But will it fit into the overhead bin?
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It’s hard enough to check in for a domestic flight while toting the BlackBerry, laptop, safety razor and a bottle of cough medicine. So imagine the headaches if you’re trying to clear security and customs with a fencing foil or, as the USOC.org website suggests, a ‘sabre, paddle, horse, sailboat or -- heaven forbid -- a pole-vaulting pole.’
Travelers who’ve already trudged across Beijing Capitol International Airport’s Terminal 3 -- the architecturally stunning and amazingly large terminal that, from the air, looks like a dragon -- know that it would take an extra dose of Citius, Altius and Fortius to lug a container of competition-level javelins to the taxi stand.
Some athletes are luckier than others. Kayakers, for example, carry their personal paddles to competitions but the host provides the kayak. Other athletes aren’t as lucky, according to the USOC:
Then, there’s the mother of all freight migraines: the pole-vaulting pole.’It’s an absolute nightmare,’ said Rick Suhr, who coaches Jenn Stuczynski, the 2007 U.S. national champion. ‘It’s the hardest part of my job.’Only about a third of all airlines will even take a pole. Men’s poles are 17-feet long. Jenn’s are about 14 ½ feet. I know someone whose poles were cut in half by the airline to make them fit.’You never want to ship the poles, either,’ Suhr said. ‘If you do, half the time you’ll never see them again.’
Kayaker Carrie Johnson offered one tip for Olympians seeking an edge: ‘Sometimes, if you have a USA shirt on, the checker will be a little more lenient with you.’
Subsequent USOC reports will explore what happens when athletes are carrying such no-nos as air pistols.
-- Greg Johnson