London Olympics! (Part IV)

Ready for some final thoughts?

Track and Field

I have mentioned him before, but Oscar Pistorius ran the anchor leg of the men's 4x400M relay. By the time he got the baton, South Africa was in last place. However, he ran a great leg to finish the race. What a wonderful race. How nice to see he was also the flag bearer for his country at the Closing Ceremony. He will remain in London for the Paralympics so cheer for him!

I am not a fan of inking one's body, but check out Oscar's tattoo on his shoulder/back! It's 1 Corinthians 9: 26-27:

I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Triathlon

I only read about this, but what sportsmanship by Leonardo Chacon! He got clipped during the cycling race and fell behind. But instead of getting angry about the unfortunate situation and blaming the defending silver medalist, the athlete who crashed and unintentionally made contact with Chacon's bike, Costa Rican Chacon sent a heartfelt Facebook message to Simon Whitfield of Canada. In return, Whitfield just posted this message on Facebook:

Dear People of Costa Rica & Canada,
Because of Leonardo's kindness and because him & Simon have become fast-friends, Team Whitfield is working on flying in Leonardo to Canada so we can meet him in person. Stay tuned for details!

Diving

Platform diving is one of my favorite Olympic sports. At the men's 10M platform diving event, China was favored to win gold (as usual), but David Boudia had a fantastic last dive to pull ahead of Tom Daley (home favorite) and China's Qiu Bo to win gold! At the end of the competition, while the incredibly poised Boudia was looking at the score board and soaking in the news, his team was so excited for him that they were hugging him and congratulating him. What team spirit! And read this and this about David's faith.

Marathon

Ryan Hall had to drop out of the race with a hamstring injury. While deeply disappointed, he posted the following tweet:

A huge bummer of a day today. Hamstring wouldn't let me go. But a huge congrats to @runmeb! You continue to inspire me. #GodIsStillGood

What a way to hold on to faith during this difficult time!

Closing Ceremony

I didn't get to watch it much, but the stage design was nice. The center was the Union Jack and athletes gathered "under the flag." A nice symbol to show how the Olympic Games in London brought athletes together from around the world. And what fun to watch the Olympians relax and celebrate their hard work and achievements!

I hope you enjoyed the Games as much as I did! 

London Olympics! (Part III)

More favorite moments from the Summer Games:

Swimming

This is not really a favorite moment, but I have another Hong Kong connection. :) Besides the relay medals, Nathan Adrian had a fantastic gold-medal swim as he out touched the world champion by one-hundredth of a second! But there was also something else I couldn't quite point my finger to, until I learned that his mom was from Hong Kong! How cool was that. :)

As a sidebar, he, Missy Franklin and Gabby Douglas should be presented with some kind of smiley awards. They all have wonderfully contagious smiles!

Track and Field

Liu Xiang became the first Chinese man to win a track and field gold by winning the 110M hurdles in Athens in 2004. When he couldn't compete at the Beijing Games in 2008 because of injury, the host country was devastated. Four years later, he came to London in good form until he tripped on his first hurdle and was injured. Instead of staying down and letting officials wheel him out of the stadium right away, however, he hopped his way to the finish line, completing his race despite the pain and overwhelming disappointment. What sportsmanship.

Felix Sanchez was devastated and understandably distracted at the Beijing Games when he learned before his heat that his grandmother had passed away. At the 400M hurdles in London, he ran with a picture of her beloved grandmother and him tucked underneath his bib number, and in shoes with Abuela written on them. When he won the race, he pulled out the photo and kissed it. At the medal ceremony, with the gold medal around his neck and his national anthem playing, he was so overwhelmed that he could not stop crying. A touching moment.

Allyson Felix lost two close 200M races at the last two Olympic Games. Instead of giving up and calling it a career with two silver medals, she kept running. In London, she was the fastest runner and fulfilled her dream by winning the gold medal.

