For the past eight years and five Olympics, I’ve written a Daily Olympics Blog — a once-a-day personal journal about what it’s like to cover the Olympics. Like this blog itself, it’s been a way for me to share the stories behind the stories I write while I’m on the clock at ESPN.

I started the blog WITH THIS ENTRY nearly a decade ago and the next summer, I started the DOB. I’m not sure what prompted me to do something as masochistic as add an additional assignment to my plate each day while covering the Olympics, but I’m glad I did. It’s a wonderful record of my three-week Olympic experience every two years. I don’t think I would remember much without it!

Covering the Olympics is magical — especially if you bring your own magic with you.

If you’ve missed the past four DOBs, you can check them out at the links below. If you have an idea for a DOB topic or have a question you’d like to have answered while I’m in Rio, send me a Tweet or a DM or an email or an Instagram message or a Hogwarts owl with a scroll in its talons. And check back every day starting today for a new DOB entry! (I guess this means I’m committed.)

Twitter: @espn_alyssa // Instagram: @alyroe // email: alyssa.roenigk@espn.com

The Sochi 2014 DOB: READ HERE

The London 2012 DOB: READ HERE

The Vancouver 2010 DOB: READ HERE

The Beijing 2008 DOB: READ HERE

I didn’t yet have a blog (or Facebook!) while I was in Torino in 2006. Can you imagine?

And just for fun, this is my very first DOB entry, which I wrote before heading off to the Beijing Games, the first summer Olympics I attended as a credentialed member of the media. READ HERE