Go to the Olympic Zone to see photos of Chuck Scarborough as he learns how to fence.

By MichaelGargiulo

When I got my first glimpse of the hurdles set up in the Armory Track and Field Center  in  Ft. Washington, my first thought was “I’m never going to get over those things and I’m going to fall face first onto the track.”

   I was lucky though. My coach was Derrick Adkins, who won the gold medal in the 400 meter hurdles in the 1996 Olympics in Athens. So let’s just say he knows what he’s talking about. He had me warm up with a half mile run, paced by 3 college track and field athletes, followed by some serious stretching.

   Then we started hurdling….but on the full size hurdles, but smaller ones, called “baby hurdles”. Derrick literally walked me over each one showing me the technique: the jumping leg extending straight up and over the middle of the hurdle and trailing leg coming up from the side as you pass over it. ..trying to take about 5 steps between each jump.

   We did it  several times at a slow, jog-like pace. He tried to allay my fear of crashing by demonstrating that even if I hit the hurdle, it would just fall down without  taking me with it.

  Then it was time to try the real hurdles.   We did the same thing: walking  through the course once …then doing it at a slow jog. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to jump the 36 inch height of the hurdles, but amazingly I made over each one as we did it in slow motion ,and Derrick assured me it would be easier once I was running full speed.

   Finally we set up a course that matches a real event: the 60 meter hurdles. I took off   and cleared the first hurdle…feeling instant relief when I knew I was over it, then came up on the second and third ones. It’s thrilling to get up over the hurdle but exhausting too since the last time I did this flat out for time was…..let’s see, NEVER.

   There’s also more to it then just clearing the hurdle. Derrick tried to help me time my approach so that I was taking my last step before the hurdle with my left leg, the leg I wanted to jump with. That was hard because I kept finding myself shuffling my feet as I  got close to the hurdle trying to get on my left leg.

   I finished the 60 meter hurdle race without knocking down anything or myself…my time: a little less than Olympic, I but I survived to move on to the next event: the high jump!

Look at pictures from Michael’s training!

I’m headed home after a day that was both thrilling, frustrating and at times terrifying.

I’ll describe each event separately in blogs coming soon but here’s a preview:

The hurdles went great! I managed to clear them all and not trip and fall flat on my face! I even was timed in an event: the 60-meter hurdles.

The high jump was fun but frustrating. It takes pure athleticism, and the technique involved is much tougher than it looks…. but I did enjoy flopping on the mat.

We did a little competition just to see how high I could go over the bar…I can’t wait to show you that.

Finally, the pole vault was pretty intimidating. As my coach Jim Henderson told me, the only way to get through the event was to “forget what your brain is telling you”

It’s hard because you basically run down the track, jam the pole into a metal box, then lift yourself up on the pole…. you feel like you have no control the first few times you do it. While it may be fun to watch, it’s completely unnatural to do as a novice…..anyway I did manage to do a few basic moves and even turn in the air like a real vaulter….

So I survived and had a great time as well….but I’m going to feel this tomorrow!

By Janice Huff

Okay so I had my day of training in gymnastics at the field house at Chelsea Piers and as you’ll notice from the snapshots, I’m a bit rusty! Okay, REALLY RUSTY!!!…There are lots of muscles I forgot I had, but believe me, they are talking to me now. But I have to admit, I had a lot of fun with some of the girls from the team at Chelsea, and I had the most awesome coach, Peter Kormann, an Olympian himself!

Kormann won bronze in the floor exercise at the 1976 games in Montréal, the first gymnast to do so since 1932. He’s currently the gymnastics director at Chelsea Piers, and I have to say, he really challenged me!

I tried everything—uneven parallel bars, balance beam, floor exercise (no vault!), and he had great advice and fabulous coaching skills.

It’s no wonder—he’s coached 2 US Olympic teams and on the college level, too!…I cant thank him enough for all his help in making me better…

I may not be an Olympian, but everyone at the field house at Chelsea Piers made me feel like a champion!…Now where’s the ben-gay??? 

Hey I’m writing this as I head into today to shoot my team 4 NY Olympic challenge:

I think I can safely say I’m the only person on my Metro-North train heading into Grand Central today who will be pole vaulting, hurdling, and high jumping three hours from now.

Well, the day is finally here for me to try my own Team 4 NY Olympic challenge and I must say I’m excited and a little intimidated….

Question one! Am I going to be able to clear those 36 inch high hurdles? You may have seen the video of me practicing by jumping over my daughter’s see-saw ( 1 ft high)…..I don’t think I cleared it by 24 inches!

The high jump I’m not too worried about since the worst I could do is just hit the bar and flop on the mat…….now the pole vault is a different matter.

