Print What a long, long day Tuesday--the Nations Cup--was. The first round started at 9 a.m. and ran until just before 1 p.m. Then they scheduled a break until 8:30 for the second round, which was great for the horses but hard on everyone else involved. (You've never seen so many sober but glassy eyed people in one place.)
And since the United States and Sweden went to a jump-off, it was a few minutes after midnight before they started the awards ceremony and 3:30 a.m. before my head hit the pillow.
(I slept til 10:30, and then went to cover the freestyle, which is why I didn't finish writing this until today.)
Besides the fact that the U.S. quartet won the silver medal, a bright spot to what we all call marathon day was that it gave me a chance to do a sort of catching up as I filled in the time between rounds.
A highlight was getting a chance to take the stable tour, when they let us media types enter the compound where the horses and their grooms live, which is fenced off like a concentration camp, much more thoroughly and dauntingly than I've ever seen before. I mean, only riders, grooms, trainers, owners and officials are allowed in the stables at any FEI-sanctioned competition, but the fencing is usually temporary and often a bit flimsy. Not this time. They're serious here.
If you look at the photos I've included today, you'll see that the stables are brand-spanking new and extremely well-designed. In fact, the riders have raved about how cool and efficient the stables have been in the scorching heat, even though the only trees or shrubs were clearly planted the week before the Olympics began. In 10 or 20 years they'll provide shade from the scorching heat, but not now. Another reason why it's reminiscent of a brightly colored Auschwitz from the outside.
The barns are certainly exceptionally workmanlike, but one of my colleagues perfectly described them as "antiseptic." They have no character or features. They are, quite literally, stable blocks. The equestrian center section has 288 stalls, while the section up the hill with the racetrack has another 1,200. Maybe Markopoulo could be the next winter horse show circuit? And maybe this place, which also has a gigantic and state-of-the-art veterinary clinic, will stand empty until it crumbles away like the other ancient buildings here.
Anyway, once the tour was over, I wandered past the dressage practice arenas with Margaret Freeman, a friend who some of you may know as a dressage judge and dressage rider but who is also an experienced journalist and covering the Olympics once again for the Associated Press. And there, working Rusty, was Ulla Salzgeber, with Heike Kemmer offering advice. So, of course, we had to sit down and watch.
