August 27, 2008

Olympics Week 2 in review

Sad but true - the Olympics in Beijing have come to an end. I'm so confused - what to do with my time? Is the fall TV season here yet? (Answer - no.) Guess it's time to catch up on my blogging.

My apologies to those of you who might have been hoping I'd continue a day-by-day review of the Olympics, but it became rather daunting! And the sad tragedy that was the U.S. Track team for a couple of days (my word, those relays) got depressing.

That being said, here's a few of my favorite highlights from the second week of competition:

  • In Track, Jamaica became the fastest country in short sprints, which means that we should perhaps rename it "Cheetahland." Just think of the Cheetos endorsement deals!
  • The American team competed in a very exciting round of team jumping in Equestrian, which ended in a tie. Complex rules gave us the silver, but it was really fun. Also, I like any horse named "Sapphire."
  • It may not be as exciting broken up in little broadcast pieces, but the winner of the Decathlon is always a fine specimen of an athlete, and we can be most proud that Bryan Clay took home the gold!
  • In a shocking upset while looking as cute as a button, Australian Matthew Mitcham took home the gold in the 10m Platform Diving final. He was really spectacular, so very happy to win, and he's one of the few openly gay athletes out there. I'm a total fan!
  • Snicker if you will, but I always enjoy watching Rhythmic Gymnastics and Synchronized Swimming, even if it means watching the Russians dominate year after year. It's the closest things we get to dance as sport - how can I resist?
  • The Field events don't get as much attention, but I actually prefer them to Track. So it was a real treat to see American Stephanie Brown Trafton take home gold in the Discus. You go, girl! (Whoops - duck and cover, everyone!)
  • And in a final note to divine male hotness, the U.S. men's Water Polo team had an amazing tournament as the underdog, and should be most proud to win the silver medal in a close game against world superpower Hungary. Can we request more shots of the bench and underwater, please?
The whole shindig ended with a closing ceremony that was pretty lackluster in comparison to the opening, although it had it's moments.

All in all it was an exciting games, and I'm glad that the Chinese were able to put their best collective foot forward. We can only hope that they'll be able to overcome the many other challenges they face when the excitement dies down. In the meantime, perhaps I'll catch up on some NBC video of events I missed, like Handball and Judo.

So that's it for this year! Next up is the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Strap on your skis - I'm ready for the Biathlon!

1 comment:

ScottE. said...

Pretty good games...NBC needs to diversify a bit.