Robert's Olympic bound, AGAIN!
published:
Tuesday | July 22, 2008
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Robert Campbell (left) and US's 2002 Olympic gold medalist figure skater Sarah Hughes. - contributed
NOT MANY Jamaicans can boast of participating at the Winter and summer Olympics. Robert Campbell may not be an household name in sports, but he has that rare distinction.
Campbell, for those in the dark, is not an athlete. He is a manager of USA House, the hospitality area for the United States team to next month's Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Team sponsors, family and friends will also be accommodated at USA House.
The 80-member team was assembled by the United States Olympic Committee.
It will be the 36-year-old from Caledonia, Westmoreland's second summer Games. He was in Athens, Greece four years ago and has also served the US team at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002 and in 2006 at Turin, Italy.
Campbell says he prefers working at the more established Olympics.
'Summer's definitely more fun, the athletes are more relaxed and far more outgoing," he told The Gleaner recently from his home in Canton, Michigan, just outside of Detroit.
Not all fun and games
While he gets the chance to rub shoulders with celebrities such as NBC newscaster Al Roker and ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky, Campbell is quick to point out that the job is not all fun and games.
Work days go as long as 12 hours and as many as 100 athletes file through the dining area at any given time. A lot of them are not afraid to throw their diets out the window once they reach the buffet.
"Put it this way, they're normal people," Campbell said, laughing.
"But they eat a lot of protein: chicken, fish, not a lot of pork. The committee makes sure there is no butter, minimum starch and very few snacks."
Campbell rates the party to celebrate the US women's football team's gold medal win in Athens four years ago (check) as his most challenging Olympics assignment to date. He remembers 15 waiters struggling to keep up with over 250 raucous guests.
Robert Campbell has been in the hospitality industry for almost 20 years.
Good job
He began working as a waiter at the Grand Lido hotel shortly after leaving Maude McLeod Secondary school, then moved to Hedonism II.
It was at Hedonism in 1993 that he met some American guests, who helped him land a job at the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Michigan. Campbell stayed there for five years before going on to Eastern Michigan University where he currently works s a unit manager in dining services.
Ten years ago, he heard that the USOC was recruiting workers for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. He jumped at the chance.
"I applied and they accepted me. I guess I did a good job because they keep calling me back," Campbell said.
Campbell, who is the father of two children, is also the owner Irie Caribbean Cuisine in Canton. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in hospitality from Eastern Michigan University.
Keeping it lean
The 2004 Olympic Games food operations was run by a United States-based company Aramark (who also provided the food for the Atlanta Games in 1996), in partnership with the Greek company Dasko. The meals were served at the 6,000-seat main Olympic dining hall. The meals had an international flavour as required to cater for the large range of nationalities, as well as highlighting Greek dishes such as halva, baklava, and spanakopita.
Prior to the Games, they planned to use nearly 3,000 gallons (11,000 litres) of olive oil, 52,000 pounds of cheese, including feta, kasseri, and houlimi, with Greek farmers providing most of the vegetables, meats, and fruits consumed at the Olympic Village.
Source: Topendsports.com
Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky (left) and Robert Campbell.
