Ni Hao from China « Prolebrity

Ni Hao from China

July 25, 2008 - Heather Mitts

After a day in San Fran to meet up, go through processing (where we get all our gear), followed by a short briefing, we were packing up and heading to Beijing.

After our 11-hour plane ride, we arrived in smoggy Beijing. Supposedly today was a bad day for the pollution so hopefully it will improve by 8/8/8. That’s opening day for most of the other athletes but unfortunately, we won’t be able to make it as our first game is on 8/6 in Quinhuangdao, two hours away from Beijing. The soccer athletes are use to missing the opening ceremony, due to the number of games required and amount of venues needed in different cities to host the men’s and women’s games. Almost every other sport stays in the Olympic Village and competes in Beijing but on the positive side, we get to travel and see the rest of the country. Speaking of sight-seeing, tomorrow we will visit the Forbidden City and then onto the Great Wall the following day. Thursday, we depart to Quinhuangdao to prepare for our first game against Norway which will air on 8/6 at 7:45am ET on MSNBC.

I’m really excited to get the games underway. For me, this is so special because of the recovery from my ACL and the chance to really contribute on the field compared to Athens. I love the mix of players on this team, the way we are playing on the field and how fun it’s been to play for Pia again. I’ve been lucky and I can say, I’ve really been enjoying playing again.

Wish I had only good news for you all. As many of you know, Abby Wambach broke her leg in the last game against Brazil as she was looking to score her 100th goal. Missing out on a World Cup or Olympics due to injury is a heart breaker. Unfortunately, I know how Abby feels right now. I visited her at the hospital the day after her surgery and her attitude was amazing. She was such a huge part of this team and still will be. What she brings to this team can’t be replicated on the field but we have other players who I know will step up in different ways. This team has had a lot of injuries and challenges already and somehow we always find a way to win. It won’t be easy without Abby but I do believe we will find a way to bring home another Gold.

I will say, the eerie thing is that Abby said she told the referee, at the beginning of that game, that it was up to her that everyone walked off that field healthy and heading to Beijing. The game got off to a very physical start and was a little dirty at times. Abby was 8 minutes from coming out of the game at half and heading to her 2nd Olympics. In my opinion it was an accident that could have been avoided. We’re gonna miss Abby, Leslie and Cat and hope to dedicate this Olympics to them.

Thanks again for all the emails and support at the games! I will write again after the first win. Talk soon. -Heather