RW Athletics - The Olympic Experience
Time has a way of moving quickly. It's hard to believe that ten years ago some kid from Rochester flew around the world to compete at the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia.
In 2000, I was amongst the most elite athletes in the world, but I was every bit a spectator and hero worshipper as a participant. Being an Olympian on the US fencing team at nineteen years old was like being a kid in a candy store. I had access to people like Mia Hamm (soccer), Dara Torres (swimming), and Marion Jones (track and field) who has since been stripped of her five Olympic medals.
The first day at Sydney I met the women's judo team because we shared a condo with them in the athlete village. Within the village each country had their own section with the United States occupying the largest piece of the village. We had everything we could possibly need at our disposal including someone to do our laundry, someone to clean our rooms each day and most importantly, a McDonalds conveniently located in the athlete cafeteria.
My best friend Cliff and I met Tommy Lasorda (major league baseball manager) on a "media outing" with a few members of the USA baseball team. We both thought it would be funny to offer Tommy a Twizzler, considering that he no longer seemed to be on his Slim-Fast diet. He said 'no' to the Twizzler but 'yes' to a picture with Cliff and me.
For an Olympic voyeur like myself, the best place to meet the maximum number of athletic stars was the opening ceremonies. All of the US athletes gathered in the village before being loaded onto buses to the stadium and anyone who was anyone was there, including the basketball athletes that usually stayed in a hotel away from the village campus.
That year my favorite movie was Spike Lee's "He Got Game" starring Milwaukee Bucks player Ray Allen. I had THE biggest crush on Ray and I can still feel how hard my heart was pounding in my chest when I went up to him and said, "Hi, I'm Iris Zimmermann". To which he responded, "Hi, I'm Ray Allen. Where are you from?" To which I said, "Rochester, New York," and he went on to tell me how cold it was in Milwaukee. Apparently, Ray Allen hasn't spent a significant amount of time in Rochester.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Sydney was one of the most incredible times of my life. For two weeks in August, I lived and mingled on Mount Olympus amongst the gods and for a blink of an eye, I was one of them.
You can enjoy the rest of the February Issue on our website
Friday, February 19th, 2010 | Rochester Woman Magazine
by Iris ZimmermannTime has a way of moving quickly. It's hard to believe that ten years ago some kid from Rochester flew around the world to compete at the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia.
In 2000, I was amongst the most elite athletes in the world, but I was every bit a spectator and hero worshipper as a participant. Being an Olympian on the US fencing team at nineteen years old was like being a kid in a candy store. I had access to people like Mia Hamm (soccer), Dara Torres (swimming), and Marion Jones (track and field) who has since been stripped of her five Olympic medals.
The first day at Sydney I met the women's judo team because we shared a condo with them in the athlete village. Within the village each country had their own section with the United States occupying the largest piece of the village. We had everything we could possibly need at our disposal including someone to do our laundry, someone to clean our rooms each day and most importantly, a McDonalds conveniently located in the athlete cafeteria.
My best friend Cliff and I met Tommy Lasorda (major league baseball manager) on a "media outing" with a few members of the USA baseball team. We both thought it would be funny to offer Tommy a Twizzler, considering that he no longer seemed to be on his Slim-Fast diet. He said 'no' to the Twizzler but 'yes' to a picture with Cliff and me.
For an Olympic voyeur like myself, the best place to meet the maximum number of athletic stars was the opening ceremonies. All of the US athletes gathered in the village before being loaded onto buses to the stadium and anyone who was anyone was there, including the basketball athletes that usually stayed in a hotel away from the village campus.
That year my favorite movie was Spike Lee's "He Got Game" starring Milwaukee Bucks player Ray Allen. I had THE biggest crush on Ray and I can still feel how hard my heart was pounding in my chest when I went up to him and said, "Hi, I'm Iris Zimmermann". To which he responded, "Hi, I'm Ray Allen. Where are you from?" To which I said, "Rochester, New York," and he went on to tell me how cold it was in Milwaukee. Apparently, Ray Allen hasn't spent a significant amount of time in Rochester.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Sydney was one of the most incredible times of my life. For two weeks in August, I lived and mingled on Mount Olympus amongst the gods and for a blink of an eye, I was one of them.
You can enjoy the rest of the February Issue on our website
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