On the verge of making her Olympic debut for Bermuda in the XXIX Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Medford resident and current Stanford long jumper Arantxa King reflects on the week that was in this exclusive Olympic Diary entry for the Medford Transcript

I arrived in Beijing, China a week ago; but it seems like I've been here for far longer than that. This is my second time in Beijing. I was here two years ago for the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships.

I remember climbing the Great Wall (which is completely deserving of its title as a World Wonder) and looking out at what appeared to be a smudged sketch of Beijing in the distance due to the famous Beijing smog; and thinking that it would be a dream to be able to come back here in two years time for the el jefe of all sports, The Olympics.

Although, I was aspiring to achieve the qualifying mark to participate; it seems like other forces would allow me to go regardless of the standard.

So here I am in the Olympic Village, the city that encompasses the world's people. I have been to several international competitions in which I've been in the presence of athletes from all the over the world, but this by far is the cream of the crop.

Three days ago marked the opening of the Games (most simply recognised as 08.08.08.). I am sure the Opening Ceremony is to be the highlight of my experience here in Beijing. While the rest of the world was watching the magnificent display of beautiful cultural and ascetic performance in the stadium, all of us were horded into the Olympic Gymnastic Venue with nebulous directions that only conveyed one thing. We had to wait. We left the village at approximately 5.45pm and we weren't scheduled to walk until half past nine. You can imagine the anxiousness and the boredom we were to potentially face during this duration of a time.

While all the countries were sitting in their perspective sections, two of my team-mates and I decided to go out into the large lobby and trade some pins as it was an excellent opportunity to do so (pin-trading is a traditional activity in the Olympic Games. Every country receives respective pins that signify their culture or whatever with the Olympic Games logo on it. It is just a cool way to meet people and have a fun pin collecting competition).

Anyways, in the course of our hour and half mission I saw Rafael Nadal, Rodger Federer, Tyson Gay, Dirk Nowisky, Jeremy Warnier, Kobe Bryant, Lisa Leslie, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and the list goes on. I was completely star struck. I simply could not stop smiling.

The actual walk into the stadium was breathtaking. We, Bermuda, have six athletes: two swimmers, two track athletes, a triathlete, and an equestrian rider. All of us competed at the Pan American Games in Brazil last summer, so I'm familiar with them all.

We walked in front of a crowd of 91,000 ecstatic Chinese Fans! The only downside was that it about 90 degrees and we had to stand for about an hour in heavy jackets surrounded by hundreds of people on the infield, but after witnessing the ceremonious and ingenious way in which the Olympic torch got lit; all that torture was worth it.

Now, we are in the birth of the competition. Several events have already started including the ever-popular swimming and gymnastics. When I'm not training, I'm usually just flipping through the 12 channels of coverage we have in our room, eager to watch almost anything! Track doesn't start till the end of the week, but when it does I'll be sure to catch every live minute I can of it!

Reprinted from The Medford Transcript with permission of Gatehouse Media New England Inc.