I’ve been watching video of athlethes pole vaulting and I’ve been suprised to see that they go over the bar FEET FIRST!!!!! That’s going to take some practice.

One final note: I didn’t make too much headway getting down to my weight target of 173 lbs…..maybe it was my late lunch at the new restaurant in my neighborhood that specializes in jambalaya but I clocked in this morning at 180…..so all I can say is I hope the mats I’ll be landing on will be nice and fluffy!

Fencers have three from which to choose:  the foil, the epee and the saber.  The foil descends from a light court sword used by nobility; the epee from the dueling sword.  In competitive fencing, both score points only with a thrust that strikes the opponent smartly with the weapon’s tip.  The saber is a modern version of the cavalry sword.  It is a slash and stab weapon.  Saberists can score points with the tip or the edge of their blade by striking any part of an opponent’s body above the waist, which harkens back to combat between cavalry riders on horseback who didn’t regard the legs as a worthwhile target.

So, the saber it is for yours truly – and I learned a bit about it today at what may be the best venue in the country: Manhattan Fencing on west 39^th Street.  Founder Yury Gelman and his team of coaches are sending five saber fencers to the Olympics in Beijing – one third of the entire United States fencing team.  If New Yorkers have a rooting interest in any sport in these games, it should be fencing! 

I popped in to Manhattan Fencing this afternoon to learn some of the basics of the sport.  My coach is Olympic team member Tim Morehouse, a 30-year-old New Yorker with a twinkle in his eye and steel in his hand.  Fencers, it turns out, develop asymmetric muscles.  The lead leg grows thick and strong from resisting the force after a lunge; the trailing leg is sinewy and quick to propel the fencer rapidly forward.  The arm that holds the saber is much more heavily muscled than the other arm, which is used only for balance.  But it’s the hand that holds the weapon that’s most unusual.  After years of fencing, the muscle between the thumb and forefinger grows large and powerful, bulging upward like a golf ball beneath the skin.  Now you know how to identify a fencer with a quick handshake.

Tim ran through the rules, which always favor the aggressor in a bout, and showed me the basic stance, grip and footwork.  I watched his fellow Olympians as they got in some last minute training bouts before departing for China this week, coach Gelman firing off encouragement and criticism as the sabers clanged and crashed, and the combatants lunged and parried – all in their element, all sensing the glory and gold twelve thousand miles and a saber thrust away.  A combination of excitement and tension hung in the air.  It was infectious.  I can’t wait to suit up and give it a go. 

By David Ushery

Hey there, just checking in at wnbc.com.   I was on vacation for a week,  but my upcoming trampoline exploits were very much on my mind!   And Janice and Darlene have certainly upped the ante!  I hear training for their events went very well (you can see snippets right here at wnbc.com)    While I was away,  I received the training itinerary from my coach Peter Kormann,  a former Olympic athlete, and former coach of the U.S. Olympics gymnastics team.  Basically to warm up, I am going to be doing a lot of  running, jumping, swinging and stretching. (Can’t say any of that is part of my current daily routine!)   This is prep for coordinating body positions with the spring of the trampoline. Olympic divers and gymnasts must master this training.  (Is anyone nervous for me yet??)    Then we progress to bounce technique, twisting maneuvers,  with the ultimate goal of forward and backward saltos (flips).  Right. 

Oh, and the trampoline we will be using is the same type used in Olympic competition and is called the Australian Hot Bed 2000.  Enough said.  

Here’s a photo of my son. He’s my inspiration.

Janice Huff works on the uneven beams at Chelsea Piers. Check out more photos of Janice doing gymnastics!

The countdown is on. Ten days until I take to the Badminton court to chase my dream of Olympic glory. I feel as if I’ve already lost. Scores of people, friends and strangers, have greeted me lately with a one word salutation: “BADMINTON????” It forces me to go through the entire explanation all over again….. “what, you wanted me to do weightlifting? to put on a Speedo for swimming?” It seems to mollify the inquiring minds. Actually, badminton is one of the more mainstream Olympic sports. I’ve actually covered team handball, rifle shooting and biathlon at previous Olympics. In case you were wondering team handball is big in Scandinavian countries and biathlon is huge in Europe. In fact a funny thing happened at both those events when I was there. The King of Sweden showed up. We begged the “King’s people” to let us interview him at team handball in Australia in 2000. They finally relented, but I didn’t get to ask the one question I wanted to. “If a Swedish team handballer screws up do you order ‘off with his head?’” I guess the question wouldn’t have exactly been in the “Olympic Spirit.” Then again, I’m wondering if my playing badminton is. I’ll let you know.