Think Southern California--that's basically what the almost all-new Athens looks like. In fact, standing above the final warm-up ring late yesterday afternoon, watching Darren Chiacchia make his last-minute preparations, I felt as if I could blink and find myself in San Juan Capistrano, at The Oaks/Blenheim, site of the dressage selection trials in June.
Yes, this will be my sixth trip to the Olympics, but, you know, going to Athens still fills me with a mixture of eagerness and anxiety, just like the first time, in Los Angeles, almost exactly 20 years ago.