Team Cincinnati - USA at the Opening Ceremonies
Friendship Village
Opening Ceremony Staging at Amsterdam Arena
Federation of Gay Games Boat in the Canal Parade
More of the Canal Parade
Team Cincinnati USA Excels at Gay Games
V
by Dave Hughes
After years of anticipating, fund-raising and organizing, the members of Team Cincinnati USA finally boarded planes in late July headed for Gay Games V in Amsterdam, The Netherlands! Since this was the first trip to Europe for many of our members, and also the first Gay Games to be held outside of North America, excitement was in the air at Opening Ceremonies. We joined the other 15,000 participants for the parade of athletes into Amsterdam Arena, then watched the Weathergirls and a variety of other performers entertain the audience from around the world. We were welcomed to the city by the Mayor and officers of the Federation of Gay Games who officially declared the Games to the open.
The Cultural Festival had already begun prior to our arrival in the many museums, galleries, and performance halls Amsterdam has to offer. While some of our group museum-hopped, the rest of us got busy with the Games. Our softball team practiced together for the first time on Sunday before the tournament began on Monday. We played teams from Sydney, London, Toronto, San Diego and Los Angeles. We finished in the top half of the standings but out of the medal round. While disappointed to return without medals, we had some great games and met some very wonderful people. One special example of the spirit of the Gay Games happened when our softball team and the women's slow pitch team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, adopted each other after waiting together for public transportation. We were able to support them all the way through to their victory in a game which earned them a Bronze Medal. This is very typical of the spontaneous camaraderie that the Games inspire every four years!
For those more impressed by fancy precious metals, several of our athletes returned with medals around their necks! We had our first ever Gold Medal winner in the women's shot put event. She reported that she experienced the same type of supportive atmosphere at the Track & Field venue among the other women in her event.
Five guys from our Gay Games IV Gold Medal soccer team traveled to Amsterdam to play soccer with teams from Los Angeles and Dallas, since we were unable to field a complete team from Cincinnati. After a week of competition on nearly perfect fields, these two teams met in the final round of the men's recreational division. LA beat Dallas, so we have three more Gold Medals and two Silver Medals to add to our list from previous Games!
Others from Team Cincinnati took part in the powerlifting competition, in sportclimbing, and in the 10K run. We also had our first person participate in the Cultural Festival as a sign language interpreter. Our participants were joined in Amsterdam and supported by quite a few partners, friends, and other supporters from the Cincinnati area. We also met folks from around Ohio at the Opening Ceremonies.
While we did read about the mess involving the finances of the Amsterdam organizing committee and the subsequent bailout by the government and sponsors, our experience as a Team was hardly affected by it in any way. We were also aware of the unfortunate cancellation of the Figure Skating event. At Closing Ceremonies, there was an amazing show of solidarity for the skaters, along with very vocal criticism of the homophobic bias of the International Skating Union.
All in all, the consensus seems to be that the Games experience in Europe was a very exciting, memorable one (and I haven't even told any stories about the nightlife!). Sound like fun? Start saving because Sydney, Australia will host Gay Games VI in 2002, and it won't be cheap!
