The Journey is Over but the Memories Remain

Article and Photos by Diana De Rosa

The Venues

The Main Press Center with its vast expanse of people I didn’t know and will undoubtedly never meet but they came together from all walks of life to cover all different sports, not just the equestrians. It was fun to work there or at the Kodak Center and hear conversations around you in all different languages – some I could understand (French, Italian, Spanish, German) and others I had no clue. But it didn’t matter as the patter of syllables was truly refreshing.

There were the photographers with all the lineup of cameras. I don’t have as many cameras as many of those photographers because my back already feels the strain with the camera bodies and lenses I already carry around. But it was nice clicking photos and seeing what pics everyone had taken. Depending on your location you would often capture different pictures from your fellow photographers and it was fun seeing what got published. After taking our pics everyone would rush back to the press room to download and see just what they had gotten. Then selections were made and off they went for the world to see in newspapers, on web sites, in magazines and wherever else those pictures ended up.

The emails I received from readers of horsesdaily were precious and so many of your kind words were very welcome at the end of those long tiresome days. It was nice to know you appreciated our efforts because we truly worked hard to bring you the news to see and read about. That was always our goal – to allow you to take the journey with us and get a sense of the real feel of these Olympic Games.

Access to the athletes was tougher than any Olympic Games and that was not good. If you were a photographer, you couldn’t both be in the mixed zone where the athletes went after they competed and take the pics. So, you really wanted a chance to speak with them afterwards or at other times and that was nearly impossible. Although there were those athletes whose phone numbers I had and who couldn’t have been more obliging to answer my questions.