Beijing and other adventures
I know it has been too long since I last wrote. Beijing was amazing! For those of you that may not have followed my progress, I returned home from China with five medals. A gold in the 400m, a silver in the 100m, 200m and 800m and a bronze in the 4×100m relay. This was by far my most successful Paralympic Games yet and I am still having a hard time believing all of those medals belong to me! 
I would like to say that once I got home I did nothing for weeks on end but of course, life must go on. Luckily, I was invited on some pretty cool adventures in the last month or so.
Chicago Bears Game
My first weekend back I had the chance to attend a Chicago Bears game with two fellow Olympians. Chicago 2016, the group vying for the 2016 Olympic Games, set the event up for us. We all were given the chance to stand on the field during warm-up and for kickoff. Then we were ushered up to a skybox where we ate some lunch. Katy went up to Chicago with me and we both were shocked when we walked into the skybox and saw Vince Vaughn sitting only a few feet away! At halftime, we were all taken back down to the field where we were announced to the crowd. Unfortunately Katy and I weren’t able to stay for the whole game but it was a fun day and definitely worth the drive up to the city.
Washington, DC Trip
Next, I had the chance to go to Washington, DC for a visit at the White House. Following the Games every four years, all the Paralympians and Olympians are invited on this exciting visit to the nation’s capitol. I had a great time in 2000 but unfortunately wasn’t able to go in 2004 and so I was excited to return this year! We all flew into DC on Monday, Oct. 6. That evening we were hosted at a banquet in downtown Baltimore and then most of the Paralympians and Olympians made their way over to a local bar called Pickles. I think the bar was more than overwhelmed with the large crowd on a Monday night but everyone had a great time celebrating our victories in China. The next morning we were up early loading onto buses at 6am headed to the White House. We were welcomed onto the South grounds of the White House and were seated in front of the press with the White House as our backdrop. Following a speech by President Bush, we all had the opportunity to tour the White House. I also was invited to attend a brief press conference along with fellow Paralympians and Olympians.
Homecoming
I flew back to Illinois on Oct. 7th and had a couple of days rest before my next adventure. On Friday, Oct. 10th I had the opportunity to represent my school and my country when I was honored as the Grand Marshall in the University of Illinois Homecoming Parade. Having never attended Homecoming in years past (I know what sort of Illini am I!?), I wasn’t quite sure what I had to do as “Grand Marshall”. I arrived at the pre-party a little nervous about my duties for the evening but quickly settled in with the other guests. I met one alum of the University that currently teachers in the medical school at Stanford and had been teaching a course abroad in Beijing during Paralympic Games. What a small world it can be sometimes!
It turns out my role as Grand Marshall was fairly simple…job #1 smile…job #2 wave. I got to ride along the parade route on top of a blue corvette with a very kind couple that donated their time and car for the parade. I am happy to report that I manage to successfully stay upright the entire route and although my one hand went numb from me hanging on so tight to the front seat, I waved and smiled myself silly. Following the parade, the school hosted a pep rally where I was announced. Overall, it was an awesome experience that I will never forget!
Chicago Marathon
The following day, I drove up to Chicago to join my Illini teammates that were getting ready for the Chicago Marathon. My trip up to Chicago offered me a chance to have a little fun and work at the same time. I had been invited by the group Chicago 2016 to be the honorary starter for the wheelchair portion of the marathon. So on Sunday morning I was up bright and early with the runners to start the race. The race also invited me to be a finish line representative, which meant that I got hold up one end of the Bank of America banner as the first wheelchair racer crossed the line. It was a fun weekend and I had a great time being a spectator rather than a participant!
I’ve been working hard on updating my photos on the website so be sure to check them out!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 8:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.