Leo Manzano captured the first medal for the USA in the 1500M event since 1968 by staging an exhilarating run past a handful of opponents in the final stretch of the race, winning the silver medal. As he was running the race of his life, his hometown was cheering him on from a distance. At the end of the race, his folks were as elated as he was.

Gymnastics

I didn't see it until this week but it is worth mentioning. After Team USA won the team gold last week, captain Aly Raisman took off her gold medal and put it on her coach, Mihai Brestyan, because she felt it was as much as his gold medal as it was hers. Her coach (a big guy) gave her a big hug and began to cry. What a thoughtful and sweet gesture by the teenager.

Beach Volleyball

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings completed their dream run and won their third straight Olympic gold medal. Their gold medal match was also their last match together since Misty was retiring. At the medal ceremony, Kerri was holding Misty's hand while singing to the national anthem. When Kerri was overcome by bittersweet emotions, the crowd picked her up by singing the anthem for her. What an incredible run for the duo and what a nice ending and send-off by the crowd.

London Olympics! (Part II)

I didn't watch the Olympics much this past weekend because I was out and about most of the time. But wonderful moments kept happening so here are some more favorites:

Tennis

As a tennis player, I would do the sports injustice if I don't mention some great highlights from my sport. :)

1. Andy Murray winning gold

What a wonderful moment. Having suffered a number of close defeats in major events for years and coming from a heartbreaking loss merely four weeks ago at Wimbledon on the same court to the same opponent, world number four Andy beat Roger Federer, Wimbledon Champion and world number one (I need to add that I do like Roger a lot!). Winning his first major title in front of his home crowd made it even more special.

2. Rafa Nadal posting picture of medalists on Facebook

This happened outside of London but was nonetheless noteworthy. Rafa, world number three, was out of the Olympics because of knee injury but he posted a picture of the medalists with a warm congratulatory message. Classy.

Track and Field 

How about Oscar Pistorius's 400M races and this wonderful photo?

And how about Kirani James, world champion from Grenada and eventual gold medalist (his country's first!) in the event? In a fantastic gesture of respect, James displayed wonderful sportsmanship after the semi final when he asked to exchange bib numbers with Pistorius and raised it to the crowd.

Cycling

Hong Kong has a bronze medal (third Olympic medal overall and first in cycling)! Great success for Sarah Lee, but the story about her coach is also fascinating. A promising cyclist before losing a leg in an accident in the 1980s, Shen Jinkang turned to coaching. Eighteen years of hard work have now paid off.

London Olympics!

I am enjoying the Olympics! A week into the Summer Games, here are some highlights and favorite moments:

Opening Ceremony

Chariots of Fire is one of my favorite movies, so it was wonderful to hear the theme song at the ceremony (and it looks like that's the music they use at the medal ceremonies!). I wouldn't say Mr. Bean's bit was among my favorite moments, but he didn't take anything away. :)

The most poignant moment was probably the passing of the torch to the young athletes at the end. They were not world famous yet, but it was a very nice touch that the torch was passed to them, both literally and figuratively.

Swimming

Michael Phelps placed fourth in his first event, a horrific result by his golden standard. His team then lost the 4x100 freestyle relay and came in second, before he was out touched in his next individual event. But he turned things around nicely and won gold in his next three events, setting more records along the way. A sign of a true champion who does not dwell on setbacks but meets challenges head-on with determination, courage and expectation.

Gymnastics 

Wonderful performance (and smile!) by Gabby Douglas in the all-around competition!

And wonderful sportsmanship by teammate Jordyn Wieber, world champion and heavy gold medal favorite who had heartbreakingly missed the cut to the all-around competition but came back the next day to help win the team gold medal. The following day, she was in the audience to cheer on her teammates at the all-around final and sent this classy tweet after the competition.

Judo

I don't usually follow this sport, but just heard about this triumphant story of Kayla Harrison both in her career and in life.


How about you? Which event or Olympian stands out for you so far?