August 20, 2008 – My last day here..

Posted by Allen Gordon on Monday, September 15th, 2008 with No Comments

Is today. They say time flies when you’re having fun and I guess thats true because I leave to go home tomorrow morning. These past few days have been jammed packed with activities including multiple trips to the silk market where we had to deal with haggling salesladies trying to sell you knockoff goods. That place...

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August 14, 2008 – The Last Day of Judo…

Posted by Allen Gordon on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 with No Comments

Is today!   Today marks the last day of judo competition, with the men and women’s heavyweight divisions.   I’m sure you all know, but my teammate and roommate Ronda Rousey took bronze in the women’s 70kg division 2 days ago!  Watching her was really inspiring for me.  She fought really really hard and I thought she was going...

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August 14, 2008 – Last Day

Posted by Allen Gordon on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 with No Comments

The trip is on it’s home stretch. Today is our final day in Beijing. Tomorrow we will be on a plane with a destination of San Francisco International Airport. I think the majority of use were relieved. We are all glad to be finally going home. We definitely loved being here and are thankful for...

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August 3, 2008 – Visiting the Village

Posted by Allen Gordon on Sunday, August 17th, 2008 with No Comments

TIME: 0927hrs Yesterday, Sunday August 3rd, started out just like every other day except for the fact that I actually slept until 0730. Once I woke up, I checked my email as usual. After breakfast I finished checking my email before practice. Practice went well… women’s team coach Israel Hernandez worked with the girls on some...

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August 11, 2008 – It’s just getting started

Posted by Allen Gordon on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 with No Comments

Well even though I’m done competing, the Games have just begun.  Luckily judo gets done in the next few days so that the team can enjoy watching other sports and not just judo. These past few days have been really exciting.  Yesterday our teammate Taylor Takata had a great day and ended up going 2-2 and...

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August 12, 2008 – Beijing Day 12

Posted by Allen Gordon on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 with No Comments

-63kg and -81kg competed today. Travis Stevens (-81kg) went 2-2 today. He looked pretty good… had a good day. Finals between Japan and France in the -63kg was probably the most awesome match that I’ve watched in the entire tournament. Japan had the most beautiful throw that I’ve seen. The tournament is pretty much the same...

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August 10, 2008 – Competition day 1-2

Posted by Allen Gordon on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 with No Comments

TIME: 2152hrs It’s been a few days since my last post. Two days of judo have gone by and so far the USA has a record of 4-6. We haven’t taken any medals… Yesterday -48kg and -60kg divisions competed and let me tell you… what a sight!! Being able to watch all the preliminaries and finals...

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August 10, 2008 – The Aftermath

Posted by Allen Gordon on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 with No Comments

So its 6 am here in China on August 10, the day after I competed.  Last night while writing my previous email, I was a bit delirious from lack of sleep, but now I feel much better.   Today begins day two of the judo competition.  Should be exciting, with the ever competitive 66kg men’s weight...

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August 9, 2008 – My Olympic Experience…

Posted by Allen Gordon on Saturday, August 9th, 2008 with No Comments

…isn’t over yet!   I competed today and now it is 10:15pm here in China and I am exhausted.    After getting back from the opening ceremonies last night at 11pm or so, I slept a little bit, and weighed in at 7am. After I ate I went back to my room and rested for a minute and...

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August 9, 2008 – I am about to weigh in

Posted by Allen Gordon on Saturday, August 9th, 2008 with No Comments

Hey guys   Its 6:20am here at the Olympic Village, the day that I compete.  Weigh ins are at 7.   I will write more later, but I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has written me emails.  I read all of them this morning because I...

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