Hey there! I've been racing racing racing ... so much has happened. Things have been action-packed and have left me in a position of needing to be on my game rather than typing away on my laptop, so, I'll combine the events of the last week or so here and then can't wait to catch up more with everyone when the dust settles.

Pre-opening ceremonies involved getting acquainted with the village and settling in - figuring out how to operate my hair dryer, do laundry, find the best items at the dining hall and learning which to avoid, and finding an egg crate mattress to make-up for the fact that the beds here are like a slab of plywood. The village overall is beautiful, very beautiful, and I have a lovely view out of my 5th floor window of a pond and some fountains...great people watching. I also got my own room! Huge bonus there. We had a flag raising ceremony and several dignitaries attended as well as past Paralympians of note.

Opening ceremonies was spectacular! We were so, SO hot in our Ralph Lauren jumpsuits but we looked studly. I dropped my camera on the way into the stadium while I was trying not to faceplant in front of 81,000 people, but was very fortunate to have it recovered by a teammate and returned to me later, after they took several priceless pictures on their own on my behalf *smile*. The theme of the show was an awesome mix of spectacular sights mixed with touching elements of the deeper meaning of the Paralympic Movement. My favorite parts were probably when 2000 little kids came out dressed like worker bees and did this crazy routine where they all danced around and stood on their heads, and also a very beautiful ballet piece centered around a young girl from central china who lost a leg in the earthquake earlier this year. It was also really fun just to mingle with the whole US team.

I had a day off and then we raced the 5000 meter. My race-report, as copied to my coach:

"In the second to last lap, a racer forgot to hit her compensator coming out of the corner and she went left right into
another racer, which started the freeway pile-up that took out 6 of us, leaving 5 to finish. I was essentially in the middle behind the pile-up and as there was carnage on both sides of me I plowed right into the middle of it and literally launched out of my chair in a forward motion. I landed with my butt on the track and my legs still in the chair. We were probably going about 16-17 when the crash occured. I was in flight or flight mode and I grabbed my chair and scooted off the track before the other ladies came around for their final sprint. The track totally looked like a war zone. I was sitting off to the side when they came back around and several officials impeded the path of the ladies left in the race as they were in their final sprint. The crash was protested and the protest was upheld so we'll run again on Friday morning, with two racers "maybes" due to injury.

After the crash I got the once-over by the medical staff and no broken anything and no bruises, actually, AMAZINGLY...just some neck tightness and a bit of strain, but nothing localized or acute. Really, just felt like my neck was a little bit tight. Essentially, I got really, really lucky. "

So - we re-race that tomorrow morning, Friday, at 9:00 AM. You can see video of the crash on Universal Sports Network website, Paralympicsport.TV, and YouTube. Trust me, it's epic. My thoughts and prayers go out to my peers who sustained more significant injury - I truly hope they are able to compete again later this week.

On day 2 and 3, we raced the 400 meter prelim and final. I won my heat on Day 2 and advanced to the final with no problem, then, raced my BUTT off to a fourth place finish last night. I pushed a personal best time....I'm very proud of how I did...and I feel like the theme of this race was simply - Paralympics is elevating to new levels, the Chinese are coming on strong, and you have to be completely devoted to one or two events to have a chance at medalling in them. As it should be. We would have swept it with gold, silver, bronze, had it not been for some Chinese surprise intervention...so, I'm extraordinarily proud of my teammates on the podium, and, on to the next one!!!

More coming soon. Promise!

Best,
Cheri