by Larry EderWe asked Gary Morgan, 1988 U.S. Olympian at 20k, and a world traveler, to give us some insights into Barcelona. Watch You Tube and you will find many of Gary’s more light hearted works, under the Running Network TV title.
It´s been an awesome experience here at the European track and Field
Championships. Monday night they had the opening ceremonies and it was
spectacular. It was all done around there famous fountain in front of
the National Gallery overlooking the city. There was a huge crowd that
came out to see it. Barcelona is known for doing events in a big way.
Since they have hosted the 1992 Olympics and many other big events.
There was a variety of acrobatic exhibits over the fountain as it
changed colors to music played by an orchestra. There was a parade of
athletes from all 50 countries competing here. Then a fireworks display
to finish off the evening. Then there was a concert that had a band
play s Spanish dancing music late into the night.
Tuesday morning the competition started with the mens 20k walk that
a young 20 year old Russian wins. There was plenty of preliminary
rounds in the morning session. The evening session saw two final
events. The womens shot put that produced a 1-2 placing for the
Belorussians. The mens 10k run had a 1-2 placing for the British team.
The winner Mo Farah is definitely a runner to keep your eye on as we
head towards the 2012 Olympics.
It;s great being here in Barcelona again. The last time I was here was
in 1989 for a World Race walking Championship. At that time they were
building the Stadium and all the other building for the Olympics. To
come back 20 years later and see all the changes is fantastic. There´s
a lot of cool things to do here and it´s definitely worth visiting. Ill
let all of you know how the rest of the Championships go.
