The event was staged in the mountains, about an hour outside central Beijing.
It was held just up the road from the Ming Tombs, which is where 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty are buried.
I have to say the scenery was fantastic and I am sure it made good television viewing.
The problem was, though, that there was absolutely no cover or shade at the venue and unlike Beijing there was no haze, so there were quite a few people, myself include, looking a bit red after a few hours there. I think the altitude level made the sun stronger and even helped penetrate sun block.
It was the first time I had seen a major international triathlon live and I was quite shocked to find out that athletes get ejected if they get lapped at any stage during the event.
The triathlons I had previously seen involved just one lap for swimming, cycling and running.
However, yesterday’s Olympic triathlon involved six cycling laps and four running laps. By all counts having laps is to make it more appealing to television.
But a number of athletes, including Flora, were pulled out of the event after getting lapped.
Flora, representing Bermuda , had finished eighth at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and so she is an established athlete with a world ranking.
I think she had only fallen seven minutes behind the leaders, which in an event that last for two hours is not shockingly bad, but she was not allowed to complete the event.
I know the competitors know the rules before they start, but the policy does seem to go against everything the Olympics stand for.
Nobody said to Paula Radcliffe ‘you have fallen too far behind the leader you have to drop out’ or said the same to Jo Pavey, who was among nearly two-thirds of the field that got lapped in the 10,000m race.
Flora was not having the best of days in terms of performance, but she was proud to be representing her country – one of only six athletes to have qualified for the Olympics from Bermuda – and I believe her and the other slower competitors should have been allowed to finish. As it was she swam 1,500m and cycled 40km for nothing.
Going to watch Flora compete did prove to me what a small world it is as I found out the only journalist from Bermuda covering the Olympics has a son living in Devon, who was on Plymouth Argyle’s centre of excellence books until recently.
Rushing around Beijing carrying a heavy rucksack with a laptop and camera in for nearly two weeks has left me with stiff shoulders, so I thought I would take advantage of a free Chinese massage service on offer to foreign journalists during the Olympics.
I would like to point out straight away, before anyone gets the wrong idea, that the service is just a 15 minute shoulder and neck massage and is done fully clothed sat on a chair.
I thought it would be a relaxing experience – well, I was definitely wrong on that score.
The young girl who performed it assured me it was good to feel pain – I think that’s what she said anyway.
It was when she started her Hong Kong Phooey impression on my shoulders when I really started to wonder what on earth I was doing sat on that chair. Fortunately, the 15 minutes went quicker than I thought. I am still not sure it has helped. Maybe it takes a few days to work.
There is also a hairdressing saloon within the Olympic complex. The prices are very cheat, certainly compared to prices at home, but I am not brave enough to give it a go. My worry is what I might ask for might get mistranslated into something else - like everything else seems to do. Could you imagine what could happen?
They are thousands and thousands of volunteers, like my friendly masseur, working at the Olympics.
The volunteers are brilliant, but they can be just too helpful. They want to help you do everything – even throw your rubbish away. Yesterday I even had one volunteer insist on stirring my coffee after also deciding, without asking, to also help me put milk in – I didn’t dare tell her I wanted sugar as well!
It is over-bearing, but they get a bit offended if you say you don’t want their help.
It does appear to be the culture over here, like for example in the shops where they come up and see if they can help you straight away.
I have to say, though, that the shop assistants seem to know their stuff. I don’t understand the sizes over here but when I have bought two t-shirts in different stores the assistants have guessed my size perfectly.
What is funny is that I appear to be a large over here, whereas in England I more often than not have to buy from the petite range. It is quite nice being classed as ‘tall’ for once in my life.
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