IAAF World Championships!

Self-proclaimed “Colorful Daegu” is my latest place of residence, nestled in an expansive valley in the Gyeongsanbuk-do province of South Korea. Although a good place to live, make friends and save money; Daegu in general is not “Colorful” but rather a lack-luster metropolitan city of 2.5 million people.  From August 27th through September 4^th, however the city was showcased to the world as host to the 2011 International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships.

From all across the globe, the world’s fastest and strongest convened in competition to be the best of the best at the world’s biggest single week long track and field meet. Like the Olympics, competitors compete not only for themselves, but for their nations’ pride. The event far exceeded my personal expectations, and proved to be an incredible once in a life time opportunity.

Several of my friends I met in Cambodia came down from Seoul to stay with me for the weekend and we got seats with my Daeguken friends, right behind the high jump. Watching the USA receive a gold medal and singing along to the national anthem five minutes into the event was an overwhelming sense of patriotism. The women’s high jump was our primary focus but we also really got into the wheel chair races, javelin throw, hurdles and women’s 4x4 relay where USA also grabbed the gold!

Our seats happened to be behind a group of Daegu elite women including the Mayor of Daegu’s wife who introduced herself and offered us snacks. With beers flowing and excitement growing, we really got into the events. During the dance cam intermission, we tried our hardest dancing for a solid 5-10 minutes to get on the jumbo-tron. Although we failed we still got a grand ovation from the hundreds of Koreans around us.

The main event that everyone was anticipating for weeks and months was the men’s 200m; to watch the world’s fastest man; Usain Bolt. The race was over 19.40 seconds after it started with Jamaica’s Bolt taking gold, USA’s Dix for the silver, and to our surprise France’s Lemaitre for bronze. Bolt spent about 15 minutes showboating after his less than 20 seconds of running but well deserved for him being the world’s fastest man.

The USA overall took home the most medals counting 25; 12 gold, 8 silver, and 5 bronze. The event was overall an amazing experience that brought a sense of pride for being an American and a sense of camaraderie among nations. It truly was an amazing experience that I am glad my friends and I were able to be a part of.