OLYMPIC DIARY: METZGER
Getting fit for battles on beach
Periodic reports from Stein Metzger, a Punahou School and UCLA alumnus who is partnered with Dax Holdren on one of the United States Olympic Beach volleyball teams, appear in the Honolulu Advertiser. The reports will continue through the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The Games end Aug. 29.
By Stein Metzger
Special to The Advertiser
The Olympic Village is now overflowing with athletes from everywhere. The dining commons are a social butterfly's dream, with all shapes and sizes of people to meet, greet and watch.
I've never had so much fun people watching, better even than Kalakaua Avenue on a weekend. At first, I was most amazed by the huge shot put and discus monsters, until I noticed the gymnasts, whose tiny stature reminded me of fifth-graders on an Athens field trip.
The camaraderie between the U.S. competitors is also fun. Last night, we knocked a volleyball around under the street lights with the defending gold medalist U.S. softball team, along with beach players Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard.
The Olympic Village also provides the best facilities an athlete can ask for. The gym is amazing, and the U.S. sports medicine team is the best in the world. Dax and I keep busy between practices taking care of our bodies and, thanks to massive amounts of physical therapy, we feel better than we have all year.
On the volleyball front, the sand here is very deep and soft, which makes moving and jumping very difficult, similar to the beach at Waimea Bay. Most events on the European tour are "hard packed" so this will be a big change. Instead of big hits and imposing blocks, the other skills like ball control and communication will be at a premium.
This surface favors the smaller teams with good control, but no team will be able to dominate the Games like the Brazilians. However, they have a history of running into opponents who rise to new Olympic heights and I expect no different in 2004. Men's beach volleyball will be an absolute war and nothing will come easy.
