Bell taking in Olympic atmosphere
Becoming a basketball fan; riding with the New Zealanders
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

Photo at left by Kenta Bell; photo of Bell by the AP BIRD'S NEST UP CLOSE — Kilgore athlete Kenta Bell (below, pictured working out at a university in Dalian, Liaoning province, China) is preparing for his second straight appearance in the Olympics, representing the United States in the men's triple jump. The triple jump preliminaries are Sunday night, Aug. 17, and the finals are Thursday, Aug. 21. As he trains, Bell is taking in the sights and sounds of the Beijing area and Olympic village. At left: a photo by Kenta of China's new National Stadium, known as "the Bird's Nest" for obvious reasons. Bell is spending what little free time he has becoming familiar with the stadium, and enjoying other Olympic sports, cheering on his USA teammates.

Kilgore native Kenta Bell, in China training for his men's triple jump competition later in the Olympics, isn't exactly twiddling his thumbs and having plenty of time.

On the other hand, Bell, who doesn't have a preliminary competition until Sunday, is taking some time to embrace the atmosphere in Beijing, his second summer Olympics — Bell qualified for the triple jump in 2004, as well, in Athens, Greece.

The little free time Bell has when he's not training has been spent on some sight-seeing and plenty of rooting for his Team USA teammates, he wrote today on his online blog, kentabelltriplejump.blogspot.co m.

He has especially enjoyed the basketball games involving the U.S., and hanging out with the players.

"I'm having a really good time back here at the village," he wrote. "Due to the fact that I don't begin competition until the 18th, I'm actually having a chance to see some of the other sports and show my support. I went to the women's basketball game last night and got a chance to see our women destroy China. It was actually really impressive to see women of such great talent perform their skill so well.

"During halftime warm-ups, some of the women were dunking which was unbelievable and mind-blowing the ease at which they were able to dunk. We got really great seats in the athlete section just behind the goal. We were sitting the the men's basketball team watching the game. It was unreal the crowd response when Kobe Bryant walked into the arena and sat down. I actually had a chance to hang out and talk with some of the guys today at the training facility after I had finished my workout and they are really cool and layed back. What I found really funny is how they were all trying to hustle and get tickets for the track and field events."

There was one little mishap: Kenta and his roomate couldn't find the shuttle back to Olympic Village, so they caught a ride with the New Zealand team instead.

"We had lots of question about them and they had lots of questions about us," he explained. "Afterwards we all went and hung out at McDonald's, which I really didn't need, but more than anything it was a really great experience and a chance to learn and grow."

Bell also had a chance to get back to China's new National Stadium, where the opening ceremonies took place and where track and field competitions, including his own, will be held. "By doing this," he said, "I feel like it allowed me to realize that it's just another stadium and just another track. Once you get your mind wrapped around it, it definitely prevents the shock of seeing the facilities for the first time on game day. Aside of that, I'm just really trying to stay relaxed and enjoy myself."

Bell steps onto the track in his official capacity on Sunday at 9 p.m. Texas time for the men's triple jump preliminaries. The finals will be next Thursday, Aug. 21, and that will begin around 7 a.m. U.S. Central time.