Hartwig a kid at heart

[patchdoggydogg]

Phil Hersh, the well-respected Olympic beat writer of the Chicago Tribune, writes:

"The old guy sounded like a kid at Christmas when he was talking about the Opening Ceremony.

Maybe it's because Jeff Hartwig didn't expect to be there, and not merely because it's hard to imagine a 40-year-old pole vaulter at the Olympics.

Hartwig's original plans were to arrive Friday, the day of the ceremony, but he was advised against it, perhaps because Beijing's air space was to be closed for several hours as a security measure. So he landed Thursday and decided to attend.

Neither the suffocating heat and humidity in the Bird's Nest stadium nor the hours of waiting to march bothered Hartwig, who held the U.S. pole vault record until this season.

There was a spark in Hartwig's eyes Sunday as he described the excitement of posing for pictures with President Bush, who addressed the U.S. team while it waited in a staging area, appropriately the venue where three U.S. women fencers would sweep the saber medals on the official first day of Olympic competition.

Hartwig also was impressed by the patience and graciousness NBA stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James showed in posing for pictures with everyone who asked."

You can read the rest at http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/spo ... kid-a.html