Todd Thornton’s blog

I am now back in Colorado Springs after an unbelieveable experience in Rio.  It took four flights, two days, almost fifteen hours in the air, and two delays, but I am glad to be back home.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into the games, but I knew Vitaly had prepared me very well for the competition.  The village was awesome; housing, food, and shopping, was more than I expected.  Whenever I go on a trip with Sean Golden I know I’m in for a good time.  The competiton went well.  On a personal level I did well, I hit five for five for the team competition.  My only miss of the week came on High Bar in finals, when I fell short of a giant.  It was hard to deal with because I was definitely in the medal hunt until I made that mistake.  It is difficult to explain the feeling of almost twenty thousand people booing me on high bar, and then bursting into loud cheers when I came off the bar.  I thought it was awesome that the crowd was behind their guys that much.  It was like being at a Broncos home game.  Overall it was a great experience that I am grateful to be a part of.  The team was a lot of fun, filled with talent.  Rio was a beautiful place that I wish I had more time to see.  Everyone behind the scenes were welcoming and eager to help us with anything we needed.  That’s a wrap for the 2007 Pan American Games.

This is a picture of all of our team medals together.  We took the bronze medal in the team competition.  We started out rough on the first three events, and had to try to pull off one of the greatest comebacks.  Six tenths ended up being the difference after our final routine.  I would have to say vault was the most exciting event as a team that I have been a part of.  We knew we had a lot of ground to cover and we nailed vault after vault.  Spring went out and hit a near flawless 17.0 start value vault.  Golden followed that with a stuck 16.6 SV vault.  I went last because of an injury to my teammate, and had to step in and attempt a 16.6 SV vault.  I was grateful that Vataly gave me a solid plan to prepare for Pan American Games that allowed me to be ready to compete on every event.  As I hit the table my right hand slipped, then the energy kicked in from my teammates, and I pulled out a handspring double front just enough to take a step to the side.  It wasn’t the best vault for me by all means, but I pulled it out and helped the team pull within reach of the gold.  It was a roller-coaster meet, one moment we were out of it, the next we were in it with a hugh chance to win, and after the last routine we fell six tenths short.  I was grateful for the opportunity to compete with my teammates, and represent the USA in the prestigious event.  It was an honor to win a bronze medal in the team event at the Pan American Games.

Yesterday we had podium training to prepare for Saturdays Competition.  I got the opportunity to do a run through of how the meet will go.  I can’t say any details about my teammates, but I can say that we all are ready, and the team looks good.  I personally hit all of the routines that I attempted, and half sets on Rings.  Everything is going good, just one more day until the Team Competition.

Today is thursday June 12, 2007.  So far training has gone well.  I have hit a routine on every event that I will be competing.  I feel very comfortable with the facilities and equipment.  The food here has been great, and the weather is nice.  Today is podium training to get ready for saturdays team competition.  Thats all for now.

Here are a few pictures that I have taken so far.

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The first picture is from out of my window in my apartment room. The second pic is of the area between all of the buildings in the village. The last picture is of our pool.

Welcome all to my blog.  I am currently in Rio, Brazil preparing to compete in the Pan American Games.  We have internet access, so I will update often throughout the week.  So far we spent a day in Washington D.C. for processing, and one night here in Rio.  The village is really nice. We have our own appartments, and pool.  The USOC has done a great job with preparations for the village.  We got to see the arena, which is awesome, and we got to train once.  Overall everything is going well, and it is extreamly beautiful here.  I will post some pics here soon.