The photo reproduced here is from the inaugural event at the Bird’s Nest, from a series by Janek Zdzarski. It shows competitors in the Women’s 20km IAAF Race Walking Challenge. First, second, and third place all went to Chinese athletes.
Zdzarski’s first impressions of the Bird’s Nest: “huge, modern, very stylish, with helpful volunteers speaking good English, and a great sound system. Still missing some facilities, (specially outside), but there are still 109 days to go before the Olympics start.
There is also a video of the event by ‘China with Polish Characteristics’, currently featured on Danwei’s top bar.
There are further impressions of the Bird’s Nest in this report by Nick Mulvenney on Reuter’s Olympic blog: Inside the Bird’s Nest.
Almost lost among the thousands of words written about the torch relay during the International Olympic Committee’s visit to Beijing last week were continual statements of confidence that the athletes were going to experience a top class Games this summer with facilities that few would have seen the like of before. Flag poles can be seen next to the track at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, in Beijing
If the Bird’s Nest is anything to go by, that assessment may not be far off the mark.
Forget the aesthetics of the twisted steel exterior, from the inside it simply looks like it’s going to be a superb arena for the world’s greatest athletes to strut their stuff.
Finally, here is a photo by TooManyTribbles of the interior of the Bird’s Nest.
