Friday morning, riding a quiet Light Rail train with my friend Laurene, we sat across from two very tall men in their red and yellow team uniforms wearing official Olympics badges. They looked like athletes, so I started a conversation.
“Where are you from?” “Tunisia.”And what sport? “Volleyball,” they said in fairly thick accents. “Have you played already?” “Yes,” the younger one answered. “And how did you do?” “We didn’t win, but it’s okay. We play more games.”
I asked if they had been to the United States. The older one had when he played in the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. The younger went on to add that his teammate had been in three Olympics: Athens, Atlanta and now London. (He did not go to Beijing. I didn’t ask why.) I gave them a bookmark with my website to help explain what I do. Both were quiet but getting more talkative, saying they were going to watch tennis at Wimbledon. I thought about asking to take a picture, but didn’t… and just as we reached the stop, we said our goodbyes and they got off the train. I mentioned to Laurene, “I should have taken my picture with them. Two super tall Olympic Volleyball players on either side of 5-foot-6 me! That would have been so fun! Oh well. Next time.” (I’ve since looked up their names on the London2012 website, and they were Mohamed Ben Slimane –6’2″ 30 years old — and Noureddine Hfaiedh –6’6″, 38 years old.)
Fast forward to late Saturday night. I had spent the day writing then traveling to the country, to the town of Newbury, to meet a friend and his family. A semi non-Olympics day. In the Stratford Underground station I spotted a man with a USA flag on his back talking with police officers. I snapped a picture. Then, the police officer — with his very cute small dog — started talking to me. I thought I was in trouble for “shooting” the authorities. But, he said, “would you like a picture with a policeman?” “Oh. I was just getting the guy with the flag.” “Oh, you don’t want a picture with a policeman?” “Oh, no. I mean, yes, sure!” So we took one with his dog Finnbury. Not your usual German Sheppard drug sniffing dog, but Finnbury was official. I felt better about taking the opportunity. Maybe it was a good sign.
Because within three minutes of that, walking home from the tube after midnight, I started to call my mom to tell her about my day. As I looked ahead, I spotted two very tall men and a woman. The men dressed in distinctively white team uniforms with red and their country RUSSIA on the front. I hung up the phone and said hello to the athletes and asked if I could take my picture with them. THey said, “of course, sure…” Afterward, I asked what sport they were with… “Volleyball?” “No. Swimming.” “Oh, have you competed? How did you do?” “Yes, we competed. In the relay. We won Bronze.” “Bronze. WOW! Congratulations!”
The woman took our picture and another with me talking with them. With a check of that website, the players were Andrey Grechin (6’6″ on my right) and Daniel Izotov (6’4″ on my left.) Congrats to the Bronze Medalists for the 4X100 freestyle relay.
So while every moment can’t be captured, sometimes by just starting a conversation, you can learn a little more about the athletes whose world is playing their sport, and who the world is watching as well.