Summer Olympics: Beijing, China

[Critical]

Originally Posted by Lois Lane

Why not? When they find out someone was doping, they give the medal to the next in line, don't they? Not that this is the same thing, I guess. That's just a shame. There are plenty who would've been honored to bring home any medal.

This article explains it:Swedish wrestler stripped of medal after tantrum - 2008 Olympics - SI.com The rules only allow someone else to be given the bronze if the disqualification has to do with the competition itself. In wrestling, there are two bronze medals in each weight class, so there is one bronze medalist in his weight class.

I'm SO happy that Rafael Nadal won the gold and not that cheater from Chile. He still got the silver, which he doesn't deserve, IMHO.

I actually watched quite a bit of the marathon. Of course, I'd watch the entire Tour de France if I didn't have to work! The moment when the winning runner entered the stadium and the crowd went crazy brought tears to my eyes. I can't imagine how thrilling that was for her.

Bolt is pretty incredible, but I hate the posturing from most of those short distance runners. It's just a too arrogant for my tastes.

[Google]

 

[Bunny555]

Originally Posted by prhoshay

Wasn't Bolt wearing Michael Johnson-inspired gold shoes??

They sure were gold

[prhoshay]

I can't/don't see outstanding performance and talent as arrogance. I see it as truth! What's wrong with celebrating hard work, preparation, and natural ability? I think he even surprised himself. Fantabulous!!!

[Marleybone]

As the mother of an almost 23 year old son, this statement by Michael Phelps melted my heart and made me admire Debbie Phelps even more.

"I don't even know what to feel right now. There's so much emotions going through my head and so much excitement. I kind of just want to see my mom."

[Bearcata]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

Loved watching Bolt. What a perfect name for a runner.

"Gotta Bolt now"

The women's marathon was about as exciting as watching paint dry. I don't understand why they showed us almost the full 2 hours of it. Some of it and the ending would have been ok.
Micheal Phelps has done an amazing thing. He's set all kinds of records and made all kinds of history. Look how long it took to beat not only Spitz's record, but the record of an Olympic Athlete with the most gold medals ever. Prior to that, the record was 9 career golds and now he has what 13?. Amazing Athlete and so humble.

Not at all like the wrestling athlete that took bronze and showed his a** at the ceremony by taking off his medal and throwing it in the ring and storming off. The IOC later stripped him of the medal, but it doesn't get awarded to anyone else which is a shame. Such poor sportsmanship and I bet there are several athletes that would have been happy to have been the bronze medal winner.

I always try to watch the women's marathon. After all it was because of the marathon that the Olympics was created. (Well maybe not, but the marathon and the story of its creation is a big part of the Olympic story). Still watching 83 people run 26 miles may not be the most exciting sports event for some. What I find interesting is the pain and agony that the runners go through and the background story. The marathon is a beautiful example of human perserverance. Now the marathon is not to everyone's taste but myrosiedog how would you feel if something that you wanted to watch, say the basketball tournament, only show the beginning and the end. I personally would be thrilled if they never mentioned or showed basketball at all in the Olympics.

BTW I find it pretty amazing that a 38 yr old female won the gold medal marathon and ran it in 2 hrs and 27 plus minutes.

[CCL]

Originally Posted by Bearcata

. What I find interesting is the pain and agony that the runners go through and the background story. The marathon is a beautiful example of human perserverance.

Oh, I agree. By the end of the race all the runners look so worn out and like they are in so much pain, but they doggedly continue. It's admirable.

So the New York Times suggested the reason Canada hasn't won a lot of medals in these Olympics is because we don't really have a summer. Way to go with the cliches, paper of record. Think I should write them a letter from my igloo before I go moose-hunting?

[Marleybone]

Originally Posted by Bearcata

BTW I find it pretty amazing that a 38 yr old female won the gold medal marathon and ran it in 2 hrs and 27 plus minutes.

Especially when she kept running more laps when the younger runners were doubled over as soon as they finished.

[Critical]

Originally Posted by prhoshay

I can't/don't see outstanding performance and talent as arrogance. I see it as truth! What's wrong with celebrating hard work, preparation, and natural ability? I think he even surprised himself. Fantabulous!!!

