Yesterday at the Olympics

What an interesting day it has been in the Olympics overall. The table tennis matches are starting to heat up as more men and women are getting disqualified and the winners are beginning to emerge. A disappointing day overall in basketball where many teams were trounced completely including Angola by Spain and very surprisingly Lithuania who lose by an embarrassing 31 points to Australia ending their undefeated 4-0 run. Understandably, the Lithuanians have a lot less to play for since they already qualify for the next stage whereas Austrlia's win secures them the fourth and final place in the quarter finals within their group. Bogut performed superbly during the entire game and three pointers seem to reach their targets from everywhere on the court by any member of the Australian team. I have a sneaky suspicion that this loss was cleverly engineered by the Lithuanian coach though. Not needing the match to qualify and allowing the Australian team to destroy the power Lithuanian team means two things. First, Australia will play undefeated U.S.A with great confidence. Second, this pits the U.S.A against their strongest rival thus far at these games, Australia. This means that both these teams will have a hard fought match. Assuming that America does win as expected, their players will be somewhat spent when they do meet Lithuania, increasing Lithuania's chances for gold by a small percentage. Hey its the Olympics, every LITTLE bit counts.

The real action to me though took place in the athletics section courtesy of the two great athletes shown below, Irving Saladino from Panama and of course Yelena Isinbayeva from Russia.




Irving Saladino is no doubt the hero of Panama and his face will be splashed across Panaman newspapers as this man created history by securing for Panama its first ever Olympic gold medal. It is true that this young man is the 2007 World Champion but his jump of 8.34m ahead of South Africa's Khotso Mokoena who managed a decent jump of 8.24m securing him the silver medal was no mean feat either.

However, the truly heroine yesterday, was formar Russian Lieutenant, Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia. This outstanding 26 year old Russian and the darling of the Pole Vault was expected to win the gold medal. And why shouldn't she? She is the only pole vaulter to have cleared more the 5.00m and holds the world record going into the competition. And win it she did. Early into the competition, Yelena secured her gold medal in only her second jump, easily clearing the 4.85m hurdle. Now this is where it really gets interesting. Not satisfied with that, she placed the bar at 4.95m to break the Olympic Record. After managing to break that on her third and final attempt she truly got the crowd going. The audience screamed louder at each of her attempts to break the world record at an unprecedented 5.05m. After two unsuccessful attempts, Yelena proceeded to wrap herself under a quilt. After two minutes, she emerged with new resolve in her eyes and before she jumped, I told myseld (as did many others in the crowd I believe) she is DEFINITELY going to clear it. I don't know why but I was just so confident of it. She did. And the 91,000 strong crowd of mixed nationalities burst into raucous applause. This young Russian is truly in a league of her own in the pole vault. Winning at 5.05m well ahead of the next best at a decent 4.80m she truly showed the world what mental and physical toughness can achieve. For her drive and spirit I salute her like so many others. Congratulations Yelena!

The Olympic Dream

The Olympics are finally over. Well for one man and perhaps one nation anyway. In a Herculean effort, an unassuming Baltimore boy has set two records that looks rock solid for many years to come. At such a young age, not only did he achieve his seemingly impossible dream of eight gold medals at one Olympics, he also holds the record for the most number of gold medals ever won and he did it by surpassing seven world records, just one shy of besting Mark Spitz's seven world record breaking attempts. The Olympics have always drawn a huge crowd and I am one such ardent fan. I have been meaning to blog about the many scenes I have viewed at the Olympics over the days but I was simply too immersed in the action. It has been full of action for sure. From a dazzling display during the opening ceremony to audacious goals being set to upsets, this is one Olympic games, many will remember. Back to the hero of this Olympic Games. To me, what makes this sportsman a true Olympic hero is not in the records that he has set, but how he did it. All Olympic athletes train hard, that is a given. This athlete not just trained hard, he never ever lost sight of his goal all through his 17 swims and he stuck close to his roots always finishing with a kiss and hug with his family and handing over his bouquet to them. His winning smile, his attitude, his humility and the way he has us all hanging by our seats whether he cruises to victory 1.89 secs ahead of his competitor of barely winning it by 0.1 seconds, this man stands among greats like Carl Lewis, for they embody the spirit of the Olympic games, the sportsmanship, the effort, the dedication. This man. The man of the Beijing Olympic Games. Michael Phelps.

The Games are also over effectively for a small island nation with a competitive (some say kiasu) attitude. The sunny country of Singapore has finally won its second Olympic medal in a draught spanning 48 years. After coming within inches of a medal at the Athens Olympics, Singapore darling Li JiaWei joined forces with Feng Tian Wei and comrade Wang Yuegu winning in an exciting match against South Korea. The finals saw China cruising to victory largely due to the efforts of Zhang Yi Ning, another athlete I commend for her determination under fire and her sportsmanship. The story of the day however, belongs to Jia Wei and her comrades for ending a small nation's medal hopes after a long 48 years. The background story is of course that all six of the contenders in the gold medal match were born in the same country and most were trained in similar fashions. The similar style of playing was obvious. While the birthplace of Singapore's players may come under fire, no one can deny that these three women did their best and Singaporeans should feel proud to see their flag flying high.

The Olympic Dream