With Michael Phelps looking to break the 2000 year old record for most Olympic gold medals, I wanted to share with you my brief glimpse of the Phelps magic during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where I watched history unfold from the front row, sitting next to Michael Phelps’ family.
The year was 2008 and I had just finished my freshman year in college. After closing the biggest sale in my relatively new college startup, I decided to spend my newly earned cash and fulfill a childhood dream of attending the Olympics.
Before heading to the Olympics, I had two bucket list items. I wanted to watch the world’s fastest race, the 100 meter final, and watch Michael Phelps go for gold at an event in the Water Cube.
For months I scoured Ebay for tickets, looking for the perfect ticket that would give me a prime vantage point of the action. After seeing bleacher seats in the Water Cube selling for over $400, I was ready to give up until I saw a rather inconspicuous Ebay listing around a week before my flight from a seller with zero feedback selling a single front row ticket for the last day of swimming at the Water Cube.
Naturally skeptical, I messaged the seller on how he obtained such a ticket and he claimed that he won the ticket through a Chinese food contest with a blurry picture of the ticket plus himself as proof.
Call it teenage bravado or just plain naivety, but I decided to ignore all the red flags, purchased the ticket, and received it via express mail just a few days before my flight to China.
Fast forward a couple weeks and Beijing was in full Olympic swing. Miraculously, Michael Phelps had won gold in his seven previous events and was aiming to break Mark Spitz’s record.
The swimming finals were held in the morning, presumably for American TV audiences back home, and security was tight.
After clearing security, tickets were being validated via RFID, with valid tickets giving a green light. My gut was wincing as I made to the front of the line, fully expecting to be pulled aside and sent to the nearest Chinese jail. The scanner beeped and miraculously the light went green. I was in and against all odds, the ticket I purchased on Ebay turned out to be legitimate after all!
The sky was covered in haze and the unlit translucent water cube blended into the skyline.
Walking around I marveled at the walls made of ETFE, a type of foam plastic that formed bubble like shapes around the entire perimeter.
Water streamed from the outdoor walls as fans began trickling in.
I headed inside and made my way to my front row seat, situated right above where all the photographers were located. Conveniently there was a balcony located right in front, and I took the opportunity to fill the valuable estate with the Old Glory.
The seat was so close to the action that my flag would later be spotted on NBC’s actual live telecast.
As the stands started filling up, I noticed I was right in the VIP section, with the Phelps family directly behind me and the legendary Ian Thorpe a few seats over.
The mood was quite relaxed and entire family was extremely sweet and friendly to fans around them. Phelps’ sister even took a video of me doing a cringe worthy version of the Macarena, with Phelps’ mom cheering me on.
Soon the first final event of the day began, the 50 meter freestyle, a dead heat sprint that covers one lap of the pool. Dana Torres, a 41 year old mom of two and the oldest ever US swimmer in the Olympics, ended up taking silver, a fantastic result, and the crowd rose up to applaud her historic achievement.
After watching such a short race, it was only appropriate that next final was the 1500 meter freestyle, the marathon of swimming consisting of 30 laps. History was also made as Tunisia won its first gold medal in 48 years for his country.
The joyous mood in the mini American contingent took a more serious turn as the medley relay final drew closer, with everyone waiting to see if history could actually be made.
The atmosphere was quite ripe with anticipation as the teams were introduced and even the local Chinese fans cheered as team USA was announced. The medley relay soon started and I managed to take a video of the entire swim from a unique close up view.
As the relay came for the final turn, from our vantage point it looked like the race was going down to the wire. Nervousness quickly turned to hysteria as the scoreboard showed Team USA handily beating the Australians.
The Phelps family was naturally ecstatic and the water cube roared as over 10,000 people witnessed Olympic history being made.
Soon after the medal ceremony the US swimmers came over to our section for the traditional photo op.
Phelps’ teammates could look on as the cameras turned around, as he went to the front row to give his family a hug. All I could hear were the sounds of a hundred cameras clicking, each photographer trying to capture a piece of the magical moment.
After the medal ceremony, the crowd quickly left as it came, with those spending upwards of $500 for bleacher seats getting their money’s worth. On a nearby seat, I noticed an Olympic bouquet held by the US team lying down by itself.
I gathered a few petals that dropped nearby, hoping to keep at least a little bit of the magic that I’d just witnessed.
