Citius, Altius, Fortius . . . By David Fleming For Day 6 I have decided to stretch the boundaries of human endurance and, quite possibly, common sense, in order to bring you the SI Online Decathlon: One irreverent journalist attending 10 events in 10 hours, starting with the U.S. field hockey game against world power India at 9 a.m. EST at Morris Brown College then visiting nine other venues at points North, South, East and West inside the Olympic Ring of the Centennial Olympic Games. Can I do it? Well, to find out tune in each hour throughout the day for updates from each location as the clock ticks down to 7 p.m EST. (Editor's Note: Due to a MARTA delay, the judges have given Dave an additional 29 minutes to finish the decathlon.)

Event: Field Hockey, U.S. vs. India, Morris Brown College Time In: 9:29:39 Time Out:10:07:37 Ounces of Liquid Consumed: 30 Metal Detectors Passed: 1 Pulse Rate: 90 Best Vantage Point: Through slits in the brick wall on the stadium's west side. Music at Venue: Whitney Houston, I Want to Dance with Somebody. Crowd Report: Though the American fans widely outnumbered those of their rivals, the predominant chant was In-di-YAHH, despite presence of man sporting red body paint and giant Uncle Sam hat. Comment: Start to Decathlon delayed 40 minutes by MARTA. Legs still in pain from bobsled tryouts, will try to arrange for Bela Karolyi to carry me around should I be unable to walk. Game Report: U.S. men are NOT wearing skirts. India makes it 3-0 in the 46th minute. We're getting our red, white and blue butts (0-3) kicked, so I'm outta here. It would have been a lot worse were it not for the skill of the U.S. goalie, Steve Wagner. Off I go...

Event: Women's Volleyball, Omni Coliseum, Netherlands vs. Japan Time In: 10:58:15 Time Out: 11:29:13 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 30 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 4 Pulse Rate: 83 Best Vantage Point: Looking down from the top row of the Omni is like a view from the clouds. Music at Venue: Sister Sledge, We Are Family. Before the match, the Dutch team sang Queen's We Will Rock You, a capella, in their native tongue. Crowd Report: Dutch fans sported orange road crew vests, coordinating nicely with the Omni's color scheme. Comment: Listless American fans refuse to cheer for any team not sporting the red, white and blue. The hardest workers at the venue are the towel people, who sprint back and forth like ball boys 40 times a match to wipe up sweat. Precious seconds were taken from my overall decathlon score by some of Atlanta's proselytizing mimes blocking my way. If only they could talk.. Game Report: The Holland Hammer, Henriette Weersing, who gave the U.S. team fits two nights ago, pounds the Japanese into submission with six kills. Japan only scored 16 points in three matches.

Event: Women's Table Tennis, Georgia World Congress Center, Singapore vs. Canada Time In: 11:42:50 Time Out: 12:08:05 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 42 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 5 Pulse Rate: 78 Best Vantage Point: Second floor volunteer area overlooks the tables perfectly. Music at Venue: Paul Simon, Graceland. Crowd Report: With multiple simultaneous matches, fans by custom adopt the table they're seated in front of. The fans are exceptionally gracious and appreciative. Comment: Despite a hushed chess-match ambience, the players walk in to the Olympic March, to the delight of the crowd. That song even makes a sport normally associated with basement rec rooms seem special. Game Report: Singapore's Jun Hong Jing, the 6th ranked player in the world, dispatched her Canadian opponent 21-4 in the first match. Ball movement, angles and spin are unbelievable. Players crack the ball from 10 feet back, or put so much spin that the ball appears to float.

Event: Men's Handball, Georgia World Congress Center, France vs. Spain Time In: 12:16:36 Time Out: 1:05:46 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 42 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 5 Pulse Rate: 79 Best Vantage Point: Any seat next to a French fan. Music at Venue: B-52's, Love Shack. Prompted by a video screen, fans of all nations rose as one at halftime to sing the Village People's multicultural anthem, Y.M.C.A. Crowd Report: Well-organized, chanting French fans overwhelmed the meager Spanish contingent. The Gallic contingent's placards read: Crazy -- Maybe, Winners -- Surely. Comment: By far the most fun event, considering that handball closely resembles slaughter-ball, a cherished childhood game. Game Report: Ten minutes into the second half Frenchman Gregory Anquetil gets shoved from behind, slides 20 feet and scores on a bounce shot, putting the French up for good 15-10.

