Aug. 26, 2008
Class of 2004 Kentucky alumnus David Freeman earned his chance to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games this summer for Puerto Rico in the 1500m run. Freeman’s mother is a native of Puerto Rico meaning he could run for the U.S. territory, which competes under its own flag in international athletic competitions. While at UK, Freeman was honored as a three-time All-America selection in the mile (2003 and 2004) and in the 800 meter run (2002). Freeman’s name still graces the UK record books four years after his graduation. The former Cat claims the 800m run indoor record of 1:47.40 set in 2003. That same year he anchored his distance medley relay squad to a record finish of 9:35.41 that still stands.
Leading up to and during the 2008 Beijing Games, Freeman will periodically submit entries from his world travels and provide personal insights on his first Olympic experience.
» MONDAY | AUGUST 25, 2008
Hello,
Sorry it took so long to write another blog. Life at the Olympics takes a toll on you and you keep postponing things. And unfortunately the blog was one thing that I kept delaying. I’m real sorry about that.
But I do have a lot of stories to tell once I get back. Since I get back at the end of the week, I will just talk about my overall experience. Well, a lot has happened throughout these Olympics that I will remember for the rest of my life. This is truly a once in a life time moment. I’m just so thankful that I was able to be here and live out my dream. I realize as a role model for younger generations, my story may inspire people to chase their dreams and never give up. That’s what the Olympics are all about to me.
I chased my dream and didn’t fall to temptations. All of my hard work and sacrifices really did pay off at the end. A lot of people have supported me throughout the years and for fear of forgetting someone I just want to say thank you to everyone that has touched my life in someway – small or big.
I will leave you we this: dreams are meant to be chased…so go chase yours!!!
See you state side,
David Freeman
Olympian
» SUNDAY | AUGUST 17, 2008
I saw two historic events in as many days. I’ll start with what I saw today. I saw Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal in swimming!
I’m a runner, so I don’t really know much about the sport of swimming, but if you can win eight medals (let alone gold ones) against the best swimmers in the world – that’s unbelievable! Oh, and did I mention that in the process of the clinching eight medals that he broke seven world records and one Olympic record?! That’s just Amazing!!
In my opinion, there is only one thing that could one-up that performance and that’s what I saw last night. This may be a little biased (ha-ha) because I compete in the sport, but Usain Bolt’s 100m world record race last night just blew me away!
Ok, let’s point out the obvious: Bolt won the race in 9.69. It’s not the fact that he broke the world record, if it was that alone it wouldn’t be so special, it’s how he broke the record. He started celebrating with about 20 meters to go and still smashed it. That’s unbelievable!
When I say everyone in the stadium was in awe, I really mean all 91,000 of us were just shocked. We had to wait for the replay to make sure what we saw was reality. Just Amazing!!
Well hopefully everything is going well on that side of the world. Talk to everyone later.
» SATURDAY | AUGUST 16, 2008
Well I raced last night and I didn’t make it to the next round. Maybe I could have changed a little here and there, but that’s racing. You have only a split second to react before you lose the opportunity.
I have nothing to complain about though. I was living a lot of people’s fantasies and I tell you what – I enjoyed every minute of it. Having 91,000 people cheering you on just doesn’t get any better. Usually I am stressed and worried about my race but not this time. I was living in the moment, taking everything in and was just having fun.
I bet my parents (who were in the stands) were more nervous than I was. It was awesome to have them there for the biggest track race of my life. This has been an awesome experience.
There’s only more thing to say: Officially I am an Olympian now.
Until next time…
» THURSDAY | AUGUST 14, 2008
I only have one day before I race and forever be known as an Olympian. As everyone already knows, this has been a long journey. On Friday, my journey comes to an end and my dream becomes reality.
This event is bigger than any other sporting event in the world. Many people may know somebody who has been in a Super Bowl, an NBA Final, or a World Series but not a lot of people know someone who’s been in the Olympics.
This is a great honor that I welcome and will cherish for the rest of my life. Thank you for all the support.
Tune in on Friday, August 15 at 7:10 p.m. to witness a dream come true.
» SUNDAY | AUGUST 10, 2008
Hola a todos,
Today I bumped into Coach Tucker and Jose and we decided to go to the Silk Market. There is nothing else like it in the world. They sell everything you can dream of like clothes, watches, bags, and electronics.
