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| SBJ Olympics writer Ben Fischer |
At the Olympics, familiar faces make the unfamiliar surroundings feel like home.
Monday morning, my wife (who’s along for the trip) and I disembarked our American Airlines flight at Rio’s Tom Jobim Int'l Airport, steeled for an uneasy, touch-and-go ordeal of navigating the city. Nerves and fatigue were high.
But then I got in line at Olympics processing by baggage claim and felt at ease immediately. Four-time Olympic gold-medalist and LA 2024 vice-chair Janet Evans greeted me in line, knowing me by sight better than I knew her. Then, in perhaps one of those moments that only happens to gold medalists, she snagged a much better place in line when NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines and reporters Christine Brennan and Bonnie Ford invited her to cut.
Not far behind me were USOC CEO Scott Blackmun and CMO Lisa Baird, who traveled on the same United flight from Houston. We chatted for a bit, but then I noticed Kerri Walsh Jennings and most of the USA Volleyball crew behind them. By then, I was at the front of the line.
Shortly after that, we had our luggage, credentials and confidence back.
