Monday, August 25, 2008

Some final thoughts

Yesterday was the last day of the Games. I assisted with medical coverage of the marathon in the morning. Luckily the weather cooperated and it was not too hot or humid, so there were no problems with excessive dehydration. Most of the injuries that we see in distance runners are overuse injuries, such as stress fractures of the lower extremity (foot, tibia, etc.).

Last night I marched in the Closing Ceremonies with the athletes. We had a blast! The Chinese really put on a show! The ceremony was quite an extravaganza---London has a tough act to follow for 2012. Part of the closing Ceremony is the "handoff" of the Olympic flag from Beijing to London. David Beckham came in on a London-style double decker bus. Quite a show!

One of the best parts of the Closing Ceremony is the chance to mingle with many of the athletes who we have treated and come to know over the past 3 weeks. We also met many athletes from other countries. This is the real unique part of the Olympics: the chance to meet so many different people from all over the world, on a "level" playing field. It definitely makes one realize that people are much the same anywhere one goes. That seems like a pretty good lesson.

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