The motto is: there is no set price. There is only a starting price and then a lot of negotiating. They just hand you a calculator and you punch in your best offer. I must say, there is an art to bargaining, it took me awhile to find my style but once I got it, I was negotiating for items that I knew I really didn’t want but just wanted to see how low I could drop the price.
But I must warn you though – they try to trap you in their store until you buy something. They pull you, yank you and even grab you! So the best bet is to have a game plan before you step foot in their little booths or you will be stuck in the store with no way out.
Well that’s my advice from this side of the world. I run in less than a week now…can’t wait!
» FRIDAY | AUGUST 8, 2008
Hello everyone,
The Opening Ceremonies in a nut shell were HOT. That was the key word of the night. I think I lost about 10 lbs standing around in the infield. But other than that it was unbelievable, well from what I could see.
You guys watching it on the TV got the best view. We athletes were stuck in another building waiting around while the ceremonies were going on. We didn’t get to see anything before we started walking into the stadium.
All in all the opening ceremony was an awesome experience. It was cool to mingle among all of the athletes in the infield and trade pins. There were stars among stars. I saw everyone from Yao Ming (he is really, really tall!) to the USA dream team (which I have pictures of!) and even Jackie Chan. Can you believe that?!
» FRIDAY | AUGUST 1, 2008
Hey there Coach Weber and Wildcat fans,
Everything is going pretty well here in China. The workout with the 1000’s went well. The only problem I had was that I think my legs weren’t recovered from the flight. My legs felt heavy throughout the workout and a couple of hours after it. I’m doing the 200 meter workout on Saturday instead of Friday since I didn’t do the first workout until Wednesday.
But beyond that, everything else is going well. The food isn’t bad and everyone is friendly. I think we are going to the Great Wall on Sunday, so that should be exciting. More and more athletes are coming every day. It’s pretty cool to see all of these athletes from different countries.
Who would have thought that I would be here when this whole process started? I made it to the highest level our sport has to offer and I’m enjoying every minute of it!
I wish that I could show everyone back home the environment that they have set up for us in China. It’s like a city within a city. All of the venues are within walking distance of each other. We took a private tour the other day of the venues and that was awesome. I didn’t get a chance to videotape it and I’m upset about that.
But anyway, we even took an adventure into the heart of Beijing in search of a mall. It was crazy! China seems way over-populated. I filmed some of the adventure, so it should be cool to watch it.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to Coach Weber for helping me reach this point. I really couldn’t have done it without his help. Coach is the one who convinced me to continue running after college when my family said don’t run. But guess what, it was the second-best decision I made in my life!
My parents are coming to Beijing to watch me run. I can’t believe that! That’s so cool! I’ll tell you one thing that I wish I could do when I get back. I would love to talk about my journey to the Olympics and my time here to people once I get back to Kentucky. I have a lot to say and I think it could encourage people to follow their dreams. Everyone has a dream but few seldom see it through. I want to prove to them that anything can happen. Just look at me, I’m fulfilling my dreams! Yes, there were bumps in the road but I kept positive and surrounded myself with positive people – which I think is the most important part of the whole process.
One thing I noticed throughout this experience was that athletes rarely enjoy the moment or the journey – we always look towards the end result. I’m here to tell you that it stops right here with me. Many times I would take things for granted and assume that it will happen again – but not any more. This is one event that you can’t look towards the end result. I’m living in the moment and enjoying every minute of this atmosphere. It is unbelievable!
The Olympics represent the best of the best competing with each other. You can’t get any better than that. I never really considered myself one of the best in the world, but being here at the Olympics makes me reconsider my stance on the issue. I realize a lot of athletes train all of their lives and never reach this level and I’m sitting here with this opportunity to showcase my skills to the world. It doesn’t get any better than this.
To truly be honest, I got emotional when I stepped off the plane in Beijing. That was the moment when I realized that my dream was becoming a reality. No one can take this experience from me and I will always be considered an Olympian for the rest of my life.
Well anyway, I just basically wanted to say thank you to everyone for their support, especially Coach Weber. He has always been in my corner and I appreciate that very much.
P.S. – The best decision that I had made up until this point in my life was attending the University of Kentucky!
Visit the Wildcat Olympians section for more Olympic Games coverage.
