This morning, I took the bus to the Laoshan BMX track to see the debut of BMX at the Olympics. Instead of rehashing the details, I’ll let you read the piece I did for ESPN.com and the one I wrote for ESPNTHEMAG.com and if you still don’t have your fill of BMX coverage, check out my BMXers in Beijing piece for EXPN.com.

Overall, the races were great. Today was a scorcher, and the smog unfortunately returned , clouding visibility on the Green once again. But that didn’t stop the Games from taking place as planned (only three days to go!). After BMX, I visited the Forbidden City with USA weightlifter Cheryl Hayworth and track cyclist Jennie Reed for a MAG.com piece (check back for this one).

THIS GUY HEARTS BMX. HE MISSED NOTHING …

This evening, I headed back out to the Bird’s Nest to watch the 200-meter finals, the semis of the 110 hurdles and the finals of the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Man, what can I say about Usain Bolt that hasn’t already been said? I watched again from the front row, and this time stood next to Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister of sport. She spent nearly an hour waiting around to congratulate Bolt in person after his 100-meter win, and she wasn’t about to do that again. So she walked to the first row of the stadium and waited for him to come by on his victory lap. Since I was standing right next to them, I snapped some great shots and interviewed Grange for a MAG.com piece on the Happiest Woman in Beijing.

MY FAVORITE SHOT. SHE DIDN’T WANT TO LET GO …

Her runners have won seven medals, four of them gold. The Jamaican women swept the 100 meters, Bolt set two world records and captured the sprint double and shortly after the 200, Melanie Walker won the 400 hurdles. Not a bad week.