The first step to the Olympic experience is traveling to the Games. Although most of the people involved in the Olympic family are veteran travelers, there is something a little different about going to the Olympics. This year's Olympic journey began for me in the early morning hours of Thursday, August 5, with a pickup at my home to go to airport at 4:30 a.m.    When you are asked where you are going, and you mention Athens, Greece, and tell somebody that you are heading to the Olympics, the conversation picks up. For most people, there is an excitement, something positive about what you are doing and why. There are a lot of questions, details, wonderment. It is at this time that your realize, once again, why you are involved in sport. You understand why you work so hard along the way. The Olympics have great meaning to so many people, and you are representing your country, regardless of what your role is. This is an amazing opportunity, and something to embrace.    I'm traveling with my associate John Fuller, who is also working with wrestling throughout the Games. We are on the press staff for the USOC, handling the barrage of media inquiries and reporting duties on our sport. On this trip, there are not many USOC people traveling, but you find the other from the USA pretty quickly. Charlie Snyder, who handles the USOC web page (usolympicteam.com) is on our flight. So is Keith Ferguson, a USOC employee we have worked with over the years. There is also Amy, the press officer from Synchronized Swimming    Sitting behind me on the flight to Germany was an Olympic athlete, John Godina, one of the U.S. shot putters. We had a chance to talk, sharing some stories and experiences. He tells me about how the U.S. shot putters have a chance to sweep the medals. Godina is honest when he says that he would rather win the gold and not get the sweep, than take the silver or bronze and be part of that sweep. Like all motivated athletes, he is here to win the gold. We talk about a variety of things, including quite a bit about Rulon Gardner. He is curious if Rulon is as popular worldwide as he is in America. Even track and field stars know about our Ru.    The flight to Frankfort is long, and includes a variety of movies. I select "Miracle," which is about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. I have always wanted to see this inspiring film, but have not found the time. Now is very appropriate. Besides a picture filled with the Olympic spirit, it has some special meaning. I was a college wrestler during the 1980 Games, and four of the U.S. hockey stars were from my college, Boston University. I have actually met and spent time with some of the people depicted in the film. The footage of the team in its training is a reminder of the experiences that our wrestling teams are going through right now, striving to be ready for the big show. The goal is for our athletes to reach the same result - Olympic gold. I have to admit that the end got to me, even though I knew who was going to win.    Travelling takes its toll on everybody, especially when you change time zones and have long layovers. A bunch of the U.S. travelers had a six-hour layover in Frankfort, Germany, where we had to kill time and try to stay awake. The big problem with the Frankfort airport is that you have to inhale cigarette smoke for hours, and you can't escape it. Our flight to Athens included a stop in Thessolonia, where we sat on a runway for an hour waiting for Olympic Airlines to load on new passengers. Our route went from Colorado Springs to Denver to Chicago to Frankfort to Thessolonia to Athens, certainly a long and winding road.    At the Athens airport, we went directly to get our bags. A few of our group were able to get their credentialing taken care of right at the airport, but many of us had to go to the Athlete Village to get our badge. The most important thing at an Olympic Games is your credential, the key to where you can go and where you can not go. No credential, no access. You want to have as much access as you can on your credential at the Olympic Games.    We ran into USA Wrestling National Teams Director Mitch Hull at the airport. We are the first three wrestling people to come to Athens, with team leaders and athletes beginning their trek here tomorrow and over the weekend. John and I left Colorado Springs at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, and Mitch left the Springs at 5:00 p.m. that day, yet we arrived in Athens at the same time. (Mitch clearly had the better flight itinerary!)    This evening, John and I are staying in the Athlete Village. Tomorrow, we have to leave here and go to a hotel near the Main Press Center. The Village is where all the international athletes and coaches spend their Olympic Games. We took a bus from the airport with a team from New Zealand. The roads were not jam packed as many people predicted, and the Olympic-only lane on the highway seemed to work fine. When we got to the Village, one of the New Zealand team leaders convinced the driver to go right to the Credentialling Area, which saved us some time. Everybody who needed to get their credential was able to do it in a short time period. Nothing ever works perfectly. John Fuller had provided a digital picture for his credential a long time ago, but when we got here, it did not exist and he had to get it taken once again. It is all part of the "hurry up and wait" that is included in all these big sporting events, especially the Olympics.    The Village is large and spread out, with many small buildings which house teams from different nations down blocks of residential-type roads. The buildings look very similar to the ones that were in the village at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. We were able to unload our bags and get a room in the USA Headquarters (where the U.S. Olympic Committee staff does its work here each day). Things are not completely done in the village (especially in regards to the landscaping), but things seem to be working just fine here.    I went immediately with a few press officers to dinner. The food at the Olympics is amazing. The building which houses the cafeteria is the size of a city block, and the place has a ton of food options. Athletes from all over the world, wearing different color uniforms and speaking different languages. It is quite a sight to see. I had a nice salad and beef dinner. For all you junk food junkies, there is a McDonalds in the village, with all you can eat all day long.    I have run into many people affiliated with the Olympic movement. Dale Neuberger, who runs the Indiana Sports Corp (and hosted our Olympic Trials) is the Deputy Chef de Mission and is working in the village this evening. Bill Hancock, who for many years ran the NCAA Div. I Basketball Tournament (that's right, the guy in charge of the Final Four) is a press officer here again, and is one of our roommates in the Village this evening. You see familiar faces all over the place here and it is only the first day.    There is a bank of computers in the basement here, where I can check e-mail and post to the internet. The cell phones here seem to work fine. People are in good spirits. Starting tomorrow, we try to find out where everything is, including the Main Press Center, the American College of Greece (where the team trains), the wrestling venue and everything else. Day one, which has actually lasted almost two days, is mostly over (it's 10:30 p.m. in Athens), and tomorrow is another adventure.    Note: When possible, we will post notes from the Athens Olympics as the U.S. Olympic wrestlers arrive in Greece, completes their preparation and goes into competition for Olympic medals.