Wednesday May 31

    Today was another early morning as we were seeing some archaeological sites in Athens. This was one of the days I was looking forward to the most because I learned about the sites in high school when I learned art history. Our first stop was the Agora, which was considered to be the center of life in ancient Athens. While most of the structures weren’t there anymore, it was still very interesting to see what was once the most popular spot in town.

    After that, it was time to go to the Acropolis, which was one of the sites I was most excited to see on the trip. While it was super crowded, it did not disappoint. It was a very steep hike to the top but once we got to the top we looked around at the different structures. The most notable things for me were the Erechtheum, the Temple of Athena Nike, and of course, the Parthenon. I learned a lot about these 3 structures in high school, so to finally be able to see them was a dream come true. Another thing I enjoyed about the Acropolis was the spectacular views it had across the city. We got to see all the buildings and even some important sites like the Olympic Stadiums in the distance. This was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.

    Once we were finished touring the Acropolis, we had some free time to get lunch and check out the shops on the streets of Athens. A few of my friends and I went to a nearby Greek restaurant for a quick lunch, so that we would have a lot of time to explore the shops. After lunch, we walked around some of the shops for a bit, and I was able to get a few pastries from one of the pastry shops in the city, all of which were very good. We ended our free time by getting some ice cream, which Professor Kim was really sweet to pay for.

    Next on our itinerary was the Acropolis Museum, which had a lot of the original pieces from the Acropolis. By this point in the day, most of us were very tired, but I still was very interested to see what the museum had to offer. I was even able to see some of the artworks I learned about in the past, such as the Peplos Kore and the Kritios Boy, two ancient Greek sculptures. We also saw a lot of the original pieces from the Acropolis, such as the friezes, and the very interesting caryatid columns. Overall it made me wonder why they kept the original pieces in the museum and why the actual Acropolis consists mostly of replicas.

    Our last stop of the day was the Panathenaic Stadium, which was a decent walk away from the museum. I was also very excited to see the stadium because I know it is one of Athens’ most iconic landmarks as I see it in photos all the time. We spent some time talking about the Olympic games there, and interestingly enough I learned that they played archery there, and not track. Although I could’ve figured they didn’t hold track & field events there due to the weird configuration of the track. After our small discussion, I went to the top which was a steep climb, but worth it since I got some great photos. Once I climbed down I went to the small Olympic exhibit which was very small. We ended our time at the stadium by taking a group photo before heading back to the hotel.

    The walk back to the hotel took a while as it was about a mile walk, so once we got back to the hotel we decided to take a small rest before getting dinner. It was nice to get some rest after the amount of walking we did today, which was the third most amount of walking we did on this trip of all the days. My roommates and I ended our night getting dinner at a small pasta shop near the hotel, as we wanted something quick so we could hang out with the group later. Even though I’m very sad this trip is coming to a close, I have enjoyed my time here and I will cherish this experience for life!

Friday May 26

 Today we left on time and head towards CAS, which is the Court of arbitration for Sport. They mainly focus on European Soccer and the Olympics. The building was spotless and brand new, it was very interesting to see the rooms where they questioned the athletes and had hearing. After the tour Fabien Cagnuex, our tour guide provided us with an overview of what CAS did. The history of CAS was very intriguing, learning how people fought CAS because they believed that they were not separate was really shocking. He then opened up for questions, Professor Kim asked about the Kamila Valieva Case. I asked about the reaction of CAS when news of the Super League first broke the internet. He explained that currently CAS has no power in the case, but that it first needs to go to the European Courts, and if the clubs still involved don't like the decision, then CAS can step in. We also asked questions about the Premier league and the current situation of Doping in the Olympics. 

    After CAS we hoped on to the bus to head to World Aquatics, which is the organization authorized by the Olympic Committee to oversee water sport competitions on a global scale. They had the best presentation that we have seen, they did a good job engaging us, they also had a full spread of croissants and drinks. Their presentation focused primarily once more on their identity, work, and methods. As an IF, they serve as the principal governing body for water polo, swimming, open water swimming, high diving, diving, and artistic swimming. As such, they establish guidelines, arrange contests on a regular basis, and uphold their standards within the swimming community.

Before returning to the hotel for a rescheduled Zoom meeting with the IOC's Television & Marketing Services (TMS), the group was free to eat lunch. This lecture focused only on the IOC's complex legal authority over all Olympic Games marketing. Only 14 international brands (Omega, Visa, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Samsung, etc.) have the honor of being advertised at the Olympic Games thanks to the IOC's creation of The Olympic Partner program. The Olympic logo cannot be shown on any athlete, coach, sportsperson, or anything else with the Olympic logo during the Games (9 days prior to the Games, during the Games, or for two days following the Games), unless the brand is affiliated with a NOC, an IF, or an OCOG. In spite of this, athletes with sponsorship agreements are not permitted to actively market their partnerships during the Games, and neither are the corporations that sponsor them, this is called rule 40.

We went on a picnic dinner after the educational portions of the day were through. For our group dinner on the coast of Lake Geneva, the group spent around 30 minutes selecting various meats, cheeses, crackers, chocolate, fruit, drinks, and silverware. After we ate, we gathered in a circle and tried to keep a volleyball in the air. Once that got boring, we headed out to the rocks by the lake and sat down and just enjoyed the amazing view that we had. But we could not have enjoyed this great picnic without the amazing grilling of Kirstyn, Kyle, and Dr. Kim.

Joshua Wilhelm