WHILE they are all concentrated on their events, that doesn't mean Bermuda's athletes at the Beijing Olympics cannot enjoy themselves and take in the spectacular occasion.

Gerry Swan, Bermuda's national track and field coach, said that long jumpers Arantxa King and Tyrone Smith have been training hard but have also found time to watch events and take everything in.

"Arantxa is excited to be in Beijing. She has seen several very elite athletes up close such as Roger Federer, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and had pictures taken of her with Lindsay Davenport and Raphael Nadal. However, she is well grounded and her focus is intact," said Swan adding that the Athletes Village is very impressive. "The dining facility provides a variety of good food ¿ and an athlete can easily eat himself out of a good performance if he is careless!"

And although Bermuda's show jumper Jill Terceira is based in Hong Kong for the equestrian events, she did see something of Beijing ¿ especially during Opening Ceremony when she carried the island's flag into the packed stadium, the Bird's Nest, in front of 90,000 people and millions of TV viewers world-wide last Friday evening.

"The Opening Ceremony was very exciting . . . and very exhausting! The flag was quite heavy but it was an honour and a pleasure to carry it," said Terceira yesterday shortly after putting her mount Chaka III through his paces at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

"We were very hot standing in the centre (of the stadium) for the activities and also for the hours that we were on our feet. Near the end most athletes were sitting on the floor! The lighting of the Olympic Flame was the highlight for me. It was done in such a spectacular fashion. Team Bermuda were pleased to be there ¿ it was mesmerizing!"

And for Rich Brady, the English coach for Bermuda triathlete Flora Duffy, the Olympics have certainly been an eye-opening spectacule.

Earlier this week he said of the Olympic Village: "It's everything that you dream off. Athletes from every corner of the globe in every size you can imagine. It would be too long a list to say who I have spotted or stood next to in the queue waiting for food in the dining hall. I just have to pinch myself as they don't live inside the TV and are real people.

"The Opening Ceremony was a jaw dropper and the six hours I spent on the uncomfortable plastic seat was worth every second. I was hoping to march in with the Bermuda team but I was relegated as only a limited number of officals could march. Instead I got a ringside ticket for one of the best shows on earth.

"We watched some of the swimming at the Cube on Sunday night and the atmosphere was electric. The night was great entertainment and if we had popcorn and a beer it would have been even better! "

While the island's two swimmers, Kiera Aitken and Roy Allen Burch, have now finished their events, Bermuda's four remaining athletes will now take the spotlight.

And the first to compete in the Olympics second week will be show jumper Terceira who will ride in the qualifying first thing this morning (Bermuda time).

Yesterday she told the Mid-Ocean News: "Everything is very well organised here and the facilities are fantastic. The stalls and even the warm-up ring are air conditioned."

Terceira said that here mount Chaka III is completely sound and ready for the jumping this morning.

"Chaka III passed his vet inspection this morning (Thursday) and I will start my first competition tomorrow evening (tonight, 8 p.m. Hong Kong time) with start number of 69. So I will actually be jumping in the ring at approximately 10 p.m. Hong Kong time."

Terceira said that while she has put Chaka over a few jumps while in Hong Kong, she has mainly been riding him on the flat to keep the South African-born stallion in tune. "There was an official training session in the main ring under the lights on Monday and Chaka jumped well and seemed not to be affected by the immense ring and the spectacular jumps. I will train again tonight to give him as much exposure under the floodlights as possible."

The Holland-based rider said that Chaka has not seemed bothered by jumping under the lights. "We train early in the morning and in the evening when the temperature is cooler. The lights do not seem to bother him which is good news. The only question is whether the big crowd will bother him ¿ we will just have to wait and see."

After Terceira jumps today, the next athlete up for Bermuda will be Tyrone Smith who will compete in the qualification for the long jump. He jumps tomorrow at the Bird's Nest at 9 a.m. Bermuda time. Smith has his eye set on making the final which will be on Monday morning Bermuda time.

Also on Monday Flora Duffy will compete in the triathlon which will be late at night on Sunday Bermuda time. Her coach Rich Brady said of the conditions he has seen so far in Beijing: "As I expected the pollution is a non issue. Yes the sky is a little hazy, which the sun does break through every now and again."

Brady said the pollution has not affected Duffy pre, during and post training.

"The same with the heat and humidity ¿ yes it's hot and yes it's humid, but if you have done your sums and prepared well it's not an issue," he added.

Before going to Beijing Duffy's father Charlie said he was concerned about his daughter's drastic loss of form and admitted that she did not harbour any real aspirations at the Olympics.

He said his daughter was now paying the price for pushing her body to the limit when she was taking the triathlon world by storm 18 months earlier and believes her alarming slump is showing no signs of abating.

Duffy suffered the latest in a long line of setbacks when she failed to finish her final pre-Games race ¿ the National Elite Championships in Wales ¿ due to fatigue.

Duffy has endured a torrid time since May 2007 when she started her second season with a career-best fifth place finish in the Lisbon World Cup BG.

On Tuesday Arantxa King is in the spotlight when she competes in the preliminary of the long jump.

Swan said that there are two principal facilities from which athletes and coaches can choose to train. "Arantxa and Tyrone have trained at both facilities. The facility immediately next to the athletics competition stadium ¿ which will be the official warm-up facility for the athletics competition ¿ is no more than a ten-minute bus drive from the Olympic Games Village while the Chao Yang Sports Center, the venue used to host the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships, is a 25-minute journey from the Games Village."

King has been on top of the world before when she won the gold medal in the long jump at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships, in Morocco, to become the World Youth Champion. That same year, at age 16, she won the gold medal at the Pan American Junior Championships in Canada and preceded that accomplishment with a gold medal performance at the CARIFTA Games in Tobago.