Beijing
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a whole army to keep the TODAY show running smoothly in an Olympic village. And though viewers don't normally get to see them on camera, some of the most important troops in that army are the runners -- the intrepid young people who keep everything, well, running.
Runners do everything from making all-important Starbucks run to making sure the talent get to the set on time. Their work can from the gritty (cleaning up detritus) to the glamorous (chauffeuring the likes of Kobe Byrant and Venus and Serena Williams to and fro in golf carts) all in the space of a single exhausting, exhilarating day. They're the people the TODAY show couldn't have gone to Beijing without, even though viewers never get to see them. Never, that is, until now, when TODAY's faithful runners finally get a chance to tell all about their "crazy" "stressful," "laughable," "kind of surreal" and "busy, busy, busy, busy" lives.
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From Jenna Wolfe, Weekend TODAY anchor
In Beijing, you’ve got swimming, you’ve got gymnastics, you’ve got track…and you’ve got shopping. Shopping is practically an Olympic sport over here, requiring just as much energy, cunning and dedication as any event I’ve seen on the Olympic Green.
As I found out when I when I went to the Yashow market – I’m terrible at it.
I set out to buy a shirt for 50 RMB, that’s about $7.50 in the United States. I ended up with a scarf (for more than I would pay on a street corner in New York). That’s right, a scarf. In Beijing. In summer. The saleswoman was the most persuasive creature I have ever encountered. I would have bought long underwear from her.
Watch the video.
From TODAY producer Josh WeinerBetween brewing coffee and roasting a panini, we caught up with Christina Cirulli, who runs TODAY's on-set catering operations at the Olympic green compound in Beijing.
Q: You have a long table with chairs and a seemingly endless supply of food in your trailer. Who comes through here?A: Everyone from crew to guests to talent. I stock the green room trailer with food, but a lot of the athletes who are on the show find their way in here anyway looking for snacks.
Q: What are the most popular items for the anchors?A: Well Matt (Lauer) and Al (Roker) really like to put peanut butter on plain Saltine-like crackers. The only time Meredith came in she wanted some roasted vegetables.
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It was the moment we were all hoping for.
Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann had walked out to the Olympic Green to check out the fountains that come on out there every now and then, and the fountains didn't come on.
So during a commercial, we all had our eyes peeled to see if the fountains would suddenly activate, soaking our unsuspecting anchors. And lo and behold, television magic occurred.
Watch the video
I want you to pay extra-close attention to the way Matt flees the scene when the water arrives.
On Matt's behalf, it seems apt to quote Woody Allen's character, Boris, in Love and Death: "We have to take our possessions and flee. I'm very good at that. I was the men's freestyle fleeing champion two years in a row."
His speed was Usain Bolt-esque.
Trivia question: Who has the top-selling NBA jersey in China? I'll give you a hint: it's not Yao Ming. It's not Yi Jianlian, either. It's actually Kobe Bryant.
That's right, Kobe's #24 in Lakers purple and gold is the most popular jersey over here, and he draws a crowd wherever he goes. We got an inkling of that at the Opening Ceremony, when the crowd roared anytime his face appeared on the scoreboard.
But the point was driven home more emphatically when we taped an interview with him last week, which aired today. WATCH VIDEO
We shot the interview on the Olympic Green, near the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, and as soon as someone spotted Kobe riding out to the location in his golf cart, word spread almost instantly, causing a mob of people to start chasing after him. They brandished cameras and cried out, "Kobe! Kobe!" (see the photo below)
It's hard to imagine many more American athletes -- or athletes from any country -- commanding the attention of so many Chinese people.
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Happy birthday, Al Roker! Today our favorite weatherman turns 54.
We celebrated the momentous occasion over the weekend here in Beijing with dinner at Daniel Boulud's restaurant, Maison Boulud à Pékin, followed lots and lots of karaoke.
Check out some of the party pics:
Al like Ann's birthday present so much, he wore it the entire night!
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From Ryan Osborn, TODAY producer
As we have at previous Games, we've partnered with Getty Images again in Beijing.
In addition to providing us with some of the most powerful pictures from all over Beijing, we also have a Getty photographer on our set who has been taking portraits of the athletes that appear on our show.
Here are a few highlights. Their smiles tell the story better than any words.
Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin show off their all-around hardware.
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From Karen Trosset, TODAY producer
Lijiang, China, is not just beautiful, it is an awe-inspiring glimpse into life in ancient China. First settled some 800 years ago, it is located deep in China's southwest. Lijiang boasts the sprawling snow mountains and one of the country's deepest gorges -- the breathtaking Tiger Leaping Gorge -- but its people and their culture seem ripped from the pages of history books.
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| Robert Colvill |
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From Al Roker, TODAY anchor
It’s become a tradition for Matt and me to learn a new sport at each Games. In Athens, we almost drowned trying to compete with the synchronized swimming team...
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....and in Torino we risked life and limb when we got on the luge together:
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So the bar was pretty high coming into Beijing, where I was tasked with choosing our next adventure into Olympic competition.
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From Dr. Nancy Snyderman, chief medical editor
China is now the fattest country in the world, second only to the United States. One out of five Chinese children over the age of 7 is overweight, and nearly 10 percent are obese. How did a country that struggled with starvation just half a century ago now find itself dealing with an obesity epidemic? There are a few issues here. WATCH VIDEO
First, China has embraced fast food. KFC is the outlet of choice, with McDonald's working feverishly to catch up. It is a status symbol of sorts to say that you have thrown a birthday party for your child at McDonald's. It is a sign of affluence; that you have some extra money and are able to splurge. But that ability to splurge brings with it a hefty calorie count. And instead of sharing food, which is the Chinese norm, when a child eats at a fast food restaurant the pressure is to finish all the food, even if full. CONTINUED >>