Event: Weightlifting, Georgia World Congress Center, 76Kg Time In: 1:27:45 Time Out: 1:57:10 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 42 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 5 Pulse Rate: 73 Best Vantage Point: Open floor seats at the front of the stage. Music at Venue: Bruce Springsteen, Pink Cadillac. In between lift songs included: U2 - One Tree Hill, Derek and the Dominos -- Layla, and the Doors -- Love Her Madly Crowd Report: Pure weightlifting fans eschewed partisan rooting. Comment: Two large screen TV's on either side of the stage combined with the music created a Club MTV feel -- hey, maybe they should hold this event at the corner of Peachtree and International. More awe-inspiring is the thunderous sound of dropped weights on the wood stage. Match Report: To a standing ovation, German lifter Andrey Poitschke, 24, who has been lifting weights half his life, cleared 180 kg (396 lb) on his third and final attempt, 200 more pounds than his own body weight.

Event: Team Fencing (sabre), Georgia World Congress Center, Romania vs, Germany Time In: 1:58:33 Time Out: 2:08:10 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 60 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 7 Pulse Rate: 72 Best Vantage Point: There isn't a bad seat in the house. Music at Venue: None Crowd Report: Venue was three-quarters empty. Some faint chants of "Deutschland" could be overheard over the sibilance of whipping swords. Comment: I only spent 10 minutes at this event, which luckily ran late by 30 minutes, nevertheless...count it!! Match Report: I ran in to see the final moments of the seventh place match between Romania and Germany. With the match tied at 43, the German team loudly protested the next Romanian score. Then, before order was restored, Romanian Vilmos Szabo got the winning touch and seconds later I shook his hand (firm grip).

Event: Women's Badminton (singles), Georgia State University Time In: 4:18:43 Time Out: 4:46:11 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 72 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 8 Pulse Rate: 108 Best Vantage Point: Benches at the top of the arena -- good place for a weary reporter to nap if he were to see fit. Music at Venue: None. Crowd Report: Only notable group is a large Korean contingent from Samsung sporting white sponsor hats that need serious brim work. Comment: Simply happy to be able to use the word shuttlecock. Match Report: Thanks to her unique double-fisted underhand serve, Indonesia's Yuliani Sentoso came back to defeat Belarus's Vlada Tcherniavskaia in three sets. Tcherniavskaia fought off two match points to avoid the donut in the final set, 11-1.

Event: Baseball , U.S. vs. Italy, Fulton County Stadium Time In: 5:11:02 Time Out: 5:50:01 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 72 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 10 Pulse Rate: 98 Best Vantage Point: Any seat behind home plate in the shade. Music at Venue: Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Crowd Report: Lobster-red fans from many nations in the sun. Comment: Olympic staffers are helping along the way during this, my home stretch: a Fulton County security guard let me out of a forbidden secure exit to catch the media bus, and Robert the media bus driver did his best imitation of a NYC cab driver, reaching speeds of 80 M.P.H. and cutting people off on Route 85. Also, a scorching foul ball hit by Italian 3B Ruggiero Bagialemani missed me by ten feet. Game Report: Although I missed back-to-back taters in the first inning by Jason Williams and Marc Kotsay, I arrived in time to see the final 2 innings of the 15-3 U.S. mercy win.

Event: Men's Gymnastics - Artistic Finals, Georgia Dome Time In: 6:22:41 Time Out: 6:50:45 Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 72 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 11 Pulse Rate: 90 Best Vantage Point: All seats are bad -- Gymnastics in a dome just doesn't work. Music at Venue: Chinese National Anthem. Crowd Report: Some people were filing out before the medal ceremony. Comment: This reporter hasn't trained hard enough: I'm hitting the wall. Match Report: Nicest moment of the day was when gold medalist Li Xiaoshuang of China was surrounded by his teammates, basking in the reflected glory of their country's newest hero.

DISQUALIFIED Event: Men's Water Polo, Georgia Tech Aquatic Center Time In: DNF Time Out: DNF Ounces of Liquid Consumed (cumulative): 89 Metal Detectors Passed (cumulative): 13 Pulse Rate: 77 Comment: This is harder to take than not qualifying for the U.S. Bobsled team. I bolted out of the Georgia Dome only to discover that crowds filing in for the Dream Team game had sent local MARTA stop into utter chaos. Bela never showed. And those damn mimes got in my way again. But I take full responsibility for losing the Gold. I only made it as far as the train platform when the clock struck 7:29:40, then I back-tracked to a grassy spot outside the venue and collapsed. I don't feel so good, and I smell worse...I hope I pass my drug test.

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