The last two days I have felt like I am in a fast moving river current that is just sweeping me along! I'm totally exhausted from the amount of emotional energy I have expended and I am still so excited that it takes me forever to fall asleep at night! I STILL CAN'T FULLY BELIEVE IT!

Things are going at a breakneck speed for all of us. The last few days have been a blitz of media and press conferences. We were on the 'Today Show' yesterday, as well as doing a bunch of interviews for local affiliates. Tonight, we are filming a piece for NBC, where the men fencers are taking on the women fencers in karaoke. Should be fun!

I have received over 300+ messages in the last 48 hours and I'm just totally overwhelmed by outpouring of kindness and happiness from people over our silver medal.

Doing my best to answer all of them!

The Olympic medal is the coolest thing in the world! Once you put it around your head its like everyone looks at you in a completely different light.

One of my teammates got pulled over in a cab by a policeman and when she flashed the medal he just let them drive off.

At the security gates, once they see the medal they just let us pass right in. I'm totally in utter shock still about all of this! We actually got swarmed by girls leaving the 'Today Show' and needed help to leave since the crowd started to get so big! I can't wait to catch my breath a little bit. There is still so much I want to do before I head home.

I'll be in Beijing until Closing Ceremonies and then flying back to the USA on August 25. I can't wait to bring the medal back home!!

August 18, 2008

Dreams DO come true!

It's 4 a.m. in China, but I wanted to shoot everyone a quick message to say THANK YOU for all your amazing support! WE DID IT TODAY! Unbelievable! I keep pinching myself to make sure that I didn't just dream the fact that we won an Olympic Silver Medal! I have never cried tears of joy until today.

I can't even begin to describe what it felt like to clinch our medal and especially in the dramatic fashion with which it occurred. Our captain Keeth Smart led us back twice from deficits, first against the reigning World Champion Hungarians and then against the world powerhouse Russia.

When Keeth scored the final touch to send us to the gold medal round I tried to run to the stage to hug him, but I actually feinted! I blacked out for 3-5 seconds and when I regained myself my teammate Jason Rogers was jumping on top of me not realizing that I was actually passed out and not just celebrating on the floor! After that, we all seriously cried for like five minutes. We had come so close in Athens to winning a medal and we actually faced the exact same teams with the exact same situation 44-44 except this time we won! Seeing the American flag raised at the Olympic Games by our team is truly one of the thrills of my life.

Since we won our medal, I haven't had a chance to catch my breath. I never thought I would be unable to sign every autograph until today! We just had to stop, there were too many people. We have already done a pair of press conferences with more to come tomorrow. You'll be seeing a lot more of us soon coming to a television near you! So many people watched live on the Internet! U.S. Fencing overall captured six Olympic Medals, the most we had ever won before was two and no Men's saber team in history has even won a medal until today! This Olympic Games is bringing so much exposure to fencing its amazing! Right now, after swimming, fencing has accounted for the second most medals for Team USA! Alright, time for bed!

BIG DAY TOMORROW! We have a bunch of press conferences and parties to attend! THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE SUPPPORT!!!! GO TEAM USA!

August 12, 2008

I took the strip today for the first time in my career to compete at the Olympics! Unfortunately, I lost in the second round in my first match to a tough opponent, Boris Sanson from France and finished 22nd overall.

I jumped out to an early 7-3 lead before he closed out the first period up 8-7. From there I rallied again to take an 11-10 lead before he made the final run to take the bout 15-12.

Overall, I was happy with the way I competed, but obviously I hoped for a better result.

It was pretty amazing to fence in front of thousands of people and I really fed off the energy.

I felt really good throughout the bout and was nervous, but not any more than during a regular competition. Once the referee said "fence" I felt right at home and in my element on the fencing strip.

Sports (and life) are so interesting sometimes. Today, I had great stuff on the strip and lost and other times I have fenced worse and won...that's the way it goes sometimes!

From this bout, I take a lot of confidence because I know I can face the pressure of the Olympic Games and still fence my usual way and I'm very pumped to fence again in the team event.

My teammate Keeth Smart made the quarter-finals and lost a heartbreaking match to Julien Pillet of France 15-13.

We fence again on August 17 (Aug. 16 in the USA) for the team event.

Special Thanks

On another note, if medals were given out for support groups of Olympians then you all would have the gold!

I just want to say THANK YOU again to everyone for their support. It really means a lot to me to hear from you all and I take the support with me when I take the strip here in Beijing.

A special thanks as well to my friends and family who traveled to Beijing to watch me compete at great expense!

August 11, 2008

My first match will be 11:20 p.m. EST on Monday, Aug. 11 on the yellow fencing strip.

There are four matches that run simultaneously in the fencing venue. I will be fencing on the yellow strip, so it may indicate yellow strip on the website below and you should click on that one or there might just be four links and you'll have to check around to find me.

The matches are about 3 to 10 minutes long, so if you want to see it live definitely get on the feed before 11:20 p.m. Everything starts right on time! I will remain on the yellow strip until the top-4, so keep it tuned to that strip if I continue to win to see my following matches, which are usually 20-30 minutes later.

The competition format is direct elimination, so if I win I advance and fence again and if I lose I'm out. We fence down until the top-4. That should take about 2-hours total. I will fence again around 12 a.m. EST and then again around 12:30 a.m. EST if I continue to win. The top-4 will resume at 7 a.m. on August 13th.

My Teammates Matches:

Jason Rogers 10 p.m. EST (1st match in round of 64)
Keeth Smart 11 p.m. EST (1st match in round of 32, probably against Jason if he wins)

Almost Time to Compete!

We practiced Monday morning local time at Beijing Normal for a few hours and then relaxed in the afternoon. In the evening, I met up with my parents and some of my friends who have flown to Beijing to watch me compete.

