Back in high school, the first writing assignment of the year would usually consist of a five paragraph summary of what you did over summer vacation. It is impossible to put a summer that changed your life into five paragraphs. 

What started with a phone call from site head Ryan Fenton in April, turned out to be the biggest opportunity I have ever said yes to. A 19-year-old was being shipped off to Europe to cover track and field for a month with the help of editors thousands of miles away. 



Birmingham
Arriving in Birmingham, the nerves settled in. Not many Americans made the trip to the United Kingdom, because the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place the weekend before in Des Moines. Luckily, I went to the meet hotel and found a few that were willing to sit down for a pre-meet interview and chat about the jet-lag we were all suffering from. 

With the help of six alarms, I did not oversleep and took a bus to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium for the Diamond League meeting. The biggest story of the day was double Olympic champion Mo Farah and the Mo-Mania that comes along with him in the UK. He won the men’s 5,000-meter run with an unreal final lap in 53.4 seconds. 

Highlight: Meeting the guys from Athleticos and discussing Bristish fan favorites vs. American fan favorites in the sport. Conclusion: The world loves the Nike Oregon Project. 

Best Food: Nando’s Chicken, recommended by Nike sprinter Mike Rodgers was delicious.



Lausanne
Just a short flight over to Switzerland, my eyes were locked into airplane window as we flew over beautiful lakes and mountains. As soon as I put down my stuff in the room where I was staying, I went for a run to take in as much of Lake Geneva (not the one in Wisconsin) and the mountain scene as possible.

At the meet I met with Weldon Johnson of LetsRun.com and realized we were both doing the Diamond League circuit for the coming weeks. A friendship blooming between two “rival” sites? Fact: We can all be friends. We helped each other scoop up interviews with athletes, ran over to get results before asking questions and split a cab back to the hotel at the end of the night. Magic on July 4th? Maybe. 

Note: Last time anyone gets to see Tyson Gay run after a positive test for performance enhancing drugs?

Highlight: Asking Lolo Jones about the Twitter date in the first interview since Harry Lyles Jr. met his quota of 150,000 retweets asking her out. Lausanne’s Athletissima was her last competition before turning her attention to bobsled and with her downtime between seasons the opportunity for a date was there. She accepted and my video interview with her went viral. 

Here are just a few of the sites that picked up on the news:
USA Today, NBC Sports, Fox Sports, Awful Announcing, and countless local TV stations

Best Food: Pizza on July 4th with Weldon and Kevin Mangan of RunBlogRun. 



Paris
The city of lights. The city of love. The Areva Meeting had all of that as they packed 50,000 fans into the Stade de France to see Usain Bolt run the men’s 200-meter dash. On my first day in town, I walked around the city with Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano. The Eiffel Tower was right outside the hotel room, but I never got tired of seeing it each time. Of all the times Manzano has competed in Paris, he admitted he didn’t do much sight-seeing. It was time to change that as we took a taxi to the Louvre and marveled at the Mona Lisa. 

Highlight: Dozens of athletes walked through the mixed zone and things were routine, but my mind was set on asking the world’s fastest man a few questions. After Bolt’s race, I headed to the press conference area and sat front row with agent Ricky Simms on my left. Once the floor opened up for questions, I blurted out a set of words to barely form a question. He understood it for something and answered it.

Best Food: Escargots. I had one. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. Crepes were nice, but eating a snail is quite the feat to boast about. 



Levuen & Brussels in Belgium
Waffles. In the week I spent with many members of the Total Sports crew, the Belgian delicacy took a hit on my wallet. It was interesting to see what athletes do in the week leading up to competition. For some eat, run and sleep is the motto. Others like Reebok’s Joe Stilin was all about exploring. A day trip to Brussels to eat some mussels was a great way to stay productive during down time. 

Meanwhile Florida’s Cory McGee and NC State’s Ryan Hill were 100 percent focused on hitting the IAAF “B” standard at the KBC Nacht in order to secure their spots on Team USA for the World Championships in Moscow. 

Highlight: Talking to American mile record holder Alan Webb was interesting, but another miler on the rise, Matthew Elliott, remains one of my best interviews of the summer. It is not only his perspective on track that makes him the friendliest athlete on the circuit, but his charisma when talking about faith and persistence in the sport is unlike any other. The Southern accent helps. 

After filming and editing his Workout Wednesday video, Elliott messaged me on Facebook to tell me I made him look better than he really was and thanked me for the work. Again, The Man. 

Lignano
A very brief stint in Italy provided me with a chance to catch up on laundry and get a run in with Ben Blankenship and Andy Bayer along the beach. If you ever need to know anything about fixing up cars, Blankenship is your guy. A very low-key meet was simple to cover and then get ready for the second half of the trip. 

Best Food: Pasta. It’s Italy. 



Monaco
“Para- Para- Paradise” are the Coldplay lyrics that come to mind when thinking about the principality. The meet hotel was right on the famous Formula 1 curve and next to the Monte Carlo casino. Is it fair to say I ran across a whole country, when Monaco is less than three miles in length? 

As if a Diamond League meeting wasn’t big enough, this was the first high caliber track meet since doping news started dominating headlines in the sport. Carmelita Jeter and Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce walking out of their press conference was just a sign of how taboo talking about doping is for some athletes. I recapped the press conference, which also ended up featured on ESPN and NBC Sports.

The meet was just a taste of the world class performances to come in Moscow. Defending world champion Jenny Simpson won in a race where four American women went under 4:02 for the first time. Justin Gatlin won the men’s 100-meter dash and was interviewed as fireworks went off. 

Highlight: Everything about Monaco.



London
 One of my short term goals as a journalist is to be at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. The Anniversary Games in London gave me a taste of what to expect. Every seat at the Olympic Stadium was sold out, including those for the Paralympic day of competition on Sunday. 

Several of the athletes I spoke with agreed that the Olympic spirit was still alive, one year to the day of the opening ceremonies. Pyrotechnics and fireworks after each race finish were just one of the many ways British Athletics brought fans to their feet. 

Mo-Mania was alive and well as Farah won the men’s 3,000-meter run. Before the meet started, all fans in attendance set an unofficial world record for most Mo-Bots performed at the same time. 

The loudest reception in the stadium came for the 100 and 200-meter world record holder. I stood and watched in awe as Bolt won the 100-meter dash in a season’s best of 9.85 seconds. Moments later, it was time to get back into reporter mode and I sat next to Simms again at the press conference. I got the first question again and this time it made sense. By the time Bolt met with the media for the final time, I was a professional at dealing with the world’s fastest man. 

Ending my trip in London was the perfect way to keep me motivated and hungry for success in 2016.  

Highlight: Although it wasn’t her best race, 17-year-old phenom Mary Cain provided an awesome interview after her final race before Moscow. From her giddy personality to her jokes while answering, Cain is wise beyond her years. 

Many thanks to Leo Manzano and PACE Sports management for allowing me to stay in their home for the 10 days in Teddington. Very grateful for the Kenyan dinner of chapati prepared by Gideon Gathimba.  



My tour of Europe may be over, but I will continue to strive for the best track and field coverage. All of this would not be possible without the help of Ryan Fenton, Alex Lohr, Mitch Kastoff and Jimmy Stevenson from the Austin HQ. I was truly blessed with this opportunity to learn so much about myself, athletes, coaches, the media and the sport of track and field. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.