(Photo: Deedee Trotter soaring to new heights) 

Well we finally arrived in Beijing on August 11^th and it was really good to jump into village life! The Olympic village is nothing short of amazing! It is full of bright lights, Olympic character and Chinese culture! In other words it's awesome! I've had a chance to mingle with some of the other USA sports and trade pins with people from all over the world! However it wouldn't be very American of me not to have at least two complaints because we are so spoiled!

While the Village dining hall is colorful and great to look at, the food has not been very good at all. In fact the food has likely been responsible for many late-night upset stomachs for the American athletes. I thought that Ronald McDonald would save us with its all-you-can eat, free-of-charge 24-hour service they set up in the Village (which is a GREAT idea!), but I wish it offered more than their very delicious chicken Caesar salad in the way of pre-competition-type meals. But needless to say, as soon as I'm finished competing I will be getting a double cheeseburger, no onions with a Sprite and a hot fried apple pie! Ummm..... "I'm lovin it!" 

Last on the complaint list is the lack of televisions and internet! We have a total of four televisions for the entire team! We all squeeze around the televisions to try and watch our teammates compete, and if you get to the TV room early enough you might be able to actually sit down and watch! As for the internet if you want to check your emails, pay your bills online, or call your family using Skype (the cheapest way to call anywhere in the world using your laptop as a phone), the only way is to either sit in the hallways of the building you are in and hope to get a wireless signal, or you can go to the athletes' lounge and hope to be lucky enough to get to use one of the desktops that the USOC has provided.

(Photo: Hazel Clark, Torri Edwards and Deedee Trotter)

Minus those minor details, I have been having a good time! Besides training and getting treatment, which takes up majority of my day, I have great roommates Hazel and I are paired up again and right in the next room is Torri Edwards (100m) and Angela Williams (100m). Us girls have been watching "Sex and the City" and "Grey's Anatomy". We have laughed until we cried and we even got really bored one night and started a collage of our Olympic experience and taped it to the wall!

My mom arrived a few days ago and she is so amazing! I still can't believe she traveled all the way to China with a broken ankle and pushing her little cute scooter she rented to get around on since she is not allowed to put any pressure on her foot. She is one special lady! She came bearing gifts, too! My Mom and my two brothers bought me a white gold ring that has three stars on it. It is so beautiful! Thanks Yohan and Ian, I love you guys!

I ran my first round on August 16th and placed fourth in heat 1 with a time of 51.41. I qualified to go on to the semi-finals but it was a close call; however, I am not discouraged. I had a good race in spite of my left knee giving me some problems for the last four days. I ran in the semi-finals on August 17th and i finished 7th place in my heat with a time of 51.87 and did not advance to the finals. I was of course a little saddened because i expected my knee to hold up all the way through the Games but I also felt very blessed and very proud to be here, especially after all that I had to endure with my knee injury. So many athletes did not get this opportunity but God saw it fit to let me chase the dream twice thus far in my career. It truly is hard to feel disappointment when you feel so extremely blessed!  

Keeping God first and keeping the faith,
Deedee Trotter
A.K.A. D-Trott

Deedee Trotter is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This blog was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.