Tracy
08-16-2008, 04:18 PM
I've been absorbed in the Olympics. Mind you, I always am :)
I love the summer games. Especially the swimming, gymnastics, and track events.
However, Canada this year has had a poor showing. They didn't win any medals until day 8, which would have been yesterday. All over the radio here the radio hosts have had this as a topic of conversation. WHY?? Why such a poor showing for a country that's ( supposed to be ) chalk full of Olympic hopefuls? It comes down to funding. Or so that's the excuse. While the US shells out millions upon millions to train their athletes, Canada has put out very little. They're "saving" it all for the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. Well, that's all great and fine for the winter athletes but the summer athletes are left in the dust...
Then I think of the track athlete from Jamaica who shattered the 100m dash record. Jamaica is a POOR country, yet there track athletes have great promise. Then I hear it's something in their genetics. They have some sort of protein that athletes from elsewhere don't have as much of, which makes them "faster, higher, stronger". Or maybe they're just more talented??
Then there's the Swedish wrestler who literally threw away his bronze medal in protest. WTF? Sore loser? A Canadian woman just won a bronze in her weight class for wrestling and the whole country is cheering.
"Yay..we finally got ONE!" LOL.
As much as I love the games, they're always riddled with scandal of some kind. From lip synching children, to poor bronze medal losers, to fake fireworks, etc etc.
And then...there's Michael Phelps. Holy crap can this guy swim like a fish! I think it's safe to say that his water work is outshining pretty much every other event. His challenge of Mark Spitz's record is on the cusp, as they're both tied with 7 medals. Eight does the trick and he could very well do it.
So, for the most part, I'm enjoying the games immensely. Except for the lip synching Chinese girl. Oh man how low was that?
Not "pretty" enough for the Olympic ceremonies?
Thank God I don't live in China. I wouldn't be allowed out of the house :p
I love the summer games. Especially the swimming, gymnastics, and track events.
However, Canada this year has had a poor showing. They didn't win any medals until day 8, which would have been yesterday. All over the radio here the radio hosts have had this as a topic of conversation. WHY?? Why such a poor showing for a country that's ( supposed to be ) chalk full of Olympic hopefuls? It comes down to funding. Or so that's the excuse. While the US shells out millions upon millions to train their athletes, Canada has put out very little. They're "saving" it all for the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. Well, that's all great and fine for the winter athletes but the summer athletes are left in the dust...
Then I think of the track athlete from Jamaica who shattered the 100m dash record. Jamaica is a POOR country, yet there track athletes have great promise. Then I hear it's something in their genetics. They have some sort of protein that athletes from elsewhere don't have as much of, which makes them "faster, higher, stronger". Or maybe they're just more talented??
Then there's the Swedish wrestler who literally threw away his bronze medal in protest. WTF? Sore loser? A Canadian woman just won a bronze in her weight class for wrestling and the whole country is cheering.
"Yay..we finally got ONE!" LOL.
As much as I love the games, they're always riddled with scandal of some kind. From lip synching children, to poor bronze medal losers, to fake fireworks, etc etc.
And then...there's Michael Phelps. Holy crap can this guy swim like a fish! I think it's safe to say that his water work is outshining pretty much every other event. His challenge of Mark Spitz's record is on the cusp, as they're both tied with 7 medals. Eight does the trick and he could very well do it.
So, for the most part, I'm enjoying the games immensely. Except for the lip synching Chinese girl. Oh man how low was that?
Not "pretty" enough for the Olympic ceremonies?
Thank God I don't live in China. I wouldn't be allowed out of the house :p