Today is the last day of the 17th World Transplant Games. It only seems like a week ago that we were getting ready for the 3k and the opening ceremonies. Since this is our first World Games we cannot make a proper comparison, but it has been a lot of fun. We have met a lot of really fun, inspiring, and generous people on Team USA and from all over the world.
The World Games have a different vibe than the US Games. The competition is a little more serious and it is clear that most athletes are very skilled at their sport. It turns out that the US is one of the few countries that does not have qualifying standards for the World Games. Great Britain, the largest traveling team, selected their team over a year ago. At the US Games, there is competition, but there is also a lot of bonding and sharing of experiences. Maybe it is the language barrier, but those interactions happened on nearly every bus ride in Pittsburgh.
There was one tearful moment that Cheryl and I happened to share. While waiting in line to have medals engraved Cheryl was chatting with a double lung recipient from Great Britain. As she was detailing her successful Games, an older Australian gentleman came up and began thanking her profusely and expressing that her gift meant so much to him. It turns out that he is a Donor Family member and had the honor of presenting the medals for the Woman's 800 meter (metre) sprint. When presenting the silver medal to this British athlete, she promptly took it off and re-presented it to him while explaining he was the real winner. Hours later he was still visibly moved by the moment. Cheryl and I were able to contributed to the event by pitching in $5 to have his medal engraved to remember the date and event.
From a competition standpoint, there was no comparison. Almost every event this week was compelling to watch. I wished we could have seen the finals of badminton and the field sprints in the 20k road race were fantastic. I cannot say that one Games is better than the other, they are just different.
The main reason for heading to track and field was to support Jim as he threw the discus. It is his best event and it showed. On his second throw he set a new Transplant Games world record in the 30-39 age group and his brought home his second gold medal.
The remainder of the track and field was cheering on Team USA and trading for gear. I got a Team Nederlands hat yesterday and than Cheryl and I finished the uniform with a Nederland's t-shirt and polo. Cheryl also traded for a Team Australia polo. At one point the Team Nederland's managers was trying to give me one of their tickets to the gala until he realized that I did not speak Dutch. By the end of the day most athletes and spectators were dressing mismatched hat, shirt, and shorts combinations.
Unlike past games where the closing ceremonies and dinner were wrapped into one event, these games had an informal closing ceremony at the track and field venue with a formal (jacket and tie required) dinner scheduled for several hours later. After being at the track all day, we only made half of the closing ceremony before getting a ride back with John and Linda in their rental car.
Before the Gala, Molly and I went down to the pool one last time and to give Cheryl some time to get ready. Cheryl had blown out her flattening iron back in Brisbane and was sure she was doomed to evening of naturally curly hair. Dani, however, came through with a travel flattening iron and Cheryl looked fantastic for the final event.
The Gala was back in the Convention Centre, but for this last meal we were served at our tables. Evening entertainment include Irish step dancers and one of the singers from The Little River Band. Fortunately, Molly fell asleep midway through dinner (up at 5:00 and all day in the sun does that to her) so we didn't have to worry about her making a break for the stage. There was also repeated playing o
f Tania Doko's rendition of the official Games Song, Our Victory. I have now heard that song enough.
We made it back to the serviced apartment by 10:00 and spend the next 2 and 1/2 hours packing. We have to be ready to catch the shuttle to the airport at 6:30 AM. The Games are now officially over.
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