Thankfully, the W-adulation seems to be over with now that he's left Beijing.

The young competitors are generally, and very understandably, more-or-less awestruck at the position they're in, represnting the nation, and that feeling carries over to how they act and feel upon meeting the President in person. Even though I disagree stongly with GWB's policies (most of them) and consider him one of the worst, if not THE worst, President in history, I'm sure that if I were in their position I'd be civil to him in person, if only out of "respect for the office" and appreciation of the essentially non-political nature of the setting.

In a few cases, I've felt that certain Olympians have been overboard in "making nice" with the Pres. Respect and civility is one thing, but gushing adulation is quite another.

I used to have a serious case of the hots for beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh, but she cured me completely by the enthusiasm with which she greeted Georgie Boy.