by John Nepolitan

Aaaa another great weekend has come to an end and now I am back home and
on to spring track. Only it felt more like spring in Switzerland (temps in
the 70's) than back here in NY. After sending in my report it was off to
the IAAF sponsored dinner/party. It was difficult to find out if a ticket
was needed, but I was told by many that this was a party not to miss, so off
we went to work our way in. Getting in the door would not prove to be a
problem, I guess this was an open affair as even though there were guys
standing at the door they did not seem to care who went in.

I am not sure if this is how it is done every year, but there were really two parties
going on. One downstairs for the VIP's - they were in black tie, and one
for the athletes upstairs. Most of the athletes were dressed nicely while
others wore their team warm-ups. But then after a while it was difficult to
tell who was on which team because upstairs looked more like an outdoor flea
market than a dinner party. It seemed that every team was trading each
other for National uniforms. The hot items were anything Kenyan and USA.
And by far the best in this competition were the Irish with Canada a close
second. Following dinner the VIP tables were pushed back (I am still
trying to figure out what the runners from Turkey did to deserve VIP
seating, but upstairs was where the fun was anyway) and an international
dance party broke out. I think it is safe to say that the Ethiopians would
have won the gold medal here as well if one was awarded.

As the night was winding down we had just one final obstacle to work on.
How to get to the Geneva airport ( 45 min away) in the morning. The meet
management had said that everyone would be on their own getting back to the
airport, but then on Sunday said there may be a chance they could set up
rides. When we arrived back to the hotel there was a note on our door which
I was sure said something about our possible ride in the morning, only it was
in French. So I would have to wait until the morning to really know what
our plan of attack would be- get a van ride or have to somehow get to the
train station and then to the airport. Just as everything had worked out
perfectly this weekend I was able to get the note translated in the morning
and sure enough we would have a driver pick us up at 9am for our 11:50
flight back home. And right at 9am the van pulled up and took us to the
airport with time to spare. The flight back was for the most part
uneventful. I did get to see the 2nd Harry Potter movie, which was about the most
exciting event. We had a few of the USA team on the plane with us.
Many seemed tired and once they reached NY had another flight home.

As I was getting ready to go over to Lausanne I wondered how the USA team
would be received. From what I saw there were no ill feelings toward the USA
or the USA team at all. I did hear that a few UK athletes had a run in
with a few French drunks (not part of the team of course) last night, but
nothing major came of it. In Geneva I was told that there was graffiti all
over saying "F.... USA, F... America, F... England". But I saw none of it
and the people of Switzerland and everyone connected with the meet could not
have been more helpful.

So that is it, another World XC finished. Next year onto Brussels.

From: "John Nepolitan" <[email protected]>

World Cross Country Championships