Wow! The Olympic Village is fantastic.

Overall what I have seen so far is that the Beijing Olympic Village is the best of all the Games I have been to, which has included Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. I was in Athens in 2004 as a spectator, so I didn't get to see most of that village, but I got pretty accurate accounts from the judo athletes that were there.

The rooms are very spacious and clean. The bathrooms are huge, with a balcony view, which our bedroom has as well. I am sharing a suite with team leader and two-time Olympian (1984 and 1992) Leo White. Leo and I were teammates in 1992. Ironically, Leo and I were teammates the last time I was in Beijing, for the 1989 Pacific Rim Championships.

The Untied States Olympic Committee ground team that basically sets up everything for the entire U.S. Olympic contingent has been first rate, giving us important information as well as being generally very helpful.

The U.S. Olympic team consists of 596 athletes. Not all the U.S. athletes will be in the village at the same time, as some come and go depending on their schedule of competition.

We had our first training session at the USOC high performance center at Beijing Normal University, which is about a 15 minutes bus ride from the Village. The "Project 2012" athletes are housed at BNU, as well, and their setup is terrific, as well, as they have all the amenities needed and then some.

The "Project 2012" group consists of Jason Morris Judo Center's, Jeremy Liggett, 19, along with Garry St. Leger, 22, Mike Eldred, 22, Kayla Harrison, 18, Ann Shiriashi, 22, and Marti Malloy, 21. They were brought to give them the experience of the Olympic Games, as well as to help the current Olympians prepare in the final stretch before the Games.

USA Judo Team head coach Jason Morris is also posting photos to accompany his blog in the gallery "Olympic Experience". You can view the gallery by clicking here.