Olympic families find solace, create bonds far from Tokyo

Nearly 12,000 miles from Tokyo and hidden in a ballroom at a posh resort, Team USA family and friends are getting an Olympic experience they never would have half a world away

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Christina Dressel began organizing the room long before the NBC cameras started rolling. The mother of swimming superstar Caeleb Dressel reeled off a makeshift seating chart for the couch, directed everyone who wanted to be on television where to stand and even scoured the posh hotel for life-sized, cardboard cutouts of her son. She found four and lined them up behind the 40-strong Dressel posse. She then asked if the coffee table was too cluttered with empty wine glasses and water bottles. Nope. After all, it was an accurate portrayal of this party scene. The Dressels were among hundreds who accepted an offer to spend part of the Tokyo Olympics at Universal Orlando with other equally disappointed friends and families of American athletes, all banned from traveling to Japan because of the coronavirus pandemic.