For me, there's a difference between being confident and celebrating a great win and the chest-pounding showmanship before he even crossed the finish line. It's just not respectful, imo, of his fellow competitors. Undoubtedly, he's supremely talented. I just have more respect for people who are more humble than that.

I loved watching some of the Equestrian event today. Did they ever come back and say what was wrong with that horse? He kept shaking his head like there was something in his ears. I felt so bad for his rider: she had a great ride going up until that point.

ITA about the basketball thing, Bearcata. While I have been watching some of the basketball games, I can see basketball any time I want during the regular season and with most of the same players. I watch the Olympics to see the sports that aren't all over TV the rest of the year. I was thrilled to get to see the kayaking yesterday. I'm watching rowing right now and they just had fencing on a little while ago.

[FireWoman]

Originally Posted by Critical

For me, there's a difference between being confident and celebrating a great win and the chest-pounding showmanship before he even crossed the finish line. It's just not respectful, imo, of his fellow competitors. Undoubtedly, he's supremely talented. I just have more respect for people who are more humble than that.

I loved watching some of the Equestrian event today. Did they ever come back and say what was wrong with that horse? He kept shaking his head like there was something in his ears. I felt so bad for his rider: she had a great ride going up until that point.

ITA about the basketball thing, Bearcata. While I have been watching some of the basketball games, I can see basketball any time I want during the regular season and with most of the same players. I watch the Olympics to see the sports that aren't all over TV the rest of the year. I was thrilled to get to see the kayaking yesterday. I'm watching rowing right now and they just had fencing on a little while ago.

Thats how I am with curling.. I love that sport.. and im not even canadian Every Winter Games I look forward to it and its on at like 3am :/

[CrossingGuard]

I'm finally back from vacation in Canada. While I was there, I would always be out during the live primetime airings. But NBC always replays them late at night, and I stayed up very long nights watching these events. I just love watching them. Here are my thoughts on the last few days of the Olympics...

If you haven't noticed, I just made a new avatar. I love Nastia! Overjoyed doesn't even come close to describing how I felt when I found out that she won. Her routines were wonderful to watch. And congrats to Shawn also! Her routines were great, too, but Nastia edged her out by a close margin. USA getting 1-2 is fantastic. But I do agree with a couple of posts that were posted a few pages back. NBC did air a lot of coverage on the American & Chinese girls and left out most of the others. Though to be fair, I think they aired all what they could have. They wanted to air the frontrunners of the competition, and they were obviously the Americans and Chinese. And they also aired a few routines from Romania and Russia, so at least NBC included a few other girls from other countries.

I was in Chicago airport for a connecting flight today, and while I was there, I stepped into a souvenir store that also sold magazines and newspapers. Everywhere I went, Phelps was on the cover. He was on all of the newspapers and quite a number of magazines. But this time, I'm not complaining. I've complained quite a few times in the past that the guy has been getting so much coverage, and it was getting annoying. But Phelps really deserves this. No one else can say that they won 8 gold medals in a single olympiad. Congrats to him for reaching his goal! And congrats to the other men in the 4x100 medley relay winning also!

Speaking of Michael, I can't get enough of his mom Debbie and his two sisters. The camera kind of cut off on his two sisters when NBC aired their reactions, but you still saw that they were ecstatic after their brother had won each of his events. As for Debbie, her reactions are hilarious! She always seems to have this face -> :O every time she sees her son win. She's great.

Dara is amazing. Seeing her just miss out on that gold by .01 seconds was disappointing, but considering that she's 41 yo and still beat out 6 other people, that's amazing. Hopefully she'll come back in London and get her first individual gold.

Did anyone else catch the 1000m run for the women? I don't remember which day NBC aired it, but it was on during the late night airing. Shaylene Flanagan (I think that's how you spell it) of the US won the bronze. It was great to see her win. She's only the second American woman to win a medal in that event. Great for her! Fountain (I forget her first name) of the US also found herself in the same position as Flanagan. She won the bronze in the heptathlon, becoming only the second American to win a medal in that event. Congrats ladies!