Went to a track meet and news broke out

Yesterday, I wrote this preview about Liu Xiang, the Chinese hurdler widely considered to have the most pressure on him during the Games.

He is really ubiquitous here, on countless billboards.

This morning, I went to the Bird’s Nest to see his first qualifying run. I will be otherwise occupied when he is supposed to run for the Gold Thursday night — playing a gig for Princess Anne — and I wanted to be in that stadium when he ran. So I went this morning to see his first qualifier.

But disaster struck.

People were truly stunned. You couldn’t imagine a giant, raucous place going so quiet so fast.

I wrote this column about the whole situation.

And yes Woodie Alan will truly be performing for Princess Anne, in perhaps the greatest caper of my caper-full career. the night before we are playing another British soiree, for Lord Sebastian Coe. If I could figure out where to get a bowler hat and a pipe int he next 48 hours, I would certainly do so. A monocle would also be a nice touch.

3 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *