Mary Beth Dunnichay diary: Aug. 10

By Mary Beth Dunnichay

August 10, 2008 11:55 pm

— Today is Sunday, Aug. 10. Our synchronized 3-meter girls dove today and ended up fourth and missing a medal by four points. They dove really, really well, though. So we are all quite proud of them. Two days ago, on the 8th, were the opening ceremonies. They were absolutely amazing!! I had never experienced anything like it in my life. Before the parade and everything that took place, the whole American team lined up in the fencing hall and got to meet the President and get our picture with him! It was really cool! I and a lot of other athletes got a bunch of pictures with some of the men’s basketball team! Then once everyone got lined up, we had to go to the gymnastics gym and wait for them to call our name to start making our way over to the Birds Nest. Once we got over there, we walked through a tunnel and the entire USA team was yelling, “U-S-A,” and that was so awesome because everyone was pumped and ready! When we finally got out onto the track, and just looking up into the huge crowd of people and cameras and just everything brought tears to most everyone’s eyes. I know it was a very emotional experience for me as well. What I felt walking out and knowing that I am representing my country is just a feeling I cannot explain. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my entire life!
Our boys will compete in 10-meter synchro tomorrow, and then we will compete the next day in 10-meter synchro as well. Our training has been going very well, so we are ready to compete and just have fun and do our best!

— Mary Beth