No Stoppin' Now | USA's 2008 Paralympic Silver Medalist

If you don’t already know, this is my second Paralympic games. I went to Athens in 2004, but I didn’t get a chance to attend the opening ceremonies because I had to compete the next day. This year, that isn’t the case. My competition doesn’t start until Monday.

Last night was ridiculous! All of U.S.A. sat outside of the stadium waiting to march inside the National Stadium (A.K.A. the Bird’s Nest). The crazy thing is while we were outside, we could still keep up with what was going on inside because there were television screens on the side of the building. While we waited, I was doing my usual, talking and joking around with other team mates.

It was finally our turn to begin walking in. There were tons of Chinese people greeting us and cheering us from both sides of the walk way and we weren’t even inside yet. There were tons of clapping hands and yelling voices applauding us.

We entered the tunnel. I could hear nothing but our delegation yelling “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” We made it through to the other side and everything opened. It was the national stadium full of spectators. I would assume majority of them were Chinese. It was sold out, 92,000 strong. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed anything like that. We walked around the stadium on the track which was covered by some carpet material. I waved to the crowd and to our Chinese friends standing in the middle of the track. As soon as all of our people made it in, we took our seats in the stands.

I sat in my seat as the rest of the delegations marched in. Time kept passing, and more time kept passing, and then…the crowd erupted. It caught my attention very quickly. The PA announcer proudly announced that the Republic of China would be marching in next. The place went bananas! I’ve never heard so much cheering, screaming, and enjoyment like that in my life. They were really getting some major love. This had to have gone on for about 20 minutes or so.

Once everyone was seated, we all were entertained by talented Chinese musicians and dancers. I have a small video clip of some of the dancers that you can watch right here:

Overall, the show was outrageous. Never have I been a part of anything like that in my life. I’m glad I actually got a chance to attend it this year. And now, I’ll have to move my focus to my competition.

Like I said before, if you have comments or questions, leave them for me and I’ll respond. Check out the video clip as well.