Sunday, October 26, 2008

Today Show Video and Article

It always seems to be about food.....I guess that's what you get being a weightlifter !

Article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24947322/

Video: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24946805#24946805

See what's in my fridge !

A really cool interactive Associated Press article I did before Beijing....check out what's in my fridge ! Click on this link: http://hosted.stats.com/interactives/olympics/oly_fridge/index.html#intro Click "See Carissa's fridge" and then drag your mouse over items in my fridge to see what my friend Adam Korzun the US Olympic Training Center's dietitan had to say about my choices.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

More Photos from the Air Force Game

Talking with people at the Fan Fest Tent before the game.
Talking with people at the Fan Fest Tent in the cold ! Aysa Miller, Ali Jones and I on the field waiting to be introduced to a crowd of 25,000 !
"The Bird" doing the Bird dance, we were cracking up....

U.S. Air Force Academy Football Game

On Thursday this past week myself and 10 other Colorado Olympians were invited to attend an Air Force Academy Football Game. We arrived at 4:00 and sat outside under a tent and signed autographs for about an hour and a half in the cold. I was all bundled up and looked like a marshmallow ! After signing autographs we went to the Blue and Silver Club and had dinner and watched the game inside at the warm box seats ! At half time we walked down to the field where were were recognized and announced to a crowd of 25,000 people. The crowd was very excited that we were there which made it worth it to stand out in the cold that long !
Our end of the table....Mike Blatchford (Track Cycling), Myles Porter (Para-Judo), Myself, Ryan Reser (Judo), Myles friend (Judo), and Taylor Takata (Judo)
"The Bird" and I My good friend Ali Jones, who is amazing....Parlympian in Track Cycling AND down hill skiing, she has a Parlympic Gold Medal from skiing and Silver from Beijing for Track cycling !

Panoramic of the Air Force Academy Football field (Compliments of Mike Blatchford !)

For more information on the event check out this article:

http://www.usolympicteam.com/news/article/7379

Thursday, October 23, 2008

From USA Weightliftings Web Page-October 23, 2008

Prior to leaving for the Olympic Games in Beijing, Carissa Gump was contacted by Captain Jason Krist from the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson Army Post in Colorado Springs, CO. He made a special request to Carissa, in hopes that she would bring two American flags to the Games on behalf of him and the infantry. Carissa made a point to hang the two flags in her room in the Olympic Village.
On September 19th, 2008, Carissa presented both flags to Captain Krist at the end of a Changing of the Guard ceremony at Fort Carson. One of the flags will be kept by Captain Krist. The other will be transported next month to Iraq, and flown there at a US Army post.
Captain Krist's commanding officer also honored Carissa with a medal for making the Olympic team, and for honoring their request in China.

Trip To Vermont

Well its been about 2 weeks since I have been back from attending the Vermont State Recreation and Fitness Expo. My trip was only 3 days long but I had a wonderful time seeing my teammates, friends and coach.
Saturday and Sunday were spent at the Champlain Valley Expo Center at the fairgrounds. Team Vermont Weightlifting had a booth with a platform, weights and a table set up to meet and talk with people to spread the word about Olympic Style Weightlifting, not power lifting :)
The weather that particular weekend was sunny and warm which did not help pull the crowds in. Saturday evening I met up with a close group of friends of mine from High School, it was really great to see everyone again, it made me want to move back ! I left Sunday afternoon and flew back to Colorado Springs. Overall I had a really great time with everyone and don't think it will be long before I come back to visit again.

Big Ben Fuller, Katie Polakowski and I

Katie Polakowski taking a workout

Coach Pol, Mrs. Coach Pol, Katie Pol, Ben Fuller and I

Katie 'mocking' me :) Coach Pol and I

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

2008 Olympic Team White House Visit

On early yesterday morning I flew out of Colorado Springs and flew into Washington D.C. from there I had an hour and a half bus ride to Baltimore. The ride went by really fast, I had good company sharing the seat next to me, Gretta Nielms a Parlympic Track Cyclist. We arrived at 6pm and checked in, got our outfitting and settled into our rooms. My roommate was my teammate Melanie Roach. We ate dinner around 7pm and enjoyed a wonderful meal and a short video. After dinner we were free to do what we wanted and went to the hotel lobby and a pub around the corner. The next morning we woke at 5am and had breakfast at 5:30am. We were up and going on the bus driving back to Washington D.C. by 6:30. I took this time to squeeze in some more sleep time. Washington D.C. has beautiful weather today. Warm with a little bit of a breeze, it made it perfect for the morning. Around 300 of us were arranged in front of the South Side of the White House for photos and a 10 minute speech by President Bush. Following the speech we went inside the White House and toured several rooms that are open to the public. We were at the White House for 3 hours and the time flew by. Before you knew it we were back on the bus and off to the airport. I took many photos but these are just a few I wanted to share.