Today we not only got into Olympic Park -- we had events in Olympic Stadium!  Again, our seats were toward the top (the cheap seats) but the view was tremendous.  First was the Men's Decathelon hurdles.  Two Americans are very much in the lead for all the events.  We like Ashton Eaton the best because he waves to the crowd and appreciates support.  The "Games Makers" (volunteers) put on quite a show as they put away the hurdles in synch.  They must have had a lot of practice and could appear in the Sauerkraut Parade for this skill!!  

Next was a Men's relay race heats.  The crowd went wild for Team GB, it was like a rock concert gone wild it was so loud.   Team GB came in 2nd and qualified to race in tomorrow night's final.  USA was in a separate heat (it seemed like I was the only one waving our flag and going wild. . .)  Our team also finished 2nd and will race tomorrow.  I can't imagine the noise when that race goes off.

The women's high jump was right in front of us so we had an excellent view of it.  They had three chances to get over the bar.  Slowly the women were eliminated until about 2 were left -- two Americans qualified for finals (tomorrow, maybe).    While that was going on, the Decathelon participants did the discus throw.  The two Americans did well and earned points to their total.

The last Decathelon event for our session was pole vaulting.  It lasted from 1:00 - 4:15!!!  There is quite a bit of strategy involved.  Some of the best pole vaulters (our Ashton Easton, for example) didn't event join the competition until the bar was 5 metres.  The Dutch guy joined even later.  After a few successful jumps, Ashton opted out because he earned enough points and wanted to save his arm for tonight's javelin throw.  Trey made a strategic mistake when he was successful at one height, opted out of the next, and didn't make the next -- so he earned points from the last completed jump.   (He may be far enough ahead it doesn't matter).  We got a kick out of the jumper from Japan.  He obviously was less skillful than some other jumpers, but his enthusiasm when he completed a jump was so infectious.  He jumped higher than he ever did before and the crowd applauded him like his was an Olympic champion.  He bowed to us in thanks.  It was a nice moment.

That's all for now -- I have to watch tonight's events on the telly!