 USD) from Copacabana to Maracanazinho which is a 9 mile/30 minute trip. The current infrastructure of the subway allowed easy access to most other event stadiums. The major frustration was in trekking to Olympic Park which involved taking a subway for one hour and then getting on a super bus which had a lane dedicated to it (nice not having to worry about traffic) but was an additional 45 minutes and completing the trip with a 15 minute walk into the park. Did I mention walking? In the 12 days we were there, fitbit told me I walked over 85 miles! Moral of the story, if you go to the olympics plan on walking and Uber was great until you got stuck in gridlock and the 30 minute trip turned into 2 hours.
Event Venues: Beach Volleyball takes the cake for best venue. The venue on Copacabana felt like the place where the whole haphazard production came together to produce something unforgettable. This place scared the crap out of me as the temporary bleachers swayed enough to make you question the structure’s soundness each time fans jumped up and down to celebrate a point. And lets not forget the cheers you were taught as you walked in including monster block and super spike.
Sugar Loaf: We did a few touristy things while we had off time and sugar loaf was worth the expense. A mountain situated 1300 ft above the harbor provides incredible panoramic views of the city. The trip involved a 60 second gondola ride to level 1 and another 45 second ride up to level 2. If you want you can turn this into a full day event with plenty of bars, restaurants, and shops to pass time. Here is my favorite picture from our brief time up on Sugar Loaf.
Brazilians: Incredible people, amazing culture, thousands of entrepreneurs (every 10 feet someone was selling beer and water), lots of beer, love gluten, and friendly until the US participated in an event and then the boo’s rang out.
USA Volleyball: The main reason for the trip was to support my cousins Erik and Kawika Shoji who were selected to represent the USA Mens Volleyball team in Rio. Unfortunately my travel schedule kept me from seeing the first two matches and after an 0–2 start to pool play I assumed advancing to the elimination round was nearly impossible. Boy was I wrong. After a 3–1 win over Brazil in the greatest volleyball match I have ever seen and wins over France and Mexico the US moved on. A 3–0 sweep over defending world league champion Poland moved the US into the semifinals vs Italy. The Italy match proved to be an emotional roller coaster and ended in a 3–2 loss for Team USA. Two days later the boys had to come back at 9:30 am for a chance at a medal and a battle with Russia. (I started this match with an expresso shot and a beer… superstitious) After a quick 0–2 deficit things were not looking good but one sub in the third game turned things around and the United States of America came out 3–2 winners. The win earned the BRONZE MEDAL. No words to describe the feeling of seeing two family members medal at the Olympics.
Numbers: 11,303 athletes competed, 199 federations represented, 16 different events attended, 85 miles walked, 10 family members in 1 apartment, 1 world record witnessed firsthand, and 2 bronze medals now apart of #teamshoji!
Once in a lifetime trip. Thanks to all who followed along via snapchat and twitter.
I love the United States of America,
Michael