We ate dinner at the Bank of America Friends and Family House. It's this really amazing place that this sponsor has provided for U.S. Olympian's friends and family to eat and drink for free throughout the entire Olympic Games! It is pretty amazing of them and the place includes TVs to watch events and also people to help families maneuver around China!

It's awesome to be an U.S. Olympian because we have all these cool places to go. Free massages, alcohol, internet and more at the Bank of America house for you and your family!

From there, we headed to the USA house, where we celebrated with the women's saber girls on their great success. They have been the talk of the Village and the games today.

Since they won their medals, they have been on a non-stop media blitz. The minute you win a medal you are whisked away on a media tour all over Beijing with the Today Show and all the other big media outlets and shows. You really don't get to celebrate with your friends and family until after a day or so has gone by!

At the USA House they were acknowledged before a packed room and they posed for more pictures with their medals. They are definitely still excited, but also exhausted after their marathon with the media and they have their team event in a few days!

Ok, thanks for all the great emails again!

TIME TO GO COMPETE! WISH ME LUCK! :)

August 9, 2008

You will no doubt be hearing about this all over the news Saturday, but our women's saber fencers just turned in an unprecedented, unheard of and EARTH SHATTERING performance by capturing the gold, silver and bronze medals today!

This will be the biggest day in our sport's history and greatest achievement by any U.S. fencers in our history. Mariel Zagunis captured her second Olympic gold medal, Sada Jacobson captured the Silver and Becca Ward won Bronze.

Fencing, which has already been getting a ton more attention than previous Olympics, is about to get a whole lot more. Mariel is going to be an Olympic star.

It was so amazing to get to see them win the medals in person! So much drama and when you are sitting in the stands it feels like you are in the bouts except that you have nowhere to direct your nervous energy!

I'm so excited to see and also to be a part of channeling this excitement about fencing!

Congratulations to the girls! They set a pretty high bar for all the rest of us.

August 8, 2008

Hi fom China! THE OLYMPICS HAVE BEGUN! I just got back to my room in the Olympic Village from the Opening Ceremony after a long and AMAZING day! I'm pretty tired from standing for over eight hours, but I just wanted to send back some pictures from the opening ceremony and I think they can tell most of the story! Thank you again to everyone for the amazing words of encouragement!

Really quick re-cap of Opening Ceremonies:

At 5 p.m. we started assembling in the Village in our USA area. It was awesome to see the whole team together in the opening ceremony outfits. We walked to the busses and first went to the fencing venue where George W. Bush addressed us. He went around taking pictures and greeting every team and athlete. He is an amazing fan of the Olympics! We were there for a couple of hours and I got a chance to take a ton of cool pictures with other athletes, especially the NBA guys. They were really gracious about taking photographs and talking to everyone. We then headed to the gymnastics stadium, where we gathered with the rest of the athletes from the world to await our long walk to the Opening Ceremony. We waited some more and then they started to call out each country to start walking towards the Bird's Nest, where the Opening Ceremony was being held. There were people lining the streets everywhere to cheer us on! Ironically, we actually missed most of the Ceremony since we were either walking or assembling! The walk moved very slowly through the streets of Beijing and everyone was sweating like crazy from the heat. From there we entered the stadium to the roar of the 100,000 plus people. Walking in behind our American flag was one of the most amazing experiences and the flag bearer we elected has an amazing story you should check out! We got back to the Village at about 1:30 a.m. and the party is definitely on in Beijing! Now it's time for us to go do our thing on the playing fields! The parts of the show we saw were spectacular and I'm sure you will enjoy them tonight on NBC at 7:30 p.m.! Not sure if you will see me since there are so many U.S. athletes, but maybe you'll catch a glimpse!

The Games are on! GO TEAM USA!

August 7, 2008

Hi from Beijing! First, thank you to everyone for all the amazing sentiments, well wishes and support! I can’t tell you how much it means and I hope you enjoy the updates and know that I’m thinking of everyone back home and gaining strength from your good vibes! Tomorrow we have a short practice and then we’ll be getting suited up to walk in opening ceremonies! Getting chills just thinking about it! Thanks again! GO TEAM USA! J

Great Wall!

After three days of intense practice, my teammates and I took a day off today and headed to the Great Wall of China with our coaches. Our visit there was probably the best part of this trip so far and the wall is truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! When we were there, we took a ski lift up a mountain and then walked along a long stretch of it with amazing views of the countryside. There were a lot of other athletes and tourists visiting as well. It was really hot and humid and we were essentially climbing stairs for about a mile to get to the highest guard tower, but once we reached the peak it was exhilarating. My teammates and I really had one of those pinch yourself moments when you just appreciate being alive and knowing that you are sharing something unique with a special group of people. To get down, they had gondolas that went on a track that curved around the mountainside. It was like taking a sled ride down an entire mountain! Scary and fun all at the same time!

Press Conference and Venue Tour

Also during the day, we had our fencing team press conference attended by about fifteen media outlets. Another sign of fencings growth was that this was definitely better attended than the Athens press conference. It was held at the Intercontinental Hotel and its where all athletes have been going for interviews and where some of the 30,000 media are staying. Following our press conference was Roger Federer, but unfortunately we couldn’t stay since we had to go tour our competition venue! Today, we also got our draws…I have a bye to the round of 32 where I will fence Sanson of France to make top-16. Unfortunately, my teammates Jason Rogers and Keeth Smart will draw each other in the round of 32.

Cool Find: I found a place today where you can get free haircuts in the village!

Tim's Pictures

Our press conference at the Media Center in Beijing.

My teammates and I climbing the steps at the Great Wall

At the Great Wall with my teammate Keeth in the background.