Watching The Olympics
The Beijing Olympics is an absolute delight to watch! As usual, the Olympics are full of surprises, controversy and drama, and for 2008 Olympics in Beijing, it just seems to be stock-full of everything.
We have great victories: Michael Phelps, the US swimmer who actually managed to complete the seemingly impossible feat of getting 8 golds to beat Mark Spitz's record of 7 golds in a single Olympic, as well as set several new world records in the process. Then, there's the Jamacian athlete, Usain Bolt, who literally bolted his way to 2 golds, in the 100m and 200m sprint event and creating new world records for both events, leaving his rivals far behind. And who can forget the beautiful Russian athlete, Yelena Isinbayeva, the media's darling who teased and entertained her way through the crowd as she set a new high of 5.05m in the pole vault event?
At the same time, we see athletes who are dropped as doping tests proved positive and disqualified as they fail to make the mark. And then, there are those who just missed out on the much-coveted gold due to mishaps or unforseen circumstances. Take for instance, Chinese athlete Liu Xiang, who was the focus of the home crowd who had gathered in the 'Bird's Nest' stadium to watch him strut his stuff for the 110m hurdles event, only to be left in utter shock and disbelief at his exit, without even competing in the heats. US hurdler, Lolo Jones just missed out after taking the lead, only to hook her right foot on the ninth hurdle, which not only broke her stride but also saw her fall from the first to seventh position. Yet, this blunder proved to be sheer bliss for fellow hurdler Dawn Harper, whose face just shone with the absolute delight of an unexpected victory.
Yet, there was this story of an athlete who had chosen to show his displeasure at the judges by throwing his Olympic bronze medal on the ground after he was presented with it. It was such a utter display of disregard and disrespect of not only the Olympic sports honour but also of fellow athletes and sportsmanship. That act in itself was meant to be a protest but it was done so distastefully that it just portrayed the lack of self-control and discipline that should be the one of the basic traits of trained athletes. It is sad that an athlete had to resort to such antics and then only reaped the result of his medal being revoked, leaving a bitter end.
On the other hand, Singapore is rejoicing greatly with the women's table tennis getting a much-awaited Olympic silver medal in the team event after fighting hard in the semi-finals against South Korea, though they lost out to a much stronger China team in the finals. Yet, for Singapore, it did not matter, what was etched on everyone's mind was that an Olympic medal was finally achieved after 48 long years.
This year's Beijing Olympics is indeed memorable for many...
We have great victories: Michael Phelps, the US swimmer who actually managed to complete the seemingly impossible feat of getting 8 golds to beat Mark Spitz's record of 7 golds in a single Olympic, as well as set several new world records in the process. Then, there's the Jamacian athlete, Usain Bolt, who literally bolted his way to 2 golds, in the 100m and 200m sprint event and creating new world records for both events, leaving his rivals far behind. And who can forget the beautiful Russian athlete, Yelena Isinbayeva, the media's darling who teased and entertained her way through the crowd as she set a new high of 5.05m in the pole vault event?
At the same time, we see athletes who are dropped as doping tests proved positive and disqualified as they fail to make the mark. And then, there are those who just missed out on the much-coveted gold due to mishaps or unforseen circumstances. Take for instance, Chinese athlete Liu Xiang, who was the focus of the home crowd who had gathered in the 'Bird's Nest' stadium to watch him strut his stuff for the 110m hurdles event, only to be left in utter shock and disbelief at his exit, without even competing in the heats. US hurdler, Lolo Jones just missed out after taking the lead, only to hook her right foot on the ninth hurdle, which not only broke her stride but also saw her fall from the first to seventh position. Yet, this blunder proved to be sheer bliss for fellow hurdler Dawn Harper, whose face just shone with the absolute delight of an unexpected victory.
Yet, there was this story of an athlete who had chosen to show his displeasure at the judges by throwing his Olympic bronze medal on the ground after he was presented with it. It was such a utter display of disregard and disrespect of not only the Olympic sports honour but also of fellow athletes and sportsmanship. That act in itself was meant to be a protest but it was done so distastefully that it just portrayed the lack of self-control and discipline that should be the one of the basic traits of trained athletes. It is sad that an athlete had to resort to such antics and then only reaped the result of his medal being revoked, leaving a bitter end.
On the other hand, Singapore is rejoicing greatly with the women's table tennis getting a much-awaited Olympic silver medal in the team event after fighting hard in the semi-finals against South Korea, though they lost out to a much stronger China team in the finals. Yet, for Singapore, it did not matter, what was etched on everyone's mind was that an Olympic medal was finally achieved after 48 long years.
This year's Beijing Olympics is indeed memorable for many...
Labelled by Quaintness at
17:39
2 Comments
