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Osnos met us just outside the Drum Tower, the tourist spot now closed after the fatal stabbing the first weekend of the Games.
Osnos showed us some lanes of old row houses and courtyards in his neighborhood before we settled in at an upper floor restaurant overlooking one of the imperial lakes north of the Forbidden City.
Osnos talked about the life of a foreign correspondent reporting on various topics — many related to Chinese sports. His acquisition of Mandarin Chinese has helped significantly in uncovering stories, such as the NFL’s quest to find a place kicker from China so it can attract more fans to American football.
On Saturday, I had a personalized tour of the United States Olympic Committee’s training site by Nicki Robinson, a 2005 alumnus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse sports administration program.
Also on the tour was Jeff Steffen, event director for USA Boxing, also of the UW-L program.
David Waters, director of sports administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, is spending
much of August in Beijing. During his trip, his ninth to China, Waters will share the sights and sounds around China during the Olympics. For past installments, go to www.lacrossetribune.com/olympics.
