It was nearly 2 a.m. in Beijing when Haley Nemra answered her cell phone, but the thrill in her voice from half a world away indicated that the Marysville native was going to be enjoying this night for a while longer.
Nemra, a 2008 graduate of Marysville-Pilchuck High School, had just returned from the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Nemra, whose father Korap is from the Marshall Islands, will run the 800 meters for the country in its first Olympics.
Tonight, she was the athlete chosen by the Marshall Islands to wear the traditional Marshallese attire consisting of a grass skirt and top.
“It was amazing,” Nemra said. “I was in the whole Marshallese attire, so all of these different countries kept wanting to get pictures with me and the wrestler (Marshall Islands flag bearer Waylon Muller) who was also wearing it. I just couldn’t stop smiling, it was so cool. I couldn’t believe that I was standing there.”
In front of 91,000 people at National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, Nemra went from high school athlete to Olympian tonight, and hours later, she still sounded like she couldn’t believe it.
“I was nervous,” she said. “It was just kind of surreal. I was walking out thinking, ‘Wow, I’m in front of all of these people.’ I was nervous, and I was scared that the skirt was going to fall, so that was nerve-wracking. Once I got in there looking up into the crowd, it was amazing. It was crazy, a good time.”
Nemra will spend the next week training, adjusting to life in the Olympic village, and seeing some sights if she has time. On Aug. 15, she will return to National Stadium for the prelims of the 800-meter run.
“I’m getting a little nervous,” she said of the race. “Just being in that stadium and looking at that crowd and how huge it actually was, yeah, I’m a little nervous. Thankfully I’m going to be able to practice and just see what it’s like to be in there, but with that amount of people, it was just insane. There were so many people.”
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