Today was the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. With all of the security plus the 150,000 fans who would be there it was imperative to get to the area several hours prior.

I hung out over at the Main Press Center (MPC) for several hours then went to look for the media shuttle to the stadium which is about ¾ of a mile away. Of course with my luck I was unable to find it and once I realized it wasn’t where I thought I was already a ¼ mile from the MPC.

So I figured what the hell and continued to walk. Normally a ¾ mile walk is no big deal but compound the high heat/humidity with me carrying 3 cameras as well as a few extra lenses (including a 600mm) and a backpack with a laptop and several bottles of water and it was a receipt for disaster.

I honestly felt like passing out and I nearly did. I still found the energy to stop a few times to fire off some pics as I approached the awesome National Stadium.

For some odd reason the local police weren’t too keen on me crouching down a few feet from their police dogs and before I could compose a better shot I was briskly pointed to leave.

After getting to the stadium and finding the media center I kicked back and relaxed for a good hour before I did anything.

I checked out my photo position and it was as perfect as I could get (in my opinion) so I was happy and went back to the media room to relax and chit chat with fellow American photogs.

Nearly two hours prior to the ceremonies I head back there and it is absolutely packed with photogs. I had to do this crazy tip toe jump step walk to maneuver around the photographers, their cameras, and laptops and squeeze into a spot that really was too small to be a spot but there was no other option. Thankfully the photographers around me didn’t speak English or I am sure they would be yelling at me for taking their tiny free space.

 

The heat being packed with so many photographers was nearly unbearable and my shirt was drenched with sweat, I honestly contemplated taking my shirt off and wearing my photo vest only but didn’t feel like causing an international incident.

Then the introduction of the teams began. For an Olympics that was 220 or so countries and took nearly 2 hours.

By far the largest congregation of athletes for a country was the United States.

-Mark J. Rebilas is a freelance sports photographer based in Arizona. His work is seen regularly in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, USA Today and many others around the country. Visit www.markjrebilas.com to learn more about his work.

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