JR
08-31-2004, 04:57 PM
Hi Everyone!!
Before I start to tell you about my great time in Athens I would like to thank all who have supported me both here in the BADMINTONFORUM :rolleyes: and outside. It means the world to me that people follow my progress and are there both in good times, but more importantly in the down times!!
So, we left for Athens on the 9th of august and had a couple of days there to get used to the olumpic village. The most significant thing about the village was the dining area. Here I had the chance to see some of this worlds greatest nowliving athletes as Maurice Green, Justin Gatlin, Karolina Kluft etc. etc. Everything was free in the village so I didn´t use any money within the village. My parents and my girlfriend with her friend visited me and saw all of my matches. They were overwhelmed by the olympic village and they had a great time there.
By the time the day of the opening ceremony arrived I already had had a lot of memories. Walking into the olympic stadium at the night of the opening ceremony was one of my most exciting moments in my life. The noise of 70.000 thousand people shouting "Hellas" when the greece athletes walked in was amazing. Only once have a heared something like it. At the Thomas Cup semifinal against Indonesia in Indonesia. The ceremony lasted several hours but it feels like only minutes before I walked out again. Another special moment was when the olumpic fire was lit. That really made it special!!
I was in action just two days after the opening ceremony playing mixeddoubles agains the kiwis Daniel Shirley and Sara Runesten. We won the match, but not without difficulties 15/14 15/9. After the match I changed t-shirts with Daniel and you´ll be able to buy that t-shirt on the Badminton Charity Auction later. Two days after this match Rikke and I had to play against Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Minn of Korea. No danes had ever beaten them and they had been unbeaten for more than a year :eek: . Therefore, beating them 17/14 15/8 was like winning the olympic gold in the quarterfinal. I still cannot believe we did it. Later that evening Lars Paaske and I played Kim/Yim from Korea and lost 15/12 in the third set. This day had it all for me. Maybe my greatest win ever and disappointment of not getting further than our first match in the mensdoubles.
In the semifinal we played Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms who played one of their best matches ever. No matter what we tried it didn´t seem to affect them and theréfore in the end we lost. One thing that pleased me very much was the athmosphere in the stadium during this match. Both the danish and the english spectators shouted so loud that we had trouble hearing eachother on court at times. Nathan and Gail deserved to get the win and I also think that they had deserved to win the final. :crying: In the bronze medal match both Rikkes and my strenght had faded and we couldn´t bring our game to the same height as in the quarterfinal. So we lost big and missed out on the medals. Therefore it´s with mixed emotions I left the olympic tournament. I played the best I have ever done in a mix, but we didn´t get a medal.
After the tournament we had some time to relax and see the other danish athletes compete. I saw the danish handball team win gold and that was really amazing to follow. Another great experience was when we met our royal family. I got to talk to our future king, the crownprince Frederik and his wife Mary and they were really nice people and Frederik seemed a kind of guy I could be friends with. One of the last days in Athens we were invited by our Queen Margareth the 2nd onto the Kingship. Seeing the ship was amazing and something that I´ll never forget.
The last day arrived and closing ceremony cemented a great olympic experience for me. The olympic fire was put out and I changed some of my t-shirts to t-shirt from around the world marking the olympic spirit in my mind. Everybody held hands that night.
During the tournament I got t-shirts from: Nathan Robertson, Rexy Mainaky, Taufik, Flandy, Eng Hian, Daniel Shirley etc.
You will be able to buy those t-shirts later in the BADMINTON CHARITY AUCTION forum on this site. :cool: :cool:
Once again thank you for your kind words to me during this olympics!!
Kind Regards
Jonas
Before I start to tell you about my great time in Athens I would like to thank all who have supported me both here in the BADMINTONFORUM :rolleyes: and outside. It means the world to me that people follow my progress and are there both in good times, but more importantly in the down times!!
So, we left for Athens on the 9th of august and had a couple of days there to get used to the olumpic village. The most significant thing about the village was the dining area. Here I had the chance to see some of this worlds greatest nowliving athletes as Maurice Green, Justin Gatlin, Karolina Kluft etc. etc. Everything was free in the village so I didn´t use any money within the village. My parents and my girlfriend with her friend visited me and saw all of my matches. They were overwhelmed by the olympic village and they had a great time there.
By the time the day of the opening ceremony arrived I already had had a lot of memories. Walking into the olympic stadium at the night of the opening ceremony was one of my most exciting moments in my life. The noise of 70.000 thousand people shouting "Hellas" when the greece athletes walked in was amazing. Only once have a heared something like it. At the Thomas Cup semifinal against Indonesia in Indonesia. The ceremony lasted several hours but it feels like only minutes before I walked out again. Another special moment was when the olumpic fire was lit. That really made it special!!
I was in action just two days after the opening ceremony playing mixeddoubles agains the kiwis Daniel Shirley and Sara Runesten. We won the match, but not without difficulties 15/14 15/9. After the match I changed t-shirts with Daniel and you´ll be able to buy that t-shirt on the Badminton Charity Auction later. Two days after this match Rikke and I had to play against Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Minn of Korea. No danes had ever beaten them and they had been unbeaten for more than a year :eek: . Therefore, beating them 17/14 15/8 was like winning the olympic gold in the quarterfinal. I still cannot believe we did it. Later that evening Lars Paaske and I played Kim/Yim from Korea and lost 15/12 in the third set. This day had it all for me. Maybe my greatest win ever and disappointment of not getting further than our first match in the mensdoubles.
In the semifinal we played Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms who played one of their best matches ever. No matter what we tried it didn´t seem to affect them and theréfore in the end we lost. One thing that pleased me very much was the athmosphere in the stadium during this match. Both the danish and the english spectators shouted so loud that we had trouble hearing eachother on court at times. Nathan and Gail deserved to get the win and I also think that they had deserved to win the final. :crying: In the bronze medal match both Rikkes and my strenght had faded and we couldn´t bring our game to the same height as in the quarterfinal. So we lost big and missed out on the medals. Therefore it´s with mixed emotions I left the olympic tournament. I played the best I have ever done in a mix, but we didn´t get a medal.
After the tournament we had some time to relax and see the other danish athletes compete. I saw the danish handball team win gold and that was really amazing to follow. Another great experience was when we met our royal family. I got to talk to our future king, the crownprince Frederik and his wife Mary and they were really nice people and Frederik seemed a kind of guy I could be friends with. One of the last days in Athens we were invited by our Queen Margareth the 2nd onto the Kingship. Seeing the ship was amazing and something that I´ll never forget.
The last day arrived and closing ceremony cemented a great olympic experience for me. The olympic fire was put out and I changed some of my t-shirts to t-shirt from around the world marking the olympic spirit in my mind. Everybody held hands that night.
During the tournament I got t-shirts from: Nathan Robertson, Rexy Mainaky, Taufik, Flandy, Eng Hian, Daniel Shirley etc.
You will be able to buy those t-shirts later in the BADMINTON CHARITY AUCTION forum on this site. :cool: :cool:
Once again thank you for your kind words to me during this olympics!!
Kind Regards
Jonas